She nodded, but didn’t look at me. She had grabbed her pack and was rummaging through the contents. I had a feeling her eyes had gone misty and she didn’t want me to see.
Something was telling me to look up, across the hard, packed dirt of the desert floor. There was a man standing, unarmed, about thirty yards away.
“Phoebe,” I whispered. “Do you see that?”
She looked up from her pack to me, then to the direction I was looking in. “Yeah, I see a man drabbed in a dark gray cloak. Is that what you see?”
“Fallis.”
“Huh?”
“He is the prince of this syde, and he has my object.”
“What object would that be? I don’t think talking to him is a very smart move on our part.”
I shook my head. “It’s not you he wants to talk to. Lucifer agreed to give me an object in each syde to help me on my quest through it. I have to collect my objects from his royalty or I get nothing. I can’t imagine it will be much; I only received a match in the last syde. He isn’t exactly happy with me.”
“I can’t imagine why. You drop in here from Heaven and steal his girlfriend—”
I shot her a nasty look. “She’s my wife!”
She shrugged as she glared across the desert at Prince Fallis. “She very well may be, but he only sees that you are trying to take away what is his. He has no intention of you getting her back, either. He only agreed to this game to prove nobody can escape Hell, not even the holy.”
“You’re not giving up already, are you?”
“Absolutely not. I believe it’s possible to get out. You’ve proven that much by getting through three of his sydes, but if you think he’ll play by the rules you are severely underestimating him. I don’t think any object he will give you from here on out will help you in the least. He gave you one match in the Syde of Pride. You would have had to stay immobile for that to have been any help to you, which would have made it a hindrance, really.”
I agreed with a slight nod when she looked at me, but I just couldn’t walk away and leave it. It was possible the object would prove to be very important. And just because it might be useless to me in this syde didn’t mean it would be in another. I had items on me that had been useful in more than one syde.
I had to get it.
“You’re going to get it?” she asked in disbelief as I walked away from her in the direction of Prince Fallis.
“I am. You wanna come? Doubt he brought you anything, but you might get lucky.” I glanced back at her with a smile on my face and watched as she took the blade from her pack. I raised an eyebrow in interest. “Do you actually think you can defend yourself against a demon prince with that?”
“You think he’s here to make friends?”
I lost my smile. She was right. Velan had been sent on orders to kill me. There was nothing in the contract saying they had to make it easy for me to get through Hell, and losing a life was not an option. I reached behind me to draw my spear from the makeshift pack and rolled my eyes when she giggled.
Fallis made no move to attack as we approached him, but I wasn’t letting my guard down, and from the look of Phoebe’s offensive stance, she wasn’t either.
“Relax,” the fiend prince said. “I truly mean you no physical harm.”
The wind began to pick up a bit, blowing dust harshly against my skin and in my eyes. I brought my hand up to shield them and block any further debris, but when the breeze calmed enough for me to look at Phoebe, she wasn’t there.
“Phoebe?” I began to panic. “Phoebe!”
“Calm down, angel,” Fallis said. “She is just there.” He pointed behind me and I looked to see her walking away from me as if in a daze.
I began to run after her, but Fallis was suddenly in front of me with his hand out. I had no time to stop, and my chest met his palm with great force. The demon didn’t budge, but my body flipped up into the air and I landed flat of my back as if I had been clothes-lined.
It took me a few moments to catch my breath, but I didn’t waste any time getting to my feet and running after her again. “Phoebe,” I choked out, but she didn’t turn. She had even let her pack fall from her back and was walking on without it.
I grabbed it up in my race to her and slung it on my back with my own, but when I looked back to where she’d been, she was gone. I stopped and frantically looked around me. I finally spotted her behind me, twice the distance of what she had been only a moment before.
“Phoebe, stop! Don’t let them win!” I screamed, but she didn’t even acknowledge that she had heard anything. I started running after her again, but it appeared that the faster I ran, the farther away she got from me. It all seemed to move in slow motion. She was twenty feet away, then thirty, then fifty. I stopped and bent at the waist, dragging in breath after breath of hot, dusty, unsatisfying air. I looked up to see she was only a small blur in my vision.
“Dammit!” I kicked at the ground and realized the feeling had come back full-force in my blistered feet.
Jesus, where is Malcolm? I thought, then stood upright and turned to face Fallis.
What I saw nearly took my breath away. Fallis was there, but the desert no longer was. It was Heaven. The bright, vivid colors of the ground, water and sky were there before me, only a few feet away. All I had to do was take a big step and I could drop to my knees on the soft, green grass. I could hear the birds singing and see the smiles on every face present.
I watched as Josselyn and Malcolm stepped, hand and hand, from behind the great fountain in west courtyard. I realized in that moment that had been his problem with me. She had confessed to being in love with me and Malcolm had been in love with her the whole time. I could feel the smile stretch across my face. They looked perfect together.
I was just about to take a step forward when my heart stopped and I froze. It was Abbi. She was there, in Heaven, with all my friends and loved ones.
“Your object, angel.”
I pried my eyes away from my wife’s excited expression at seeing me. I wanted to run and take her in my arms, but this demon was rudely interrupting my plans. Ripping his arms off and beating him to death with them was on my mind when I finally looked back to him.
“What?” I snapped.
He gestured behind me and I turned back to the vast desert to see a blue door.
“It’s the door to the next syde, angel. You may enter it now. I will do nothing to stop you from your wishes.”
Was going through the door what I wished for still? I thought. I knew I needed to, but I couldn’t think of one solid reason to back up or support the thought. Everything I had ever wanted was already there with me.
I saw movement off in the distance to the right of the door. It looked like a female just standing there, lost maybe, but the blinding light from the suns was in my eyes, so I couldn’t be sure if it was an enemy or ally. It didn’t matter who it was, Abbi and my friends were waiting for me. Everyone important to me was only a few feet away.
Putting the desert at my back again, I smiled at my wife. I was home.
“Angel? Do you not wish to continue your quest? You have a mission to complete. Remember? Do you give up your quest to stay here?”
My quest is complete. I am finished. I can stop here and be happy for all eternity with my wife and friends in Heaven. It’s what I deserve after all I’ve been through.
I wanted it to be over, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that it shouldn’t be. Saying it seemed so definite, so permanent, and I wasn’t quite sure it was. “I think I will rest here a while,” I said, then winked at him before walking to Abbi and my friends.
Chapter 39
Abigail
Sitting on the couch, her knees pulled to her chin, arms loosely encasing them, Abigail watched as Lucifer paced in front of the hearth of his private quarters.
“I don’t suppose I need to tell you the angel—”
“My husband—”
“Silence!” he shouted and the wall
s of the room shook, making her flinch and her heart pick up pace, even though it wasn’t possible for him to physically touch or hurt her in any way.
She knew he’d been trying to find a way around the bind of the contract. He hadn’t even tried to hide his fierce attempt to overcome his own signature.
Hugging her legs a bit tighter, she cleared her throat. “It matters not if I obey you. Keeping quiet and being a good little girl will not help me one little bit if Rhyan does happen to fail—”
“And he will fail. I can promise you that—”
She looked up without fear of him or remorse of her next words. “You can promise nothing, you bastard. I will admit that it was my bad decision that landed me in here, but I have a chance to get out and you can bet your sweet ass I’m not going to make the same stupid mistake twice. If it takes my husband a thousand years to save my soul from the likes of you, he will do it. He’s not a quitter. You underestimate him, Lucifer. You will never understand the power of love. It defeats anything you have ten-fold. So do not stand there and promise me something you know nothing about.”
Abigail glanced around her, realizing for the first time that she was no longer sitting on Lucifer’s couch, and not only was she standing, but she had crossed the room and had him backed into a corner with fire in his wide eyes, desperately trying not to touch her skin.
She knew it would probably come back to bite her in the ass later, but she couldn’t resist. She smiled then lunged toward him quickly. “Boo!”
Scared as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, Lucifer acted before he thought and attacked her. Just like before, no contact was made between his flesh and hers; the momentum of the force he used pushed her away from him, but not before the electric fingers shot from her body and took hold.
Lucifer fell to the floor, his vocal chords temporarily paralyzed from the pain. Abigail willingly rode the ride down with him. Seeing him in pain pleased her, and if he ever got the chance to lay his hands on her again, she wanted there to actually be a reason for it.
His wide eyes showed pain and fear, and those were two things Abigail had never witnessed before in him. She relished the idea that she had finally found his weakness: his own power used against him, because it was he who bound himself to the contract and gave her the ability to defend herself against his magic. It only pleased her more to know that she was the one who had the privilege of inflicting pain on the evil beast.
“How does it feel to be on the receiving end of the sword? This will be one game you won’t win. You should have known better than to interfere and come between a man and woman that are destined to be together. Not only do you underestimate my husband, but you have severely underestimated me, too.”
She intensified the electric voltage and smiled mischievously when his body began to violently convulse beneath her hands. Foam poured freely from his mouth and the black of his irises rolled back, leaving only bright white oculi to be seen.
A knock came at the door, but Abigail didn’t look up. It came again, but she only increased the power to keep Lucifer from possibly getting a chance to scream for help.
“Master?” Fallis said from the other side of the door, but a gurgling sound and a low buzzing was all he could’ve deciphered. “Master, are you within your chambers? I have news of the angel’s progress.”
Abigail’s gaze shot to the door and she could feel the prince’s hesitance. It had to be bad news for Lucifer, but good news for her and Rhyan. He was nervous. She couldn’t let him leave with information of Rhyan, but she didn’t know how he would react to what she was doing to his master. She decided the information was more important to have and hoped she could take care of herself if Fallis decided to attack her.
“Come in, Fallis,” she said calmly, and kept her eyes trained on the door as it slowly opened.
Fallis’ eyes met the scene on the floor and they widened in shock. “Abigail, what are you doing? He will put us all in Wrath because of your actions.”
“You don’t have to follow him anymore, Fallis. There is a way out of here. My husband is proving that right now. You can help me, you can help him, and we can all get out of here in one piece. We can be free,” she pleaded.
Fallis shook his head in amazed disagreement. “You’re crazy! He will not let any of us go. Stop dreaming up these fantasies, Abigail. He will not let you leave here. He will make us all pay for your stupidity!”
“Do you not see him beneath me now? He has no control over me, Fallis. I will protect you all from his wrath. Join me.”
He stood there, shaking his head and staring at the strongest being he had ever encountered, weak and powerless beneath one of his minions. He locked eyes with Abigail. “There is no way it will work, Abigail. He won’t make the same mistake twice. If we help you get out, who will protect us once you’re gone? He will show us no mercy. You are mad to think he will. I can’t—”
“Fallis—”
“No! I will not be a part of your treachery. I can’t afford to take that risk. Leave me be,” he pleaded.
Fallis turned and started for the door, but Abigail couldn’t just let him walk out. Lucifer would punish him regardless of the decision he made. “He knows you’re here! He senses you, and he knows you are leaving and doing nothing to help him. He will seek you out the first chance he gets, Fallis, and he will not be happy you have deceived him. I will not protect you unless I can trust you are on my side. Look at him,” she said, and waited for him to turn. “Look at him!” she demanded. “He is nothing, Fallis. Make sure my husband gets through your syde and I swear I will not leave until you have your soul and can leave, too. Please…you still have a choice.”
Without turning, Fallis released a heavy breath. “And I choose not to betray my master. I’m sorry, Abigail, I expected more from you.” With that, he turned the knob and let himself out of Lucifer’s lair.
~ ~ ~
Cursing silently, Abigail pulled her gaze back to Lucifer. It was clear he had passed out from the pain she was inflicting. Veins had burst, leaving bluish-black bruises just below the surface of the skin she could see.
She released him and sat back on her heels a few feet away from where he lay unconscious. Even as she watched the contusions, they began to slowly vanish before her eyes. He would wake soon and, being honest with herself, she was looking forward to hearing what his first words would be.
A low moan escaped his parted lips. Abigail watched and waited, fighting the urge to kick him.
His tongue came out to wet his lips, then he swallowed. Without opening his eyes, he began to speak, “So, that’s your plan? To turn my children against me, steal your souls and flee Hell? Have I not given you everything you’ve ever asked for, Abigail?”
“I asked for my freedom—”
“If I gave you that, if I handed you your soul in this moment, would you stay willingly?” he asked, then opened his eyes and focused on her stunned expression. “I knew once what it felt like to love, Abigail. I wasn’t always a monster. Having you here makes me feel close to that again. I could spend the rest of eternity waking up next to you, and only you.”
Abigail had never seen this side of Lucifer before, but she didn’t fear it was a trick. He had shown her kindness and heated passion for over three centuries. He could be a cruel bastard, but he had never, until recently, been intentionally mean to her.
She wrapped her arms around her legs and averted her gaze from him. “I don’t belong here anymore. I don’t belong with you.”
He was quiet for a moment, then he sat upright and folded his legs in an Indian-style fashion, facing her. He held out his hand, palm facing up, and a tiny glowing orb appeared. “It’s yours. You can still save the soul of your husband. I will give this to you and release him from the contract. I will cast him from Hell without so much as another thought. But…you must promise to stay here with me. You are royalty here, sweetheart. You will be nothing in Heaven. I will make you my one and only Queen. You have my wo
rd.”
“I will be something in Heaven, Lucifer. I will be Rhyan’s everything, and I will be happy. I wouldn’t trade that for a thousand eternities with anyone else, and that includes you.”
“And you wouldn’t change your mind about that if you knew for a fact he would fail? You know the terms we agreed upon. I won’t have mercy on him because of your feelings for him. You will not always have the ability to drop me to my knees, Abigail. I would really hate to hurt you again, but it is your choice to make. It matters not if you belong here or if you do not. He can go free and you can be happy here, with me, as my Queen.” Lucifer stood and looked down at the top of her head as she thought about his words. “Come with me. I will let you see the angel.”
Abigail looked up at him, hopeful, and when it didn’t appear he had wasted his breath on lies, she quickly got to her feet and followed him.
The fountain was massive. It was in a room of its own and covered the majority of the floor space. It was easily ten times the size of the fountain she’d had in her quarters, but then again Lucifer had all of Hell to look at, not just one syde, Abigail mused.
She was excited to see her husband. She felt like it had been a hundred sleepless nights since he’d held her close to him.
She could feel Lucifer’s quaint stare on her as she admired one of his greatest possessions, and she met his gaze without emotion. She didn’t doubt for a second that Rhyan could complete the quest he’d been given, but she also knew how hard it would be to see him suffering. That one brief minute they had channeled each other’s thoughts while he had been in Damien’s syde was enough to let her know they weren’t giving him any slack. It had been days since the deal had been made and she knew Rhyan had been allowed to rest none. Not such a difficult task for a strong angel, but he wasn’t exactly holy anymore.
Without speaking, Lucifer nodded once and then placed the tip of his finger in the center of the clear liquid.
A beautiful scene spread across the fountain and she knew instantly that it was Heaven. “Is this what it really looks like?” she asked him, knowing he wouldn’t lie about something like that.
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