by S J Doran
She dropped to her knees, her head bowing with reverence. “Father.” She whispered, then looked up at him with suspiciously glassy eyes.
Asmodeus motioned for Cass to break the circle, sidestepping him as soon as he swiped a clean break, grabbed Glasya by her hands, lifted her to her feet and wrapped his arms around her. And now it was Cass’s turn to look on in horror. His father hugged?
“I want you to bind your power to Cassius’s.” Asmodeus kept his hands on her shoulders and greedily took in her face.
Glasya’s expression went cold. “He’s tainted.” She turned her ice blue eyes on Cass, looking at him for the first time since she’d stepped through. Her eyes widened again- reminding Cass he still had those weird wing things showing.
“Exactly.” Asmodeus said. “He needs his power secured to the infernal.”
Glasya scoffed. “He can go become blood brothers with Mephistopheles. I don’t want that tainted shit affecting my own power.”
Asmodeus let out an actual growl, and Glasya stiffened, pinning a murderous glare on Cassius, then spun on Asmodeus.
“Seriously, father. My power can’t compete with his to begin with. You know this, or it would be me sitting on that throne. Why would I want to bind myself to him when I will just be overtaken?” she stomped her foot. “Again, you show favoritism to him.”
Asmodeus’ lids lowered, his eyes still glowing with anger and promise.
“Speaks the girl who allowed him to banish you from my court.” Asmodeus spoke coldly, each word cutting, as he’d intended. “My children will present themselves as a team. No more hodgepodge collection of allies. I want my lineage secured.”
Cass snorted and Asmodeus shifted toward him. Cass flinched back, knowing his benevolence toward his daughter did not extend to himself.
“You have no heirs to speak of, you’re thinning your essence, and you have the nerve to scoff at me for wanting this? If,” his father said, his tone implying he believed it was more ‘when’; “they find a way to take the throne from you, Cassius, I want Glasya to be the natural choice for succession.”
Cass crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t plan on being overthrown.”
Asmodeus chuckled deeply, with true humor. “Ah, there’s my arrogance.” From one breath to the next, his humor vanished. “Bind yourselves.”
As one, he and Glasya crossed their arms over their chests.
“I refuse to be in service to him while he has that pig,” she spit out the word, “as his advisor.”
“Cassius will keep his pet leashed, or you end him.” Asmodeus shrugged off her concern. His expression was impassive, lacking the heat Cass would have expected toward Levistus.
“No one is ending Levistus.” Cass glowered, “he’s under my protection.” He felt his power flare again, bursting from his shoulder blades, his energy wings brightening.
“Then I am drawing up a pact here and now giving Glasya access to the Nessus, and you access to the Malebolge. You will make a formal proclamation that you are allies, and those loyal to each shall fall in line.”
Cass and Glasya shared a disgruntled look. As alternatives went, this was acceptable. On paper, they could be one thing, he wasn’t going to let it dictate his actions.
His father sat at his desk with quill and parchment, using his own blood as ink, as was the norm in demonic contracts. With a flourish he wrote out the terms and signed his own name as witness, handing off the quill to Glasya first, leaving Cass to stew in his anger.
When Asmodeus handed him the quill, he didn’t immediately let it go, his eyes searching Cass’s.
“Stop sharing your powers with the Archangel.” Asmodeus hissed out, “and put those things away. I didn’t turn my back on my heritage to have it showing up in my children.”
He made a shallow slice in his palm with the penknife on the desk, cupped his palm and let the blood pool before snatching up the quill, all the while concentrating on pulling his power back into his body. By the time he no longer felt the sensitivity of the air brushing against his magically created wings, his hands were trembling with the influx.
He scratched out his signature and immediately felt the bind of the contract.
Asmodeus took back the quill and parchment, waving the thick vellum around to dry the blood before rolling it up and stuffing it into a case.
“Now then. If you ever bind Glasya from the Nessus again, I have the right to return.” Asmodeus gave Cass a sly grin and Cass’s stomach turned. “So thank you for creating a loophole. Have fun and play nice with your sister.”
Cass stumbled back, looking between Glasya and his father, she seemed just as shocked as he felt, but her smug little grin was telling.
There was about to be trouble from that end. She would ensure it.
“Leave me to visit with Glasya.” Asmodeus grasped his shoulder and steered him back to the gate Cass used.
One he’d created?
He stepped through and it felt like stepping over a fold of the Hells. Then another. Hellfire burned around the outline of the portal, but the opening just kept leading to a new layer. He was like an accidental tourist of his own Kingdom.
He was doing this. Crudely cutting a gateway through the Hells.
And he was really fucking lost.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
all that fuss
Gwynn had seen her safely returned to Asurim, had even stood by as En-Rasputin and his huddle of rot drinkers treated her injuries. A tincture diluted from the blood of a phoenix had helped restore the blood volume she had lost and aided the generation of whatever vessels had been damaged.
Under the potion master’s care and the dark Fae’s watchful eyes she healed without issues, her mind however, was a mess. Emotions and memories which ought to have remained buried in the shallow grave beside her heart had risen fully from their resting place, haunting her.
The Huntsman stayed with her during the night, had slept peacefully in her arms, her body healing while using her power to help anchor his wayward mind. Only his fated one could truly break his curse and free him from this madness.
He had made no effort in finding his fated one, had asked her for help instead. She would do all she could to spare Gwynn from further descending into that abyss.
Together they were two cursed beings, bound by an odd friendship, forcing each other to not succumb to their tragic fate.
When she was rid of Namtar and the Nessus was secured, once vengeance was attained and she was truly free, maybe then there would be a future for them. She would be loyal and care for him. He would be a good Sarrum to her people, and keep them safe. It wouldn’t be perfect, it wouldn’t be love, but it could be good.
As it tended to do, her mind wandered to the sin-eater, worried about what kind of damage the Blood lord had inflicted upon his mind. Guilt churned through her gut, she should have gone alone as originally intended, instead they had walked straight into a trap- set for him.
Part of her had wanted to take off to check on him the instant her legs would carry her weight, but she’d needed to heal. So after a night’s rest she was once more headed for the portal to Hell.
Knowing the sin-eater, she would likely be stepping into the Nessus to find the demon lazing about within the safety of his library turned bedroom, buried balls deep inside a demoness or two. She really wanted not worry about him and leave the demon to his own devices, especially after he had abandoned her in a bad situation, again.
It’s not him.
He owed her nothing, and she was nothing to the sin-eater.
Still, she had promised her Cassius that she would look after the demon for him. And the knowledge that the Blood Lord had done something to his mind gave cause for concern, and wouldn’t be eased until she knew the extent of the damage done.
“I am not going because I care for him, I am going out of concern for him.”
She scrunched her nose even as she repeated the mantra, the words tasting acrid upon her tongue. Still sh
e forced herself to repeat them.
The heady scent of incense, sex and blood permeated through the temple, enveloping her as she hurried down dark corridors and passed galleries of colorful cathedral windows.
“I am not going out of care for him, I am solely going out of concern... oh who the hells am I kidding?” She fucking cared. That was maybe an even more dangerous turn of events than attending a vampire soiree had been.
Once Amara reached the portal she stepped through without hesitation, and marched directly into the comfort of the sin-eater’s private sanctuary. She grinned, recalling his tendency for falling asleep with his nose buried within the pages of big and boring looking books.
The room was dark, the only light spilling from a small fire burning low inside the hearth. The scent of leather-bound books and the bite of dark magic mixed in the air, disguising the light musk of arousal and sex which clung to the room. When visiting the Nessus, the trick was not to inhale too deeply, that way you wouldn’t smell the scent of burning flesh and rot that so heavily scented the air outside the palace. That stink was burned into her senses, even after keeping away for all these years she could still smell it wherever she went.
“Priestess, welcome home.”
She recognized the voice instantly and slowly turned to face the demon prince.
“En-Levistus, dare say that to me again and I shall rip out your tongue.” Hell had been her prison, never her home.
“You are welcome to try…”
The sin-eater’s favorite leather chair wasn’t at its usual spot in front of the large fireplace, instead Levistus now sat in it while facing an unfamiliar portal. When moving closer she could see lines of exhaustion marring his handsome features. “How long have you been feeding your energy into that portal?”
“Since last night. I fear our young king has gotten himself lost somewhere inside his own realm. Foolish boy tried to use a Hellgate to return to your side while his energy ran depleted. We tried to summon him, but to no avail. I’m hopeful he picks up on the energy imprint of the portal and follows it, before anyone figures out our king has gone missing.”
He gestured tiredly to the portal he’d created, exhaustion visible in every movement, and no wonder. A portal was a vortex— a bend in time and space itself, it took a great deal of magic to open one and it leeched power while remaining so.
Levistus had opened a portal with gateways to all nine layers of hell, and had kept them open for hours. Such an act could only be fueled by either madness or desperation.
“Our Herald suggested we send a rescue party, but then we would be publicly conceding the fact our king is unstable in his power. You well understand the workings of Hell politics, priestess. The more power-hungry factions within the demonarchy would seize the opportunity to have Cassius declared unfit to rule.”
So it had been desperation rather than madness. She almost felt pity for him. “I can reach him.”
He lifted his head from his hands to wave her off. “Impossible, even with my considerable age and power I was unable to hold his essence long enough to pull him through the portal. You haven’t even reached your full powers yet.”
That statement gave her a moment’s pause. She hadn’t? Idiotic demon, of course she had, she had reached maturity, and so had her magic. “I’m telling you, stubborn old goat, that I can reach the sin-eater.”
“You can?”
An unfamiliar source of power entered the room, celestial of origin but Amara clearly recognized the sin eater’s imprint fused within. No corruption clung to him, which made him an anomaly within the viper’s nest that was the Nessus.
“Ah, you must be the newly appointed Herald, your arrival has caused quite an uproar within the realms. Good on you.”
The expression on the celestial’s perfectly sculpted features soured “I’m not here by choice.”
“Angel, sooner or later you will come to understand that none of us are here by choice. Without evil there would be no good, and chaos would reign. In order to preserve the balance some get assigned the role of villain, and like it or not-you will be made to play your part.” A smile ghosted her lips at his stunned expression. “The benefit of falling is gaining a measure of free will.”
Levistus moved from his seat to stand before her. “Jez this is…”
“Amara,” an odd emotion flashed through the angel’s gaze when he looked at her. She merely nodded in response, unsure on how to respond, his unnerving gaze felt as if it could see through to her soul.
“Wait, he gets to use your name and I don’t?” The voice of the demon prince was equal parts exhaustion and agitation.
“Yes”
“Amara, he tried to go after you. Cassius had every intention of saving you from that place.” As the angel spoke, Amara was finally able to place that strange emotion she had seen in his gaze. She bristled. He had been feeling pity for her.
“Angel, the path to hell is paved with good intentions. A rescue party would have been a lovely gesture, but as you can see, I’ve managed just fine without the sin-eater.” Neither a truth nor a lie, she had survived, even if she had needed help to do so.
Avoiding her gaze, Jez moved to claim the leather bound armchair Levistus had just vacated. “I tried reaching Cassius through the mind link, but I was blocked from him also. As his Herald, should I not have been able to contact him?”
They were both so wrapped up in their failure that they were missing the bigger picture. Dark gods help her, she simply had no patience left to deal with two pig-headed males blinded by ego.
“Have you two even considered the possibility the sin-eater might be blocking you both out on purpose?”
Two sets of eyes stared at her as if she had suddenly grown a second head. Moments ticked by in stunned silence before the angel let loose an angry string of very un-angelic words. Their variety impressing her, while earning him a disapproving glare from Levistus.
“Something must have happened...” Jez dropped his head into his hands, scrubbing at his eyes with the heels of his palms.
He’d been here such a short time, but she determined he was already beginning to understand the demon’s character better than most. Perhaps the sin-eater had won himself a reluctant ally?
She hesitated for a moment, not accustomed at offering up information or asking for help, but the vampire had left her with little choice in either.
“Something did happen. Jareth wanted to know some information hidden inside the demon’s mind, he went digging through his memories….and I fear he might have unlocked some of them.”
“He did what?” The portal flared with a violent charge, the library filing with the oppressive energy of rage which was emanating from Levistus. “How could you allow that to happen?”
“I did not allow it to happen. While the vampire was picking through the sin-eater’s brain, mine was bleeding out through my ears...and eyes. And nose. You get the not so pretty picture.”
The tempestuous rage which had risen so quickly died off just as swiftly. “How was he able to break through your barriers? You posses some of the most powerful protections I have encountered.”
Amara had given this a great deal of thought as well and could only come up with one answer.
“Perhaps I wasn’t the only one with a backup plan. Looking back at the signs, I suspect the wine served was enhanced to significantly lower inhibitions.”
The low growl rising up from the demon prince’s throat had her hackles rise “You were drunk and distracted while inside the home of the eldest vampire master, how could you be so careless? I warned you this was an idiotic idea.”
“You dare judge me?” Amara’s magic rose in response to her emotions, anger and shame causing tendrils of dark magic to whip around her violently. “I didn’t see you lift a fucking finger to prevent Asmodeus from summoning him!”
“Anyone care to fill me in on what’s happening here? What’s the big deal if a vampire got into Cass’s memories?”
; The sound of Jez’s confusion and worry anchored her, and with great effort Amara managed to reign in her power, gaining control over the magic which was quickly turning volatile.
“Angel, what happens when someone’s soul is destroyed?”
Eyes the color of the sea after a storm locked on hers, confusion visible within their guileless depths. “That being ceases to exist, no afterlife, no reincarnation. The destruction of a soul is considered a crime against creation for that very reason, it is forbidden by the Heavens.”
“Hell plays by different rules, son…” there was no emotion in Levistus voice when he answered.
The library went deadly quiet as both he and Amara waited for the celestial to connect the pieces. They knew the moment he did, because confusion was replaced by horror within those stormy eyes.
“Not possible, I sense his emotions, his thoughts. I can feel his pain, his lust and sorrow. He is not dead.”
“The sin-eater is alive because he believes he is, because he is fed and worshiped as if he were alive. But Cassius, my Cassius died nearly four hundred years ago by his father’s hands. I was there angel. And to this day his screams haunt my nights, along with the silence which followed…”
Horror turned to stubbornness, his hands shaking and the massive wings behind his back folding and expanding as if he were eager to take flight “No. I refuse to believe this, I can sense the life inside of him.”
“An imprint. Asmodeus selected qualities of himself he enjoyed most and placed their essence inside the empty shell which remained. He tried to mold Cassius into the perfect son and heir. It took Azadiel nearly three hundred years to reach through to the sin-eater, to repair enough of his broken mind to help him break free from his father’s influence.”
Her hands shook. Hearing Levistus recount the events, while he had been the one to set in motion the events of that fateful night was almost too much. The dull ache of loss consumed her, left her numb to the point of not realizing darkness and magic were gathering within her palms. Maybe not today, not tomorrow, but one day he would pay...