The rest of the dark-haired or dark-winged Angels – few as there were – all passed whatever tests Michael gave them and quickly pledged their fealty once more to Michael and the Protection Sect. Then they moved on like nothing happened. They trained harder, formed bonds, as well as divisions among the ranks of warrior Angels.
To this day, Gabriel didn’t fucking understand it. They were all Angels. All equals. All bled red and breathed air. They all shit and pissed and ate and slept. But Michael’s severe treatment stained the brotherhood’s unity. Distrust took hold of some, others became jaded, but for the most part, it was back to Brotherhood business as usual.
And then Lucifer arrived.
Gabriel didn’t know how to take Lucifer’s existence at all, but one thing was certain – they had that Angel pegged wrong.
All this time Lucifer acted like a wild, mindless animal. And in six fucking days – six fucking days – he communicated, calmed, and hadn’t bit anyone’s hand off.
Eve had done that. The female was a miracle worker if there ever was one.
Gabriel couldn’t help but smile at the thought. Maybe her being here was a sign… or part of another prophecy? Either way, Gabe was happy she’d come to them.
Fearless. That Angel seemed absolutely fearless. And that she challenged Michael?
Fuuuuck. She was perfect.
Gabriel’s smile faded immediately when he realized she wanted to train as a warrior. If Michael allowed it, would she have to go through the initiation process?
No, her red hair was wasn’t dark enough to trigger Michael’s paranoia. Not even her wings were deemed dark, they were more like the beginning of storm clouds that crept across the ocean. Gabe never saw anything like them before.
He shook his head. What the fuck was he doing fixating on her so much?
“My shaft is still rock hard.”
Gabriel jolted at Uriel’s confession. So lost in thoughts, he totally forgot Uriel was with him. Clearing his throat, Gabe frowned, “Sounds like a personal problem.”
Uriel gripped his crotch and readjusted the huge pipe hiding beneath the cloth. “Why does it keep happening? I don’t know what to do about it.”
Gabe didn’t either. “Ignore it and it’ll go away. That’s what happened for me.”
“Hmmph.” Uriel pulled the laces from his shoulders and his tunic fell to the ground. He kicked it into the corner with all the other dirty laundry and headed to his desk. Sitting on his stool, white wings pressed tight to his back, the Angel buried his face in his hands. “I don’t like her in there with him.”
“She’s fine. In case you haven’t noticed, Lucifer seems to like her a great deal. Enough to trust her and allow her to get close to him.”
“I did notice,” Uriel growled.
“Then what fear have you?”
“I do not have fear,” Uriel slowly spun around and glared at Gabriel, “I have envy.”
Gabe froze for a heartbeat before whispering, “Do not confess such things. You won’t like the result.”
Uriel shrugged, “I trust you, Gabe. And I need to tell someone. I have to get it off my chest. I keep feeling this… this strangeness. Like something is about to heat and boil and burst inside me.”
“I know the feeling too well, brother,” Gabe began to pace.
In the silence that followed, dread crept into both of them. Uriel was the one to speak first, “Are we really doing this, Gabriel?”
Do what exactly? Get Lucifer out of that cell? Train Eve to fight like a warrior? Escape so we can regroup before I double back and try to take the lead position and usurp Michael? “Yes,” Gabe’s boots pounded the stone as he paced faster. “This is a sign. All of this is a sign.”
“A sign of what?”
“I don’t know, but my intuition is screaming about the two of them. And us. All of us.”
Uriel huffed a heavy sigh. “This is dangerous, brother. The reward might not be worth such risks.”
“Then don’t participate. But I’m doing it. We’ve gone too long balancing on the edge of Michael’s sword.”
“He was made our leader for a reason.”
“And he will be unmade for a reason,” Gabriel couldn’t contain his growling. “And if I have to use that beast to secure our victory, so be it.”
Uriel’s eyes narrowed, “So you’re just using him?”
“I don’t know yet. I know nothing of him to make such a decision.”
“You gonna use her too?”
Gabriel stopped moving. His fists clenched and released by his side, “I… I don’t understand what I want to do with her.” Before Uriel could get shitty about it, Gabe added, “But I do not wish to see her harmed in any way. If she joins the brotherhood, Michael will ruin her. She’ll never make it past the initiation.”
“You don’t know that. She looks pretty tough.”
“Tough or not, I…” he sucked in a couple heavy breaths as his wrath rose to the surface, “I cannot stand the thought of someone making her bleed.” He couldn’t understand his emotions at all.
“We’re being plagued again,” Uriel rubbed his chest like it hurt, “Or someone’s being experimented on and it’s causing another rippling effect. I can’t breathe. My fucking heart actually hurts.”
Part of being a warrior in the Brotherhood of Angels also meant Michael performed acts of magic and other terrifying experiments on them at any given time. It was always for the greater good, but not without a cost. And it usually came just after one of Loony Laz’s prophesies.
“What are we going to do?”
Gabriel walked over and stared out their small window. Crossing his arms over his chest, he tried to make sense of what he was feeling. What he was thinking. What he was planning. “I don’t know yet, but we’re either all in or not.”
“We’re all in,” Uriel gripped Gabriel’s shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “You know Con will be too. It’s us. It’s always been the three of us. Now there’s five.”
“So be it.”
Chapter 7
Exhausted, Lucifer laid down on the disgusting ground and curled onto his side, facing Eve. She was sitting against the cage door, her legs tucked up tight to her chest. Her hair was wild and unruly - the ocean wind had tangled it. Oh divine light, what he wouldn't give to sweep it out of her face so he could see her better.
He liked it best when he could see her eyes and know if she was lying to him or not.
Trust did not come easy for Lucifer.
Whereas everyone else here seemed to trust each other, Lucifer had suffered the taste of betrayal the second he sucked in breath and was attacked in the courtyard the day he arrived. Angels here seemed to not only fear Lucifer, but loathe him, and he’d done nothing to deserve it. These Angels lived by some sort of code - one, he had no doubt that piece of shit Michael came up with himself. No self-serving Angel should be in charge of others. Their system was flawed here.
"What sect are you from, Eve?"
"Purity," she gathered her hair and tried to finger-comb the knots out.
"Why did you come to the brotherhood?"
"I heard there was an animal in need of training." The tiny bit of sunlight shining through the hole in the wall slowly made its way over to Eve. Her hair looked like fire in the rays. Her facial features softened, “I had no idea you’d be an Angel.”
“You regret your decision then?”
“No, if anything, the minute I saw you, my fate was sealed. I don’t sway from the choices I make. I go all in with no regrets.”
"What do purity Angels do?"
"Purify, obviously."
"And... what does purify mean?"
Her eyebrows knit together and she got a deep crease between them, "We cleanse and make things pure again."
"Pure. Like me?" He'd certainly done his best to not get tainted.
She smiled as she laid down and faced him. Tucking her hands under her cheek so it didn't hit the floor she said, "Not even the most power
ful of Angels could make something like you, Lucifer. You are... a Devil."
"What's a devil?"
Her laugh sounded like a purr and her eyes were half closed when she said, “I make up words when I don’t know the right term. But… Devil suits you.”
Now he felt insulted and it showed in his next growl, “What makes you say that?”
She didn’t even seem scared of his growl. In fact, she sighed and closed her eyes as if she liked hearing it. “Devils are those who are good, even if no one else believes it. Devils,” she yawned, “are bold and strong and protective.”
He swallowed the lump in his throat and stayed still.
Eve popped her eyes open and reached out to play with one of his feathers that had fallen out when he’d been re-chained. “That’s an accurate description of you, right? You’re too good to be stuck in here, that’s for sure. And you were protecting me at the beaches. Providing for me too.”
Lucifer’s teeth slammed together with his scowl. Yeah, he put himself between her and those warriors earlier at the beach. He also gave her some pineapple to eat. Did she not like that? Did she not care for a Devil to do what his instincts demanded?
Well tough. He might be strong, but he didn’t have the kind of strength it would take to look away and not help someone in need. Eve was in here because of him. She was starving because of him, too. He had to do something. And he saw the look in those warriors’ eyes. Gabriel and Uriel kept staring at her like she was the brightest star in the sky.
“Thank you for putting yourself between me and what you presumed was a threat. And… I enjoyed the pineapple very much.” She rolled onto her back and played with his feather. “I know what that means. I’ve been around animals long enough to understand their actions.”
“I’m not a fucking animal.”
She stared at the ceiling before saying, “Sorry. You’re right. You’re not.” Rolling over and propping her head on her hand, Eve stared at him. “But you have a lot of animal tendencies, Lucy. You can’t deny that. You growl. Walk on all fours. I half-expected you to have sharp teeth and talons when I came into this cage that first day.”
Lucifer stared at his big, strong hands. He could crush skulls without hardly flexing. His strength was still growing too. And he did have claws… he just hadn’t used them around her yet. “I have reasons for what I do and how I act.”
“Don’t we all,” Eve reached out and tried to run her forefinger along his arm but he moved away from her before she could touch him.
“I walk on all fours because it hurts to stretch my legs now. They confine me to the ground,” he yanked on the chain attached to the enchanted bolt in the stone floor. “Having crouched for so long, it’s easier to move when I stay closer to the ground. It doesn’t make me an animal. It makes me adaptable.”
“I’m sorry.”
His frustration came out in a roar, “I don’t want your apologies!” He sucked back his fury before flames started dripping off his skin and made things worse. “I just want to be freed and left alone.”
“We’re working on that.”
“I don’t trust them. I don’t trust anyone. Angels say things all the time, and the lies sound sweet and charming.”
“Well I’m not lying.”
He snorted in disgust and turned away. Holy Divinity, he had no idea why he felt so angry.
Wait. Oh yes, he did.
Walk on a leash and tasting freedom hadn’t been a reprieve. It was just a tease. A glimpse of pleasures he’d likely never see again.
Not once Michael found out they were planning to try and escape.
Lucifer wasn’t meant to ever leave this cage. He knew it. Felt it. Dreamt it.
Each night when he nodded off, his dreams were of flames and screams and stone and darkness. And when he woke, he was surrounded by the same things that haunted his nights. “I’m never getting out of here. You need to get free though.”
“I’m not leaving until you’re ready to leave with me. I mean it, Lucy. I’m here for you.”
“You’re here because you think you have something to prove and you’re using me to do it.” Now he felt good and furious. For being so pure, he felt dirty now and it made him close his wings tighter around his chest and back.
“I don’t have anything to prove,” she whispered in an angry snarl.
“Why do you wish to be like them?” Was that scorn in his voice? Yup. Sure as shit was.
“I don’t wish to be like them.”
“Lies,” his fire dripped off his skin and pooled beneath him. “You said you wanted to train with the warriors.”
“Training to fight is not the same as training to be a warrior.”
“Why do you wish to fight?”
“I didn’t say I wished to fight.”
Lucifer let out a long sigh and counted to ten in his head. Holy Hounds of Wrath this female was starting to drive him crazy. “Then why do you wish to train with warriors if not to fight?”
“I don’t have to explain myself to you, Lucifer. And I’m tired.”
“So, you ignore me and fake sleep to get out of telling truths.”
“I’m not… I’m… Argh!” she slammed her hand on the stone floor, “Warriors have the best defense skills and I want to know them.”
“Who are you wishing to defend?” If she said him, he wasn’t sure if he was going to laugh or melt.
“Myself,” she whispered.
Lucifer stiffened. “Are you in trouble? Who are you defending yourself against?”
“No one.”
“More lies.”
“Damnit, Lucifer! What will it take for you to just trust me?”
“A lot longer than six days, Eve.”
She let out a loud sigh and repositioned herself so her back faced him. The tunic she wore had slits for her wings to poke through, and with the weight she’d lost in the past week starving in a cage caused Eve’s shirt to loosen on her body. When she repositioned her wings to get more comfortable, he saw scratches and tears halfway-healed on her back.
“What are those marks, female?” When she didn’t answer him fast enough, he asked again even louder. “What are those marks on you, Eve?”
“It will take a lot longer than six days for both of us to earn each other’s trust, Lucifer.”
She wasn’t in this cage to help him; she was hiding and Lucifer wanted to know more. Scratch that, he wanted to know everything. Unfortunately, Eve didn’t speak to him again.
And by sunrise the next day, it was too fucking late.
Chapter 8
Michael stormed down to the holding cells. The Cagers on duty, Gabriel and Constantine, had the nerve to stand rigid as he approached the doors. “Open them, now.”
They followed his orders because to do anything else would cost them severely.
Lazarus was singing some made up song and it was loud and ridiculous. “Shut the fuck up, you moron!” Michael blasted Laz’s cage with a force of energy that rattled the bars. The fool silenced and cowered in the corner.
Michael turned his attention to Eve next. Like she was comfortable and at home, the female slept with her hair fanned out across the floor looking like spilled blood. It pissed him off. How could female sleep through Laz’s singing and Michael’s arrival? Was she that exhausted and weak?
Or was his presence not nearly impressionable enough to rouse her?
Michael’s eyes narrowed.
Slamming the key into the lock, he ripped open the door and barked, “Get up!”
Eve blinked a couple of times before having the sense to scurry onto her feet. Swaying, Eve looked at Michael and positioned herself between him and Lucifer.
The cunt.
Lucifer’s chains rattled as he tried to get close enough to shield her, but his chains were too short for him to move more than a couple feet. Still, Michael didn’t trust that the fucker didn’t have a trick or two hidden beneath those impossibly black wings. He kept Lucifer naked just to better keep an ey
e on the changes in his body and skin tone. Those impossibly dark sections morphed and spread or disappeared all the time.
Michael wanted to know why, how, and for what purpose.
Lucifer glared at Michael and let out a warning growl.
Michael chuckled. How precious. The poor beastie was protective of this little bitch. Good to know.
“Make a move and you’ll regret it,” Michael said to him. And just to make sure they were on the same page, he elbowed Eve in the gut. As she grunted and bent forward with dry heaves, Michael kept his focus on Lucifer, “Stay.”
Next, he grabbed Eve by her hair and dragged her out of the cage. “You and I are going to have a little talk.”
Lucifer roared; the sound was music to Michael’s ears. Power came in many forms, but this one was the purest. To control a monster by any means felt righteous indeed.
“Lucy, don’t!” Eve gasped when Michael pulled her hair harder.
The beast froze, obeying her immediately. So, he is capable of following orders, Michael thought. Also good to know.
Pulling Eve along, he didn’t bother looking at the Cagers when he made his exit. Holding onto Eve was difficult. She fought back. Squirmed. Screamed.
This morning was just getting better and better.
He shoved her outside and into the middle of the courtyard. “This is the seventh day, female.”
“Get off me!”
Eve tried wrenching free from his grip. He punched her in the temple and she dropped like a stone. Next, Michael bound her arms to the tree that served as a focal point of the courtyard. He kept ropes dangling from the limbs at all times as a little reminder of what happened when a warrior failed. Perfection didn’t always come naturally, it must be shaped, carved, and cut into a masterpiece worthy of divinity.
Tugging the ropes around her wrists, he made sure they were good and fucking tight. “Raphael, get the snakes!”
“Sire,” the Angel’s tone spoke volumes with that one word.
“Stalling will only make it worse for her. Unless that’s what you want, then by all means, keep standing there.”
Raphael choked back whatever he was going to say and made a mad dash for where the snakes were kept.
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