While waiting, Michael stripped Eve of her clothing. Several Angels began gathering around to watch. Eve thrashed as much as she possibly could, grunting and screaming to be freed. She went from scared kitten to wild cat in a heartbeat.
So much fight. So much wrath. So much potential.
This was going to be fun.
Eve’s wrists hurt from how tight the rope was tied. Her instincts were to yank and free herself, which would only make her suffer more. This was not the first time she’d been bound like this by a superior.
But why now? Eve hadn’t done anything in this sect to warrant a punishment, which meant…. Oh no.
Had Michael found out about their plans to escape?
Her heart slammed into her chest and she doubled down on her fight to get free of her binds. She didn’t care that Michael ripped her clothes away. She wasn’t a modest creature; but she was scared and trapped.
Flapping her big, grey wings, Eve felt like a hawk on a leash. There was no give in the rope at all. This is how Lucifer feels, her thoughts latched onto him for whatever reason and she truly began to panic.
Suddenly, something heavy weighed down her wings. She sucked in a breath and tried to look behind her, but pain lanced through her from the tip of her wings to the base of her spine. The sounds of cracking and popping followed by a jolt of agony caused stars to burst in her vision. Extraordinary pain robbed her breath.
Eve’s legs gave out and she dangled by her wrists, her head lolling forward, her vision blurry with unshed, terrified tears.
“You are a liar,” Michael hissed at her.
“I… I have never lied to you.” And that was the truth. She hadn’t lied to him… yet.
“If you are as good with animals as you say, Lucifer would be eating out of the palm of your hand right now.”
“If he had actual food to eat, perhaps he would. You give him garbage.”
“I give him what he deserves.”
“He’s not… a threat to you, sire. He’s just an Angel.” Eve’s vision went spotty when he punched her lower back.
“LIAR!” Michael hissed in her ear, “He is no mere Angel and you know it. You protect him.”
Eve squeezed her eyes shut. She didn’t know how to get out of this. She didn’t even know how she got into this! Was Michael’s sudden fury really about Lucifer or her? Was it just that Michael felt threated, or had he found out about the conversation at the Lashing Beaches? Or… oh divine stars… had Michael discovered her secret somehow?
“Tell me what to do, sire. Tell me what it will take for you to let me go back to training Lucifer.”
Michael’s tone dripped in toxic poison, “You like being in there with him. You like sleeping on the floor like a dog.”
“I care not where I sleep. We had a deal – I train Lucifer, you train me. I’ve been holding up my end of our bargain. You wanted Lucifer to come to heel and I’ve done that. He speaks to me. He isn’t evil, sire. He’s good and kind and only wants to be treated fairly.”
She heard Michael unsheathe his sword. Eve’s immediate reaction was to fly away. The instant she flexed her wings, fresh agony engulfed her because they were both broken. And she was still tied to the tree. In her fear, she’d already forgotten how stuck she was. “Please! Please! No!”
“Lucifer belongs in that fucking cage,” he growled. “And it’s time you learned where you belong.” He pressed the blade against her neck and she damn near pissed herself.
“Please!” she begged. “Please, please, please don’t.” Fear gobbled every ounce of pride she owned that fast.
“You thought you could come here and make a bargain for place in my brotherhood when all you really came to do was train Lucifer to use as your war animal?”
“What? NO!”
Michael removed the sword from her neck. “We all have a purpose, a place in this world. It’s better for you to learn where your place is… with me.”
The sword sang through the air and Eve screamed so loud her voice cracked and vision went black. He hadn’t stabbed her. Hadn’t sliced her either. He’d done something so much worse – Michael cut her feathers so she couldn’t fly away.
She tried to look on the bright side. Michael cutting her wings meant he didn’t want her dead. He only wanted her grounded.
Why was her immediate response to feel so thankful for this? Because I’m more desperate than I realized, she thought.
Boots thudded across the grass, or maybe that was her heart beating? Nope. It was boots. Raphael placed a large covered basket down to her left. She paid him no mind. She was too far gone to care about whatever was in that basket.
All she cared about were her wings. Being so violated – clipped so she could not fly away – crushed something in her. To have her freedom diminished in anyway against her will was the one thing she would not tolerate. The one thing that would get her into even bigger trouble than she was clearly already in.
This was the moment Eve knew hate.
It was like a hot thread that started between the eyes, burning its way under the skin and slithered down to choke your neck, electrify your limbs, and set fire to your gut.
Hate felt easy and fierce.
Hate felt untamable and mind-numbing.
She liked hate.
“A test,” Michael purred against her earlobe. She could smell the scent of strawberries on his breath and it made her want to hurl. When he smashed her face against the bark of the tree, apples fell from it, raining down in heavy thuds all around the two of them. “Snakes know deceit.”
No, they didn’t, she wanted to say.
“And they know a threat.”
Yes… snakes could detect danger. She wasn’t dangerous though.
“Should you survive this test, I’ll let you go back to the cage with that fucking animal for another week.” Michael walked away and kicked over the basket of snakes. They slithered out and came closer and closer to her.
Eve wasn’t afraid. She knew creatures such as these and had studied their habits before. Snakes do not sense deceit. They did, however, sense threats. If provoked, they bit. It was a defense mechanism and nothing more.
As the first of dozens slithered across her bare foot, Eve didn’t budge. She breathed through the pain from her wings and stayed perfectly still.
Another apple fell from the tree and a snake with a rattle at the tip of its tail struck out at the fruit. Others began to coil. Climb. Slither closer.
Eve blew out a shaky breath and prayed for the strength needed to survive this test.
What the fuck was going on? Constantine just came from the waterfalls when he heard commotion and decided to see what was up. It didn’t take long for his gut to tell him Michael was doing something he shouldn’t… again.
Angels stood way back, focused on the show in the center of the courtyard. The tree. Con’s stride turned into a jog, which turned into a sprint. Oh no, not Uriel again so soon. He stopped dead when he saw it wasn’t Uriel who had everyone’s attention.
It was Eve.
She was tied to the Sacred Tree. Her wings hung at odd angles. Naked. She was naked. Angels didn’t have modesty; their body was a weapon and nothing more. A sword did not care when its blade was unsheathed, Angels didn’t care if they were clothed or not. But… something slowed down in Constantine as he observed what was happening.
Eve, naked. Her body cast in shadows under the sacred apple tree. Her hair was redder than the apples, darker, richer and more vibrant. Her dove grey wings – fuck, they were broken! – looked like storm clouds looming. The slope of her back, her waist flaring to her ass, her arms positioned high over her head and bound.
This vision was disturbing and uncomfortable.
Constantine blinked. She was still there. He blinked again. Still there. This was not his over-worked imagination, nor was it a drug-induced hallucination. Not if everyone else was seeing the same thing he was.
Con tensed. What was Michael doing with her like that? And wh
y?
His gaze pulled away from her and latched onto the upended basket of snakes. A ripe apple fell of its own accord and some of the snakes struck out at the fruit. More snapped into defense mode.
Con took a step closer. Then another.
“Don’t,” a brother said from his right.
Con pulled his gaze away from Eve, which was harder than it should have been, and he looked over at Rave. “He… he can’t do this. She’s done nothing wrong.”
“Since when has he ever needed a just cause?” Rave’s eyes were hard and frown deep as he turned and watched Eve again.
“Sweet Divine Light,” Constantine’s heart leapt into his throat, pound-pound-pounding and choking him as he watched the female stand perfectly still in the middle of so much danger. The apples stopped falling. Snakes began slithering up her bare legs. Their sizes ranged from a foot to more than twenty feet long. All different colors. All different species.
All varying degrees of venom.
As one of the bright green snakes wrapped itself around her upper thigh, Constantine’s gaze locked onto her bare ass while another snake curled around her hip. He blew out a shaky breath.
“She is so perfect,” Rave whispered. “So… pure.”
Con swallowed a lump in his throat. Guess he wasn’t the only one to notice, big deal. He blinked and refocused on another body part – her back. It was sloped, taut with muscle, and… “What is that?” Con took a step closer, “What is on her back?”
“Looks like burn scars, maybe,” Rave said. “Lashes? I can’t tell from here.”
Constantine instinctively growled. Had Lucifer burned her? Scratched her? If so, he’d be the next Angel tied to that fucking tree. If Con didn’t beat him to a pulp in his cage first.
“Would you look at that?” Raphael stepped into the conversation. “The snakes are just covering her.”
“They like her,” Con’s smile slithered across his face.
Eve claimed she was good with animals, but to see how the creatures acted with her – so peaceful and docile – it was a glorious relief. If she survived long enough to satisfy Michael, she’d be released and Con would heal her wings immediately. Then address the marks on her back.
He prayed it wasn’t Lucifer who’d done that to her. “She’s going to be okay,” Constantine murmured. “The snakes aren’t going to harm her.”
“It’s not the snakes I fear.” Rave’s eyes flared, “Look.”
Dread choked Constantine, causing him to freeze in horror as he watched Michael reel back and throw an apple at Eve. The fruit hit her broken wing and she cried out, then lost her balance. One step. One small step to regain her stability and she’d accidentally landed on a viper.
All the snakes started striking.
Chapter 9
Gabriel abandoned his post and ran across the field, pulled by the sounds of a terrifying scream. The closer he got, the worse it sounded. Eve!
“Get back to your fucking posts!” someone roared.
Fuck that. Gabriel’s fury set alight as he watched everyone turn their backs and walk away. They would let her suffer. Abandon her to prove their commitment to the Brotherhood and take up their stupid fucking posts again. For what? To impress Michael? That motherfucker was too enthralled with the view of watching an Angel in agony, he wouldn’t notice if he had an audience or not.
The bastard always got like that - fixated on someone else’s pain – like it was hypnotic and glorious and too lovely to pull his attention from.
Gabriel ran up just in time to see Constantine stand directly behind Michael with his blade out. When he struck Michael, his brother was calm with his actions. Unnervingly calm.
Running towards the two of them, they stared at Michael’s limp body bleeding out on the ground. Con jerked his head towards the dungeons. “I’ll get Eve. You get Lucy.”
They hadn’t planned on a prison break tonight, but Gabriel wasn’t about to hesitate and not miss this perfect opportunity. Booking it to the dungeons, he prayed for grace and stealth. They were going to need a fuck-ton of it to survive this.
Uriel was the Cager for the night – another small miracle. Gabriel rushed down to the dungeons and ran smack into his brother. Uri’s eyes were wide, hand poised over his sword, sweat beading across his brow.
“We’re leaving now!”
Uriel paled even as he moved. “What’s he done to Eve to make her scream like that?”
“Con will handle it.”
Uriel followed Gabriel into the darkness, leaping several steps at time. “We need to bust Lucy out. Now!”
“We take Lazarus too,” Uriel was already unlocking the cage doors. “We take them both.”
Lucifer roared in his cell. Fire spilled down his body and all over the floor as he tried to break free from his chains. Whatever magic was in the iron, however, he’d yet to defeat.
A terrible shrill made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. Panic sliced through him and he jerked on his shackles harder. Eve. What was that monster doing to her?
Lucifer prayed it wasn’t any of the things that bastard had done to him. Protect her. Get free. Run! His instincts were torn between saving someone else and saving himself, when the real truth was Lucifer was trapped and unable to do a fucking thing for anyone.
“Lucifer!”
He didn’t notice the Angels crashing into his cage. All he could see was red. Red, red, motherfucking red. Furious and trapped and hurt and filled with a rage so raw it needed a new name. He thrashed his head back and howled like the animal he was. Howled like the monster he was created to be.
“Hold the door open. I’m fucking done with this.” Gabriel, the voice barely registered in Lucifer’s psyche.
“Holy Creations! He’s melting it!” Uriel. His voice also barely registered.
“Hang on, hang the fuck on,” Gabriel pulled his sword out and swung down, striking the chains. Sparks flew but the iron wouldn’t dent. “Keep going, Lucy. Keep going. We’re getting you the fuck out of here NOW!”
He let his power consume him. Hate was a toxic poison that sizzled and melted and dripped behind his eyes, down his throat, and into his empty belly. It filled him. Sated him.
Strengthened him.
And the sounds of Eve’s screams intensified everything.
Lucifer didn’t want to get out of that cell for his own freedom. He wanted to get out of there because of Eve. He had no idea what they were doing to her, but no one screaming like that was happy. She was in danger. In pain.
And that was insufferable.
FWACK! Gabriel struck the chains again. Lucifer blinked past the red haze and roared, “HARDER!”
Letting the fires drip down from his arms, he concentrated and tried to force the heat into the metal. The chains glowed red and smoke rose from the dirty stone floor. Gabriel hit the metal again. CLANG!
Both of them were roaring with frustration and fear. Time was running out!
Uriel joined in and they took turns smashing the chains while Lucifer kept his fire blazing on the metal they tried so hard to break. It took too long. Too. Fucking. Long.
When the shackles gave way and Lucifer’s hands were free, they still had to work on his collar. He clawed at the damned thing. The cords in his neck were thick, his skin red and bloodied. The madder he got, the thicker his body became. That wasn’t good when you wore a choke collar like this one.
Gabriel started hacking at the hook in the wall while Uriel tried to help Lucifer pry the collar away with his bare hands. “There are spikes inside!” Uriel pulled away and glared at the blood on his hands.
“Did you think there wouldn’t be?” Lucifer growled. More blood flowed down his hands and neck.
“No. We didn’t… we didn’t know.”
Stunned, Uriel stared at the blood on his hands until Gabriel hollered, “We’re running out of fucking time! Help me with this!”
Uriel snapped out of it and started striking the bolt in the wall that secured Lucife
r’s leash. None of them heard the arrival of another Angel until it was too late. “What the fuck are you doing?”
Gabriel spun around, preparing to strike whoever just caught them. “Raphael.”
The Angel gawked at the scene in the cage. He rubbed his face with both hands and cursed, “Here,” he fumbled for the ring of keys on his hip. “Take it. Get him out of here.”
Lucifer was on his knees, still trying to get the collar off. “Where is Eve? What has been done to her?”
Raphael’s mouth opened and closed. His skin turned ashen. “She’s…” he saw the fires around Lucifer burn brighter and creep towards him, “She’s with Constantine.”
“I’m going to kill him,” Lucifer promised. “I’m going to kill every single Angel who has harmed her.”
“He didn’t harm her,” Raphael looked behind him to make sure no one else was coming. “Only Michael did. Constantine has taken her and is trying to heal her.”
“Lies,” Lucifer hissed. “You didn’t help her, and therefore you aided him. Actions are all that matter.”
“We acted, alright? Just not… not fast enough.”
Uriel stiffened with the keys in one hand and Lucifer’s lock in the other. “What does that mean?”
“She keeps calling out for you,” Raphael tipped his head to Lucifer. “I came down to retrieve you.”
“Like Michael would just let him out to go be with Eve?”
“Michael doesn’t know,” Raphael pulled out his sword and tossed it towards Lucifer. “Use this. Stab me and get out of here. All of you.”
“Stab you?” Uriel repeated, “What the fuck? Just move out of our way.”
“I can’t,” Raphael gritted out. His loathing gaze flicked to Gabriel, “I’m cursed, remember?”
Gabriel marched around Lucifer and grabbed Raphael by the throat. “What trick is this?”
“No trick…” he choked, “I’m tired too… Tired of seeing Michael use us for his own purpose. That is not…. why we are here.”
Raise Hell Page 7