“Thank you for being kind to me.”
Her face grew hot and tingly. “I treated you the same way you treated me. You didn’t bite… so neither did I.”
Lucifer rubbed her cheek with his thumb, “Are you saying you’d have bitten me, female?”
She blushed and nipped his thumb, “You saying you wouldn’t have enjoyed it if I had?”
Lucifer’s head tipped back and he roared with laughter. Then he bent down and kissed her again, this time with a lot more oomph to back it up. “I can’t wait to spend the rest of my existence with you, female.” When he pulled back, Lucifer looked over at his brothers and said, “Let’s get our war plans in order. Tomorrow we end this.”
Uriel had an uneasy feeling that would not let up. For their last night together, Lucifer built a massive fire. With the cottage half collapsed, it wasn’t like they could use it as a suitable shelter anymore. So, they were spending their last night under the stars.
It didn’t make Uriel feel free. It made him feel like a feather blowing in a hurricane. At least in the cottage, the four walls gave him a sense of safety. Out here in the open, he felt too exposed.
To add more angst, he didn’t trust the Scourge. They didn’t look or act anything like the Angels they’d once been. And they were too quick to join forces with Lucifer. Shit, they practically begged for help.
The Scourge do not beg for anything.
Scrubbing his face, Uriel stared into the fire and thought about everything that led up to this moment. Having been tormented for so long, he felt like he was at some sort of crossroad and wasn’t sure which way to turn.
He sure as shit was going into that battle, because no way would he let his brothers go up against a monster like Michael without his sword to back them up.
But he felt like this was all wrong.
He shouldn’t be going against Michael. None of them should. The bastard was a cruel Angel, but he must have his reasons, right?
How had it come to this? And why did he care? Michael was a monster, not a leader. He deserved what tomorrow would bring him.
Maybe Uriel was looking for a way to forgive Michael for everything he put him through so Uri could go into battle without a guilty conscience. Or maybe he was just trying to figure out how a smart, strong Angel got so fucked in the head and the answer would give Uriel a little bit of closure.
Whether Michael died tomorrow or not, that fucker would haunt Uriel forever. This would never be over between the two of them.
“You know what he would always say at some point to me?” Uriel turned to Constantine who’d been drawing on a scrap of paper, “He’d always say, I’m sorry.” Uriel went back to staring at the fire because looking in his brother’s eyes hurt to much – especially when Con gave him such a pity-filled stare. “He was sorry he was torturing me. Like it was a compulsion and he couldn’t fucking stop himself.”
“But he could,” Con growled. “That’s the shittiest part. Michael is the reason we have free will. He has free will, too, Uriel. And he chose to do those things to you over and over again. If he was ever truly sorry even once when he bled you, he would have never done it again.”
Con was right. “I’m scared. I don’t think we’re going to get through this. I don’t care what Lazarus said about the future.”
“Me too,” Constantine rolled up the parchment and tucked it into his boot. “But I’m not letting it fuck with my head. Even if we aren’t going to have a future, at least there will still be one for someone. We need to go in knowing that if we make the ultimate sacrifice, innocents out there will live because of it. That’s a death worth dying for, brother.”
“You sound like Lazarus, talking like that.”
“I feel like Lazarus right about now.” Con leaned in and rubbed his temples. “We’re going in half-cocked and ready to spill our brother’s blood. All to knock Michael off his high horse. This feels like a recipe for disaster.”
“Then why are we going through it?”
Constantine looked over at Eve and licked his bottom lip thoughtfully. “When I met her,” he said, “something in me clicked. I feel like a fool saying that out loud, but it’s the truth. And when we got Lucifer out of that cage, something else in me clicked.”
“And all those things feel like fate snapping into place?”
Con bit back a smile, “Now you sound like Lazarus.”
“Can crazy be contagious? Maybe all that sparkle power in his glittery wings did something to our heads.” He wanted to make light of a potentially heavy situation. Uriel didn’t like discussing feelings. He had too many of them lately anyway. Those fuckers should stay under a lock and key. Feelings hurt. Feelings made you care. Feelings got you stabbed a dozen times because you tried to do right for someone other than yourself.
“I don’t trust the Scourge,” he said in a low tone. “They’re too docile for being the world’s deadliest, unstoppable monsters.”
Constantine didn’t look up from the fire. “They’re our brothers. No matter what they look like now, they’re still our brothers.”
“They don’t act like our brothers. None of them are acting like themselves.”
“They’ve gone through a great deal of trauma, Uriel. Need I remind you what you were like the first time Michael—"
“No,” that was all he said and Con better not push it.
“Lazarus once said to me that Michael wished to conjure the energy of the old ones. The old Angels. That their magic was so pure, they were untouchable.”
Uriel couldn’t help but crack an ugly laugh, “If they were so un-fucking-touchable, how’d they all die then?”
“Because they were equal.”
Uriel was sick of the subject, so he got up and started making his way over to Eve. She was leaning against a tree, her knees up to her chin, and Gabriel’s tunic stretched over her legs, down to her ankles. “You okay over here?”
“Mmmm hmmm,” she stared at Lucifer and Gabriel talking in the shadows of the trees. “I’m just trying to keep myself pumped for tomorrow.”
“Pumped?” he wanted to laugh, but thinking about her in a battle against the fiercest Angels on earth was no laughing matter. “I don’t want you to fight.”
She flicked him a nasty glare and arched her brow. “Because I’m a female?”
“Because I love you.”
See? This was what happened when you didn’t keep your feelings under lock and key.
“I love you too,” Eve said quietly and, Holy Divine Light, did his insides light up, “I love all of you.”
Annnnnd then his insides exploded into fire and ash. “All of us?” Was it possible to love more than one person? He bit the inside of his cheek and looked over at Lucifer. It was a foolish thing to believe anyone would love Uriel over an Angel like Lucy. Shit, if Uriel was going to be honest with himself, maybe even he was half-in love with that big ass motherfucking Angel.
Besides, he couldn’t begrudge Eve her choices. That female had so much love in her, she’d need a fleet of her own Angels to divvy it all up.
Closing his eyes, he thought about the moment they’d all shared in the cottage - When he was on the brink of death and they’d… well, they’d done some pretty unthinkable things.
“You’re blushing,” Eve knocked his arm and Uriel swayed like she could actually budge him. “What are you thinking about?”
“You, me, what we did when you guys healed me.”
Eve’s eyes twinkled in the darkness. “Think of the fun we’ll have celebrating like that after our victory.”
Now his insides lit up again. “We’re really going to be together after this?”
“I don’t see why we wouldn’t be.”
He hated what he was about to ask, but needed to know for sure, “You wouldn’t want to be with just Lucy?”
“I want to be with all of you. We’re a pack. You have to feel it too, don’t you?”
Uriel wasn’t much for animals so he didn’t have a clue how they wo
rked. But if she was convinced they were a pack, Uriel could roll with that. He’d take happiness in any form it presented itself.
That’s what happened to males who never knew anything but pain and grief their whole life. They latched onto the good stuff like precious treasure. “I just figured you’d chose him.” Fucking fuck fuck, why couldn’t he just leave it alone!
“Why choose?” Eve yawned. “If we want it all, we should have it.”
“That’s being greedy, wouldn’t you say?”
“Only if I wanted it all for myself. Which I don’t,” she reached over and grabbed his hand, “I want this for all of us.”
He laced his fingers with hers, “Me too.”
And after tomorrow, they would get it.
Chapter 54
Lucifer waited until the others were asleep to make his escape. Gabriel wouldn’t rest unless someone he trusted was watching over Eve and the Scourge. He made it clear he didn’t trust them and was worried about Eve. The four brothers agreed to take turns watching over everyone so the rest could sleep.
Now that he was alone, Lucy made a break for it.
“You sure this is wise?” Raphael hurried to keep up with him.
“Not at all. But the prophecy was for me only. There’s no need for them to suffer more than they have already.”
The Scourge flanked Lucifer as they made it to the edge of the realm. His heart raced with anticipation of what was to come. Stepping out of the neutral realm, he felt an onslaught of terrible energy. The world was unbalanced and he could feel it like the ocean in a raging storm. The push and pull of energy ate his nerves while he slayed his conscience to get through this endeavor. The plan he devised was a risky one and lives would absolutely be lost in it. Just not the lives of his pack.
“You ready?” he said. It was the only warning he gave.
Raphael unsheathed his sword the same time Lucifer did and they swung around, impaling Cassian and Jude to the ground. The wounded Angels were immobile for a heartbeat and started thrashing around against the blades pinning them down. While Raphael held them still, Lucifer leapt on top of Nikolai, but the Angel didn’t put up a fight. He knew this was coming.
Quite frankly, they all fucking did.
Straddling Nikolai, Lucifer’s flames spread like wild fire to keep their injuries from getting worse.
“Ready?” Raphael’s deep voice cut through the air.
With a nod, Lucifer closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on keeping his fires steady. He was putting his faith in an Angel he didn’t know. An Angel who had the capability to do terribly cruel things to everyone and had chosen not to.
Whether Raphael was waiting for the perfect time to strike or not, Lucifer took a gamble and made sure it was all on him and no others were involved. If this failed, and Raphael wasn’t as true as Lucifer thought he was, then they were all fucked.
But if Eve had taught him anything, it was to never judge an animal by his cage or collar.
The Scourge weren’t monsters. They were Angels trapped in bodies that had been manipulated and pumped full of bad fucking energy and magic. If Lucifer could get his powers to align right, maybe he could drain it out of them and set them free. Cure them. Undo them.
And then the second phase of this act would go into effect.
“I think it’s working!” Raphael’s arms shook with the energy swirling around him.
But something wasn’t right. Energy slammed into Lucifer from all ends and he struggled to keep it from penetrating him. Letting go of Nikolai, Lucifer thrust his arms and wings out, making a star with his body to contain the magics syphoning out of the three Angels pinned to the ground.
“I can’t…hold it…much…longer.” His pulse beat loud in his ears. His vision wavered. The stench of the Scourge got stronger and he couldn’t breathe.
Lucifer’s fires flickered. Raphael levitated above them. With a mighty roar, Lucifer wrenched the swords out of Jude and Cassian. Their bodies arched as screams tore out of their mouths. Nikolai clawed the air, his boots digging into the earth while his head lashed back and cracked the ground over and over again.
BOOM!
Everything stopped.
The fire extinguished. The roar in Lucifer’s ears silenced. The screams of the Angels died. Raphael hovered above them for a moment longer and then he crashed onto the ground, face first. Lucifer dropped to his knees, gasping for air with his eyes peeled wide and heart racing. “Raphael,” he croaked.
The Angel growled. It was unearthly. Chilling.
Deadly.
Lucifer grabbed Cassian’s shoulder and shoved him to get up. “Move. All of you move out of his way.”
They scrambled – each of their wings were still leathery, but their coloring was back to normal and their wounds – old and fresh – had healed. Relief knocked on the doors to Lucifer’s heart. If this worked, the three of them were free from Michael’s magics and Raphael just succeeded in taking all the evil, vile magic into himself.
That was the kicker of this plan. Lucifer had gone to Raphael earlier, offering him a deal: Fealty in exchange for Lucifer’s help in trying to free the others of the Scourge’s hold…
“This kind of magic must be contained,” Raphael explained. “Michael threatened us when we first woke up from being re-made into monsters. He said that if we tried to take each other out as a mercy to one another, the magic would only transfer to those left.”
“He wanted you to kill each other to see who would be greedy enough to take it all for themselves?”
Raphael shrugged, “Or he knew we’d take pity on one another and try to put each other out of our misery, which means there’d be only one survivor in the end.”
“There would be no true end. Someone’s going to have to suffer so all others would not.”
Raphael winced with regret. “I don’t want them to be cursed like this. If I can take it all in me, I’d rather that then share this burden.”
“But what about you? You can’t be left to run free with the Scourge’s power in you,” Lucifer warned. No way would he let something so deadly run loose. Not after knowing they couldn’t control their urge to shed blood and destroy everything – including souls.
Raphael told him exactly what he wanted Lucifer to do. It made Lucifer sick to his stomach, but if those were Raphael’s wishes, then he’d respect them. And it made sense. All of this made a lot of sense. “Are you sure about this?”
“Absolutely,” Raphael said. “I’m tired, Lucifer. I want out of this life. At least this way my existence will mean something.”
Lucifer agreed because he felt like he was in the same boat. He didn’t want his brothers to suffer any more than they already had. That’s why he left them while they were asleep. When they woke, the war against Michael would be over.
Jude rolled over on his hand and knees and vomited all over the grass. Black, sticky substance oozed out of his mouth.
Nikolai’s eyes were bloodshot. All the vessels in his face had burst and his cheeks and eyes looked like red spider webs.
Cassian’s nose dripped blood and his tremors made even his head twitch. “What have you done?” His voice was deep and raspy. Wobbling on his feet, he turned and gawked at Raphael. “No.”
The Scourge’s last Angel looked like a nightmare. Nothing about Raphael was the same. Cassian stumbled towards him.
“Stay back,” Lucifer warned. “Give him a minute.”
Jude wiped his mouth off and stayed on the ground, staring up at Raphael. Nikolai’s eyes turned glassy and his mouth tightened into a thin line.
“You saved us,” Cassian croaked. “You fucking, ASSHOLE!”
Raphael aimed his hand at Cassian and lifted the brother clean off the ground and slammed him down.
“Stop!” Lucifer shoved Raphael’s hand down, breaking whatever connection there was.
Cassian let out a holler and rolled onto his back, clutching his chest.
Shit, this wasn’t good. “He doesn’t k
now you right now,” Lucifer said. “He’s not right in the head.” And yet, Raphael was calm and guarded with Lucifer in his space. “Can you hear me?”
Raphael nodded. His voice was sin dripping in venom, “I’m fine…” he snapped his teeth. “They cannot come close though.”
“You fucking dick!” Jude’s words were angry and devastating. “We were together, brother! TOGETHER!”
“I’m not… going to let you… suffer like this.” Raphael struggled to reign in his collective power.
“You expect us to let you suffer for us?”
“It’s… all I know… anyway.” Raphael’s wings crackled. The matted magic stuck to him solidified and melted into him. Lifting into the air, he flapped his leathery wings. They cut through the air with a high-pitched sound – like a horse screaming. “Go… back… to the others. Do right…” Raphael bit back whatever he was going to say next.
Jude took a step closer, “Raphael… please don’t do this.”
“You’re…. welcome.” Raphael turned and, with Lucifer by his side, headed towards the Protection Sect and neither of them looked back.
Chapter 55
By the time they crossed the border, Raphael regained his composure and could walk on his own, which meant he now held Lucifer like a captive. All part of the plan… all part of the plan…
Rave and several others were waiting with their blades drawn, as if expecting their arrival.
“Get out of my way,” Raphael’s voice was commanding and fierce.
Lucifer didn’t miss the various looks on everyone’s faces. Yeah, that’s right, back up nice and slow motherfuckers. Let the wolves in. He kept his mouth shut and played the part of a prisoner. They walked right through the throng of warriors, who parted like the sea for them, and went straight into the courtyard of the brotherhood.
“Michael!” Raphael roared in a morphed voice.
Lucifer’s heart kept a steady, calm pace. His skin was mottled, the darkness slithering around him like it didn’t know where to stop and stay. His eyes watered from the stench coming off of Raphael.
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