Into Hell (The Road to Hell Series, Book 4)

by Brenda K. Davies

  “I will,” she said as she carefully picked her way through the remains. She held her eyes in such a way that I knew she could see where she put her feet to avoid stepping on anyone, but she didn’t see the faces of those who had died here.

  Cresting the top of a small hill, red filled my vision when I spotted Lucifer sitting a hundred feet downhill from us on my throne. River’s brothers were with him. I knew then that he’d taken the thrones from Hell with the intent of baiting me into a fight I wasn’t prepared for. Before River entered my life, he would have succeeded, but she had calmed me and made it so I at least paused to think before reacting. Even if I did want to fly at him in a rage, I would not leave her unprotected.

  River lifted her head and released a startled cry before stumbling forward. Pulling her back, I clasped her firmly against my side when she wriggled to break free of my hold.

  “Bailey,” she whispered. “Gage.”

  “I will get them back,” I promised. “But you are to stay by me.”

  Her body tensed to spring forward, but she stopped fighting my restraining hold. From closer than ever before, the roar of a drakón sounded through the day. The shadow of one darkened the ground between us and Lucifer when it flew overhead. My teeth clenched when I realized that they hadn’t been hunting as they moved across the Earth; they’d been following us.

  Blue fire trailed from the bones of the drakón as it soared low over the trees behind Lucifer and disappeared. Between us, green grass rolled down the hill toward Lucifer as no bodies or blood marked the land. I doubted Lucifer felt any regret over what he’d done to the humans and settled here because he couldn’t stand the reminder their bodies provided. He’d chosen this place because the breeze carried the stench of the carnage away from here.

  “Remember, you must help Raphael when it becomes necessary,” I said in a low voice to River.

  She nodded, but flames flared across the tips of her fingers instead of sparks, and I could feel the fury rolling off her.

  Lucifer smiled and waved his hand at us in a beckoning gesture. “Come! Come!” he called excitedly.

  “I hate that guy,” Hawk stated.

  “We all do,” Magnus replied. “It’s why he’s trying to kill us.”

  We’d lost the first part of this battle, but I would not leave here until this was ended. Either Lucifer or I would die today.

  Lucifer’s grin widened as we neared. Resting his elbow on the arm of my throne, he set his chin on his fist. He draped one leg over the other arm and swung his foot idly back and forth while he gazed at us.

  Behind Lucifer, the rest of the angels descended from the sky to form a line. Beside my throne sat River’s; her brother Gage was seated on it. A barta demon stood behind Gage. Its clawed hand curled around Gage’s thin shoulder, pinning the child against the back of the throne. Gage’s brown eyes followed his sister. His freckles stood out starkly against the pallor of his skin, but like his sister, he remained stoic in the face of fear.

  “That’s far enough!” Lucifer declared when we were twenty feet away.

  I glanced behind me to the wall of demons and Hell creatures lined up to block our retreat. River tensed against me when Lucifer rested his hand on top of Bailey’s blond head. The young child sat before Lucifer on the throne, his blue eyes filled with tears and his fist in his mouth as he sucked on his hand.

  Pulling his hand from his mouth, Bailey shouted a garbled, “River!”

  The child tried to leap down, but Lucifer held him back.

  “Don’t!” River shouted.

  I held her close when she lurched toward her brothers again. Tears slid down Bailey’s flushed cheeks as he tipped his head back to gaze at Lucifer before looking to River. He shoved his hand into his mouth once more.

  “You’re in no position to tell me what to do, daughter, and apparently, niece,” Lucifer hissed through his bared teeth.

  “It’s okay, B,” River said. “It’s all going to be okay. How are you doing, Gage?”

  “I’ve been better, Pittah. Yourself?”

  “Seen better days too,” she replied.

  Gage glanced at Lucifer and a crack in his brave façade showed as his hands trembled. “Did you see… ah… did you see everyone?” he croaked.

  “Yes,” River said. “Did you?” Her fingers dug into my flesh as she uttered the question and she didn’t breathe.

  “Only some,” Gage whispered. “When they were dro…” Gage cleared his throat. “Dropped.”

  River’s grip on me eased only slightly. “It’s going to be okay. We’re going to get you both out of here soon.”

  Lucifer pressed his lips against Bailey’s ear. “My siblings lied to me too. Don’t believe anything she says,” he said, and more tears streamed from Bailey’s blue eyes. “She’s descended from one of those liars, but which… one… is… it?”

  With each of those last four words, he turned Bailey’s head back and forth in a jerking motion. Fire flashed over River’s fingers and up to her wrists. Gage gawked at the flames and Bailey sobbed harder.

  “I’ll take Bailey’s place,” River offered.

  Lucifer laughed when my arm tightened around her. “The varcolac will never let you do that, daughter.”

  “The children have nothing to do with this,” I growled when the flames on River’s fingers went out and golden-blue sparks came to life.

  “They have far more to do with this than I ever could have dreamed possible!” Lucifer declared and started turning Bailey’s head back and forth again. “Imagine my astonishment when her mother started rattling on about voices, and devil spawn, and yada boring fucking yada. I almost killed her just to shut her up. How did you live with that pitiful creature all those years?” Lucifer asked River.

  She glowered back at him.

  “Not speaking, oh well,” Lucifer replied. “So anyway, she was rambling on when something clicked into place. I mean, I know certain humans have special abilities, but amid her endless bullshit, I realized she actually believes in angels and demons. She knew I was your father, and even if a human has special abilities, they cannot speak with the angels, unless they are part angel. Maybe I could have passed her off as just being crazy, but then I recalled all the power you unleashed on those seals, and that really got me to thinking.”

  Lucifer tapped one finger against his temple while his other hand constricted on Bailey’s head and he leaned forward. Nudging River behind me, I planted myself firmly in front of her.

  “Since I know my line, and the lines of all the angels who fell with me, and I know your mother isn’t descended from any of us, I realized it must be someone else. But who? I asked myself. And how could that ever be possible?” Now he tapped his finger against his chin as his foot swung faster.

  “I asked myself these questions over and over again,” Lucifer continued. “I even said to myself, perhaps we lost a line. We angels are not perfect after all. So maybe we could have somehow lost track of a child over the countless years. But I couldn’t quite bring myself to buy it, not when I felt that I would have at least sensed the DNA of another fallen angel within you. Eventually I realized your mother speaking to the angels could only mean that the fallen were not the only ones with children roaming Earth. Since I never saw Ariel heavy with child, it could only be one other angel.”

  Lucifer’s gaze went from River to Raphael when he came forward to stand on the other side of her. Loathing exuded from Lucifer when he snarled at Raphael. Bailey tried to squirm away, but Lucifer held him in place.

  “Raphael,” Lucifer bit out.

  “Lucifer,” Raphael replied blandly.

  “That is not my name!” Lucifer snapped. “I forsook it when I forsook all of you.”

  Raphael bristled beside River.

  “Do not instigate him when he has the children,” I commanded.

  Raphael glanced at River before bowing his head.

  “Still a follower I see,” Lucifer sneered at Raphael. “I bet Michael sent you he
re to clean up his mess. The angel’s large, shiny, warrior lapdog.”

  Dust fell from Raphael’s wings when he ruffled them, but he didn’t rise to Lucifer’s baiting.

  “Deny to me that Michael had a child while on Earth!” Lucifer shouted at him.

  “I cannot,” Raphael replied.

  Lucifer blinked as if he’d never expected to hear the blunt admission. Lucifer released his grip on Bailey’s head and began to pet the child as he gazed at the horizon. A distraught sound escaped River, but she didn’t try to go after them again.

  Then Lucifer stilled completely, and his eyes returned to Raphael. “Adam!” Lucifer spat.

  The world slanted precariously as Lucifer unleashed his ability to disorient his prey. The vast wave of power he emitted crackled against my skin. Raphael staggered to the side before planting his feet. River’s legs wobbled, but I held her steady.

  Around me, the others stumbled back and forth as if the ground lurched from side to side, though it never moved. Lucifer could make the world appear as if it were shifting when it hadn’t. More accustomed to this ability of Lucifer’s, I remained unmoving.

  Lucifer leaned over Bailey, locking the child in a cage created by his arms as he tee-peed his fingers before his face and gazed at me. The world behind him blurred and twisted. River clutched her head.

  “It’s not real,” I murmured to her. “None of it is real.”

  The earth seemed to shift away before settling into place as Lucifer regained control of his temper. River’s hand fell back to her side, but her head remained bowed as she struggled to catch her breath.

  “Do you know why the varcolac rises from the fires?” Lucifer asked me.

  “I don’t care,” I replied blandly.

  “You were forged from the flames of Hell, and the angels were created from the waters of Heaven,” he continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “Two opposite elements; two completely different creatures. All of them not born of a mother, but from a piece of their worlds. The angels guided the souls in Heaven, and the varcolac guided the demons in Hell.

  “The being knew some horrible things could evolve in Hell, and so it forged creatures”—he waved a hand at the hounds prowling before me—“and a leader who would be capable of ruling those creatures. That leader also had to be able to protect the demons from any threats that may arise in that abysmal place. Like the angels, the demons are a necessary part of the flow of life.”

  Widening my stance, I felt the others creeping closer as Lucifer’s words lured them in. I studied the way he held Bailey as I tried to figure out a way to get the child free, without killing him.

  “The markings on the varcolac, on this throne, they can all be found in Heaven too,” Lucifer said. “Did you know the first varcolac rose from the fires before the first angel rose in Heaven?

  “No, you didn’t,” he continued when no one responded to him. “When Hell broke from Earth first, the being resided there. But then Heaven came into existence and the being knew it would be needed there too. No matter how powerful the being was, it did not have the power to reside and rule over all three planes. Before it left Hell, it left some of its power behind. That power made it possible to forge a single ruler every time the previous one died.”

  “Holy shit,” Vargas said.

  I remained silent as I tried to deny what Lucifer said, but I couldn’t. I had been the one forged in those fires after all. I carried their vast power with me everywhere I went.

  “Then the being created the angels and retreated. It left us to find our own way on this great spinning ball the humans dubbed Earth.”

  CHAPTER 54

  River

  The dizzying effect of Lucifer’s power still had my head reeling as I tried to slip these last pieces of the puzzle into place. My hands clenched on Kobal’s back when his muscles rippled against me.

  “Are you saying the varcolac is an angel?” I croaked out as I finally succeeded in blinking Lucifer and Bailey back into place. My molars ground together at the sight of my brother sitting with that monster. I’d like nothing more than to tear Lucifer’s hands off for touching him.

  Remain calm.

  Lucifer laughed and leaned back to slap his hand on his thigh. The white shirt he wore carried no hint of blood, neither did his black pants. He must have taken the time to change after he massacred my friends. That somehow made it even worse.

  “Not an angel, child, but a creation of the being just like the angels are!” Lucifer declared.

  “I am nothing like the angels,” Kobal replied with steely calm, though I knew this revelation had to have rocked him too.

  I thought back to all the markings on the stones, the vast power within the cavern housing the Fires of Creation, and I finally understood where all that power came from. The Fires of Creation were where the being had once weaved an ancient magic so powerful none of us could ever comprehend it. Not Kobal, not Lucifer, no one.

  No wonder the Fires had been capable of destroying my wraith of a father.

  “However, it makes him more like angels than it does the demons,” Lucifer said.

  I realized he was revealing all this in an attempt to drive a wedge between Kobal and the demons.

  “If you truly think about it, the varcolac was more favored by the being than any of the angels,” Lucifer continued. “The varcolac can enjoy the pleasures of the flesh without penance.” He shot a look at Raphael. “If they find their Chosen, they can breed even if they aren’t capable of passing on their abilities to their offspring. But then, their abilities aren’t really their own, and when they die, those abilities return to the fires that created them and a new varcolac rises with new powers.”

  My breath sucked in as that little puzzle piece clicked into place too. I’d never really questioned why Kobal couldn’t pass on his abilities to his offspring; I’d just accepted it as one of those things that could never be explained, but it made sense now. When a new varcolac rose, their powers would be different from the varcolacs who came before them, but some would remain the same.

  “The varcolac was also allowed to walk Earth whenever it chose, and all the while, it was never burdened with the knowledge of what created it,” Lucifer continued.

  “That’s why you destroyed the varcolac when you first entered Hell!” I gasped. “Because you were envious of what it had been given and you had been denied.”

  “Why should a Hell creature be treated better than any of us? Why should a Hell creature, created by the same being as us, refuse to open a gateway for us and deny us the right to walk on Earth like the angels had? What right did it have to control us in such a way! Why were those hideous demons allowed to roam the Earth, while we were denied?” Spittle flew from Lucifer’s lips as he shouted this question at me.

  Because you would have destroyed the world, but I kept that thought to myself as my gaze shifted to Bailey’s flushed, wet face.

  “It does not matter.” Lucifer leaned forward on the throne to peer intently at me. His movement revealed the intricate carvings behind his back, carvings that mirrored many of the markings on Kobal’s arms. My gaze ran over the heads of the hounds on the arms, and the two hounds on top of the stone chair, howling at the sky. My attention shifted to the throne Gage sat on and the intricate symbols etched into it. The vast power in those thrones radiated into the marrow of my bones.

  “No one should have denied us access to Earth,” Lucifer said. “When I explained to the first varcolac what he was and how alike we were, he still refused to let us out of Hell, so I killed him. I didn’t bother to explain it to the next one before killing her too. If we angels could not have Earth, we would have Hell.

  “In the beginning, it was great fun to take out each new varcolac—they were the only real challenge in that disgusting place—but the Fires kept learning and twisting and forging them stronger until he came out,” Lucifer said with a pointed glance at Kobal.

  Kobal tensed against me, a rumble went through his chest, but h
e kept himself restrained from going after Lucifer—most likely because he wouldn’t chance letting me go right now.

  “Like humans, demons are an evolutionary species too,” Kobal said. “It is why they were allowed to walk the Earth. However, they never did so freely, and those who broke the rules were punished for it. It seems a fair amount of those demons stand behind you now,” Kobal replied.

  “And the many demons standing behind you are fighting for a leader who isn’t truly one of them,” Lucifer replied. “You are so similar to an angel, rather than demon, that you have taken the daughter of two angels as your Chosen.”

  I didn’t dare look back at the demons to see their reactions to Lucifer’s words. Kobal’s claws lengthened against my side. His eyes glowed as hot as the fires he rose from while he gazed at Lucifer before turning his head to level Raphael with a look that made those closest to the angel edge away from him.

  “Is that what you meant at the house when you said, ‘Though, I suppose that makes sense?’” Kobal snarled at him.

  “Yes,” Raphael replied with zero remorse. “There is a deep intertwining of all our worlds, and with the strength of both your powers and heritage, it makes sense you would have a connection to each other.”

  The ceasing of Kobal’s breathing had me shifting subtly to stand between them. Kobal tensed to strike, and I knew if he’d been confident I wouldn’t go for Lucifer, he would have destroyed Raphael.

  “But you must realize the angels didn’t know the varcolac was unaware of its true origins until we were in Hell,” Caim said as he strolled forward to stand beside me and in between Raphael and Kobal. “Which means Raphael is also just learning that you were unaware of your origins.”

  I heaved a sigh of relief when Kobal relaxed a little against me, but he kept his eyes on Raphael.

  “That is true,” Raphael said.

  “Look at the cousins squabbling!” Lucifer declared and slapped his thigh again as he laughed loudly.

  His words drew everyone’s attention back to him, as he’d intended. I’d come to realize that Lucifer needed to be the center of attention; he thrived on it. The hostility from Kobal and the demons behind us ratcheted up as all the angels smirked and a few laughed outright.