by Mary Ting
“What are you talking about? Ko wasn’t free yet. How could he give Marcus orders, and how would you know this?”
“Marcus told me after he killed Mayra, he was going to kill you next and capture Uriel so he could open the Book of Watchers to get Ko and his followers out. I don’t know how Ko was able to communicate with Marcus. I suppose Ko had a backup plan. I swear it on my life, boy. I’m telling you the truth. Haven’t I proved my loyalty enough times?”
Jonah tossed the dagger aside. “I’m sorry. I just didn’t want to believe Mayra could play double agent.”
“You’re so pathetic.” Lucifer sounded irate. “You’re going to believe him, Jonah? He’s the double agent.”
“Shut the hell up.” Jonah picked up the dagger and tossed it far across to the flickering light. “We’re running out of time, so give us the damn book.”
“I’m not done yet. I have one more being to torture.”
Samyaza stumbled forward when the board behind him disappeared. Then I slammed against something hard.
I couldn’t move, not even to twitch.
“Let her go, Lucifer,” Uriel’s voice boomed.
“Or else what, Uriel? I’m having so much fun. I can’t wait to hear what you’re thinking. Tell me. How does it feel to have a daughter? Out of all the archangels, I wouldn’t have guessed you would go against your number one rule.” Lucifer clucked his tongue. “Such a bad boy you’ve been. You know, beings who lie do get found out. The truth comes out eventually when you least expect it. It will bite you back tenfold. Even I know that.”
“What do you want to know?” Uriel’s shoulders slackened with a sigh.
“Does Keira know that you knew all along you were her father?”
“He’s not my father,” I spat.
Something was happening to me. The invisible force that imprisoned me twisted tighter. I sucked in air and whimpered.
“Don’t hurt her.” Daniel balled his fingers.
He examined the board for a way to release me. But there was nothing visible to unlock or cut.
“I didn’t know,” Uriel said, a hint of hurt in his tone.
“You lie. I can feel it. You’re holding something back. Just confess and it will be all right. Isn’t that what you said to me before?”
I screamed. Pain ripped through me as if claws punctured my stomach. Blood spilled, soaking my shirt. My breath heaved, chest rising and falling.
“No confession, Uriel?” Lucifer’s malicious voice resonated around us.
When Uriel didn’t answer, something sharp stabbed my thighs, and more blood spilled. I hollered in agony.
“Do something.” Jonah shook Uriel.
Uriel couldn’t look at me, but he tensed. He looked guilty.
Archangels were created differently. Their hearts were stronger physically and emotionally. They could detach their emotions, to do what was right by humanity and not for their own selfish needs and wants.
Whatever Lucifer wanted, Uriel would not give it. Not for his brothers and certainly not for a daughter he’d never wanted. I was nobody to him.
Uriel turned to me, his eyes meeting mine. “Yes. I had a feeling when Abigale told me she had something to tell me, but I didn’t want to believe it. She was my first and my last. There will be no other after her. To care for someone is too painful, especially when you loved that person with your whole heart and soul. This is why I can’t have a daughter. I’m not worthy. I’m weak, and I am a coward.”
Tears threatened to fall. I’d imagined so many scenarios of finding out who my parents were and finding out my father didn’t want me hurt more than I wanted to admit. Uriel confessing he was my father made it true. And worse, he didn’t want me. He didn’t want to acknowledge me as his own.
My mother’s name was Abigale. At least she’d loved me, I was sure of it. I wanted to know so much more about her. But it would have to wait, or perhaps this would be the way I died. Uriel would not save me. He’d just said it.
Dead silence.
“Awww.” Clapping from Lucifer echoed off the rocks. “Good. See, that wasn’t so bad. The truth will set you free, Uriel. Now that you have confessed, I believe you will feel differently now. A part of you wishes you were a human, living with Abigale and your daughter, don’t you?”
“You don’t know how I feel or what I want.”
“Come on now, brother. You already confessed one thing. You can tell me the truth. A part of you wants to live it. To breathe like humans. To love like they do. Don’t you?”
I took it as a yes when he didn’t answer.
“Give me that book, Lucifer, before I bring you down.”
Lucifer gave a deep, belly laugh. “You threaten me, but you and I know you can’t do it on your own. Besides, if you bring down Hell, where would the demons’ spirits go? To the human world perhaps. So think about what you say.”
“Stop playing games. Tell me what you want.”
“I want one-day access to the human world. My minions tell me so much of the world has changed. So many people. I want to see it.” The excitement in Lucifer’s voice was palpable.
“No.”
“Then I’ll crush your daughter.” His angered voice pounded in my ear, making me wince.
“You know very well I can’t grant that wish.” Uriel looked at me, worry crossing his features.
He cares?
“Oh, but there is a way. There’s always a way.”
Uriel bristled, and the crinkles around his eyes deepened. “No.”
I yelled again. Sweat beaded on my forehead. My chest … my heart … Tighter and tighter the power constricted around me. The unbearable pain seized my thoughts and my voice.
“Stop. Stop. Stop!” Daniel begged.
I would die then and there. Everything around me blurred. My ears rang with a steady shrill, and my heart stopped beating. I closed my eyes.
Drifting.
Darkness.
Time seemed to still.
I swallowed air and gasped as if breaking through water.
The horror had gone. My head drooped, my muscles slackened. I wanted to die. I thought I had. So weak. My body went limp, but Lucifer’s invisible force still held me in place.
Had he brought me back to life only to torture me again?
I had no concept of time and place. Voices faded in and out.
Lucifer’s happy chuckle rang in my ears. “I knew you would cave. You care for your daughter after all. You’re weak. Pathetic. You don’t deserve what you crave in your heart. You will never get it.”
Chapter 18
Lucifer’s Trick
Uriel
I came so close to breaking Hell into a million pieces, but I had no power here. My threats to Lucifer were empty. In truth, I couldn’t hurt him, and he knew it.
Lucifer had been given this wretched place to rule, to suffer for eternity. It was the reason none of us could travel to Hell to kill him. A few of my brothers had tried, but failed, and had been sent to Hell themselves.
As for me, I couldn’t believe the outpouring of my confession, but even after that, my companions couldn’t see my monumental guilt.
Abigale and I started as friends. A mistake on my part. I didn’t know spending time with her would spark an emotion I’d never thought possible.
It had been a moment of weakness, and I’d let it happen. To feel her flesh upon mine. To understand passion and desire. There was no stopping when Abigale seduced me with a kiss, and then her touch blazed me to my core.
That moment of weakness had cost me. I’d led Abigale to think we could build a life together. Maybe we could have, had my brothers not been sucked into the Book of Watchers. No—impossible. My dedication lay with the archangels and what I stood for. But I had been confused, torn between the two.
In a way, I understood Samyaza. He’d stayed so long with humans he probably thought he was one. Living among them must have been extremely difficult, keeping all emotions at bay. One could only hold
out for so long, especially after falling in love.
Keira crumpled to the ground when Lucifer released her. I wanted to go to her, but I kept my distance. I didn’t even glance her way, for I felt ashamed. Ashamed I’d had an inkling she was mine, but never bothered to find out.
When I’d first met Keira, I’d thought she looked familiar. It hurt to look at her, and now I knew why. It was her eyes. Her eyes reminded me of Abigale’s—dark and fierce, and full of life. I had failed to notice then, but I now saw them so clearly.
Daniel helped her up. Her friends gathered around her. I wondered who had raised her. What her childhood was like. Did she wonder who her real parents were?
I didn’t want to get attached, and neither should she. Keira had already disavowed me as her father. She loathed me. It was better this way.
But, even knowing the cost, I could not let Lucifer kill my daughter. Saying my daughter sounded so strange in my head. I wasn’t sure if I could say it out loud.
I had to stop thinking.
“I’m giving you your wish. Now give me that damn book.” My roar shook the ground.
“Patience, my brother. If anything, I learned how to be patient from my eternal kingdom. You can join me if you’d like.”
A figure appeared—a long dark shadow. As the silhouette neared me, it shrank to about six feet. He was clad in a black suit, and his blazing fire eyes met mine.
“Hello, Uriel.”
His cooing voice disgusted me. The clang told me weapons were drawn from those standing behind me.
“No greeting for your brother?”
I wanted to tear through his smirk.
“You don’t deserve—”
“What? To be in your holy presence?”
Lucifer paced around us, examining us with those cunning, keen eyes. “Don’t bother with your weapons, friends. They will do no good here. If I wanted you dead, you would already be. You’re in my domain now.”
I felt so helpless as rage gnawed at me. Never had I been at the mercy of this monster. Never had I ever been out of control.
I grabbed Lucifer by the throat and slammed him to the ground. “Give me the book, Lucifer. I’ve had enough of your games.”
“Do it. Kill me. I dare you.” Lucifer struggled to get the words out from under my vise grip.
Power surged and grew inside me. It begged for release, and I gave in.
I gave in to the memory of the deaths of my brothers at his hands. The misery he had caused for the poor, innocent humans. For all the evil and chaos in the world.
The ground rumbled. My illuminated eyes blinded me, hiding Lucifer’s face, and then everyone else’s. Oh God, what was I doing? Stop. But the anger. Who was I mad at? Lucifer or myself?
Something hit me hard on the back of the head. I dropped to the ground but jolted back up.
“Sorry, but I don’t want to die here.” Jonah placed his sword by his side.
He must have knocked me with the hilt and good thing he had. The ground had split in spidery lines all around us. With the right amount of pressure, we all would have crumbled. I could have killed everyone.
Lucifer stood, dusted dirt off his jacket, and raked his hair back as if nothing I had done fazed him. “Like I said, brother. You need to learn to be patient. God made a mistake when He gave us a heart and soul like the humans but expected us to hide our emotions as if we never had them. That was a major error. I understand, so I forgive you. Had you had even a little patience, I would have given you the book.”
Forgive me? Forgive ME?
I nearly jumped on him again.
Calm down. Play smarter, idiot.
“And because I understand,” he went on, “I’m going to give it to you. It was a good thing I didn’t burn it.” Lucifer’s lips twitched, his eyes sparkling with humor. “You know, I didn’t know what it was at first. I felt something different in the air, so I went searching for the source. I happened to stumble upon it. It’s a good thing I did. The fools who hid it, thinking they were being clever, never thought I would find out. So now that our deal will be sealed, I’ll leave you be. I need to go now and plan the day I’ll set my feet in the human world. I can’t wait.”
“Nothing is sealed until I get the book. And it’s only for a day.”
Lucifer blinked out of existence then reappeared in front of me, face to face. “Don’t worry. I know. I will seal it. And by the way, since you’ve been so kind to me, I have another secret to share.”
I clenched my jaw and readied my fists to punch his face if he said the wrong thing. “I don’t want to hear anything you have to say.”
“Oh, but you do.” He leaned closer to me, his mouth nearly touching my ear. “She lives. Your Abigale lives. But you’ll have to find her.”
I yanked on Lucifer’s lapels, drawing his face even closer to mine. “Tell me where she is. I swear if you harm her, I’ll kill you.”
“I don’t know. I swear it on my life. But you must hurry. For if a part of her dies, the other will live.”
“What are you talking about? You make no sense.” I shook him, desperation controlling me.
Lucifer disappeared like a magic trick and a book appeared in his place. I went to retrieve it when six books emerged, surrounding it. Before I could grab it, twelve more, and then more and more surfaced.
“Lucifer!” My voice thundered.
Lucifer’s boisterous laugh ricocheted within the cave, making me sick to my stomach.
“You didn’t tell me you only wanted one. But before I part, I leave you with a gift. See if you can figure it out.” He winked. “Two brightest stars in the sky fall. One falls from the light. One falls from the dark. But there is a price the stars must pay. One will live. One will die. Or forever lost to pain. Fear not, for there is release. A child of love and scorn is the key. For the gatekeeper she will be.”
What the hell did he mean? A riddle? If he knew anything, he wouldn’t have told me outright. His words were a clue. A clue I had no idea how to solve.
Before I uttered a word, books were being opened and tossed by my companions. This would take forever.
Instead of copying their actions, I placed out my hands as if they were an antenna, feeling for the book with my power.
Nothing.
Something was amiss. The Divine Councilors had hidden it. They wouldn’t have made it easy for Lucifer to find the book. Perhaps Lucifer was playing me, and he didn’t know what I was talking about. He could have acted on the cues we’d given him and conjured up any book. I didn’t know what it looked like.
Think.
How would the Divine Councilors ensure nobody found it? Somebody had to know. What could it be … Mayra.
Mayra had told me to look under the angel statues Enoch’s mother had gifted him when she traveled abroad. Why? Of all the things she could have told me, why that?
I had found the broken pieces when Jonah’s apartment had been raided. Words had been etched under the broken statues and …
The Book of Enchantresses was a spell book. A spell would be cast upon it. Words used that only the divine would know. Words only the divine would think to use.
Then it hit me. The angel statue. When I put them together, it read …
“Spread your wings and fly,” I bellowed the words as if my life counted on it.
Not from the ground, nor from high above, but somewhere in the middle, vapor appeared. A white-winged book etched in intricate gold swirls flew toward me. The wings flapped, carrying the book into my hands.
Lucifer hadn’t had the book. The one he’d tricked us with looked similar but had silver designs. I should have known better.
The books my team had picked up thumped on the ground. They too realized Lucifer had played them. Had I not recalled the words, we would have been here searching for God knows how long.
“Your deal is off, Lucifer. You did not deliver my end of the bargain.”
No words from Lucifer. Hell rumbled and shook. Then without any warning,
my team members were thrown across space, slamming into the wall.
Damn you, Lucifer.
The quaking did not stop, as the cracks I had caused shredded even more. Something burst between the lines that grew deeper and wider. Hot lava of molten red and orange spurted upward like a broken sprinkler.
“Run!”
Chapter 19
Shadow Demons
Keira
I thrashed against the structure and crashed to the dirt. Pain shot like an electric shock and coursed through my body. Daniel fell close to me, and the others at opposite ends. I shook my head, trying to keep everything from spinning.
Get up. Or you will die.
Daniel rushed to me and helped me up. I stumbled to my left, and then right, barely keeping steady. The ground continued to roll and hot lava fireballs spat upward.
I jumped to the side, dragging Daniel with me. Had I not, he would have been engulfed in flames.
Sweat beaded my forehead as the temperature rose. I didn’t know which way to go. How do we get out of here?
Sharp wind pushed me. Uriel, Jonah, and Samyaza blew a mighty breath, but they wouldn’t be able to contain the fire. Too late. Worse still, some sort of demons swooped in the air, coming from underground and from the walls.
“What in Heaven are those?” Suri held her sword in front.
“They’re called shadow demons.” Kai readied his weapons and looked over his shoulder. “They do not have a physical body. They are the souls of the dead, sent here to suffer for eternity for all their wrongdoing. They are Lucifer’s army. They are fast and furious, seeking only death and revenge.”
As Kai spoke, a group of them soared toward us all at once. With my bow at hand, I fired, but it went straight through the oncoming form.
As Kai said, they were ghosts.
One came straight at me. Inside the black hood was empty space where the face should have been. So I thought. When it neared me, its ebony eyes glowed and its mouth opened, revealing razor-sharp teeth. And then another mouth appeared within, and then another.