Celestial Storm

by Emma L. Adams

  Casthus crossed the room in a wingbeat, grabbing Nikolas around the throat and giving him a shake. “Well? Is she speaking the truth.”

  “Yes,” he rasped. “Yes, she is.”

  “And you decided to warn me out of the goodness of your heart?” queried the arch-demon.

  “No, because your power destroys demonglass,” I said. “Lythocrax tied his soul to it. I got the impression that’s not a common ability, even in the nether realms.”

  The arch-demon’s attention focused on me. “Do you know what demonglass is, Devina? I assumed you did, but perhaps I was mistaken.”

  Now he wants a chat? “Yes, I do. Demonglass is from the nether realms, and it’s the source of Lythocrax’s power.”

  “Very interesting,” he said. “Maybe I shouldn’t have been so quick to forgive you for ridding this realm of the fallen.”

  “What?” I blinked, startled. “What does that mean?”

  “Maybe I will talk to this… Lythocrax, if that’s what he calls himself,” said Casthus. He held up the pentagram. “It always amazes me what humans devise to make up for their lack of power, as though they would ever be our equals.”

  Keep bashing humans. I don’t care. He’d offered us a lifeline. If the two met face to face—if nothing else, Lythocrax would get one hell of a surprise. Unless he’d anticipated my plan, like he did everything else.

  “I think I’ll let you be the one to summon him, Devi,” Casthus said, holding the pentagram out.

  I hope he burns you alive. It was hard to say who I hated more, in this moment. Looking at Nikolas’s ruined face made my heart twist.

  I swallowed, closed my eyes, and told myself that I was doing this for both of us.

  “I summon the arch-demon Lythocrax, otherwise known as—”

  There was a flash of light, burning the backs of my eyelids. My eyes flew open. A glassy golden substance spread across the handmade pentagram’s surface, and Casthus laid it on the floor. The golden substance rose into the air, solidifying into a sheet of glass. Within it, Lythocrax’s face appeared in the glass. Smiling at me.

  “Did you really think I could be contained, Devina?”

  “Not me. Someone else wants to talk to you, and he’s not playing nice.”

  The glassy form of Lythocrax turned slowly to face the huge, monstrous shadowy arch-demon.

  Casthus gave him a long look. “So this is the form you take now?”

  “A temporary one,” said Lythocrax.

  “You know one another?” I said disbelievingly. They both ignored me. Then it hit me—Casthus hadn’t recognised Lythocrax’s name, but it wasn’t a stretch to imagine they might have known one another as Divinities.

  “What argument do you have with the realm the divines call Earth?” queried Casthus. “It never held any interest for you before.”

  “None,” Lythocrax growled. “I plan to recreate it once the celestials are razed from existence and an example is made of the one who defied me.”

  “This one?” Casthus stabbed at me with his shadowy magic. I jumped out of range, the edge of his pentagram pushing me back. Damn. I was still trapped. So much for sneakily freeing Nikolas while the arch-demons were squaring up to one another.

  Lythocrax’s voice grew louder. “If you rob me of the delight of killing her, Casthus, I will not rest until I have destroyed every inch of the empire you possess.”

  Whoa. If ever I had proof that his motives were entirely built around revenge on me… yet he didn’t scare me. Not nearly as much as the shadowy monstrosity who held me captive.

  Casthus looked down at him. “You have such strong feelings for a mortal? What did she do?”

  Lythocrax’s voice vibrated with fury as he spoke, making the glass tremble. “She destroyed my body, conquered my home dimension and infected it with abominations, stole my magic and obliterated my armies.”

  “Oh, come on, I did some good things, too,” I said. “I saved millions of lives. I gave you a taste of your own power when you thoughtlessly handed it over me. I rescued the fallen. You’ve never done a decent thing in your centuries-long life, have you?”

  “Decency is for the weak.”

  “That explains so much.” I took a few steps backwards as Casthus turned his full attention on Lythocrax again. Nikolas still hadn’t moved. He’d be healing, but since Casthus had hit him with his weakness, the process would be slower than usual. I wouldn’t be able to get him out alone. Worse, the two warlocks who’d been torturing him seemed to have slipped away. Cowardly bastards.

  “You seem a little less substantial than you once were,” Casthus said to the other arch-demon. “Do you plan to conquer Earth in that state? I suppose you have much fewer of your resources than last time, though your old method of relying on mortals doesn’t seem to have changed.”

  “How the hell do you two know one another?” I looked from the huge shadowy form of Casthus to the gleaming glass showing Lythocrax’s glittering eyes. “As Divinities?”

  “He can tell you himself,” said Casthus. “If finishing Devina off yourself is so important to you, then I will offer her to you in trade. In exchange, I would prefer it if you would leave this world intact when you destroy Earth.”

  “How about not destroying Earth at all?” I said. “And for that matter, you can’t trade me to him. I’m not yours.”

  “You will be,” he said. “Otherwise, my son dies.”

  No.

  “Devi…” Nikolas’s head lifted a fraction.

  “We had a deal,” I snarled at Lythocrax. “You said two days!”

  “One day, now, and the deal is still in place,” he said. “I will accept your offer, shadow demon. The girl is mine. I will leave Babylon alone, since it has long fulfilled its purpose. I have to admit, I never expected to find you here on this dead-end of a world, Casthus.”

  “No?” said Casthus. “I suspected the divines were planning to make a move, but I never expected to see you again, much less as you are now.”

  “You’re not seriously just handing me to him!” I yelled. “I thought you wanted to kill me. Or are you too much of a coward?” Goading him was my last shot. They’d trapped me. And how did they know one another if they’d both been in heaven at different times?

  “You or him, Devi,” Casthus said, giving Nikolas another shake with a shadowy hand. “I will send him back to Earth if you go. He’s far too troublesome to keep around.”

  Damn him.

  “Fine,” I choked out. I’d have to find some other way to wipe out Lythocrax—and escaping from him seemed less impossible than escaping the shadow arch-demon’s clutches.

  One way or another, I will end this.

  Casthus’s aura surged black, my demon mark burned, and the pentagram swallowed me up.

  19

  I landed on hard stone, which tore the skin of my knees. Red sky, dead ground—and someone peering down at me. I jumped violently away from the other person who’d appeared in the pentagram next to me.

  The creature looked human, but it was small, emaciated, weak. Like a fallen. But the eyes that stared out of his face were as furnace-bright as ever.

  This was the part of him he left on Purgatory.

  “Lythocrax?” I said.

  “This is a temporary form,” he said. “It won’t be for long. You are mine now, Devi.”

  “You wish.” My hands ignited, Casthus’s power whispering to the surface. “You made a huge mistake bringing me here when I can overpower you so easily.”

  “But I’m not alone, Devi,” he said.

  Wings fluttered, and angels descended to surround me. Snowy white wings formed a blinding wall of light, and Harvey landed directly in front of me. My hands clenched.

  “I will break you for what you did to me, Devi,” he said.

  “If you wanted to break me, you’re too late.” I gave Lythocrax a blistering glare. “I was broken long ago, and I’m never going to be afraid of you. You’ll lose. I’ll make sure of it.”

>   Divine light dazzled my eyes, and agony ripped through my demon mark. The angels closed in, their hands glowing, burning me alive. The mercy of angels indeed.

  I screamed, half in pain, half in anger, punching at anyone who came close, but there were too many of them. Too many fists striking me. I sucked in a breath, desperately clawing for whatever was left of my demon magic. I had to live through this, otherwise—

  I can’t let him win.

  Blackness filled my vision. The darkness came and went, taking the pain along with it. I clung to life, breathing shallowly, my right hand a torrent of pain. Lights sparked before my eyes. The bright light of heaven… no. It was a lie.

  Darkness turned to light once more, and I passed out.

  When I next awoke, I lay on hard stone, curled in on myself, bright light prickling my eyelids. No pain. I’d better not be dead.

  I opened my eyes a little. My body had healed, and the light…

  Demonglass.

  I forced my eyes open. I was in a cell like the one Clover had occupied the last time I’d been here. They hadn’t finished me off. For some reason, Lythocrax had kept me alive.

  A cough drew my attention to the neighbouring cell. Bars divided the two cells, made of demonglass. Another source of the shimmering light came from the window in the cell next to mine, where what passed for sunlight here peeked through the glowing golden bars. The dicks hadn’t even given me a window. But the person in the cell next door… wasn’t Clover.

  The former Inspector Deacon sat against the wall, his eyes on his feet, his hair greyer than it’d been the last time I’d seen him. He was alive? Lythocrax hadn’t killed him?

  “We both die tomorrow, Devina Lawson.” He spoke without looking at me.

  “The whole of Earth does, too.” I dragged myself into a sitting position. “I thought you died out here. The guild… well, I’d say they’re going crazy looking for you, but I think Mrs Barrow’s over her hysteria about that by now. If she has any sense, she’s planning to evacuate the city.”

  Fiona had seemed confident that Faye could use DivinityWatch to mobilise people to evacuate, but Lythocrax must have prepared for that possibility. Worse, now the shadow arch-demon knew his plan, and was doubtlessly coming up with schemes of his own. I hardly believed he’d traded me away so easily. He must have decided my suffering would be worse at Lythocrax’s hands than on Babylon. That, or he’d just wanted rid of me forever.

  My demon marked hand tingled. Huh. They hadn’t removed my demon magic. I still had Casthus’s power… and the bars were made of demonglass.

  I grabbed the bar in my right hand, calling my demonic magic to the surface—but the shadows simply bounced off the bar. Climbing to my feet, I blasted more shadows at the bars, then tried my left hand. Celestial power was even less effective. Of course, it only burned out evil and sin, and even the inspector apparently didn’t count. His aura was as squeaky clean as ever.

  “It won’t work.” The former inspector sat upright against the wall, dignified even in imprisonment. “Devina, this building has been constructed using the same type of defences we use on our celestial cells. It is, after all, where we got the idea.”

  I ignored him and tried my demon mark again, but with no result. I’d been able to heal, but no magic would let me get out of here. Nikolas would live another day, but considering Earth was scheduled to explode tomorrow, he might have been better off staying on Babylon.

  The inspector leaned forwards, his hands clasped against his knees. “Devina, you must know I had no intention of any of this happening.”

  “Being captured?” I shook my head. “Yeah, I can’t say that was on my itinerary for today either. I sort of hoped I’d be saving the world.”

  Not watching it burn from afar. How much time had I lost? How many hours had burned to nothing while Lythocrax prepared to be reborn and bring Earth to ruin?

  “Not that,” said the inspector. “I meant to say I had no intention of allowing the guild to fall into chaos or myself to be captured at the crucial moment. I was misled into thinking the angels would help me here. But it was them. These Divine Agents.”

  I faked astonishment. “Not blaming me this time? Not saying I’m a corrupt influence on everyone and the Divine Agents were somehow spawned from every rule I’ve ever broken? I thought you were with them from the start.”

  “No…” He moved forward into the light. He looked tired. Resigned to his fate. “Never. I served only the guild.”

  “They got the guild a long time ago,” I muttered. “They set us all up. I suppose you know it all now. Lythocrax… he was the one who wanted to destroy the guild. Him, and the other Divine Agents. Divinities.”

  “He is no Divinity,” the inspector spat. “Never. He betrayed his brethren and the rest of his soldiers in the worst way.”

  “Yeah, sure.” I was in too bad a mood to appreciate him railing against the demon who was actually responsible for this crap. Deacon’s epiphany about the real nature of the war had come entirely too late. “We die tomorrow, he’s reborn, and then… who even knows. Maybe he’ll start a charity for starving orphans and surprise everyone. I’m not sure he even wants to destroy the guild, more replace it with his own nest of willing puppets.”

  Like Harvey. The idea of him being in charge was somehow worse than the inspector. And I could think of countless people I’d have been happier to spend my last hours alive bonding with rather than Inspector Deacon. I’d almost prefer Sammy Groves. Okay, maybe not, but still.

  We die tomorrow. How time passed here, I didn’t know, but the light coming in from the inspector’s cell persisted. Sunset, or sunrise? It didn’t matter. Time was running out.

  “I tried everything I could to stop hell from infiltrating the guild, Devi,” he said. “I was just looking at the wrong target. By the time I got here, it was too late.”

  “I’m not going to forgive you, you know,” I said. “I almost thought I’d find you here serving them. I mean, you’ve always hated me. You drove me away from the guild to begin with.”

  “I suppose I did. Your partner’s death…”

  “Was your fault. Yeah. And a dozen other people’s. Including your own partner’s. I know you did something to put Inspector Angler in the enemy’s line of fire and then freaked out when he came back from the demon realm with an aura like mine.”

  He paused. “You aren’t wrong.”

  “Honesty, now? Suppose neither of us has anything to lose.”

  It’d be the Divinities’ last laugh if I had to spend my last moments alive with the person who’d ordered Rory’s death. But I had little rage to spare for him, and despite everything he’d done, I’d still lay the blame solely on Lythocrax.

  The inspector hesitated for a long moment. “I dismissed your report on the mission where your partner died, because I did know those demon eggs were planted at the scene. In the same way, they were on a dozen other missions in the same time frame. Most of those missions ended with fatalities, too.”

  “Why are you telling me this?” Did he want me to spend my last moments alive raging mad at him?

  “The messages from heaven, such as I received them, said that the Divinity who marked yourself and your partner had fallen, and that the mission was required as a test of your loyalty to heaven. I never questioned—”

  I leaned back against the wall. “Of course you didn’t. The directive came from heaven, after all.”

  “Devina,” he said.

  “You can call me Devi, you know. We’re going to die either way.” I stretched out against the wall, too exhausted for words. “So you dismissed my report because you didn’t want anyone to find out you had him killed on heaven’s orders.”

  “I was not aware of that at the time, Devi, believe it or not,” he said. “And I did not dismiss your report out of malice. When I heard you survived the mission, I hoped that the same demons that took Kenneth hadn’t found you, too. But I saw the mark on your aura even then. I took that as confirma
tion that the directive was right and that you would fall into hell’s grip whether you stayed at the guild or not.”

  “You might have told me.”

  “What would that have achieved? I was never your favourite person, Devi, and you were in desperate search of a target to blame for his death.”

  “I already hated you. And the guild.” I’d enjoyed killing demons, travelling on missions, taking every opportunity to spend time with Rory. I’d detested every other part of being a celestial soldier. “Because the guild doesn’t give anyone the option to make something of their own life rather than following heaven’s directive. That’s why you’re losing the war.”

  He didn’t answer, and we fell into awkward silence for a bit. The light outside brightened, suggesting the sun was rising after all. A new day in Purgatory. My last day alive.

  I rested my head against the wall and closed my eyes. “Wonderful. We’ve exhausted all other conversation topics. Unless you have any other scandalous confessions to make, aside from the gambling? More debauchery that nobody knew about? Slumming with Lucifer? Dancing with the devil on Babylon?” I winced as light pierced my eyelids. “Damn, that’s bright. They don’t do sunrises by halves here, do they?”

  “It’s not the sun.”

  I opened my eyes, frowning when I saw the inspector had moved so that he stood against the bars between our cells. He’d pressed something metallic and small against the stone wall, and beneath his fingers, the stone was eroding away.

  “What is that?” I asked. “How did you—?”

  “Harvey’s people neglected to check if I brought any props,” he said. “I can’t do the same to the windows—they’re doctored with something that repels magic—but I can blow a hole in the wall, given enough distance.”

  I frowned. “You don’t know how to make an explosive.”

  “I thought you knew better than that, Devi. I once saw you blow a table to pieces with a few drops of ruith demon ichor.”

  “Oh yeah.” I’d taken my own eyebrows off in the process. “I thought you were too busy yelling at me to care how I did it.”