Raise the Dead

by Briana Michaels

  Eve barely felt the world around her. She so rarely got like this anymore, she was ashamed of herself for allowing the weakness now.

  But too much happened too fast and she couldn’t help herself.

  Lazarus didn’t say anything, he only held her tight and breathed deep and even. Her body responded by mirroring his inhales and exhales. Her eyelids weighed fifty pounds. She stunk like malanum. Her wings ached. Everything felt horrible.

  “Easy,” Lucifer’s voice was morphed and deep and delectable. “There you go, big guy,” he scratched the wolf’s ears and Anam’s tail started wagging.

  Eve sagged against Laz’s chest in relief and cried for a whole new reason now. Once the flames died off and Lucifer set Anam gently on the ground, Eve rushed over and met her wolf on the floor. “Oh my God,” she cried. Her hand hovered over Anam’s face. All his scars were gone. Every single one of them. And his eyes. Holy shit! He was no longer blind in one eye. Lucifer had completely restored Anam.

  “Figured he earned the clean slate,” the Devil said from the other side of the kitchen island.

  “Thank you,” Eve pressed her face against Anam’s, “You don’t know what this means to me, Lucy.”

  “Yeah, I do.”

  When Eve tried to stand up to thank Lucifer properly, he was gone.

  Chapter 20

  A baby. Of all times to bring a new creature into this world, Sara had the worst timing. But as Gabriel helped the new mom to bed, he couldn’t help but melt like a popsicle in Hell for that little bundle of fat cheeks and dark hair wrapped in a Henley shirt. Once Constantine came in to do his healing thing on Sara, Gabriel left.

  Closing the door, he cracked a smile. Eve had given the newborn Hell Hound a soul. Gabriel didn’t know she still had the power for something like that. Then again, Eve could do anything she set her mind to. Well, almost. Getting the one thing she desired most was the only thing she couldn’t seem to do.

  He no sooner entered the throne room to go over new training plans when Gabriel felt Lucifer approach. The Devil wasn’t even to the door yet, but Gabriel could feel that Angel’s presence. This was going to take some getting used to. They were connected on a strangle level now that Gabriel possessed some of the powers of Hell. It still wasn’t easy to hold in, and it still wasn’t easy to accept that Lucifer hadn’t even given away much more than the bare minimum it took to hold shit together down here.

  “What the hell happened to you?”

  “Where’s the baby?”

  “First tell me what happened, Luce.”

  “Got ambushed at your house. Lazarus handed me some kind of gun that fired rapid shots. We sent them all back down to prison.”

  “Where was Eve?” Knowing her, she’d have joined that fight with a smile and two fists.

  “She kept herself busy shredding a particularly sorry fuck who went after her wolf.” Lucifer marched past Gabriel and headed to the back door that led to his bedroom. “Is Sara resting?”

  “Yes. Con’s healing her now.”

  “Where was he?”

  “No clue, Uriel got him.” Of the four brothers, Uriel was the living GPS system when it came to finding one of them. Maybe it was because they were all bonded to Uriel in different ways, or maybe it was just an annoying talent of his, but Uri could retrieve any of them at any time.

  Gabe stopped him from going through the door, “You’re not nearing the babe with that funk all over you. You could infect her.” Gabriel was already growing protective of the baby and he didn’t want Lucifer to so much as walk by her with that stench and malice coated on him.

  Lucifer paused, stared down at himself like it was the first time he’d noticed the layer of evil scuzz and black blood all over his body. “You’re right. Shit, that was so stupid of me.” Lucifer doubled back, “I’ll use Reggie’s shower.”

  Good idea. Gabriel stayed close, because whether Lucifer admitted it or not, the Devil looked dead on his feet and might need help. “What else happened, brother?” He hated not knowing what was going on outside of this place. And he hated that there had been a fight and Gabriel couldn’t participate because he was stuck playing house in Hell.

  “Like I said, malanum—”

  “Before that.” Because no way was Gabe going to believe the Devil just had his ass handed to him by a swarm of evil spirits. Something else must have rocked that male. Gabe could feel it. Lucifer tossing the malanum back in Hell’s prisons meant he hadn’t destroyed their souls and fucked his balance up more. Something else definitely happened up there.

  The two of them entered the wing where the Gatekeepers slept. Dorms made sense when housing a good number of warriors, but the place gave Gabe the chills. It looked too familiar to the brotherhood’s old dorms for Gabriel’s liking. Which made sense considering Lucifer built Hell based on what he knew. Uriel probably helped him too.

  “I got drained,” the Devil confessed. “It hit out of nowhere. I thought it was the baby doing it, so I allowed it. Then Eve said the baby was pulling from her, so I tried to close it off. And couldn’t.”

  Gabriel hadn’t felt anything at all like that down here, even with their newly formed connection. “If it was Michael draining you, wouldn’t he have pulled from all of us?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “He’s trying to deplete you. Exhaust you.”

  “Well he’s doing a damn good job. I can’t tell who is pulling from me. And I can’t close myself off either. I have Hounds to protect and keep powerful.”

  “Are you saying the Hounds pull from you all the time?”

  “Absolutely,” Lucifer stepped into the bathroom and yanked his shirt off. Gabriel stared at the tattoo over Lucifer’s heart. Four slashes with a fifth one slicing through all the others. “I’m not cutting my Hounds off. Not even for a day. Ever.”

  “No, of course not.” Gabriel leaned against the sink as Lucifer stripped out of his boots and pants. “But what of the Angels?”

  “If I cut them off, which at this point, I’m not even sure I know how to do because I’ve never opened or closed myself at all for another Angel – then I look like the bad guy.”

  “You’ve always looked like the bad guy.” What would be the big deal now if it’s always been that way?

  Lucifer glared over his shoulder and snarled. “Well I’m sick of it. And if I’m going to approach the Divine and ask for aid, I can’t have cut the cord between us. It’ll make me look suspicious.”

  “Have you ever pulled from any of them?”

  “No.”

  Gabe’s hands dropped to his side. “Not even once?”

  “No.” The water turned on.

  “Not even when you were caged in the brotherhood?”

  Lucifer ripped the curtain opened, “Motherfucker, if you ask me one more goddamn time, I’m going to strangle you with this curtain. Understand?”

  Gabe flipped him the bird.

  How had Lucifer survived the horrible things Michael tried on him back in the day if he never once drew a drop of energy from anyone else? Was Lucifer really that powerful? All this time, Gabriel considered them equals but right now, he questioned everything. Including their ranks.

  "I didn't feel any pull from here," Gabriel crossed his arms over his chest and sank into deep thought.

  The water turned off moments later and Lucifer stepped out dripping wet and searched for a towel. There weren't any. Slicking his wet hair back, the Devil wasn't concerned about modesty. Never had been.

  Gabriel watched the Devil move around the room like a large predatory cat, all sleek and graceful, big and powerful. He never lost his animalistic qualities. And why should he? Lucifer was created exactly how he was meant to be, and he should never be ashamed of his forms - no matter which one ruled his senses at any given time.

  Lucifer was an Angel who could be as gentle as a lamb or as vicious as a lion. The animal you saw depended entirely on how you treated him.

  As the Devil slipped past Gabriel and stormed
down the halls, naked, Gabriel silently followed. He stared at Lucifer's wingless back and guilt exploded like someone poured boiling acid in his gullet. No wings, not even a hint of a stub from the bones that once held up those massive suckers, graced the Devil’s back. Lucifer had evolved down here. Became what the world needed him to be. He was powerful, caring, dominant, assertive, but also patient and understanding. He didn't need wings to be Divinity's greatest Angel... he just had to be himself.

  Just be yourself. How simple and pure.

  How difficult.

  Gabriel figured it was easy to be yourself if you actually liked yourself. Gabriel didn't have that luxury. He fucking hated who he was. Hated what he'd become. Hated what he was bound to eventually turn into.

  Lucifer stopped, midway down the Gatekeeper’s quiet hallway. His head tilted to the left as he listened to something. The profile of Lucifer's sharp jaw, bold cheek bones and sloped nose made him look like one of those statues from Greek mythology. Otherworldly.

  Gabriel stepped up behind him and watched the Devil's skin turn and swirl with ribbons of black. There was less of it now, thank fuck. “What is it, brother?”

  Lucifer rumbled a growl and walked faster towards the hall leading to the prisons. Brock, a Hell Hound, exited the prison doors and met his maker halfway. “What’s going on, Hound?”

  “We’ve just had an influx of souls.”

  “How big?”

  “At least a hundred, maybe more.”

  Gabriel chimed in, “Plane crash? Mass murder?”

  “Neither,” Brock’s brow furrowed. “You two need to come see this.”

  “Shit, hang on.” Lucifer doubled back.

  While they waited for him to return from Reggie’s room, Gabriel said, “Thanks for picking up the slack in the prison by moonlighting as a Gatekeeper.”

  Brock’s glare was complete with brow arch and a scowl. “We take care of our own down here. Go where needed. Do what needs done. It’s our honor, not our fucking duty, so there’s no need to thank one of us.”

  “That’s not what I meant,” seriously, Gabriel was trying here. The Hound didn’t like him much and okay, fine, maybe Gabriel earned the attitude from him. But if he was going to rule Hell, Gabe knew he needed to extend an olive branch somewhere and Brock was a good starting point. “I was similar to a Gatekeeper once. We were called Cagers back then.”

  Brock stood with his arms crossed, his legs shoulder-width apart, hair pulled back and out of his face. The Hell Hound was big. He was also unamused by Gabriel’s small talk.

  Lucifer strode back towards them in a pair of pants and boots, but still no shirt. The blackness on his chest covered less area than it had only moments ago. Odd. Good, but odd.

  Brock led the way, Luce followed, and Gabriel took up the rear.

  “Help!” someone yelled.

  Instead of turning towards the prisons, Brock headed into Time Out. “They’re this way, sire.”

  The three of them walked into the back portion of the cells kept for those in purgatory who Uriel would eventually take out of Hell and escort to Paradise. The cells were crammed with confused faces and scared whimpers.

  “How did this happen?” Lucifer peered into one of the cells that held about twenty souls like a can of sardines.

  “We don’t know. Reggie said he’s never seen anything like this.”

  “Where is he?”

  “Guarding the prison.”

  Gabriel peered into the next cell and watched the souls hugging each other and crying. “We’re in Hell! We’re in Hell! How could this have happened?” They started rattling off all the reasons why they’d received their ticket to this terrifying place – cheated at cards, snuck a refill on that soda when it said no free refills, talked shit about their neighbors, a teenager said she’d ripped the tag off her mattress, a woman started weeping over never paying her library fines, while another man began confessing that he lied on his interview and got a job someone else in his department deserved more.

  All of it was bullshit.

  “Calm down,” Gabriel’s voice rose over the commotion.

  They didn’t listen. If anything, their voices and tears grew louder because they thought he was Lucifer and were scared of him. And why shouldn’t they be? The Lucifer they’d learned about was big, good looking, and had black wings. Gabriel fit that bill perfectly. The Lucifer they’d been warned of was the evilest thing in the universe who burned little old ladies for fun while he snacked on newborns.

  Such. Bullshit.

  Gabriel had no idea how Lucifer could allow such lies to be spun about him all this time. It had to hurt his pride if not his heart to be the most hated Angel in the history of the world.

  “Please don’t set us on fire,” a woman begged. More pleas followed.

  “Shut up and listen to me!” Gabriel roared. He only frightened them more.

  “Move,” Lucifer walked up to one of the women who was practically strangling the cell bars. Lucifer calmly rested his hands on top of hers and squeezed reassuringly. “Tell us what happened to you.”

  Gabriel watched the woman calm down in a matter of seconds. She sniffled back her tears and said, “We don’t know.”

  Lucifer squatted down to make himself look less intimidating. He tilted his head up and gave her his undivided attention. “Go on.”

  “I’m not sure how it happened,” her eyes locked on his, “the sky turned hues of red. My head spun. Everyone started screaming and running in the streets.” She pulled her hands out of Lucifer’s grip and backed away from the bars, “There was this bright light. So bright, I was blinded. A thunderous boom… Then,” her chin quivered and she began crying again, “we were in Hell.”

  “We’re really in Hell?” asked a guy in jeans and a hoodie. “Fuck me, man, I can’t believe this.”

  “Relax,” Lucifer said. “We’re going to figure this out. Gabriel, get Uriel and bring him here.”

  Gabe left without saying a word. He went to the one place he figured Uriel would be – with Eve. He almost made it to door when a Hell Hound stopped him.

  “Where’s Lucifer?” Jack huffed.

  “In Time Out.” God, he hated calling it that. It was so immature.

  Jack spun around and headed in that direction. “Wait,” Gabriel called out. “He’s busy. If you have an issue, you can bring it to me.”

  Jack considered it – actually debated on fucking telling Gabriel what the problem was. Gabriel swallowed his ego and let it go. “I’m trying, Hound. We’re in this together. Just tell me what’s up so I can help my brother.”

  “Tanner and I were at our house when the call came in. There was a bombing in London. The explosion took out an entire block. Over a hundred lives were lost in a blink.”

  “We know,” Gabe said. “The souls just arrived.”

  Jack’s stunned expression was short-lived. “We’ve also not been able to find any of our psychics. All of them have gone MIA.”

  Fuck him running. This just kept getting worse and worse. So many fires to put out… and not enough fighters to do it. “Anything else?”

  “The sky’s red.”

  “I’m sorry, what?”

  “The sky is red. I’ve never seen it do that before, have you?”

  Not since the days of the brotherhood… “Not in a long while. No.” Gabriel could only handle one thing at a time. “We’ll take care of it, Hound. Thank you.”

  Jack nodded and left again. Seconds later, Gabriel was at a door and turning the knob in one long breath. Eve’s scent was everywhere in the room he’d stepped into and her fragrance slammed him with a stupid amount of mixed emotions. “Uriel!” he yelled. “Uriel, I know you’re here. Answer me!”

  “He’s outside talking with Lazarus,” Eve yelled from downstairs.

  Gabe descended the steps and went right out the front door, bypassing Eve entirely. The cool air smacked his face and he took big gulps of the fresh stuff. He’d been in Hell for such a brief amount of time,
but it felt like eternity. He hadn’t realized how much it affected him until this moment. Holy shit, how had Lucifer suffered through this for so long?

  Because it’s all he’s ever known.

  Yeah, Gabe didn’t have the emotional capacity for this shit right now. He headed towards the sounds of male voices. Laz and Uriel stopped talking the second they saw him. Fuckers. “Luce needs you back in Hell. There was an influx of souls that don’t belong down there.”

  After patting Laz on the shoulder, Uriel walked back to the house. He kissed Eve before going back up the steps. She was leaning against the front door, no doubt eavesdropping. Lazarus grabbed Gabriel’s shoulder to stop him from following Uri. “Come back when you can, we need to talk.”

  Gabriel shrugged out of Laz’s grasp and marched back to Hell. He ignored everything – Laz’s request, the feeling of dread coiling in his gut, the guilt threatening to burn him alive. When he brushed past her, Eve ran the back of her fingers against his forearm. She might as well have burned him with an iron brand for all the heat that sizzled in her feather-light touch. Now that he shared part of Lucifer’s power, desire rode Gabriel hard, constantly.

  “Don’t,” he growled.

  Then he ignored her sad eyes and the hollowness in his heart and went back to where he belonged: Hell.

  Chapter 21

  Michael was balls-deep in a witch when the call came in. He was tempted to let it go to voicemail, but figured he could fuck and do business at the same time.

  With the witch's ass up in the air, he held her one hand behind her back and slammed into her as deep as possible while hitting the answer button on his phone. "Speak."

  The woman getting rammed hollered out and he slapped her ass hard enough to sting his palm, "Not you." She couldn't talk anyway. Her tongue had been cut out again. Michael grabbed the back of her head and shoved her face into the mattress. She gripped the sheets and tore the cotton threads.