Cleaned up the best I can, I trudge out into the snowfield, leaving the frigid fortress behind. The sun has long ago set, the chill of the night stealing any heat the day left behind in this

frozen wasteland.

I need to get home. Back to Earth. Why the fuck did I not ask Gabriel to wait for me? Now I’m stuck with only a vague idea of the exit. Sheer dumb luck. That’s the only way I’m going to find it in the dark.

I’m officially screwed.

Why was I ever stupid enough to believe I could handle the Devil?

I couldn’t the first time we met so why would I now.

He’s like an untameable force of nature.

A beast.

I need to beat him at his own game. Use him like he’s using me.

He’s a walking addiction. One I’m hooked on. Stirring dark and dirty desires through my veins I know I shouldn’t have.

His moods are volatile like a hazardous liquid ready to explode at any moment. He’s dangerous. A monster. All reasons I should forget I ever met him.

It takes a second for me to realise there’s no twinge of pain in my shoulder as I adjust the heavy weaponry bag.

Using my fingertips, I feel below the material of my sweatshirt, searching for the red puckered scar. I’m met only by smooth skin. It’s gone. How did that happen?

Pausing, I stand thigh deep in cold snow, white flurries dancing around me from the sky. Shivering, I huddle in my leather jacket, wishing it would retain some warmth.

I should call Gabriel to take me home. This is getting me nowhere.

“If you’re calling for the archangel, forget it. The boss has all access locked up tight right now. Even the doors everyone thinks he doesn’t know about.” A voice calls.

Circling around, I confront the owner.

He’s big. Real big beneath the animal furs that clothe his muscular frame. Brown, tousled, thick lustrous hair hangs loosely around his strong defined face. Perfect lips are quirked in a playful smile. It’s the wings that hold my attention. Immense and black, the feathery appendages are folded neatly behind his back.

I’ve seen him before. On the battlefield when Fritz’s forces attacked last time before I knew Lucifer was deceiving me.

“Fuck, that’s all I need.” I reply, hand moving to the hilt of the gun sticking out of the waistband of my jeans.

Watching the action, his smile morphs into a grin. “You and the Boss over your lover’s tiff yet? Fucked it out?”

He works for the Devil? I guess I should be surprised, but I’m not. Fallen angels are something I’ve never bumped into before. Generally, they’re dealt with by their own kind.

“We’re not lovers.”

“He was pissed when you left.” He continues conversationally, ignoring my response. “I’ve never seen him in a rage like that before or the carnage. You really got under his skin.”

I’m cold. Tired and freezing my arse off, I'm in no mood for a conversation right now.

Rolling my eyes, I go back to trying to work out where the fuck I am and how I get back to the elevator. “I’m sure he got over it.”

“Here’s the thing about the Boss. You have to watch his actions, not listen to his words. They speak louder than anything he will ever say.”

“I’m not interested in either.”

I’m lost. Any sense of direction has vanished in the wintry night blizzard. Glancing over my shoulder, I feel a flood of relief when I find the outline of the fortress still in view.

Unlatching something from his belt, the fallen angel brings a metallic and shiny flask to his lips. “Uh huh. You keep telling yourself that.” He tells me before taking a swig.

I eye the hip flask with interest.

“Scotch.” He tells me helpfully.

Lumbering closer, I snatch it from his grasp, taking a long chug. The alcohol burns my throat as I swallow it before warming the pit of my stomach.

“Are you running again?”

Handing it back to him, I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. “I just want to get the fuck out of here.”

“And you think you can go at it alone out here in the dark?” He gives a deep bark of laughter. “They said you were crazy, but I didn’t think it was this bad.”

Tucking the gun back in my waistband, I steady the bag I’m clutching. It’s getting heavier by the minute. “I’m just warming up, you haven’t seen anything yet.”

Flexing his wings, he shakes them out, letting them spread wide in an impressive display. “We better get you back to the fortress. You don’t want to get caught out here now. The things that stalk the night will eat you alive.”

I have to think things through. Obviously, storming out was a bad idea. Lucifer is king here and exerting his power. I need to find a way to get him to release me.

“They could try, but I’d put them down first. You got a name?” I ask my new frenemy.

With a gesture of his large hand, he politely directs me back the way I came. “And at any other time, I’d bet money on watching that, but it’s my neck if you get yourself maimed. I’m called Raziel.”

Hiking through the path we’ve already made, Raziel keeps to my pace. The cold doesn’t seem to affect him.

Huffing and puffing, I see my crystallised breaths dissipating in front of my face as I struggle to keep moving.

“What’s that over there?” With a shaking finger, I point to the outline of a building I can just make out in the distance.

Raziel makes a deep humming sound in his throat. “That’s somewhere you hope to never be put.”

Rubbing my hands together, I attempt to relieve the numbness seeping in through my skin. “Why?”

His expression grows sombre. “That houses certain souls the Boss keeps imprisoned so he has the pleasure of torturing them himself. When he’s not stripping them apart piece by piece they’re starved of contact. Kept in isolation so they’re driven mad.”

The revelation is unsettling. The Devil has a prison for his own personal amusement. It’s somewhere I hope I never find myself to be.