It’s colder on the streets than I imagined. The frost-kissed night air seeps through my leather jacket, but my blood is pumping so rapidly that I barely register the chill. It smells like snow and sulfur. Ice and fire. If those that could not leave haven’t found safe shelter within the city limits are left on the streets, I fear they may freeze to death. And if they don’t meet their end that way, something much more sinister is waiting for them.
We stick to the shadows, virtually silent as we maneuver through the filth and debris littering every side street and alleyway. Surprisingly, even the local vagrants have vacated their usual haunts. Or maybe something else got to them first. Whatever the reason, the eerie silence puts me on edge. We have a long trek ahead to the Southside, if we make it at all. I have a bad feeling, as if there are forces at work that hope to keep us away. And that feeling is only intensified as we turn a corner, and the sensation of frozen spiders crawling up my back sets off all my internal alarms. Something is waiting for us on the other side.
I pause and go to reach inside my jacket for one of the angelsbane-tipped blades, but it all happens too quickly.
He’s draped in dingy, torn rags, his face caked with dirt, as he roars towards us with a metal pipe held over his head. Cain is the first to act, catching him with a right hook that should have at least subdued the homeless man, but it barely stuns him. He whips the metal pipe around, but luckily Cain ducks just milliseconds before it connects with his skull. Toyol strikes the man before he recovers, sending him flying back into an over-flowing dumpster with a kick to his ribs. But the vagrant jumps right back into action, barely pausing to catch the breath that was knocked out of him. He’s not human. He can’t be. No one made of flesh and bone would be able to walk away from a blow like that.
Weapons drawn, the Se7en brace for the man’s attack, but it’s Lucifer who casually steps forward from the shadows. No guns or knives, he merely raises a single palm, and the homeless man halts, sending the metal pipe to tumble from his grip to the damp concrete.
“Master,” the man rasps, falling to his knees. Pitch black eclipses the white of his unnaturally wide eyes.
“Why are you here, my child?” Lucifer questions, looming over him. I inch forward, squeezing the hilt of my blade in anticipation.
“I was released.”
“By whom?”
“I…I don’t know.” His beady black gaze shifts from right to left, and a frown forms between his brows. “You’re here…with them. Traitors. You stand with the Se7en.”
“Why? Why were you sent?” Lucifer asks, ignoring the claims of betrayal.
“To stop them.”
“Why?”
“Because they threaten to destroy us all. They want us to cower under their tyranny. It is our time now. The fallen shall reign.”
Lucifer rubs a gloved hand over his chin, pondering his subject’s confession. I’m confused about it myself. The fallen shall reign? What fallen? This can’t be anything more than a lesser demon possessing a homeless man’s body.
“Eden, dear, come here please.”
I’m stunned by his request, but go to step forward. Niko catches my arm before I can advance.
“Careful,” he murmurs, his bright blue glare glowing with the warning.
I nod once, and it seems to placate him enough to let go. When I reach Lucifer’s side, he protectively places a hand on my lower back, his heat seeping through my clothes and searing my skin.
“Do you know who she is?”
The man bares his yellowed teeth and spits at my feet. “We do not want the Nephilim girl. She will die with the rest of them.”
“Then who do you want?”
“All of them. Everyone. They shall all perish one by one. This world will be made anew, and it will be ours.”
Lucifer nods before turning to me, a gentle smile on his lips. “Rejoin Nikolai at his side, my dear.”
I shake my head. “No. Not yet. He may know where Le—”
“Go. He knows nothing.”
I frown, my jaw tight with ire. Why isn’t he questioning the man about Legion’s whereabouts? He may know something, yet he’s treating him with kid gloves.
Seething with frustration, I turn around and stalk to my place beside Niko. He squeezes my hand but keeps his glare forward.
Lucifer raises both palms, and commands, “Come forth.”
The words are wrapped in a vibrating timbre that rattles even my bones, causing my insides to thrash in anxiety, and watch in awe and horror as the man’s mouth opens unnaturally wide, so wide that it looks as if his face is being ripped in two. And between his crooked, dingy teeth, a boney, red-skinned hand reaches out and sinks its claws into the man’s jaw, as whatever horrid creature within in him pulls itself out.
I bite down bile as I watch the whole gut-roiling display. The demon sheds its human host as if he’s nothing more than a bloody skin suit, twisting and writhing itself free. Jagged horns dot its bulbous head, only paling in comparison to its gnashing fangs and razor-sharp claws. I reflexively take a step back, running right into Phenex’s hard chest. He grips my shoulders tight to still my quaking frame.
“The lessers cannot take a human form. Therefore they possess the bodies of the innocent,” he whispers.
“Will he be ok?” I whisper back through quivering lips.
“He will. But I cannot say for how long.”
Once the demon has shed his human host completely, he stands before Lucifer and smiles, waiting for his master to bestow upon him a reward for his candor. But just as Lucifer returns his grin, the demon crumples to the ground, crying out in bloody agony. His whole body contorts as every bone breaks and splinters, causing jagged shards to pierce through his red skin, exposing ripped flesh and sinew. The putrid smell of his corroded insides waft over us, and I have to clamp my hand over my mouth to contain the threat of vomit. He is rotten to the core, judging by the black blood and bile that ooze from his wounds. But I stand tall, swallowing down the weakness of my humanity, unwilling to turn away from the carnage. Just as I learned to do in Hell.
After several more seconds of torture, the crying ceases, and the demon is nothing but a pile of steaming, bubbling, black sludge on the piss-stained pavement. Lucifer steps closer, peering down at the mess of torn skin and broken bone.
“Remember who it is you serve,” he grits, his voice raw with uncontained rage.
Cain steps up, wincing at the sight and smell of the pulverized demon. “We’ve got to keep moving. Someone may have heard.”
Lucifer nods and turns towards us, and I notice that his eyes are alive, shifting with sparkling shades of purple, obsidian, and dark teal. He blinks it away, but I can still see it—the wicked power simmering just beneath the surface.
We resume our trek through the shadows, but I keep peering over at Lucifer, the questions on my tongue like lead in my mouth. I know this isn’t the time or place to ask, not when we’re hoping to avoid further conflict, but something is really bothering me. And if there’s even an inkling of doubt—a sliver of distrust—then we’ll all fall. By Uriel’s hands or our own.
“Spit it out,” Lucifer mutters, stepping closer to my side.
I glance back at Nikolai, checking to see if he caught Luc’s words on a gust of icy wind.
“Why did you let him go?” I whisper back.
“Because he knew nothing.”
“How would you know that, considering you killed him before he could be interrogated? He could’ve known where Legion was.”
“He didn’t.”
“But you didn’t even—”
“He didn’t know anything,” he shoots back, loud enough for every narrowed eye to fall to us.
Seething, Lucifer keeps moving forward, taking the lead and ignoring the curious stares. Unlucky for him, I’m right on his heels, despite Cain’s hushed demands for me to stay back.
“How do you know?” I ask after a few beats of strained silence.
“Because if he did, he wouldn’t be worried about us. Every lesser demon in the city would be trying to kill him. Or serve him. No one knows about Legion’s disappearance but us, and we need to keep it that way.”
He’s right. I hate it, but he’s right. But surely that lesser demon could have given us something. He didn’t know who was pulling the strings, but he may have known where to find them. He had to have received instructions from somewhere. But Lucifer’s urgent execution snuffed out the possibility of learning potentially pertinent information.
“You’re too emotionally invested,” Lucifer throws in my face.
“And you’re not?”
“Why would I be?”
“He’s your brother. And he’s gone missing.”
Lucifer shrugs. “Not the first time. He left on his own accord before. What makes you think that isn’t the case now?”
I nearly stumble on my own two feet as the blow of his words radiates in my gut. “He…He…” He wouldn’t do that.
Lucifer suddenly spins around to face me. His tone is hushed yet harsh, and his eyes are glowing with violet flames. “He wouldn’t do that? He wouldn’t leave you? Because he loves you?” He snorts a laugh. “I thought that once, too. But you’ll learn, just as I did, that Legion’s true nature will always rule him. He’s a demon, Eden. He can’t love.”
Lucifer turns back to resume his long strides, yet I’m frozen in place on the dark, damp pavement. Cain and Toyol step around me, each shooting me sympathetic glances, but surprisingly it’s Lilith who stops to take my gloved hand.
“We’ll find him. Come on…we have to keep moving.”
She tugs gently, and I let her. We’ve barely been out here for more than an hour, and I’m already letting my heart override my head.
No one speaks as we trudge through the filth and head south. However, to avoid further altercations, the journey is taking longer than we anticipated. If the lesser demon was telling the truth, there’s a target on our backs. And while no one relishes the thought of killing, each and every foe will have to fall if we’re to make it to Legion in one piece. The only problem is, there’s ten of us, and hundreds—if not thousands—of them.
“Can we just stop for a moment?” I hear from behind me.
I turn around to see Adriel; her lips dry and her skin pale. She’s been so silent the entire journey; I had forgotten she was even with us.
“I need to take a breath,” she explains, leaning up against a brick wall that used to belong to a popular downtown boutique. Now, it’s been virtually gutted.
“Yes. You must rest,” Phenex insists, pulling off his backpack. He retrieves a bottle of water and hands it to the angel, now panting with exhaustion.
I don’t get it. She’s immortal; one of the most revered beings in existence. How can she be winded already? It hasn’t been that long, and considering we only have mere hours before dawn, we need to keep moving.
“The high volume of demons is drawing on her spirit,” Andras quietly explains beside me, reading my thoughts. “The pain, the destruction, the fear…it’s draining her.”
I look to him and frown. “But she’s been stuck in a house with demons for weeks.” At least it’s felt like weeks.
Andras shakes his head. “We’re not like other demons. Even Lucifer…he’s been dampening himself since he arrived. Probably even while he was in Hell with you.”
I didn’t realize it until now, but he’s right. Lucifer did dampen himself around me. Until he let it slip.
Once.
I remember it all as if it just occurred yesterday. I don’t think a day has gone by that I haven’t thought about that night in his dining room. He had been trying to shock me for days, each nightly display more depraved than the last. It was as if he was trying to woo me with evil. And I sat there, stone-faced and cold, just as Niko instructed.
And then I made a mistake.
I challenged him.
I can still hear the sound of teeth tearing through flesh. Can still clearly see the rich crimson blood pooled at Lucifer’s feet as those girls willingly, almost gleefully, ripped each other’s faces to the bone. And I did nothing. I didn’t cry. I didn’t scream. I sat there and watched those poor women eat each other.
My silence was my approval. And in that moment, I realized that I’m no better than Lucifer. I might be even worse.
“Better?” I hear Phenex inquire a few feet away, crouched in front of Adriel.
She nods weakly, her breathing still a bit shallow. “Yes. Let’s keep going.” She pushes off the graffiti-covered brick wall.
“May I suggest you stay beside Eden?” Lucifer suggests, his voice taking on its usual enticing drawl.
Face pinched, I hastily reply, “Why?”
“Because half of you is angel,” he explains. “You’re stronger together. The first time you wielded light, you were with Crysis. And every time after that, you were with Adriel. The same essence that runs in your veins runs in theirs.”
I nod, not able to admit that he’s right…for the most part. I can’t describe what happened between Legion and me on our last night together. I don’t know if it was holy light that threw him against the wall, smashing my wardrobe into splinters. Or maybe it was his own consciousness fighting through the haze of deception that tried to steal him away from his body. Or maybe it was divine intervention. I. Don’t. Know. But I do know that if something—or someone—hadn’t stopped him, he could have very well killed me.
There was not a glimmer of Legion’s former angel self in that moment. He was all demon—the full embodiment of evil. There was no saving him.
“I think you may be right,” Adriel comments, coming to stand beside me.
I look to her beautiful, pale face and realize that her green eyes are sunken in and lined with purplish circles. We need her. And truth be told, I owe her. We may be in love with the same man, but I don’t believe she’d ever do anything to hurt me. Not when she’s protected me for most of my life.
“I agree,” I acquiesce. “Let’s go.”
We head east to cut through Grant Park in hopes of bypassing some of the shadier areas of downtown. And as we step over mounds of broken cement and shattered glass, I audibly gasp at what’s been left of it. Everything is in shambles. What was once known for being the centerpiece of Chicago is nothing more than deadened grass, chunks of rubble, and twisted metal that were once sculptures. The Art Institute appears to be condemned. The baseball diamonds at Hutchinson Field have been desecrated with spray-paint and garbage. And whatever stagnant liquid lies in the grand Buckingham Fountain is most definitely not water.
“It’s going to get worse the farther we get,” Toyol remarks, a note of sorrow in his tone. I don’t know how long the Se7en have been here, but this is their home too. And to see it like this has got to be fucking with them as much as it’s fucking with me.
I snort sardonically. “Worse than this?”
“Much worse,” he nods. “Most humans on this side of town were able to evacuate. So the demons are centralizing south.”
“And you think Legion would take that risk? Go towards the chaos and violence?”
A dozen different scenarios flood my mind. Maybe that lesser demon was lying. What if they have found him and have already begun to torture him? What if they’ve gotten him to give up the Se7en? Or maybe they’ve taken him to whomever they serve? Nikolai seems to believe that it was Stavros, his father, who is responsible for casting a cloaking spell on me. And if Stavros is still working with Uriel, maybe the lesser demons have crossed over to his side, too. I can’t imagine the Seraph being desperate enough to conspire with the lowest of evil beings, but if they were just using them to further their cause…that I could believe.
And if there is even a shred of truth to any of my suspicions, Legion doesn’t have much time.
I try to shake off the crippling doubt and keep moving forward, but the farther south we go, the harder it is to ignore the niggling feeling that something is seriously wrong. We’re miles away from our destination, and we’ve got at least an hour and change to go before we make it, but I can’t shake the feeling that we’re walking right into a trap. I feel a bit queasy, and hair stands up on the back of my neck. Even the hair on my head feels electrically charged with a warning. We should turn back. We should regroup and try again when we’re better prepared.
But we’d never be fully prepared, even if we trained for a month straight for eighteen hours a day. Not for what awaits us. Not for what steps out of the shadows and surrounds us, forcing us to cluster together in the center of the mob because there’s nowhere to run. Nowhere to escape.
Demons.
Dozens of them. Hundreds.
And they’re not here to do Lucifer’s bidding.
They’re here to kill.