30
A bubbling noise echoed within the cave, and the air smelled like rotten eggs. Amanda followed the light from the torch, holding Marc’s hand. He groaned, the strange shadows deepening the cuts and wounds from the battle. The imps carrying their king on a stretcher whispered in some abyssal language.
“Is he going to be okay?” Amanda said, cutting through their chatter.
“Very hurt, Madam,” one of them said. “Fought off twenty angels from the Pit.”
“Probably dead soon,” another one said solemnly.
“Shut up, Lance-and-food-corporal Buttwize! You are no doctor!” a third one squeaked, kicking at the second imp.
Marc sighed, and his entire body tensed up from the pain. Cakes of dried blood covered his face and matted his hair against his skin.
“Hey,” Amanda said, squeezing his hand. “We’re almost there.”
Worst was his arms and back, where the muscles lay raw, and blood kept soaking through the makeshift bandages she’d made from bits of her dress.
A domed cave opened up ahead, and the heat and sound of popping bubbles intensified. It sounded almost like a boiling pot, and when the imp carrying the torch finally stopped, a pool of simmering yellow-brown liquid appeared in the trembling light.
Together they lowered Marc down into the pool. It had been Asmodeus’s idea to bring him here. The Devil’s Cauldron was a sulfuric hot spring underneath Mount Gehenna. Before the city of Pandemonium became the capital of Hell, the volcanic mountain had served as the ruler’s seat. Marc’s father had built the tunnel system during the early days of his time on the throne, and now his son had inherited it.
Asmodeus had given Amanda a ton of information about the legacy of the well, but very little about its uses. She lowered herself into the water and sulfur mix, holding Marc’s head above the surface.
Carefully, she dabbed his forehead.
“Why’d you take them on alone, huh?” she whispered.
Part of her wanted to scold him for his reckless macho streak, but she also admired him for fighting off twenty fallen angels at once. She kissed his cheek to the excited squeals of the imps.
“I think I got it from here,” she said.
“I told you she would handle it,” one of the imps said, elbowing his comrade.
“Is she a doctor?” another one said, eyes wide.
“She means we should go.”
“Don’t tell me what she means!”
Bickering, they scurried out of the cave, leaving Amanda alone with Marc’s head resting on her lap. She wasn’t sure if she actually had it or not. She suddenly felt helpless, and it hurt her seeing him like this. Broken and weak didn’t suit him at all. She scooped up water with her hands, splashing it over his head, washing the blood out of his hair.
A tear rolled down her cheek. What if his wounds were too deep? What if he didn’t recover? So much had happened since they first met and she barely knew what was up or down anymore – right and wrong wasn’t as clear – but one thing… one thing she was sure about now.
“I know you can’t hear me,” she said. “But when I first agreed to go on a date with you, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I think you should’ve warned me about Lucifer and all of Heaven coming after me. I think you should’ve told me that I might get sucked into a full-scale war in Hell. And I think you should’ve mentioned the apocalypse at least once.”
Amanda gently scrubbed his chest and unwrapped the wet bandages on his arms. Marc let out a sharp gasp.
“But I guess you’re not all-knowing,” Amanda continued with a sigh. “If I had known what would happen, I probably wouldn’t have agreed to go out with you. And... I would never have fallen for you so quickly.” She kissed him softly. “I’ve lost a friend and, I think, a part of myself. But I’ve also gained something…” Amanda’s hand went up to her chest. “I think I love you, Marcellixis.”
“Ain’t that adorable?” Lucifer said and stepped out of the shadows. “Too bad it was never meant to be…”
The fallen angel rounded the edge of the pool, her wings folded on her back.
“What do you want?” Amanda said, holding Marc’s head protectively.
“Well, I’ve already got what I want – the Gates of Hell have opened, and everything’s been set in motion – I’m just here to tie up some loose ends.”
“What… does that mean?”
“It means that I’ve won.” Lucifer crouched next to Amanda, her pale face hovering in the murky light. “But… I made a promise once to end Marc’s bloodline. And I never break a promise… well, sometimes I do.”
Lucifer shrugged and pulled out a dagger. Adrenaline suddenly burst into Amanda’s heart when she realized what was about to happen – it started thudding harder than ever before. There was no way she could stop Lucifer from killing Marc. Her mind went blank at the thought of losing him.
“Wait!” she said, trying desperately to gather her thoughts. “Does this mean it’s the end of the world? Did you actually start the apocalypse?”
“Oh, please. You’re giving me way too much credit,” Lucifer said, false modesty dripping from her words. She leaned in closer as if to tell a secret. “If it weren’t for you and your boyfriend, nothing of this would’ve been possible. He resurrected the lamb by spilling all that blood in the desert. The lamb with seven eyes and seven horns opens the seven seals. You killed the Whore of Babylon. My roommate just gave birth to the Antichrist. So, I’ve had a lot of help.” Lucifer’s smile widened. “Oh, and the Beast of the Sea awoke from its slumber. Lucky break, I guess?”
“W-what about… the four horsemen?” Amanda said, desperate to keep the conversation going.
“Oh, good question! Let me quote John for you,” Lucifer said and cleared her throat. “And I heard, as it were, the voice of thunder: ‘Come and see!’ And I looked, and behold a white horse, and he who sat on him had a crown and a bow with which to conquer.”
Lucifer gazed dreamily at the ceiling. “A king wears a crown… and one king, in particular, has been eager to conquer Hell lately. You should’ve seen him riding across the battlefield, firing arrows with his golden harp, wind whipping through the milky mane of his ghost steed. Truly magnificent!”
Amanda looked down at Marc’s face, battered and bruised. He’d unknowingly been the first horseman. She glared at the fallen angel.
“I heard a second voice say, ‘Come!’ And a red horse appeared, whose rider was given a great sword, with which to take peace from the earth and cause men to kill each other,” Lucifer continued. “As we speak, the American president is ordering the first strike on Russia – U.S.S. Excalibur will lay waste to Moscow and start a global war.”
Lucifer’s eyes glowed with excitement. Her fingers tightened around the grip of the dagger. Amanda felt sick seeing someone revel so in death and destruction. Still, she forced herself to swallow her emotions.
“What about the third?” she whispered.
“Come!” Lucifer said and held up her hand dramatically. “A black horse appeared and went forth. Its rider held a pair of balances and said, ‘A quart of wheat for a penny, and three quarts of barley for a penny, and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.’” Lucifer grinned. “I admit, I may have called in a favor for that one. The harbinger of blight and drought! Balor has been riding through Yemen recently. And when the war begins in full, famine will spread across the world.
“Of course, you’ve yet to hear the best part – the biggest betrayal since Judas Iscariot’s kiss. Few know the name of the angel in the brown cloak – the key master and guardian of Hell’s Gates – fewer still know that the Reaper is more than just a concept. He’s been here since the beginning, biding his time. I wasn’t even sure whose side he was on anymore, but he was just waiting for the right moment. Nobody is more patient than an angel of death.”
“Abaddon...?” Amanda mumbled in disbelief. Something twisted inside her. He had known that Lucifer would make her kill Sarah, and Abaddon had done nothing to stop it. How much had been intentional? Uriel’s banishment? The release of the fallen angels from the Pit?
“The Fourth Seal – you see it, don’t you?” Lucifer said. “I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts. And I looked, and behold a pale horse, and his name that sat on him was Death… and Hell followed with him.”
Lucifer pushed Amanda out of the way and slashed Marc’s throat before plunging the dagger into his chest. Amanda screamed.