Lucifer gathered up his robe from the animal skins that covered the floor. Having been beside the large, round fire pit that centered his room, the fine material was warm. A deep breath delivered the smell of dirty humans and brewing food that mingled on the open air with the perfume of his chamber. Walking naked and with purpose past the crackling flames, he peered out over the City of Babylon that hummed with excitement as night fell. Another war had been won prior to the ceremony to name him Regent. Another spike in body count—in those killed and those now under King Cyrus’s rule. Anticipation fueled him. He was done with waiting, done with acting through someone else and failing to cause the result he desired. He was tired of playing the part of a devoted servant.

The new plan he had decided on up on that mountain was taking place today.

Lucifer drew his long robe gently over his back, cringing as he fastened the deep-blue material in place. Since his fall, the last two decades had passed like days. Still those tiny jagged stumps below the skin on his back were as raw as the day Michael had destroyed his wings in God’s name. His jaw clenched at the memory. Like the day he had fallen, his stumps remained a constant reminder of the unpunished humans allowed to run wild while he was banished to live out eternity alone in this hell on Earth.

Each day since then, he had spent his time wisely, whispering in the King’s ear to influence his decisions to follow Lucifer’s plan. Despite the king’s resistance to Lucifer’s almost faded power, wars had been fought and thousands upon thousands had died to keep his kingdom safe. And still, God refused to step in. Refused to take away his humans’ right to choose. Refused to confront Lucifer for acting against him. Refused to admit he, the maker of all, had done anything wrong.

Thinking back over all the bloodshed made Lucifer smile. It was human nature to destroy one another. To kill without care and take what you wanted. Yet, without retaliation, it was never enough. The king’s resistance and God’s lack of action made him want more. It was clear the king would never cave completely. Even clearer was the fact that God was not coming. The wolves that had greeted him proved he would not act of his own mighty hand. But he would soon enough. After today there would be a change, one that would ruin humans as irrevocably as God had ruined him.

Now Lucifer was ready to take the next step, ready to take exactly what he wanted. With his lack of aging, humans believed he was a deity. As the king’s main advisor, he was a God among men. But he craved more than the power and bloodshed that came from his status. He craved more than the destruction of God’s beloved and sinful humans. And here on Earth, as he watched the fire-lit streets where humans moved like rats in a brown maze between buildings and huts, he could have it all.

He could rule over all…if he too was a king.

The door behind him creaked open and then swung closed. The footfalls of only one grew closer. Over a millennium of keeping my hands clean, of not killing…he mused silently with a smile. No more.

Lucifer turned away from the view and bowed down onto one knee. For the last time. “My king.”

Washed feet in sandals stepped in front of his lowered eyesight. The king’s armor was cleansed of the blood it had returned from war coated in, and his gold-hilted sword hung in easy range at his side. “You sought my audience, Lucifer? I pray it is not with further word of this new threat.” Now a true man, Cyrus’s voice was deep, the depth of his upset at the war they had won like a stain on his tone. Regretful anger lined his tired face. “So many perished this time. Too many to consider our triumph a clean win.”

Lucifer moved with the power he still possessed from Heaven, going from kneeling before the king to the door in the blink of an eye. He dropped a thick wooden plank over the door to lock it from the inside. Then he was face to face with the king who’d spun at the noise. The king who had failed to marry and had no heir. “Too long you have resisted, and I bore of waiting. Your time to rule is finished. I am the next king.”

The guards’ panic-rising voices called through the door as the king groped for his sword. But his war-hardened hands didn’t find his weapon. Taken from Cyrus, Lucifer lifted the blade sideways to the king’s throat. King Cyrus stood his ground, his face hardening. “After taking you at your word, after trusting you and raising you to the stature of royalty as my regent, you dare to challenge me in this way?” He spat in Lucifer’s face. “Like a snake in the grass, you are a coward.”

Lucifer spared no emotion for the king. This had been a long time coming. “You chose this end when you went against my battle strategies time and time again. You are no more a ruler now than you were that night I came to you. But please, prove me wrong…” He withdrew the sword from the king’s neck, holding it hilt up in offering. Killing was better with an active opponent, even if not a worthy one. A look of challenge passed between them.

Cyrus snatched his weapon and swung—

Lucifer was suddenly beside his bed, slicing his sword free of the blankets. The metal gleamed, looking red as it caught the light from the fire’s crackling flames. “I had planned to make your death quick, though God forbid I refuse you a fair fight…”

King Cyrus came closer, arching his sword in challenge. “No one takes my kingdom from me. Not even you.”

The king lunged first, weapon driving down, aim perfect to lop off his advisor’s head. He hit Lucifer’s sword instead, the clang loud as a clap of thunder. Banging started up from behind the door, the guards’ calls becoming shouts. Lucifer shoved the king back and threw the hilt of his sword into the ruler’s face. The king teetered as blood spurted from his mouth. He caught himself on the fire pit’s edge as he went down to one knee.

“You need to do better than that, my king. I am going easy on you.” Lucifer lunged when the king didn’t retaliate, sword point ready to take the man’s heart—

Cyrus stabbed his sword into the fire and flung a spray of hot coals. The larger pieces hit Lucifer, burning through his robe and searing his skin. The fallen angel fell in shock of the pain. His weapon clattered, lost, and was kicked out of reach. The burn was too much like having his wings seared off. Memories of that agony invaded his mind like poison, and he became paralyzed. As he grappled to think beyond that torturous event, more firebombs landed atop of him, keeping him down.

“In spite of your cowardice and betrayal, this brings me no pleasure.”

“That makes one—” Lucifer quit speaking as the king’s sword pierced his back—right above his heart. He froze dead still, seeing a flash of the time he had accidentally stabbed Gabriel. A glimmer of uncertainty threatened to bring him undone. “Gabriel…” But then the searing pain broke through. The threat of dying alone made him wonder if the wound would kill him. He also wondered if she would care, but quickly quashed the thought. He had survived so much since his fall. He healed extraordinarily, even without Heaven’s healing light. He was changed. Though he could not imagine living through the removal of his heart, and the fire his body would no doubt be burned with thereafter by the king’s order.

“Now roll over so I can kill you with honor. I will not fall to your level by ending your pitiful life without looking you in the eye.”

The burn started to recede even as warmth bloomed around the sword tip in his back. Lucifer smiled once more. “Then that is your downfall.” He twisted and a chunk of skin flung from his back as the sword came free. Leaping upright, the king was ready and drove the sword right into Lucifer’s gut. Silvery-black blood flooded out. A cough brought more up to his mouth and lips. And yet, Lucifer did not go down to his knees. Instead, he ignored the pain and grabbed the blade up near the hilt. Then he walked forward, driving the sword further into himself until it came out through his back.

The king’s eyes widened and his skin turned gray. “What in the name of the Gods are you?”

“The Morningstar. The Disgraced of Heaven.” Lucifer head-butted the king and shoved him back. The sword sliced free wet as the king stumbled, tripping on coals and falling. The king’s head smacked the fire pit’s edge, flipping him onto his back and to the ground. Lucifer was on top of him in an instant, his leaking blood covering the king’s armored chest as more dripped from his mouth onto the king’s lips. “Face to face. Now your time is—”

The king convulsed beneath him, shaking so hard that Lucifer moved aside in confusion. Hitting the fire pit had caused a split in the king’s forehead that bled as a large bump swelled. But aside from that, he had barely been injured. He hadn’t been run through like Lucifer had. And yet the shaking continued, knocking bones joining the sound of the guards that continued to scream and bash on the door.

And then the shaking stopped.

The guards’ banging continued, but Lucifer could not tear his eyes off the king. He was still as death, growing paler by the second, but his heart was as strong as a horse’s. Leaning closer, Lucifer reached out, palm open and fingers curling around his rival’s neck.

King Cyrus’s eyelids flung open, his irises blood red—like the wolves’.

Lucifer fell back on his butt right as the door plank gave way. Ten guards poured inside, the ones he had intended to kill after the king’s death to pin his murder on. Upon seeing their king on the ground, they made for Lucifer, ready to take him down—

King Cyrus moved fast as lightning and like only an angel could. Mouth splitting wide, he launched at the closest guard. He tore into the man’s jugular, crimson spraying as the rest of the guards froze in horror. But this was only the beginning. Lucifer knew it as he saw the first body fall dead and the red-stained fangs that protruded from the king’s mouth. There was a shout as the king caught his second victim. A few guards tried to flee, but the fallen angel moved and slammed the door shut to block their escape.

Lucifer watched one body fall after the next, hearing their screams dwindle as fewer mouths were left to cry out. A sense of ownership, of accomplishment, made him stand taller. Somehow, he had made this once honorable king into the creature before him, into the blood-drinking, murdering weapon he now was. He had brought the monster that hid inside this human to the surface—with his own black-laced blood.

When the king had taken every human life in the room, Lucifer offered his hand. His plan had changed. It was even better than he could have imagined. God’s precious humans turned into monsters. His very own creation. “To the future. Together we can now rule the world.”

The king snarled, his tongue tapping his pointed teeth as blood dripped from his chin. “After your treason, you will die with them.”

“After witnessing you slaughter your trusting guards in cold blood, I know you hunger for more than that.” Lucifer stood his ground, even as the king stalked closer. “You want an army that can be as ruthless as you now are? That can make men quiver in fear of their total damnation? I made you what you are. Only I can make more. An army of monsters to command. You can be their king, and I will be their God.”

The king’s eyes pulsed vibrant red as he stepped even closer, licking his bloody lips. He caught Lucifer’s hand and yanked him forward, baring his fangs. “Cross me again, and you will be my next meal. Keep to your word, and we will rule—over everything.”