Chapter 23
Luiz came from the doorway, and I thrust Petra into the waiting hands of my Hellhound. Luiz disappeared in a flurry of Hellfire as everyone in the room burst into action.
Ba'el had broken through the wards, somehow. I rushed to the window and looked outside, but every single statue and bloody figure was still, casting shadows onto the dead grass.
I turned to Lucifer. “He’s not outside.”
Luc disappeared and reappeared in the blink of an eye, in front of the Leviathan. He gripped the front of the serpent’s armour and pulled him close so that they were sharing the same breath. “What did you do?”
Gone was the King of Envy’s entitled and smug demeanour. It melted away to fear. The Leviathan shook his head frantically and looked at the small crowd around him.
“Kill me.” Levi pleaded with a serpentine hiss. “Do it, Lucifer. I have been a prisoner for too long. I would rather burn than be a puppet to Ba'el much longer.”
Luc pushed the man away in disgust. “Go back to your Circle. I have no use for such a weak and pathetic creature.”
The Leviathan scrambled back before melting into his other form. Envy curled in on himself until he disappeared.
“He’s here.” Abe repeated ominously, before he coughed and a mouthful of blood came from his lips.
I closed my eyes and inhaled but the air was oppressive.
Lucifer peered over the window’s stone ledge as I had done moments before. “I can feel him. Where is he?”
A brainwave hit me immediately, and my stomach sank when I thought of the possibilities. “He’s inside the foundations of the castle. He's going to cut the power to the First Circle.”
“Our daughter was just a distraction.” Lucifer snarled, and as his wrath grew the air thickened with static. “You, stay. Dahlia. Come.” He commanded, pointing to the wounded Abaddon to remain in position.
I stepped forward and held my hand out to meet his finger. I was immediately pulled into the Ether when we touched.
We Laced to the beginning of the caverns; dust fell from overhead as the world around us trembled. I cursed under my breath.
“If this place collapses, getting trapped is going to hurt exponentially,” I warned.
“Come.” Luc strode into the underground network with confidence that I did not feel. “If you have a chance to fight Ba'el, I want you to take it.”
“You’re more powerful than I am.”
“Not so. I am also one of the Seven. I cannot kill another Original. The pillars of Hell are evenly distributed. If one falls, they all fall.”
I rubbed the top of my arm as I walked by his side. Every so often Luc would take a turn into the darkness that I did not understand and lead us further into the depths of the caves. The sounds of screams began to filter through the stone walls, but they echoed and whispered in a way that played with my mind and toyed the line between reality and hallucination.
I stopped walking.
“Lucifer,” I said, tugging his hand to a stop, and my eyes widened in realisation. “When I fell, I fell into the foundations of the castle.”
“Yes,” Luc replied in a carefully measured tone.
“Are the foundations of the castle linked to the Summerland in some way?” I studied his face for a sign that he was lying, not that I would be able to tell if he was.
Luc's eyes flashed silver and he cursed under his breath. “I certainly hope not. Though you would not be the first person to fall to end up in the foundations of my castle. Fuck. FUCK!”
He gripped my arm and we Laced to the beginning of the hole that he had pulled me from. The creaking sounds of whining sinners accompanied the low rumble of destruction as everything around us buckled against the laws of physics.
Luc's magic rose in a silver swirl and pressed against the cavern walls around us to prevent them from collapsing.
“I don’t know what he's doing, but if he’s collecting the souls down there and connecting to the Summerland at the same time. There is no telling how powerful he could become.” Luc reached forward and gripped both of my cheeks. “I need you to go down there and take him far away from this place. I need to stay here to protect the First Circle.”
I nodded silently. “Tell Petra that I—”
He put his finger to my lips to silence me. “Go down there. Save our home. Come back alive.”
I nodded and I turned away. Luc gripped my hand and tugged me back to him before I could leap into the darkness. He placed a cheeky kiss on my lips. “And marry me?”
My mouth popped open in an 'o' before he pushed me down the hole with a wink and I descended into darkness.
I put Luc's words out of my mind as I walked deeper into the darkness. I thought of the way that Luc's magic had danced in front of me like a beacon, helping a lost traveller.
I flexed my fingers, invisible in the darkness, and concentrated my magic to the fingertips. That part was easy. Finding a medium that could help me was harder. The temperature was the easiest to manipulate but the magic offered no physical light. I clenched my fist and thought of the shadows inside of the throne. The pulsating threads that I had only ever felt before, but had never seen.
My hand illuminated with blue sparks like a broken lightbulb, only to immediately go out again. No emotion was tied to my magic, but I found the right rope to pull inside of myself and I yanked it hard.
My hands burst into powder blue electricity, thousands of volts flying over my skin like fireflies. I turned over my hand and walked forwards. The shadows moved away from me, as if they had form and could not stand the light.
The rumble of destruction loomed overhead, while the floor creaked under the strain of whatever Ba'el was doing. I had to hurry.
The foundations of the castle were expansive and impossible to navigate, even more so than the caves. I had no idea how Lucifer did it.
There was no light, save for my blue hands as I moved forward in one direction. I was uncertain if it was the right one.
It felt like a bubble popping in my stomach at first, right where I had imagined the ball of wrath that I had stolen from Ba'el. The feeling intensified the more I veered to the left, so I followed my instinct. I was connected to Ba’el. Part of him had lived inside of me when I had stolen his power.
I did not see him until my blue hands cast shadows across his battle-scarred face.
“You can't stop me, Pet.” Ba'el warned with a low voice and a snide smile. “Go back to your home and salvage your effects, because this castle is going to fall.”
Before he could finish the last word, I placed both of my hands on his cheeks. I tugged his head down to meet mine and planted a wet and slobby kiss on his lips. I used his distraction to Lace us to the Second Circle. His home. Wrath.
Ba'el pushed me away with enough force that I went skidding across the marble floor of his throne room.
His frustration was a roar that shook the firelight torches on the wall. I watched as he tightened his fists and tried to Lace to the First Circle.
“Fool us once, Ba'el. Lucifer's magic will never let you into the First Circle again.” I purred.
He plucked a broadsword from one of the many weapons that decorated the throne room.
I backed away and leapt to my feet. Reaching for the nearest blade on the wall, I chose the curved axe with a polished obsidian handle. The second my fingers brushed the weapon, my entire body jarred and my teeth slammed against each other in shock.
Okay. I couldn’t touch the weapons. That made sense.
Hindered by the slack, skeletal wings on my back. I circled slowly. Ba'el did the same. Neither of us was willing to show our back to the other.
I allowed the familiar sensation of ice to spill over my fingers and steam rose in the air. Frost decorated my fingertips and grew until it surpassed my wrist and extended past my elbows.
“You may have stopped me from taking the First Circle and ripping it apart, but I still have the Sceptre.” Ba'el swung his sword to tease me and it sliced the air with a whoosh. “The Summerland will feel my Wrath.”
“Who cares about a bunch of pigeons?” I shrugged, with my eyes on his blade.
“Once Nova learns the truth about her precious Lucifer, about how I never betrayed her, she'll take me back.” He said smugly.
“And yet you want to tear her home to pieces?” I laughed without humour. “You either want her to forgive you or you want to destroy her. Pick one.”
His eyes flashed red as he licked his bottom lip, drawing his sword and readying an attack. “I am Wrath. To destroy is my Divinity.”
He gave no physical sign that he was going to attack, but Ba’el was a skilled fighter. Much more so than I. I felt the sting of his blade as the metal kissed my lower arm. My instincts had raised it to protect my face. My breath hissed through my teeth and I jumped back.
Ba'el's movements were like a jaguar, as he stalked back to the other side of the room. He brought the heavy blade to his face and inhaled my blood from the length of it.
My teeth gritted and the long crimson line of parted skin did not knit together as it should.
“Devil’s silver?” I kept my tone light, casual, even though my elbow was leaking blood onto the floor like raindrops.
“My own brand of Magic.” He smirked.
“It smells like rot.”
Ba'el's lips curled over his teeth but he did not come back with a witty retort. Instead, the King of Wrath lifted his weapon over his head. The air parted as he appeared in front of me. The heavy blade swung down and I rolled to the side and moved across the room. I could smell Ba'el inside of my nostrils, feel the air of his movement against my skin.
He swung his sword again, and it was close. I ducked back and a lock of my honey blonde hair dropped to the floor and into the discarded blood that leaked from my wound. He was quick.
Red Circle. Red Throne. Lost to blight and ill. Take my power little girl, and give it all I will.
My ears prickled at the intrusion. Something ancient spoke. Its deep voice rumbled throughout my brain. I tried to make sense of the words, as I dived away from the swing of Ba'el's sword.
“Deceitful throne!” Ba'el snarled, pointing his sword at the cracked black monstrosity as if his weapon was a finger. “Shut the Hell up!”
Red Circle. Red Throne. Thorn of lies and all. Reach out and touch my power, the world will feel your Thrall.
Ba'el shook his head and muttered to himself, his broadsword swung low as he gripped his short cropped hair with one hand and fisted his locks. Pulling them in exasperation.
“It's because you're shiny and new. A Fallen. Wrath is calling.” Ba'el cocked his head to the side, his words were manic. “Knock. Knock? You can’t answer the door to my power if you're dead, Devil's Bride.”
“You’re positively insane.” I said.
I was closer to the throne than he was. He had given too much away. I turned on my heel and darted for the pillar of Hell. Obsidian stone, cracked and glowed with burning red embers like molten lava. I reached forward, outstretched fingers. The power raised up like a feline ready to be petted.
Ba'el would fall if I took his power.
I would be Queen of Wrath. I would rule.
His sword sliced. I felt the metal as it cut through the fat, sinews and bone of my right calf muscle. The force made the blade wobble; I slammed forward too quickly to place my hands out to prevent my face from kissing the marble. My mouth filled with blood. My brain pulsated in my ears and echoed like a steel drum.
I was pinned to the ground. A scream ripped from my throat as the burning cauterisation of his blade began to twist and curl under the skin of my leg.
It would not heal. It would not regrow.
His magic entered my bloodstream like a virus. Ba'el stood over me. His combat boot was heavy on the small of my back as he twisted his foot to grind me into the ground.
I reached up and tried to push my upper body from the floor, but he forced his foot down onto my spine in a way that sparked every nerve ending.
“The kiss of my blade does not heal, Devil's bride. Would he still want you if you weren’t a perfect little princess?”
I did not have a chance to answer as Ba'el yanked the long blade from my calf and dragged the top of the sword along the floor as he circled my prone form. His magic, directly inside of my blood from his weapon, kept me pinned. I felt the wetness surround me as my blood leaked onto the floor and surrounded my body. My belly was wet and the crimson puddle grew slowly.
Before I had a chance to reach out, there was a sting and then silence. The sound of his blade as the flat hit the marble.
Then pain. Enough to make my vision turn white.
My eyes followed his steel toe cap boots as they walked in front of me. Ba'el knelt to meet my eyes, something cradled in his arms.
He dropped it to the ground in front of me with a satisfying thud. A scream built in my throat, and for once I could not silence my emotions. My reaction was ripped from me as horror filled my heart like a balloon and burst.
He'd cut off my leg.
I recognised every single one of the painted red toenails. I felt the burning ache and unbearable pain below my knee, even though there was nothing attached.
My vision dipped but rage kept me from fading. The Demon inside of me roared. Ba'el leant down to my level; his smile was unbearably wide. I did not the only thing I could think of. No magic. Just instinct.
I showed my thumbs into his eye sockets. The rest of my fingers gripped his head as I held on for dear life. He pushed me and his incredible strength rattled my bones. Still, I gripped and twisted my thumbs until his eyeballs turned to jelly and his blood trailed down his face in tears.
Ba'el's fist slammed into the side of my head as he tried to beat me off. He stood to his full height and my limb body came with him. I did not allow myself to look down and see where my leg had been parted from my body.
He tossed his head, like a dog with a rat, and I allowed my ice to reach into my fingertips. His pain intensified and keened.
Ba'el swung; his immense body weight worked against me as my fingers loosened. I felt my hands give way and I was thrown across the room. My back slammed into the floor.
My head kicked back and stars appeared behind my eyes. I reached forward and dragged the slack weight of my body along the floor. My finger’s strained and my nails snapped. The poison from his blade leeched into my system and I began to grow numb all over.
My hand met something smooth, but cracked. My hair began to rise as if I had put my hand into a power socket. I gripped onto it with all my strength and allowed it to pull me forward.
The voice of the throne filled my head.
Can I eat him?
I want the bones.
The marrow.
The blood.
Tear and rip. Take it all.
I had no idea why the throne was asking me, until I looked at my fist. I clung to the leg of the throne, at the head of the Second Circle. I felt the blackened magic latch onto my body and connect me to the source of Hell. I watched Ba'el as he clung to his head, like a wounded animal.
I opened my mouth to say yes. To tell the Second Circle to take him and rip him apart. The words did not make it past my lips. The throne did as I wished.
I was Wrath. Rage.
I was infinite.