‘I don’t think so. It’s only ever been him to open it. And it’s not a key. It’s a fingerprint.’

Fabulous. I was totally going to have to cut off his finger when the time came.

The Dark Prince walked back over to me, holding a small bone dusted in black powder. “You will train twice a day with my crew. Then in ninety days you’ll help me storm the gates of Heaven, letting them all inside. Do we agree?”

My heart started pounding in my head so loud that I could barely hear myself think. Why was he holding the bone? Why had he suddenly asked me this?

I swallowed hard.

“Swear on your soul, Brielle Atwater. Swear you will help me open the gates of Heaven.”

The bone suddenly flared to life, glowing a deep blackish green.

‘Abort mission!’ Sera screamed.

The Dark Prince stepped closer. “Do I need to motivate you further?” he asked.

Shea. Lincoln. My mom. Mikey. There were so many people he could hurt to force me.

God, forgive me.

“I swear it,” I said, and then he held the bone out to me, which I grasped tightly.

A painful shock ran up my arm and into my chest, pinching my heart. I yelped, pulling my arm back. The Dark Prince’s gaze fell to my wings. He was grinning.

Looking down, I saw that my once white-tipped wings were black as night again.

‘Oh God, Bri. What have you done?’

‘He trusts me now,’ I replied, trying to explain away my actions, but truly, I was freaking out inside right now.

‘Oh great, the Devil trusts you. What an awesome consolation prize,’ she snapped back.

“Can I see her? My seraph’s blade?” I asked timidly.

He paused for a moment, the grin still on his face. “Sure, why not.”

Excitement trilled through me as he walked behind his desk.

‘I think you just made a soul pact with the Devil,’ Sera rained on my parade.

‘I didn’t really want to. Like, I was under duress. That has to mean something.’

Right?

‘I don’t know about that, Brielle.’

Before I could think more on it, he bent down, and after a soft click, retrieved Sera.

The moment I saw her, I knew something was wrong. She was covered in black sticky magic; it crawled on her like bees.

“A little insurance policy.” Lucifer motioned to the black stuff coating her blade.

‘He feels gross,’ Sera informed me grumpily.

‘I’m sorry.’ I hated seeing her like that.

When the Dark Prince reached out to hand her to me, I recoiled for a moment. He was wearing a smug grin, knowing he’d made her something I wouldn’t want to touch.

Asshole.

Motivated by the prospect of holding Sera, white light suddenly flared inside of me. Trusting my Celestial energy, I let it come to the surface, pouring from my palm, and coating my hand like a glove.

‘Whoa, cool,’ Sera exclaimed.

‘You seeing this?’ I asked with wonder.

‘Grab my handle.’

My gaze flicked up to see Lucy glaring down at me, and my white magic glove.

His nose flared as he inhaled. “That’s Gabriel’s magic.”

Whoa. He could tell that by smelling? I didn’t even know.

With a look of disdain, he dropped Sera into my palm. I winced a little, expecting pain, but instead it was just the feel of cold steel hitting my skin. My white magic wrapped around the black, keeping it from touching me. Lucifer was watching it curiously, and I wondered if I would be capable of getting the black magic off it. Eventually.

I could feel Sera, but not as closely as I normally would. The black stuff was messing with her powers and our connection.

‘Stab him and run,’ Sera advised.

A grin curved my lips. ‘That’s not in the plan.’

‘I changed my mind,’ she said flippantly.

Simply stabbing him wouldn’t kill him. On some level I knew that. With Sera’s powers bound in this black stuff, she’d be no more harmful than a kitchen knife.

The Dark Prince continued to stare at my hand. “In all my time in Heaven, during all my dutiful hard work to the Creator, I was never given a seraph’s blade.”

He looked almost remorseful in that moment.

Almost.

His mouth turned down the slightest bit, and his brow wrinkled as he seemed to be going down memory lane.

I swallowed hard and clutched Sera tighter.

‘I can’t use my light blinding powers, or anything with this darkness on me,’ she shared.

‘It’s okay. I’ll figure it out,’ I promised her.

“So she’s the key into Heaven? The only way you can get your revenge?” I questioned.

That brought a smile to his handsome yet predatorial face.

“Yes. Her and you. Together, you’re my key.”

Reaching out, he swiped her from my hand, walking to his desk to place her back in the box.

‘I don’t think I’m the key. Not alone. I think you need to be there too, and now you’ve just sworn to be,’ Sera admitted nervously.

Her words made my stomach knot into a ball.

‘I had to.’

That was that. I wouldn’t let Shea or anyone else in my family get hurt, and I needed his trust to break out of here.

I would figure everything else out later.

Chapter Eight

The week passed painfully slow, full of injuries from training with the demon crew, and training sessions with Lucifer on how to create dark creatures. I was pretty sure that when I actually died, I would be coming back to Hell for all the bad shit I was doing down here now.

Raksha had heard from her wife, Elodie, and was right; she’d been in the hospital with their son. He’d had a nearly fatal asthma attack, and now Raksha was in my room before practice, venting. We’d become friends of sorts—she was divulging personal information, but she’d also beat my ass if I stepped out of line. She was a survivor and fiercely protective of her family. It was something I understood and admired.

“Elodie wants to sign a demon contract to get a healer demon to cure our son of his asthma,” Raksha explained, pulling at the hem of her shirt while pacing my small room.

My eyes widened. “Umm, take it from me, that’s not a good idea, and they will enslave your son as well. Firstborn.”

Raksha nodded. “Yes, I know. I told her that, but I’m not there, and she’s doing this all alone, and—” Her voice caught.

I’d never seen her so human and emotional. Normally she was a statue or an asshole, never a grieving mother and wife. It was weird to see my captor nanny like this. A lightbulb went off in my head in that instant, and I nearly fell over with the anxiety of it all.

“You know, I could get your son healed for free by a Celestial,” I offered.

Her eyes snapped in my direction. “Impossible.”

Quickly, I stood. “No, it’s not. You send her a letter and tell her to go to Fallen Academy. Ask for Noah. If she tells him I sent her, he’ll do it. No questions asked.”

Her face clouded over. “You think I can just write her any old letter I want? All of our communications are monitored. I can’t reveal that you’re alive.”

My short-lived euphoria at my amazing idea vanished. “Oh, well she could still try. Noah wouldn’t turn away an innocent boy.”

Raksha rolled her eyes. “My wife is a Necromancer. She can’t just hop on a bus to Angel City. She’d need a permit, and they would surely turn away the boy of a Dark Mage and Necromancer.”

I shook my head. “No. Noah would never turn a child away. I’m telling you, if she can get your son to Fallen Academy, Noah will heal him.”

Even saying the words made my chest ache to be with my friends again. One of Noah’s cheesy winks would make my day. Even Lincoln yelling at me would be welcome right this moment.

Raksha looked fierce. “I don’t like hope. It only leads to disappointment.”

She spun on her heel then, and unlocked my door. “Come on. Training will be a bit different today.”

I sighed, following her out of the room. Half the time when I asked her a question, she didn’t answer, so I didn’t expect any change today. Still I asked. “How will it be different?”

Raksha took a side glance at me. “We’re going up top. A little field trip is in order.”

Up top? As in the surface?

I scrambled after her as we made our way past our usual spot, and kept walking, winding up and up around the underground castle. My stomach tightened as nerves clawed at my gut, leaving a hollow feeling there.

I was going outside. Could I escape? But I could never leave Sera.

‘Nonsense. If there’s a way, you get the hell out of here. No pun intended,’ Sera informed me.

I tried to hide my grin. ‘You have the best personality of any knife I’ve ever known.’

‘Know many talking knives, do you?’

That time I did grin and Raksha noticed. “Try not to be so obvious about the fact that you can talk to your infinity weapon, or he’ll drug you again,” she ordered.

My mouth popped open a little, and I nearly tripped over my feet at her declaration. “Umm… I….” I didn’t know what to say.

She waved her hand. “Only I can see it, because I’m the one who encased the dagger’s magic. Keep it harmless, and I won’t tell anyone.”

There, in that moment, I had proof that she was actively on my side, trying to keep me alive, and do what was best for me.

I simply nodded. “Can you hear us?”

Oh God, please say no.

She smirked. “No. I can see the magical lines that link you both. They became active again just after I weaned you off the meds.”

Whoa. Crazy.

“So, you’re the one who encased Sera’s magic?”

She shot me a side glare. “Enough talking.”

As she sped up her pace, I found myself wondering a couple things. Just how powerful was Raksha, and would she help me get out if I made it worth her while?