Kobal

“This is where we came for Volunteer Day,” River said. “It was a day of celebration. There were games and food, music, dancing, and laughter. It was the one day a year when we could forget all our troubles and simply enjoy life.” She pointed to the brick building on the right of me, and her voice hitched. “I went to school there, for a time.”

“He will never do this again, Mah Kush-la,” I promised. I couldn’t take her anguish from her, or fix this, but I could offer her that bit of solace.

Another angel landed on the field to her left. Fury twisted her features. The ball of energy she threw at it had the angel rising again, but more angels swooped down to stand amid the bodies. The angels spread out through the carnage until they became black sentinels watching and waiting for us to be maneuvered where they wanted us.

The stench of blood filled my nose; the faint odor of decay lay beneath it, but these humans had not died that long ago. Some of the bodies looked as if they had been torn limb from limb, while others appeared to have been dropped from great heights as bones protruded from rumpled flesh and dents pockmarked the ground.

Glancing behind me, I gritted my teeth when I saw more shadows emerging from the trees, but the attack did not resume. There was no reason for it to as hundreds of the craetons slid from the woods. Their numbers alone were enough to push us forward.

“Any shot some of your brothers and sisters will come help us?” Hawk inquired of Raphael.

“Not likely,” Raphael replied without a second’s hesitation. “It will take a cataclysmic event for them to intervene.”

“Fantastic,” Erin murmured.

“When we reach wherever they’re pushing us, and the battle resumes, I want you to work on keeping the demons behind us held back,” I said to Raphael. “River, funnel your ability into him. The two of you should be able to create a wall that will keep our backs at least partially protected.”

“I will,” she said as she carefully picked her way through the remains. She held her eyes in such a way that I knew she could see where she put her feet to avoid stepping on anyone, but she didn’t see the faces of those who had died here.

Cresting the top of a small hill, red filled my vision when I spotted Lucifer sitting a hundred feet downhill from us on my throne. River’s brothers were with him. I knew then that he’d taken the thrones from Hell with the intent of baiting me into a fight I wasn’t prepared for. Before River entered my life, he would have succeeded, but she had calmed me and made it so I at least paused to think before reacting. Even if I did want to fly at him in a rage, I would not leave her unprotected.

River lifted her head and released a startled cry before stumbling forward. Pulling her back, I clasped her firmly against my side when she wriggled to break free of my hold.

“Bailey,” she whispered. “Gage.”

“I will get them back,” I promised. “But you are to stay by me.”

Her body tensed to spring forward, but she stopped fighting my restraining hold. From closer than ever before, the roar of a drakón sounded through the day. The shadow of one darkened the ground between us and Lucifer when it flew overhead. My teeth clenched when I realized that they hadn’t been hunting as they moved across the Earth; they’d been following us.

Blue fire trailed from the bones of the drakón as it soared low over the trees behind Lucifer and disappeared. Between us, green grass rolled down the hill toward Lucifer as no bodies or blood marked the land. I doubted Lucifer felt any regret over what he’d done to the humans and settled here because he couldn’t stand the reminder their bodies provided. He’d chosen this place because the breeze carried the stench of the carnage away from here.

“Remember, you must help Raphael when it becomes necessary,” I said in a low voice to River.

She nodded, but flames flared across the tips of her fingers instead of sparks, and I could feel the fury rolling off her.

Lucifer smiled and waved his hand at us in a beckoning gesture. “Come! Come!” he called excitedly.

“I hate that guy,” Hawk stated.

“We all do,” Magnus replied. “It’s why he’s trying to kill us.”

We’d lost the first part of this battle, but I would not leave here until this was ended. Either Lucifer or I would die today.

Lucifer’s grin widened as we neared. Resting his elbow on the arm of my throne, he set his chin on his fist. He draped one leg over the other arm and swung his foot idly back and forth while he gazed at us.

Behind Lucifer, the rest of the angels descended from the sky to form a line. Beside my throne sat River’s; her brother Gage was seated on it. A barta demon stood behind Gage. Its clawed hand curled around Gage’s thin shoulder, pinning the child against the back of the throne. Gage’s brown eyes followed his sister. His freckles stood out starkly against the pallor of his skin, but like his sister, he remained stoic in the face of fear.

“That’s far enough!” Lucifer declared when we were twenty feet away.

I glanced behind me to the wall of demons and Hell creatures lined up to block our retreat. River tensed against me when Lucifer rested his hand on top of Bailey’s blond head. The young child sat before Lucifer on the throne, his blue eyes filled with tears and his fist in his mouth as he sucked on his hand.

Pulling his hand from his mouth, Bailey shouted a garbled, “River!”

The child tried to leap down, but Lucifer held him back.

“Don’t!” River shouted.

I held her close when she lurched toward her brothers again. Tears slid down Bailey’s flushed cheeks as he tipped his head back to gaze at Lucifer before looking to River. He shoved his hand into his mouth once more.

“You’re in no position to tell me what to do, daughter, and apparently, niece,” Lucifer hissed through his bared teeth.

“It’s okay, B,” River said. “It’s all going to be okay. How are you doing, Gage?”

“I’ve been better, Pittah. Yourself?”

“Seen better days too,” she replied.

Gage glanced at Lucifer and a crack in his brave façade showed as his hands trembled. “Did you see… ah… did you see everyone?” he croaked.

“Yes,” River said. “Did you?” Her fingers dug into my flesh as she uttered the question and she didn’t breathe.

“Only some,” Gage whispered. “When they were dro…” Gage cleared his throat. “Dropped.”

River’s grip on me eased only slightly. “It’s going to be okay. We’re going to get you both out of here soon.”

Lucifer pressed his lips against Bailey’s ear. “My siblings lied to me too. Don’t believe anything she says,” he said, and more tears streamed from Bailey’s blue eyes. “She’s descended from one of those liars, but which… one… is… it?”

With each of those last four words, he turned Bailey’s head back and forth in a jerking motion. Fire flashed over River’s fingers and up to her wrists. Gage gawked at the flames and Bailey sobbed harder.

“I’ll take Bailey’s place,” River offered.

Lucifer laughed when my arm tightened around her. “The varcolac will never let you do that, daughter.”

“The children have nothing to do with this,” I growled when the flames on River’s fingers went out and golden-blue sparks came to life.

“They have far more to do with this than I ever could have dreamed possible!” Lucifer declared and started turning Bailey’s head back and forth again. “Imagine my astonishment when her mother started rattling on about voices, and devil spawn, and yada boring fucking yada. I almost killed her just to shut her up. How did you live with that pitiful creature all those years?” Lucifer asked River.

She glowered back at him.

“Not speaking, oh well,” Lucifer replied. “So anyway, she was rambling on when something clicked into place. I mean, I know certain humans have special abilities, but amid her endless bullshit, I realized she actually believes in angels and demons. She knew I was your father, and even if a human has special abilities, they cannot speak with the angels, unless they are part angel. Maybe I could have passed her off as just being crazy, but then I recalled all the power you unleashed on those seals, and that really got me to thinking.”

Lucifer tapped one finger against his temple while his other hand constricted on Bailey’s head and he leaned forward. Nudging River behind me, I planted myself firmly in front of her.

“Since I know my line, and the lines of all the angels who fell with me, and I know your mother isn’t descended from any of us, I realized it must be someone else. But who? I asked myself. And how could that ever be possible?” Now he tapped his finger against his chin as his foot swung faster.

“I asked myself these questions over and over again,” Lucifer continued. “I even said to myself, perhaps we lost a line. We angels are not perfect after all. So maybe we could have somehow lost track of a child over the countless years. But I couldn’t quite bring myself to buy it, not when I felt that I would have at least sensed the DNA of another fallen angel within you. Eventually I realized your mother speaking to the angels could only mean that the fallen were not the only ones with children roaming Earth. Since I never saw Ariel heavy with child, it could only be one other angel.”

Lucifer’s gaze went from River to Raphael when he came forward to stand on the other side of her. Loathing exuded from Lucifer when he snarled at Raphael. Bailey tried to squirm away, but Lucifer held him in place.

“Raphael,” Lucifer bit out.

“Lucifer,” Raphael replied blandly.

“That is not my name!” Lucifer snapped. “I forsook it when I forsook all of you.”

Raphael bristled beside River.

“Do not instigate him when he has the children,” I commanded.

Raphael glanced at River before bowing his head.

“Still a follower I see,” Lucifer sneered at Raphael. “I bet Michael sent you here to clean up his mess. The angel’s large, shiny, warrior lapdog.”

Dust fell from Raphael’s wings when he ruffled them, but he didn’t rise to Lucifer’s baiting.

“Deny to me that Michael had a child while on Earth!” Lucifer shouted at him.

“I cannot,” Raphael replied.

Lucifer blinked as if he’d never expected to hear the blunt admission. Lucifer released his grip on Bailey’s head and began to pet the child as he gazed at the horizon. A distraught sound escaped River, but she didn’t try to go after them again.

Then Lucifer stilled completely, and his eyes returned to Raphael. “Adam!” Lucifer spat.

The world slanted precariously as Lucifer unleashed his ability to disorient his prey. The vast wave of power he emitted crackled against my skin. Raphael staggered to the side before planting his feet. River’s legs wobbled, but I held her steady.

Around me, the others stumbled back and forth as if the ground lurched from side to side, though it never moved. Lucifer could make the world appear as if it were shifting when it hadn’t. More accustomed to this ability of Lucifer’s, I remained unmoving.

Lucifer leaned over Bailey, locking the child in a cage created by his arms as he tee-peed his fingers before his face and gazed at me. The world behind him blurred and twisted. River clutched her head.

“It’s not real,” I murmured to her. “None of it is real.”

The earth seemed to shift away before settling into place as Lucifer regained control of his temper. River’s hand fell back to her side, but her head remained bowed as she struggled to catch her breath.

“Do you know why the varcolac rises from the fires?” Lucifer asked me.

“I don’t care,” I replied blandly.

“You were forged from the flames of Hell, and the angels were created from the waters of Heaven,” he continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “Two opposite elements; two completely different creatures. All of them not born of a mother, but from a piece of their worlds. The angels guided the souls in Heaven, and the varcolac guided the demons in Hell.

“The being knew some horrible things could evolve in Hell, and so it forged creatures”—he waved a hand at the hounds prowling before me—“and a leader who would be capable of ruling those creatures. That leader also had to be able to protect the demons from any threats that may arise in that abysmal place. Like the angels, the demons are a necessary part of the flow of life.”

Widening my stance, I felt the others creeping closer as Lucifer’s words lured them in. I studied the way he held Bailey as I tried to figure out a way to get the child free, without killing him.

“The markings on the varcolac, on this throne, they can all be found in Heaven too,” Lucifer said. “Did you know the first varcolac rose from the fires before the first angel rose in Heaven?

“No, you didn’t,” he continued when no one responded to him. “When Hell broke from Earth first, the being resided there. But then Heaven came into existence and the being knew it would be needed there too. No matter how powerful the being was, it did not have the power to reside and rule over all three planes. Before it left Hell, it left some of its power behind. That power made it possible to forge a single ruler every time the previous one died.”

“Holy shit,” Vargas said.

I remained silent as I tried to deny what Lucifer said, but I couldn’t. I had been the one forged in those fires after all. I carried their vast power with me everywhere I went.

“Then the being created the angels and retreated. It left us to find our own way on this great spinning ball the humans dubbed Earth.”