Her Wicked Angel

by Felicity Heaton

  The dragon reared up, red shimmering across its scales. It was charging up, preparing to bake the entire courtyard with the inferno it held within. He couldn’t let that happen.

  Asmodeus furled his wings against his back and closed his eyes, drawing on all of his strength, channelling it into the shadows regrouping around his feet. Shadows that came from the Devil’s blood in his veins. Darkness incarnate.

  They would swallow the dragon whole given the chance.

  He coaxed them, drawing them up to his hands, so they floated and danced around his clawed fingers and settled into his skin, rendering it black. The darkness flowed up his arms, cold and numbing, increasing his strength as it joined with him.

  His blade turned black.

  The gold on the remaining pieces of his armour melted into pure obsidian and then blazed purple.

  The black feathers of his wings gained a violet shimmer.

  Asmodeus embraced the darkness within him, pushing out the good, expelling it. It was the only way to stop the dragon. It was the only way to save Liora.

  Good was his weakness.

  Evil was his strength.

  His black hair fluttered and shifted backwards, and black horns curled from behind his ears.

  He opened his eyes, fixing his swirling purple gaze on the dragon, and bared his fangs as his teeth all sharpened and the darkness reached his chest and exploded outwards, turning all of his skin into the colour of the night.

  The dragon hesitated.

  Asmodeus couldn’t blame it.

  None saw the King of Demons in his true form and lived to tell others of his appearance.

  Liora’s pentagram burned into his chest and he growled as the power in it tried to repel him.

  He called his other black blade, pressed his bare foot into the ground, and kicked off. He shot through the air towards the dragon and it threw its head back and unleashed hell on him. Fire as hot as the sun rocketed towards him.

  Asmodeus grinned, pinned his wings back and locked his blades together before him, not slowing his ascent.

  The inferno struck his black blades and they blazed violet. The fire bent around him, singeing his wings, and he endured it, gritting his teeth and growling as he thrust forwards. He burst through the other side and stared into the dragon’s huge red eyes.

  It lunged for him with its teeth.

  Asmodeus launched the blade in his left hand, sending it spinning rapidly towards the dragon’s neck. The beast reared back and shrieked as the black sword lodged deep between two of the thick bands of armour around the front of its throat.

  Asmodeus’s grin widened. He laughed as his boots hit the dragon’s neck, he caught the blade and ran right, dragging it behind him, slicing across its throat. It desperately slashed at him and he swung his other blade, severing one of its claws, and then hacked at its throat. Black blood and red fire flowed from the ragged cuts, and the dragon lumbered forwards, trying to shake him. He dug his other black blade into the back of its neck and held on to it, riding each attempt to remove him.

  He stabbed and slashed with his other blade, cutting through meat and bone, grinning the whole time as the beast began to weaken. Pathetic creature. It crashed into the ground and Asmodeus pulled his other blade out, brought them both back above his head and roared as he swung them down with all of his strength.

  They sliced straight through the dragon’s neck. Its head rolled across the courtyard and its body lurched, convulsing violently, its wings flapping. Blood and molten fire pumped from the ragged end of its neck, melting the black pavement beneath the dragon.

  The dragon’s body stumbled and crashed into the ground.

  Asmodeus straightened to his full height on its shoulders and smiled as the dragon stilled.

  Victory to the King of Demons.

  He had told Liora that a dragon was no match for him.

  The doors in the fortress behind him creaked open.

  Asmodeus huffed as he sensed his master’s gaze on him, feeling the full depth of his fury, and slowly turned to face him.

  Standing on the dragon’s corpse, he towered above the Devil, and for the first time in his life, his master had to look up at him.

  Asmodeus grinned.

  “Give her to me.” He sent one sword away and held his black clawed hand out to the Devil. “You have what is mine.”

  “No, Asmodeus.” The Devil rolled the sleeves of his black shirt down and buttoned them. “I cannot hand her over to you. She is safe. There is no need for us to quarrel.”

  “You speak so because you fear I will slay you as I slayed your dragon.” Asmodeus beat his aching black wings and furled them against his back. He could feel cuts on his body. Wounds. It seemed Liora’s pentagram refused to protect him when he was in this form.

  The Devil flicked him a bored look. “I admit, I was surprised to discover this power in you… my power. It will not change anything, Asmodeus. Leave.”

  He felt the familiar tug behind his breastbone and growled. “No. I will not heed your commands. Give me Liora.”

  “Again… I cannot hand her over to you. She is safe and that is all you need to know.”

  “I want her back.” The shadows slipped from his fingers, draining down from his chest to curl around them, eager for blood. He would give it to them if the Devil thought to keep refusing him. “She belongs to me. I demand to see her.”

  He needed to see her. His life and his sanity depended upon it. If he didn’t see her in the next five minutes, he was going to go out of his mind and wreak havoc upon this entire realm until the Devil gave him what he wanted.

  Liora.

  “I cannot allow that.” The Devil calmly moved forwards, to the edge of the curved steps. He frowned down at the courtyard as it bubbled and hissed, little more than a lake of lava and dragon’s blood, and curled his lip. The fury Asmodeus could sense in him grew and shadows fluttered around the Devil’s shoulders.

  Asmodeus growled and tipped his chin up, the darkness flowing around his claws growing agitated, striking at the air in the Devil’s direction.

  “Give her to me,” Asmodeus snarled and the pentagram burned him again, blistering his black flesh. It despised the evil in him. He could feel it. It wanted to be away from him and would burn through his body to achieve it. “I will not ask you again.”

  The Devil’s eyes flashed red. “And I will not tell you again. She is safe with me.”

  “Let me see her.”

  “No.”

  He growled in frustration. “Why not? Why have you taken her from me?”

  “It is for the good of the world, Asmodeus. I cannot let you have her. She is dangerous in your hands.”

  “She belongs in these hands.” He held them out to the Devil and then frowned at them, seeing what they had become.

  Black.

  Clawed.

  Evil.

  He flexed his fingers and curled them into fists. Liora would hate to see him as he was now. She wouldn’t want to be in these arms that longed to hold her close to him, to shield her from the violence of the three realms and keep her safe.

  She would see him as a monster.

  Pure evil.

  A true king of demons.

  Just like his master.

  The Devil straightened and tipped his chin up, holding Asmodeus’s gaze. The shadows fluttering around his master’s shoulders spread and grew, until they streamed from the back of his black shirt and flickered over his hands. Darkness shifted beneath his skin and his red eyes bore into Asmodeus, challenging him as his power flowed over him, pressing down despite the magnitude of Asmodeus’s own power.

  “I warn you… do not try to reach her, Asmodeus. Do not be a fool. I swear she is safe, unharmed, and she will remain that way. I do this for the good of the world.”

  “Good?” Asmodeus readied his blades and flashed his fangs. “You know nothing of good. What you do is evil… you seek to separate us… you seek to keep my Liora from me and I will not allow it. Sh
e is mine!”

  The Devil’s eyes blazed crimson and he growled, revealing his own vicious fangs.

  “Try, Maggot. Only I can access the place where she resides and any who attempt to reach it will die.”

  His master cast his left hand out and Asmodeus roared at him as black tendrils shot around him, snaring his wrists and throat, choking him.

  “For the good of the three realms, Asmodeus, do not be a fool.”

  Darkness swallowed him and then black slammed into him. He pressed his hands against the charred slabs, pushed himself onto his knees, and threw his head back and roared at the cavernous ceiling of Hell and the ruined castle before him.

  His master would pay for daring to send him here, back to a place that only worsened his pain, heightening it until it ate away at him.

  He lumbered onto his feet and breathed hard, trying to rein his anger in and subdue the darkness. The shadows slipped from his skin and his armour, and his horns shrank back into his head.

  He had to look normal. He couldn’t let them see him like this.

  He couldn’t let them see what was going to happen before it was too late.

  He clutched the pentagram around his neck and grinned.

  He needed to borrow something from his twin.

  He needed to locate Liora within the fortress.

  He needed a witch.

  CHAPTER 22

  Apollyon was growing tired of Asmodeus’s behaviour. He checked his swords over and sheathed them at his waist, settling the curved golden blades against the pointed strips of armour that protected his hips. Everyone else on the island had already armoured up and were ready to leave as soon as he had retrieved Serenity from the other side of the island. She was trying to communicate with the idiot’s two hellhounds, hoping to discover what he had told them about his plans, if anything.

  He looked around him at the others, glad that they had agreed to come with him to Hell in search of Liora and Asmodeus. God only knew his twin didn’t deserve their help after heading off alone like that, leaving Erin with his rabid dogs.

  Erin paced near the fire, muttering dark things beneath her breath. The Devil had refused to respond when she had opened a line of communication with him and demanded to know whether he had sent his Hell’s angels to snatch Liora, breaking the tentative truce between them. Since then, she had been detailing all the ways she was going to rip into her father and make him pay.

  Veiron remained close to her, barely holding on to his more angelic form. Darkness ruled around his red eyes though, a warning that he could turn demonic at any moment. His gaze followed his female and from time to time he reached out and she would touch his hand as she passed. The act seemed to ground Erin, causing the shadows that constantly flickered around her hands to abate for a few minutes.

  Amelia and Marcus were deep in conversation, strategizing and discussing how they were going to keep Erin from launching a dark unholy war on her father. She was in no state to fight, not without harming the baby. Everyone had silently agreed on that, exchanging looks that had created a pact. No matter what went down when they were in Hell, Erin was going to be surrounded at all times, held back from the fight and safe from danger. She would hate them for it, but she wasn’t thinking straight. She was angry and wanted the Devil to pay, and everyone here knew where that would lead.

  They were in no position to declare war on the Devil.

  At least not while he had Liora.

  Apollyon looked at the endless blue sky, charting the position of the sun. It had been hours since Asmodeus had gone off on a suicide mission. In a handful of minutes, he and the others would do the same, throwing themselves into Hell in order to take Liora back from the Devil.

  How many times had he told Asmodeus to guard Liora more carefully, ensuring she was safe? The fool had let her go off alone and something had snatched her. He would be having words with the idiot when he reached him in Hell.

  As soon as Serenity returned.

  What was taking her so long?

  Erin cast him a glance and then lingered, frowning at him. She ground to a halt on the white sand and brushed her jaw-length black hair back from her face.

  “Holy fuck.” Her amber eyes shot wide. “How long have the puppies been gone?”

  “What do you mean?” Apollyon turned and stalked towards her. “The hellhounds are gone?”

  She nodded. “I could feel them a minute ago… and now I can’t. Veiron?”

  The tall scarlet-haired Hell’s angel shrugged his crimson wings. “Nope. You’re right. They’ve popped off my radar. I could sort of sense them before.”

  “Serenity,” Apollyon breathed and turned his focus to her, seeking her.

  Normally there was a connection between them, a link between him and the witch who was his master. Now, there was nothing. He pressed his hands to his chest and closed his eyes, focusing harder and searching for her. A familiar tug behind his gold-edged black breastplate pulled him downwards, towards the sand.

  Towards Hell.

  Apollyon growled. “Asmodeus.”

  His twin was going to die for this.

  He concentrated on the call Serenity was sending him.

  It disappeared.

  He gritted his teeth and curled his fingers into fists, clenching them tightly.

  “He took Serenity?” Amelia said, her grey eyes beginning to turn silver and her emotions rising, tainting her power in a way that he could sense. “Why?”

  “He has to have a reason,” Erin piped in and ignored the scowl Amelia tossed her way. She settled her amber gaze on Apollyon and rubbed her belly, smoothing the black material of her dress over it. She was the only one not wearing armour, having complained that it hurt her baby and she didn’t need it because she could teleport in a snap. “Maybe he wants Serenity to find Liora?”

  A reasonable explanation. It would take a witch to find a witch. Apollyon was still going to kill him though.

  The quiet voice at the back of his mind mocked him, pointing out that he had left his female alone and something had snatched her. He was no better than Asmodeus.

  He let out a frustrated growl.

  “We need to find them.” He turned his focus towards Serenity again but felt nothing.

  He had travelled in Hell for centuries and had heard rumours that Asmodeus held court in a distant region of the realm, having constructed himself a castle there that was fitting for the so-called King of Demons. None of the demons he had tortured for information had been able to give him a location though. They had only stammered that none went there. The King of Demons ruled a barren land and killed any who strayed into his realm.

  He had never seen it for himself and didn’t know where to begin looking. Hell was as vast as Earth and Heaven. Without a location, it would take months or years to track Asmodeus down, and he had a feeling that they had only hours.

  “I cannot feel her. I do not know where Asmodeus has taken her.” He looked to Erin. “Can you feel him?”

  “I don’t know how. I know he said that he could feel me… and I know he brought you here because he could sense my location… but I don’t know how he does that, and I don’t know if I can do it. I try to feel him and I get nothing back.” Erin settled her hands on her stomach and looked to the others, her black eyebrows furrowing in frustration. “There has to be a way to find him before he does something insane… like that whole angel-bait incident with the shark.”

  “He does not get that from my blood,” Apollyon muttered beneath his breath and frowned at the sand, his frustration mounting and getting the better of him. He needed Serenity back. He couldn’t trust that Asmodeus would keep her safe in Hell. She was immortal now, but she could still be harmed. She could still die.

  “There has to be a way to find him,” Marcus said. “Can’t we just head down to the plateau and await him? He is bound to go to the Devil’s fortress.”

  “No. If we leave it that long… if we’re late… Serenity might end up… well, you kno
w.” Amelia cast Apollyon an apologetic glance when he scowled at her, silently cursing her for voicing his innermost fears.

  Veiron remained silent and still, his gaze locked on the charred black logs in the fire pit.

  “Veiron?” Apollyon said and stepped forwards, coming to stand on the other side of the dead fire.

  Veiron lifted his head, fixing crimson eyes on him that swirled with gold and black flakes. The gold began to dominate the red. Apollyon had seen his eyes do that before, when it had become apparent that he had formed a contract with Erin and he had been lost in a vicious temper, battling the Devil. Since then, his eyes had never turned golden. That they were doing so now unnerved Apollyon and put him on his guard.

  “Nevar,” Veiron growled.

  “My guardian angel?” Erin said with a frown and Veiron nodded stiffly.

  “He is obsessed with Asmodeus… he has been tracking him.” Veiron turned his golden and crimson gaze back on the blackened driftwood. “If anyone knows where he is, it is Nevar… but… I do not want Erin to come with us.”

  “Why the hell not?” Erin planted her hands on her hips and glared at her male.

  Veiron gently laid his hand on her swollen stomach and sighed down into her eyes, the gold in his fading. “Nevar is dangerous. Fucked up. I don’t want you near him.”

  The last time Apollyon had seen the white-haired guardian angel, he had been intent on killing Asmodeus. Asmodeus had awakened evil in him, a terrible darkness that had fed Nevar’s wrath and turned him on Asmodeus. He had still been recognisable as the male who had served Heaven, protecting Erin from a distance, but evil took hold quickly in angels with the capacity for it, dragging them swiftly down into the darkness.

  “When did you see him last?” Apollyon looked across the fire pit to Veiron, fearing what his answer would be.

  “A few weeks ago. Villandry called me to London… you remember?” He looked at Erin and she nodded, her amber eyes filling with concern. Veiron took her hand and squeezed it. “Nevar wanted nothing to do with me. He was… is… there’s something very wrong with him. I barely recognised him.”