by Bella Klaus
If both Mother and Samael were capable of commandeering other bodies, did that mean that Samael had just possessed Lucifer?
Chapter Twenty
I stepped back and readied myself for Lucifer’s attack, in case Samael really was lurking in his body. Lucifer rolled his shoulders, and all specs of dust on his white suite disappeared.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Don’t take off that helmet,” Hades snarled. “And don’t attack with your lightning or he’ll find your location.”
My insides twisted like a tangle of earthworms. “I won’t.”
Lucifer cast Hades a withering glance. “You should be hacking away at that green-haired wanker, not canoodling with your invisible missus.”
Hades flinched. “It’s really you.”
“Who do you think it is?” Lucifer snarled. “I’ve been waiting this entire time for you to wear Samael down so I could make my move.”
“Wait,” I hissed. “All this time, you’ve been faking?”
Lucifer flashed us a grin of teeth as white as his suit. “Why would I fall for a cheap imitation like Koritsi when I’d been on two wonderful dates with the real thing?”
My lips tightened. Why was he bringing up that subject when the fate of the world balanced on his next actions?
Lucifer placed a hand on his chest. “I even got to see her previous body in the finest lingerie.”
Annoyance crackled across my skin. How long had I wasted on feeling bad for Lucifer’s predicament, when he’d watched us struggle against Samael? He could have fought at our side instead of biding his time pretending to be under some kind of thrall. I ground my teeth. Lucifer was even more scheming and underhanded than Hades.
Hades snarled, sounding as irritated as I felt. “Now’s your chance to stop malingering and make your move.”
Lucifer reached into his jacket’s inside pocket and pulled out a dagger made of white light.
My mouth dropped open. It looked exactly the same as Mother’s, but the power radiating off it made my bones thrum. I glanced at Hades, whose brows furrowed.
“Thanks for letting me into your stronghold.” Lucifer strolled toward Samael, his features held in a veneer of calm. “While you were enjoying a noisy amount of quality time with your new wife, I sifted through all the replicas and found this.”
“Lucifer visited Samael’s house?” I asked Hades.
“He wouldn’t have been a threat if they thought he’d been cursed into compliance,” he replied.
“I didn’t know angels could tell lies,” I said.
“They can lie without opening their bloody mouths,” Hades muttered.
Samael bared his teeth and snarled. “How did you find it?”
Lucifer bounced the dagger in his palm. “I don’t know how you managed to steal an artifact from the Table, but even after thousands of years, I would recognize its magic behind any amount of wards.”
“He had a place there, too?” I asked out loud.
“I was a lowly cup bearer,” Samael hissed. “I simply had it melted and honed into the one weapon that could kill any creature, no matter how exalted.”
My breath caught. “Is he talking about—”
“The being who castrated Samael and caused the Great Divide?” Hades asked. “It would seem so.”
“The Table is an honor most angels would kill for.” Lucifer twirled the real Soul Stealer between his fingers. “Remember that before you die.”
“I think not!” With a roar, Samael broke through the magical restraints I’d put on the vines.
Branches surged toward Lucifer, splitting in halves and quarters and eights to form twigs capable of snatching the dagger. Enough of them enclosed Samael, making it impossible for Lucifer to reach his target.
Cold shock sliced through my solar plexus. I raised both hands and forced the back with all my power, but Samael was too strong. My arm trembled under the strain of my magic fighting against Samael’s.
“Mother,” I said through clenched teeth. “Help me keep this plant under control.”
I couldn’t see her from behind its thick stalk, but I imagined her still huddled in the corner with the children.
“Hades?” I asked.
He rushed around the plant and dragged Mother out. “Help us or you and your bloody brats will die before Lucifer gets a chance to fix the shit storm you created.”
Mother’s face hardened. “Unhand me.”
She shook Hades off, rolled her shoulders, and raised her palms.
Some of the strain in my limbs eased off with a newfound sense of hope. This plant was her creation. Mother had to be able to subdue it with her magic.
The branches trembled before dropping to the ground with a heavy thud, revealing a seething Samael, whose skin had now turned an olive-green.
Mother nodded at Lucifer. “Hurry. He’s fighting back, and I may not be able to hold him for long.”
Samael snarled. “Don’t you dare—”
Lucifer hurled the Soul Stealer in Samael’s chest.
“Shit,” Samael hissed.
Black blood spurted from the wound before pouring down what was left of his white armor and over the vine that had absorbed the bottom half of his legs.
Lucifer stepped back and smirked. “Samael once got lanced through the heart in a battle with a dozen high-level demons. It was the same wound the angels targeted during their many attacks. Now, it’s only a matter of seconds before he drops dead.”
“Nice try.” Samael coughed up a mouthful of blood. “But I will prevail.”
“Are you sure you got the right dagger?” Hades said.
“That was the real thing,” Lucifer said, his words faltering. “There was no mistaking its rare power.”
Samael’s wet chuckle slithered through my senses. “Don’t you think I would protect myself from my own weapon? I knew there was a risk that Soul Stealer would fall into the wrong hands, and I took precautions.”
“Lucifer,” I whispered.
His head snapped to the side, and he raised his brows in question.
“What you said about killing angels through their weak points. Was that true?” I asked.
He nodded. “What are you thinking?”
“One second.”
I crept toward Samael, who glared at Hades and Lucifer with enough venom to melt their bones. Lucifer was wrong about Samael’s most vulnerable part. He might have seen his fellow angel suffer multiple wounds to the heart, but Samael had another wound, which was even more devastating.
And it was all related to grafting plants.
The branches shook, and yellow streams of pollen wafted down from the monstrous flowerheads. I commanded them to turn back, attack Samael, and leave everyone else alone.
Grafting a plant meant cutting into the root stock to create a form of open wound. Then you’d have to attach a cutting, stick the two parts together with a sealant, and wait for them to join. If all went well, the foreign plant material would become part of the tree.
Holding my breath as I approached Samael, who spluttered and shook and spurted threats. Mother had taught me how to graft when I was little, and it was how we’d gotten a single citrus tree to grow oranges, tangerines, lemons, grapefruits, and limes.
The only way Mother could have fixed Zeus’ genitals to Samael’s body was with a graft. And her magic was likely still keeping it intact.
“Mother,” I shouted. “Release the magical sealant.”
“Kora?” Her voice trembled.
“Just do it.”
Moments later, Samael screamed. “Demeter, what have you done to me?”
I yanked the dagger from his heart and plunged it straight into his crotch.
“Fuck!” Samael screamed.
White light exploded from the sides of the dagger with a force that knocked Hades’ helm off my head and blasted me across the room.
Strong arms caught me around the waist. “What the Hell was that?” Hades snarled into my ear. �
�I told you to stay safe.”
“I had to save us all.”
“Hades.” Lucifer tossed the helm across the room. “Catch.”
Hades snatched it out of the air and placed it back onto my head. “Next time this comes off, I’ll attach it to your skull with staples.”
I tilted my head up and pressed a kiss on his lips. “If this works, there won’t be a next time.”
A high-pitched whine rang through my ears, sounding like pressure building up within a tea kettle.
“What’s that?” Hades yelled.
“Evacuate,” Lucifer snarled. “Powerful archangels whistle before they explode. The impact will destroy everything in a one-mile radius.”
“This will take us out into the gardens.” Azriel rushed out from the corner and opened up a new door in the wall.
The landscape was a sea of white fields and equally as pale hills that rose to form a mountain, and my nostrils filled with the scent of beer. Right now, I welcomed anything—as long as we were far from Samael before he self-destructed.
Still clutching me to his chest, Hades raced after the blond angel, who launched himself into the air as soon as he crossed the threshold. My nostrils flared, and I made a mental note to tell Namara that he’d done absolutely nothing in the battle until his life was under threat.
As Hades flew out into the white expanse, I glanced over his shoulder to find Lucifer right behind us, but there was no sign of Mother.
“She’s still in there.” I patted at Hades’ chest.
“The mess is Demeter’s doing,” he snarled. “If she wants to share a few last words before she becomes a widow, that’s her funeral pyre.”
“But the children—”
“She’ll protect them.”
Before I could say anything else, the building exploded.
My ears rang, and my vision turned white. Magic blasted us forward, and Hades tumbled through the air with his limbs wrapped tightly around mine. I could barely breathe, and the strength of his grip was crushing, but I held still in the cocoon of his protection.
We spun like out-of-control sycamore seeds. Power lashed at our joined bodies, and my stomach lurched with the sensation of falling from a great height and being battered on all sides by wind and magic and malice. The magical disaster continued for what felt like minutes until we reached the end of the shockwave.
“Bloody Hell,” Hades muttered.
Righting himself, he loosened his grip on my body. Light streamed through my eyelids, and my ears rang, muffling the beat of Hades’ wings.
I cracked open an eye. We were flying toward the foaming mountain. The sky was darker than it was before, but I couldn’t tell if that was from the passage of time or from the amount of extra wards the angels had erected to trap us here with Samael.
“Kora.” Hades’ voice trembled. “Are you all right? Did any of that magic touch you?”
“I’m fine, thanks to your helm,” I whispered. “Were you hurt in the blast?”
“Nothing that won’t heal,” he said, his words gruff.
“Do you know if Mother made it out of the building with the children?” I asked.
“By the time I glanced over my shoulders, Samael had already exploded,” Hades murmured.
“Right.” I rested my head on Hades’ shoulder and squeezed my eyes shut. Instead of a rush of grief, it felt like my emotions were encased in corn husks, and I couldn’t access the kernel of my pain.
Hades settled onto a brown rock and pulled me further into his chest. Our feet sank into a spongy landform that looked and felt more like a thirty-foot-wide meatball than anything made of stone. Any other time, I might have considered our surroundings ridiculous, but I stared out into the pale expanse.
To our far left stood the ruins of the church, which was now indistinguishable from the spaghetti-like material that stretched out for miles. Could a goddess survive the explosion of a fallen archangel who had pumped himself full of black magic?
“I know what she meant to you and for how long,” Hades said.
I exhaled a long breath and lowered my gaze to the ground. “That doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven her for what she did to you.”
“Or to you,” he said.
Lucifer teleported to our side. “Nice work, Kora.” He flashed me a grin. “I hadn’t expected you to stab a man in the cock.”
I raised a shoulder. “Of all the wounds he’d received, I thought that had probably affected him the worst.”
Hades wrapped his arms around my shoulders and kissed me on the cheek. “How did you infiltrate Samael’s stronghold?”
The corner of Lucifer’s lips curled into a smile. “As soon as the cheap imitation of Kora walked into my office, I knew this was Samael’s latest scheme.”
Hades narrowed his eyes. “Are you sure you didn’t fall for the honey trap?”
“Give me some credit.” Lucifer huffed a laugh. “My curse doesn’t work on drooling infants, even if they’re pumped up with enough magic to make them appear like adults.”
“So, you pretended all this time?” I asked.
A warm breeze came from the direction of the foaming mountain, bringing with it the yeasty scent of beer.
Lucifer turned to me with a gentle smile. “Forgive me, but I didn’t teleport from Dirty Den’s when your mother arrived. Instead, I remained invisible and overheard the conversation. I knew immediately that the dagger your mother held wouldn’t work against Samael.”
I nodded. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“Because there was enough familiar magic on it to tell me that Samael was hiding something even more powerful.”
“That’s why you gave up half your throne to that girl?” Hades said.
Lucifer sniffed. “Her parents didn’t teach her how to read. She signed a revocable contract. I could withdraw my power at any time.”
“But what about the pale hair and skin?” I asked.
He raised a shoulder. “They gave her a curse to turn me into a golem, so I played along. Feigning a state of complete obedience was the only way to get close to the dagger.”
Hades snickered. “You devious bastard.”
Lucifer bowed with a flourish as he rose, he gazed at me, his eyes sparkling. “Such brilliant undercover work deserves a kiss.”
I huffed a laugh.
Hades clapped him on the back. “Quite right. I’ll send an IOU that’s redeemable until the fourth of Never. Just let me know when and where you want my lips.”
“What?” Lucifer’s features melted into a scowl. “It’s true what they say. Good deeds do go unpunished.”
Azriel teleported to the other side of the giant meatball. “I found Samael’s wings in the wreckage. The rest of him is in tiny green pieces.”
“No thanks to you,” Hades muttered.
The angel’s shoulders sagged. I pursed my lips. It was no wonder Hades insulted him at every opportunity.
“Did my mother escape?” I asked. “And what about the children?”
His expression dropped, and the corners of his eye tightened with pain. “Queen Demeter shielded her offspring, but it was at a great cost.”
A clawed fist squeezed my heart. “What does that mean?”
Azriel cleared his throat. “I’m afraid she reverted to stone. From what I understand of the workings of gods, she sacrificed all her magic to protect them from the blast.”
I glanced at Hades, whose features hardened into a neutral mask, then I turned back to Azriel. “And the children?”
He exhaled a long breath. “Something happened in the explosion, and they’ve become infants. If you wish, I can take them to Heaven, where their souls can be absorbed—”
“No,” I shrieked. “They’re not going to become part of your regime.”
“We’ll take care of them,” Hades growled.
Azriel inclined his head. “I’ve already transported the statue of Demeter and the children to your office in St. James’s Park.”
I rubbe
d the back of my neck, hoping Namara wouldn’t be too alarmed at their arrival.
“There’s another thing.” Azriel materialized a white tablecloth from the air. He unfolded it to reveal a familiar looking stone penis and a matching set of testicles. “This appears to have been taken from a statue—”
“Get rid of it,” I snapped. “Preferably in a volcano or deep within the ocean.”
With a nod, the angel folded up Zeus’ genitals. “Heaven has authorized the release of the wards, and it thanks you for ridding us of Samael.”
“Where’s the Soul Stealer dagger?” I asked.
Stiffening, Azriel turned his gaze to the left and blinked several times before blurting, “Such a weapon cannot be permitted to exist.”
“You mean you stole it,” Hades snarled. “It should belong to Lucifer.”
The blond angel placed his hand over his mouth. “Heaven already knows of its existence.”
“You’re not even a good liar,” I said.
With an exaggerated sigh, Lucifer waved his hand. “If Azriel wants to cause mischief with a dagger of immeasurable power, then let him have it.”
“Well, I want something from Heaven.” I folded my arms across my chest.
Azriel’s brows rose. “Yes?”
“There was a young god named Dionysus. He was my younger brother, but I lost track of where he went after the Great Divide. Can you find him?”
The angel pulled his computer tablet from his armor and tapped a few commands into its screen. “His soul was reaped and absorbed into Heaven.”
“Extract it.”
His brows furrowed. “Whatever for?”
“So that his soul won’t be used to benefit the people who tore him apart,” I said. “So he can get the chance to be reborn to loving parents.”
After a pause, Azriel nodded.
“You’d better send that IOU. I want it etched in vellum parchment and framed in twenty-four-carat gold.” Lucifer pointed a finger at Hades. “And you’d better not worm out of your commitment with a bogus expiry date.”
Hades shuddered. “It almost sounds like you’re enjoying the prospect of a kiss.”
“I enjoy having a wanker like you at my mercy.”
Hades chuckled. “Bugger off.”
