by Lexi C. Foss
“I intend to keep her.”
“I know,” Valora replied. “And I don’t think she’d give you a choice at this point.”
My lips twitched. “I think you might be right about that.”
We finished our wine in silence, then Valora rose to signal her leave. I pulled her into a hug, thanking her for her insight. “It’s not that bad having a sister,” I said, releasing her.
“It’s not that bad having a brother,” she returned, winking at me. “But if you hurt my best friend, I will kill you.”
I nearly laughed; however, the serious glimmer in her eyes told me that would be the wrong response. “I’ll never hurt her.”
“I know. Because if you do, I’ll kill you.”
“Double threat,” I drawled. “Got it.”
“Good.” She broke the serious stare and grinned. “Now go—”
An explosion outside rattled the palace walls, causing me to stiffen.
Grigory! Zaya cried out into my mind.
I ran into the bedroom and collapsed beside her on the bed. What is it?
Death, she whispered into my mind, her arms wrapped around her stomach as she curled into a ball. I… I can feel their dead souls… They’re here. Death is here.
It burned.
The darkness loomed.
My vision wavered.
Everything… shattered.
I couldn’t focus, forgot how to breathe, the onslaught of death suffocating me.
Grigory’s voice echoed over my head, but I couldn’t hear him, the enchantment weaving its way over the land agonizing my soul.
I struggled against it, trying to cut myself loose from the suffocating net. What kind of power is this? I wondered, feeling the push of an unnatural energy source coming straight for the palace. It felt as if I were the target, the invisible ropes wrapping around me and squeezing the life from my lungs.
Stop! Grigory shouted into my mind, his presence a splash of cold water to my senses. He yanked me forward, his power shadowing mine, providing me with the building blocks I needed to climb out of the darkness.
Dim light spilled in through my lids, my chest heaving with the force required to steal a deep breath. I shuddered, my limbs reminding me of cement blocks, weighing me down on the bed. I can’t move, I realized, panicking. I can’t move!
“Shh,” Grigory whispered. “Focus on me.”
I couldn’t see him, but I felt his lips against my ear.
“Breathe, baby,” he encouraged me. “And try to blink.”
I did, my vision clearing a little more each time to reveal the high ceilings of his bedroom. Then Valora’s worried expression came into view as she stared down at me from above. I frowned at her. Valora?
She came in to talk to me about Lucifer, Grigory explained softly into my mind.
A vibration beneath my back had him cursing.
“What the fuck is going on?” a deep voice demanded from nearby.
Adrik, my mind supplied. Why do I feel so loopy? Like I’m cemented in a dream?
You didn’t get enough sleep, Grigory replied. And you were going on about death.
I blinked once more, then gasped in a breath upon remembering the dark cloud covering Noxia Kingdom. An army of death, I breathed into his mind. Their souls were pure black, intoxicating and consuming. I could feel them through my connection to the realm, their auras vapid, just like the soldiers in Neptune.
My power was still evolving, just as Lucifer promised it would. I wanted to groan, but another vibration of the bed had me yelping instead.
Adrik and Valora were speaking quickly, their words floating in and out of my head. Something about being under attack—which, yeah, obviously that was the problem.
“You can’t kill them,” I heard Narissa interject.
Is everyone in your bedroom? I asked Grigory.
Yes. His fingers brushed my cheek. Just focus on trying to wiggle your toes. You’re almost there, Zay.
I wanted to ask him what the hell had happened to me but decided to work on being able to move first while the conversation continued to flow around me.
“Do you have a better solution?” Adrik demanded, referring to the soldiers and Narissa’s request not to kill them.
“Napia is controlling them,” she said. “If you can disassociate her from her power source, it’ll force her to release the hold she has over their minds.”
“What about your father?” Valora asked.
“He’s not the threat,” Narissa replied. “It’s my sister. The power has gone to her mind, blackening her soul and unleashing her inner monster. Take her down, and the army falls.”
“And your father can’t absorb the power to reinitiate the army?” Valora pressed.
“As far as I know, no, he can’t, but it would be wise for us to subdue him as well.”
By the time Narissa finished, my limbs were tingling again. The invisible net appeared to be slowly disappearing, granting me my freedom once more.
“And what’s happening to Zaya?” Adrik asked, his tone less commanding than before but still underlined in clear frustration.
“It’s Napia,” Narissa informed everyone. “This is what she does—she paralyzes. The attack on Zaya was pointed. I’m surprised she’s recovering. It must have something to do with your bond to her.” I couldn’t see her, but I suspected she was looking at Grigory for that last part.
“Our bond and her strength,” Grigory corrected. “The enchantment was powerful; I could see it like a dark shadow in her mind. I had no idea Napia could do that.”
“I warned you she’s been absorbing power,” Narissa replied, her voice tinged with sadness. “My guess is, she’s taken some from members of your kingdom as well. So we’ll need to be prepared for anything.”
“What we need to do is divide and conquer,” Adrik said as my hand curled into a fist.
I want Napia, I told Grigory.
Me, too, he agreed.
I fell in love with him a little more in that moment because he didn’t question my choice, didn’t bring up that she’d just handicapped me with a doozy of a spell, and he didn’t mention that I still couldn’t fully move or speak yet. In his mind, I saw the assurance that I’d be up and moving any minute now, ready to kick ass.
He really saw me as a warrior.
His warrior.
His lips ghosted across my temple, telling me he’d heard all that in my mind, but he was focused on informing Adrik that the two of us would be taking down Napia.
None of them argued, surprising me even more.
They all believed in me. Because Lucifer had created me? Because I’d proven myself to them?
Because they love and respect you, Grigory whispered into my mind. We know your heart, Zay. You’re not going to take this lying down. You’re built to fight, so stop fucking around and kick the rest of that enchantment out of your head.
The fire in his tone spoke to my soul, encouraging me to do exactly as he demanded.
I used my hands to rip the rest of the nets away from me. While I couldn’t physically feel the cords, I mentally sensed them. They shredded beneath my touch, her spell shattering around me and releasing me from the supernatural bindings she’d threaded over my conscious.
I wasn’t sure how she’d done it, but she wouldn’t be able to do it again. Some foreign part of me absorbed the knowledge of her web, building a defense against it to prevent a follow-up attack.
The horsemen, I realized. They were rumored beings in our world, figments in the night meant to police their kingdoms, and Lucifer had confirmed they existed, that I’d come from them in some convoluted mix of magical evolution.
I felt them thriving within me, each gifting me a strength I would need for the upcoming fight. They provided knowledge of the realms, information on how to protect myself, and more—how to play on a spirit field I never knew existed.
Souls.
So many souls.
I could feel them in my mind, their auras colo
rful and providing a wealth of detail about each individual character.
And right now, I was surrounded by red.
Passion.
Violence.
Anger.
Adrik, Valora, Narissa, and Grigory were all ready to fight. And I was ready to join them.
Grigory helped me into a sitting position, his body warm beside mine as Jeremiah entered the room. “They’ve breached the outer defenses. Lux says it was too easy, so she believes Charis has manipulated more minds on the inside. She’s currently administering figs to everyone.”
She found more figs? I asked, having missed that development.
Yes, Narissa helped her, Grigory replied. Well, she provided details on what was needed. Lucifer returned with a barrelful.
He really does love your mother.
I know.
“Good, that will help,” Valora said, responding to Jeremiah’s report.
She’d retrieved Adriatica at some point—or maybe Adrik brought her when he arrived. The little girl’s aura was so serene I hadn’t noticed her presence when searching the room. She was sleeping peacefully in her mother’s arms despite the chaos thriving around the palace. I suspected Valora had something to do with that.
Adrik disappeared into Grigory’s closet to find weapons while Grigory studied me. “Tell me what you feel.”
Not how, but what.
Because he already knew I was recovering from the mental attack, could likely see the blocks I’d latched into place to keep it from happening again. Such a natural response, one I wouldn’t have recognized months ago but somehow did now. As if the knowledge of my birthright had unlocked something inside me.
Or perhaps it was just me finally living.
Or it’s who you were always meant to be, Grigory suggested, pulling me close. Now tell me what you feel, Zay. Where’s Napia?
You think I can locate her with my mind?
You’re connected to the realms, right? You can feel the auras of the army. Why not see if you can’t locate her specifically? She sent you an enchantment somehow, using magic she shouldn’t possess. Surely that’s left some sort of strand for you to track?
I looked at him. Sometimes I feel like you’ve known about my powers all along.
What makes you say that?
Because you always say the right thing, I replied. He always had. Even from the very first day, when I was broken beyond repair, he knew what to say to me. How to force me to fight. How to provoke a reaction from me even when I wanted to give up. He knew what tasks to give me to push me forward, how to sharpen my mind, and exactly what I needed to hear to keep moving.
Soul mates in our world were rare, but I’d clearly found mine.
You’ve known me from the beginning, I marveled, lifting my hand to his face.
It didn’t matter that chaos rained down around us or that the palace was shaking from yet another attack. I needed this single moment to acknowledge our joint fate.
Lucifer really did create me for you, I whispered to Grigory.
I think he created us for each other, he replied, again saying the right thing.
Our lips brushed, just enough to seal an unspoken vow, and then I focused on the task at hand, searching for any magical links I could find to Napia. I started by searching out the loose threads of the net she’d trapped me within, catching the wispy, broken strands in the air and following their invisible paths to the source.
It reminded me a bit of seeing an aura, the energy wave an intangible rope that sparked inside my mind. I couldn’t see it, just felt it, that inky substance tied to something—someone—dark.
There, I thought, sensing a subtle disturbance outside the Noxia Kingdom gates. Beyond the borders. Safe in the sanctuary of Neptune. She’s not even in your realm.
As I said it, I felt her shift positions, teleporting into the fight, then vanishing again.
No, she has a portal charm, I realized. She’s popping back and forth, weaving enough magic to keep her army charged, while remaining guarded in her realm.
Cowardly approach, Grigory growled.
Yes, I agreed. But also smart.
I opened my eyes, not realizing they’d fallen shut, and blinked at Grigory. “But I know where she’s going to appear next.”
“Then I guess we need some portal charms.”
I smiled. “I once had a stash of those, but someone confiscated them.”
He nodded. “Well then, it’s a good thing that someone kept them somewhere safe.”
“Uh-huh.” I looked to the others, noting Grigory’s weapons and Jeremiah’s ready stance. Narissa remained unarmed, but something told me her powers would suit her fine.
“What’s the plan?” I asked them, having missed a lot of that conversation while battling the enchantment in my mind.
“Jeremiah and I are going with Narissa to help mitigate the damage,” Adrik said. “Valora is staying here with Adriatica. Lucifer help anyone who tries to come near either of them.” He glanced at his wife, pride in his gaze.
She beamed as bright as the stars above, power shimmering over her skin. “No one will touch us,” she vowed.
I believed that and hoped her true energy wasn’t required for this fight. The last time Valora went supernova, she wiped out half a kingdom.
“All right,” Grigory said. “Let’s get ready and go.”
I almost asked what he meant, then remembered what I was wearing.
Right.
I needed jeans… and I needed some knives.
Then I could kick some water demon ass.
A green glow lit the horizon as Grigory and I teleported into the outskirts of Noxia Kingdom, near the dark forests that bordered the palace grounds.
What is that? I wondered, studying the bizarre energy force. It didn’t belong here.
I think it’s Narissa, Grigory replied. She told Jeremiah she had an idea right before she ran off ahead of him and Adrik.
Ah, that must have happened while I was getting dressed. She’d been gone when I returned to Grigory’s suite.
A red gleam added to the mix, the force of it stealing the air from my lungs.
And that would be my mother, Grigory said.
She’s fighting Narissa?
No, I think she’s helping.
I hoped he was right. Where’s Lucifer? He would be useful right about now, but Grigory said he’d disappeared shortly after bringing Lux the bag of figs. And from what Jeremiah said, the dark lord was refusing Lux’s calls.
Something tells me this is another of his trials, Grigory muttered.
I cringed at that thought. The last time Lucifer put me through hell, I’d been… I swallowed, not wanting to finish the thought. I was stronger now. Capable of fighting.
And I had a viper to find. She kept moving, popping into Noxia, then back to Neptune, and then into Noxia again. She’d varied her positions now, as if she felt me tracking her.
I needed to go about this a different way, to try to track her energy as she moved and attempt to anticipate her intent.
Do your thing, Grigory murmured. I’ve got your back.
I didn’t doubt that for a second.
Closing my eyes, I focused on Napia’s aura, hunting her with my mind.
This is my future, I thought. My purpose as Lucifer’s harbinger, to stalk dark souls and remove them from the Underworld.
I could feel the rightness of it as I concentrated, the elaborate skill set ingrained inside me after years of creative molding.
Every experience of my life groomed me for this moment.
Prepared me for the inevitable.
Shaping me as Lucifer’s perfect weapon.
A soul stealer.
A protector.
A being of rightness.
I shivered, the energy swirling around me in a familiar wave, coaching me on what to do next. Follow Napia. Determine her patterns. Tap into her mind. See through her eyes.
Shades of red and gold glimmered in my mental visage, the
familiar room unfolding around me as I recalled my last experience within those very walls.
“The grand hall,” I whispered. “She’s planning to attack from within.” Because she didn’t realize Lux had administered the figs to everyone inside.
He nodded. “Then let’s go.” He grabbed my hand and initiated the portal charm, whisking us into the palace interior.
Where Napia sat waiting for us.
She had her legs kicked over the side of Lux’s throne, petting her snakes. “Finally,” she said, sounding relieved. “I felt you tinkering with my magic over thirty minutesss ago. What took you so long to track me?”
Shit, I thought, realizing she’d played me.
It’s okay, Grigory told me. Two against one.
Except I sensed the auras lying in wait. She’s not alone.
I’ll handle them.
Napia sighed, kicking her heel-clad feet off the arm of the throne and setting them on the ground to allow her to stand.
“You’re growing in power,” she said to me. “Which should, in theory, help you. Only, you don’t have the practice wielding energy like I do.” She demonstrated by sending a wispy strand of electricity slithering over the floor toward us.
Slow, purposeful, dark.
I stepped to the side, expecting it to pass, but it followed me instead.
Grigory frowned. What are you doing?
You don’t see that? I countered, opening my mind to show him the strands of the sizzling current flowing over the ground.
Napia laughed. “Beautiful. There really isss more to you, isn’t there?” She looked at Grigory. “Isss that why you fancy her? The power inside her? Too bad I’m going to consume it like all the othersss.”
The slithering motion picked up speed, lunging at me like a coiled snake. I jolted to the side, barely avoiding the bite as she sent two more across the room.
Grigory! I shouted to him, seeing the black rope heading straight toward him. He tried to dodge it, but the magic anticipated his move and latched onto his ankle, curling around his limb and working its way up his leg.
I danced to the left to avoid the electric snake of energy chasing me, then dodged the second one she’d sent across the room.
“Well, I guess I’ll be feeding off you first,” she cooed, her attention shifting to Grigory as her soldiers entered the room.
