The voice echoed throughout Eden, silencing the conversations and commanding everyone’s attention. The guests parted like the Red Sea to give Belial an unobstructed view of the angel, Uriel. He stormed towards the new arrivals and pointed an accusatory finger directly at the demon.
“You’re no longer welcome in Eden, you traitorous piece of shit!” screamed Uriel.
Belial’s fingers curled into fists. If Uriel was prepared to fight, then he’d be more than happy to oblige. But Odysseus had other ideas and moved between the two.
“I don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced yet,” said the sorcerer with a beaming smile on his face. “Odysseus Black at your service, the finest sorcerer in the Midwest.”
He stuck his open hand in front of Uriel and the angel looked stunned by the gesture. Odysseus took the initiative and grabbed Uriel’s hand and gave it a good shake. Uriel pulled his hand back and regarded the sorcerer with a mixture of suspicion and confusion.
“You must be Uriel, our new ambassador,” said Odysseus. “A fine sight better than the last one, if I may say so. Nasty little business that rogue angel got up to.”
Uriel narrowed his eyes. “I’ve heard of you. In fact, as I recall, weren’t you in league with him?”
Odysseus only let the accusation trip him up for the briefest of seconds before he came up with an excuse. “Well, ‘in league with’ is such a…strong choice of words. I was simply hired to do a job, but I wasn’t aware of what he was truly up to. And he was so crafty, he slipped under the notice of Heaven. So I can hardly be found at fault for not exceeding the profound, celestial wisdom of the angels, now can I?”
“I don’t care about you, Mr. Black. I care about the demon standing in my lobby,” said Uriel.
“Ah, yes. Well, I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but Belial now works for me,” said Odysseus. “He’s my bodyguard, you see. And as such, he is permitted to remain in Eden so long as I am accompanying him. That would be in accordance with the rules of your fine establishment, would it not?”
Uriel’s lips tightened and he gave a stiff nod. He glanced at Belial very briefly, but quickly returned his gaze to Odysseus. “Fine, but that also makes him your responsibility.”
“Certainly, that goes without saying,” said Odysseus. “Thank you very much for your understanding, my fine fellow. But we won’t take up any more of your valuable time, so off we go to mingle.” Odysseus turned away from Uriel and gestured for Belial to follow. “Come now, my bodyguard.”
Belial gave Uriel a nod and followed. They found an empty table and sat down. A waiter came to take their drink orders and Odysseus requested a beer, but Belial simply held up a hand to indicate his refusal.
“You oughta have a drink. Might loosen you up a little,” said Odysseus.
“I’m not here for drinks, I’m here to monitor,” said Belial.
“Seems ol’ Uriel there feels the same about you,” said Odysseus. “Already I seen him whisper to at least three different angels. No doubt asking them to keep an eye on you.”
“Let them watch me all they want.”
The beer arrived in a tall glass and Odysseus raised it up. “Well, to the fine art of celestial spying then.”
Odysseus drank and continued talking, though Belial scarcely paid attention. His attention was focused on the room. So far, he hadn’t seen the reason why he’d come to Eden, and it was a good hour of just sitting and watching before she made her appearance. But once Belial saw Anael step off the elevator with determination in her eyes, his attention focused on her.
“There,” he said.
Odysseus stopped whatever story he was in the middle of and followed Belial’s line of sight. “So that’s the little angel that Lucifer’s so enamored of, eh?”
Belial ignored the comment and continued to watch as Anael finally located Uriel. She seemed insistent and soon, she walked towards the balcony with Uriel following behind.
“Stay here,” said Belial as he stood from the table. He went to the bar and asked for a glass of water, then sipped it as he went closer to the balcony.
Anael and Uriel had gone outside and Belial pretended to watch the piano player as the angels continued to focus their attention on him. But he focused his hearing on what was happening out on the balcony. He filtered out all the other noise from the people around him and now was able to listen to what they were saying.
“I don’t appreciate being given orders by those who are supposed to be under my command,” said Uriel.
“Right now, I couldn’t care less,” said Anael. “I want to know why you sent a pair of bumbling assassins after the Adversary.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Oh yes you do,” said Anael. “You knew about the Morningstar’s power loss.”
“Lucifer’s powerless? That’s news to me.”
“You’re a terrible liar, Uriel. You and I both know you must have somehow overheard it when Belial told me. And then you passed on information about him to a pair of hunters. Do the names Shem and Ham ring any bells?”
Uriel paused before continuing. “Where did you hear this?”
“Where do you think?”
“From Lucifer then. So why are you having little chats with him when you’re supposed to be convincing him to return to Hell?”
“If you want him to return to Hell, then why in the name of the Presence would you send assassins after him?”
Uriel gave a chuckle.
“I don’t think it’s funny,” said Anael.
“Actually, it is. If I really wanted Lucifer dead, don’t you think I’d be able to send better assassins than a pair of morons who’d be lucky if their combined IQ exceeded their shoe size?”
“Then why do it at all?” asked Anael.
“Should be obvious, don’t you think? To remind him of what he’s lost,” said Uriel. “Up until now, Lucifer has been living on Earth free of any worries, content in the knowledge that he’s immortal and invulnerable. Now that he’s been stripped of that protection, I wanted him to realize what’s at stake. Lucifer cares only about power, so by sending those two after him, I’ve reminded him that he’s now powerless.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Anael. “If he cared about power, why would he abdicate the throne in the first place?”
“It’s part of some scheme of his, no doubt. But I wanted to show him that his place is in Hell.”
“Why not come to me with this plan of yours?” asked Anael.
Uriel scoffed. “Is that a joke? You’d never have gone for it and you know it. You’ve been reluctant to go as far as necessary when dealing with Lucifer.”
“What did you expect me to do? Drag him back to Hell myself?”
“At this point, I’m willing to consider that option. At least you’d be doing something other than having social visits with him and his pet demon. Who, incidentally, is obviously listening in on this whole conversation.”
At that, Belial turned away and walked back to the table. Odysseus had just gotten a fresh beer when Belial arrived.
“We have to go,” said Belial.
“Why’s that?” asked Odysseus as he stood.
“Belial!” Anael’s scream echoed throughout Eden.
Odysseus sat back down. “I’ll just wait here and finish my drink. Seems you’ve got other things to worry about.”
Belial groaned and turned to face Anael.
“And what are you doing here?” she asked.
“I’m working with Mr. Black now. He came here for—”
“Don’t. Bullshit. Me,” she said. “I’m being jerked around lately by you, by Uriel, and by your boss.”
“As I said, my boss is Mr. Black right here—”
Anael slapped Belial hard across the face, the blow shattering his sunglasses. Normally he would have struck back, but he decided to restrain himself.
“I’ve had enough,” she said. “Where is Lucifer now?”
“Hell,
” said Belial.
Anael looked stunned. “He’s gone back to take the throne?”
“For his powers,” said Belial.
“Well, would you look at that?” asked Uriel, entering the conversation as he approached the pair. “After months of Anael failing to get anything done, I manage to do the job she was sent here for in about ten minutes.”
“This doesn’t concern you, angel,” said Belial.
“If it happens under my roof, it’s my business,” said Uriel. “Now, I’d like to ask you both to leave.”
Anael blinked. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me,” said Uriel. “Now that you’ve failed your mission, I have no further use for you. It seems clear that your relationship with Lucifer was unnecessary. And you—” he looked at Belial, “I don’t care who you say your boss is, you’re really here on Lucifer’s behalf. And you have no business in this place, period.”
Uriel turned his back on the pair and started walking away. “You both have ten minutes to leave. If you fail, then you will be forced to leave. It’s up to you how much of a mess you want to make.”
Belial looked at Anael, whose face still bore the shock of Uriel’s dismissal. “Anael, if it’s any consolation—”
In an instant, Anael’s expression changed to anger and she turned her incensed gaze on the demon. “Pass on a message to your boss for me, demon. Tell the Adversary that the both of you can fuck off.”
She turned and entered the elevator and it was Belial’s turn to be shocked. Odysseus came up beside him and patted the demon on the back.
“Well, that escalated quickly, eh?”
Belial sighed. “Let’s just go.”
13
When Lucifer finally woke, he was bathed in darkness. He had to blink a few times just to confirm that his eyes were actually open. The place he found himself in was so dark, he even wondered if he still possessed his eyesight.
He moved his hands over his body and confirmed that he was still in one piece. There were no bruises or wounds he could detect by touch alone and he certainly didn’t feel anything other than some mild discomfort in his back. Nor did it seem like he was physically restrained in any direct manner—no chains, ropes, or bindings of any kind. No sword, either. His only means of defense was gone.
The ground was rough, hard, and dry, with cracks and small holes in random places. Lucifer moved along the ground slowly, feeling ahead with his hands. He came to a wall and followed it up. The texture matched the floor. He could not reach a ceiling, and judging from the lack of a breeze, that led him to believe there was one, but it was too high to touch. He continued to explore the wall. It had a soft curve to it, not a sharp angle, so that suggested it was a natural formation. But he couldn’t find any sort of opening. He wasn’t even sure if he had completed a full rotation around the area.
A cave seemed the most obvious explanation for where he was. That didn’t exactly narrow things down. It could have been a cave out in the Badlands or located within one of the demon realms. Now the question remained—should he be grateful or worried?
The last thing he remembered was trying to take control of the dragon. He fell off and before he hit the ground, there was a flash of light and then he woke up here. He didn’t know how much time had passed. And how did he get here? Was Mara able to save and then teleport him? Was it one of their pursuers?
Another thought occurred to him, too—did his powers somehow come back? Could it be that simply returning to Hell had indeed restored him and all he needed was the right trigger?
Lucifer held out his hand and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and tried to focus his energies on his open palm. In his mind, Lucifer visualized a spark forming and then slowly growing into a swirling sphere of light. The image in his mind was so vivid, it felt real. He was certain that once he opened his eyes, he would see a pulsating sphere illuminate the cave and show him the way out.
But when he did look, he still saw only darkness. He brought his hand right up to his face, wondering if it was a problem with his sight, yet he couldn’t feel a thing. His powers were still gone, which meant the question of how he got here remained unanswered. And he was also left to wonder whether he was in the hands of friend or foe.
I won’t just sit back and wait for whoever’s behind this to show themselves, he thought. Lucifer found the wall again and felt around for a handhold. Seemed the only way left to explore was up. He reached above his head and found purchase. Lucifer tested the hold a few times before he pulled himself up. His foot found a small insert to latch onto and he could steady himself enough to bring up his free hand, seeking out another hold. Soon, he found that, too.
Lucifer repeated this process, climbing up through the darkness. Without knowing where he was going or without even a sense of how high he had already climbed, he had to be sure to do it slowly. Moving up too rapidly could result in him hitting his head or even losing his grip and falling back to the ground below. Without his powers, such a fall could result in serious injury or worse.
He kept his mind focused on the task, not allowing a second’s worth of mental wandering. Once he escaped this predicament, he could concern himself with what had happened to Mara or why dragon-riding demons had attacked them in the Badlands.
There was no sense of time, so he didn’t know how long it took him to reach the top. But finally, he reached a hand up and felt more than just a small hold for his fingers to grip. This time, it seemed like an actual ledge. Once he was satisfied he had a firm grip, he reached up with his other hand and found the ledge extended quite a ways up. Lucifer pulled himself up, and reached an arm forward. Solid, level ground, no wall. Enough room for him to climb onto.
Once he managed to get over the edge, Lucifer stayed on all fours and slowly inched forward, trying to find if there was a wall. But there wasn’t. It seemed he was now closer to reaching an exit.
There was some sound out in the darkness. Light and distant, but it was there. Or it could have just been his imagination. He decided to take a chance and continued towards the sound. Slowly, it grew a little bit louder and he knew he wasn’t alone down here.
He reached a wall and climbed to his feet. With his fingertips running along its surface, Lucifer followed the wall. He shuffled his feet, worried about moving them too fast in case he came to another ledge without realizing.
In the darkness, he finally saw some brief flicker of light. Lucifer had to contain his excitement and force himself to move at the same slow pace. The light became brighter and he soon saw it was coming from just beyond a tunnel.
Once he reached the tunnel, he could now see that he was indeed in a cave of some kind. Lucifer moved through the tunnel, trying to contain his excitement of actually seeing something other than darkness.
The mouth of the cave was just ahead. Shadows appeared on the wall, created by the flickering light. Lucifer stepped through the mouth and saw a giant cavern with torches mounted on the walls. There were dozens of demons, stripped down to their waists with their wings proudly on display. They chanted and hollered in a joyous tone, screaming the name of the one they came to see.
All their backs were to him. Lucifer decided to use that to his advantage and he moved behind the crowd, trying to go around them. Or at the very least find some higher vantage point to see just what they were so excited about.
In front of the group, he could see a kind of stage—although it was really more of a small plateau. A figure climbed up to it and faced them, also dressed in a heavy cloak. When the hood was pulled back and the cloak dropped, Lucifer could see the man’s face—short, dark hair with a chinstrap beard that perfectly framed his square jaw and mouth. It was a demon that Lucifer had never given much thought to, one who he’d imprisoned within Cocytus as part of a deal he’d made with Luther Cross.
Now, Lucifer could make out the name that the demons were chanting. And he remembered that Beelzebub had mentioned rumors about a new threat in the Badlands, one that had possibly
escaped from the prison.
“Raum…” Lucifer whispered, though his tone was the opposite of the crowd’s. Instead of jubilation, Lucifer spoke the name with a sense of dread.
14
Not too long ago, Lucifer had made a deal with the man named Luther Cross. At the time, Cross ruled over a realm of Hell himself and his rule was being challenged by other demons, Raum among them. Lucifer promised to help rid Cross of his enemies and in exchange, Lucifer made Cross agree to do a favor for him later on down the line. That favor was what finally gave Lucifer the opportunity to abdicate the throne.
Raum fancied himself a liberator of sorts. An anarchist who wanted to overthrow the existing power structures of Hell. With all the Cocytus escapees, it never even occurred to Lucifer that some of them would remain in Hell, or that Raum would be among them.
“Welcome, brothers and sisters,” said Raum, addressing the crowd. “I look around at this gathered assemblage of demons, and do you know what I see? I see the outcasts. Even in Hell, we’re considered undesirable and we have no place. So since the time of The Fall, our kind has been forced to fight for our own survival in the Badlands. Out here, we are beset upon by all manner of threats. Harsh conditions and vicious beasts prey on us. All while the Infernal Court betrays the very principles they claimed to have fought for.”
Cheers erupted in response to Raum’s speech and he paused to bask in their embrace.
“They’re no better than the angels they rebelled against,” Raum continued. “They said they embraced freedom, but what did they do the second they arrived in Hell? They formed a ruling coalition and divided this land up into territories for them to reign over!”
The crowd responded with jeers and insults directed at the Infernal Court. Raum once more paused and waited for his opportunity to speak.
“And in those territories, can anyone question their rule?”
“NO!” the crowd responded.
“Are the residents inside free to live as they please?”
“NO!”
“No, of course not,” said Raum. “They’ve betrayed their principles and become exactly what they hate. And who’s to blame for this sad, sorry state of affairs? Can we really blame fallen angels for reverting to type? All angels know is subjugation. So of course, the angels that first landed here would be the same.
Lucifer Damned (Morningstar Book 3) Page 9
