The City of Flame and Shadow
Page 24
Stars floated in her vision as daggers of pain shot through her. She slid her gaze across from her and saw Ariel on the ground, convulsing as essence poured out of her eyes, nose, and ears, slashing as she screamed in pain. She saw Lance on his back, his legs jerking uncontrollably, white liquid pouring out of his mouth as he whined in misery and pain.
Everywhere she looked, Alexa saw angels writhing and thrashing on the ground, their essence, their lifeblood, seeping through their eyes, their noses and ears, choking on their essence.
The pain was excruciating, but the smell was worse.
To Alexa’s surprise, she saw lesser demons thrashing on the ground as well. Some combusted into flames while others shrieked in horrible cries of death.
Terrified screams and shouts from angels and the horrifying wails from the demons filled the night air.
All but Milo.
“Father! Stop! Please!” Milo begged, his head whipping from Alexa to Lucifer, his eyes bright and grieving.
Through her broken vision, Alexa saw Milo standing next to her, his face screwed up in anger and pain.
Sabrielle was next to her Lord, her eyes wide and grinning excitedly, savoring the view as though she were witnessing a grand theatrical performance.
“Stop?” inquired Lucifer. “Why should I stop, when they inflicted me with worse pains for years? I was nearly driven mad with pain and terror. Why do you care for these mortal-loving fools? You are better than them. You are my son. My blood runs in your veins. You are Nephilim.”
“Not anymore,” growled Milo. “I took care of that long ago.”
Lucifer stared at his son. “Yes. That was a very foolish thing to do. You wounded me greatly, my son.”
“I’d do it again, if I had to.”
Lucifer’s eyes narrowed. “Look around, my son, this is what awaits all traitors, all those who would put the lives of the mortals before us, before our own kind. Angels that wish to join me, to join me in the new world I shall build, will be forgiven. Those who don’t will be slaughtered.
“This is a demonstration of what happens to anyone foolish enough to oppose me. Is this what you want?”
“You have the power to stop this. Stop this now, and go,” said Milo. His eyes were on Alexa and she saw him wince when he looked down her face.
“Why have you always cared so much?” Lucifer followed his son’s gaze and rested on Alexa. “And why her? There’s nothing special about her anymore. Her power is gone. She’s broken, a weak, worthless mortal-loving fool is all she is now, same as all the others. I can give you hundreds of females just like her—better—more beautiful.”
Lucifer watched his son with a calmness that made Alexa feel ice cold over her pain.
And then a tendril of night slammed into Alexa. She lifted in the air and slammed back down hard. Alexa tried to cry out, but the effort of a scream was too much. She heard something crack and then felt a wetness trickle from her nose and mouth.
“Leave her alone! I’ll kill you!” Alexa heard Milo shout followed by the sound of a sword being drawn. She rolled over and could just barely make out his blurred shape.
As her vision cleared, she saw Milo with his sword pointing at Lucifer.
Lucifer rolled his eyes. “Put away your sword, son. I’ve no interest in your noble antics. You know swords cannot harm me. And I know that you don’t have it in you—to kill. You were never a killer. Were you, Milo.”
Milo kept his sword drawn. “Let them go,” he growled. “They’ve done nothing to you. They were here to defeat Hades, which, you’ve already done. So leave.”
“Every angel, mortal, or supernatural creature that serves the Legion… is my enemy.”
Fury flashed in Milo’s eyes. “If you kill them, the Legion will retaliate. They’ve already beaten you once. They will beat you again.”
“Watch your mouth, angel boy, before I cut out your tongue,” snarled Sabrielle. She opened her mouth to say more, but with a wave of Lucifer’s hand, she pressed her lips together. But the grin she shot Milo was nothing short of feral.
A glimmer of surprise and amusement darted across Lucifer’s perfect face. “You disappoint me, my son. But, I see so much of your mother in you. She was stubborn, fierce, and beautiful. All these qualities made me want her more than all the other mortal females that made their intentions clear.”
“Why did you kill her, then?” shot Milo, his words raw and gasping.
“Because she disobeyed. Just like you’re doing now. Forget her. Forget the Legion, the time of the mortal-loving fools is over. It’s time for a new rule. My rule.”
“It’s never going to happen,” said Milo. “They’ll send you back to the hell you were in. They’ll send you back to purgatory.”
Before Alexa could brace herself, Lucifer flicked his fingers at her.
Alexa screamed as another whip of darkness slashed at her, and she was thrown back into the ground, thrashing as her innards burned as though she’d swallowed liquid fire.
This is the end, thought Alexa. This time, she was going to face her true death. There was nothing to save her now. Let the pain stop, she thought. Let it end.
Milo flung himself down next to Alexa, roaring her name. She wanted to reach out and touch him, but her arms were heavy like timber blocks, and she couldn’t move them.
“Alexa,” sobbed Milo. “I’m so sorry.”
Liquid spurted out of Alexa’s mouth as she tried to speak. She didn’t want Milo to see her die this way, choking on her own essence. Her bones were melting. She could feel it, and she couldn’t stop it. Couldn’t stop the liquid that poured out of her mouth.
“Please,” Milo said hoarsely, and Alexa’s core cracked at the pain in his voice, at the agony and desperation. “Let her go. Let them all go. I’ll give you anything. Please, Father… please make it stop.”
“Join me,” said Lucifer. “Come with me now, and I will let them live. Even her.” He hesitated and then added, “For now.”
For a moment Alexa couldn’t hear anything except the howling and screaming of the angels behind her.
Milo clenched his jaw and said aloud, “I will.”
And then the pain stopped.
An eerie silenced followed as Alexa felt the strength slowly returning to her body. Head throbbing, she found Milo standing next to her. His head was down, and his features were twisted as though he was in pain.
Her gaze went to Lucifer, and his winning smile said it all.
No.
Alexa pushed herself to her feet, fell, and then crashed into Milo. She gripped his shirt and pulled herself up. She waited until their eyes met.
“I know you think,” she panted, her throat raw, “you’re doing something noble, but there’s no shame in refusing him.”
Milo blinked. “You can’t understand,” he said gently. “I need to do this. Just like you needed to defeat Hades.”
Alexa’s eyes burned, her throat tight. “But I didn’t.”
Milo reached out and brushed her cheek with the gentleness of a lover’s touch. “I’m going to miss you, fledgling.”
Alexa’s lips trembled. “No. You. Can’t,” she stammered.
“Come along, son,” said Lucifer. And when Alexa looked over, she saw Sabrielle disappear through a curtain of black mist.
Alexa gripped Milo as hard as she could and felt his shirt tear. She struggled to hold her voice steady. “He’s going to kill you. He’s Lucifer. He’s the devil.”
“He’s my father,” said Milo, gently. “He won’t.”
They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. And then Milo pulled her face to his and kissed her. A tremor slid across her shoulders as his soft mouth crushed her lips. He kissed her soft, hard, desperately. This wasn’t the same kind of testing, juvenile kiss she’d felt with Erik. This was real. It had meaning. Because it wrenched her core.
Milo kissed her as if he’d never touch her lips again, sealing the promise he’d just made with his father as he pulled her against his chest.
Alexa reached up and threaded her fingers through his hair. The touch of her lips on his, the little moan that came from her.
“It’s going to be all right,” Milo murmured, and she tasted the salt from their tears.
He pulled away, his eyes wide and bright, his face wet.
And with a last glance, Milo turned and walked towards his father, whose smile widened at the horror and shock on Alexa’s face.
Alexa couldn’t move.
“No,” whispered Alexa still under the shock and emotions of the kiss. Then more urgently, “No!” as her voice was rising. “Milo! No! Don’t do it! Please! Don’t go!” The last words came out in a croak.
A pain, far worse that Lucifer’s tendrils of night, burned her core and her soul. Tears poured out of her eyes. “Milo,” she whispered into the cool evening air. Her soul ached with agony.
Alexa whirled around in a desperate attempt to get help. She saw Ariel watching her, her face streaked with tears, but Alexa didn’t know if she cried for Milo’s sacrifice or from the pain his father had just inflicted upon her.
Still, Ariel stood where she was, just as all the other angels did.
A pain so deep, as though she was being ripped to shreds, welled in Alexa.
“No, no, no,” she whispered and watched through her blurred vision as Milo walked farther and farther away from her. Then louder, “Milo! Don’t go! Milo!” And then she was screaming, “MILO!”
Alexa fell to her knees. “Don’t leave me,” she wept.
But the warrior angel never looked back as he followed his father and stepped into the curtain of black mist, vanishing.
EPILOGUE
ALEXA SAT AGAINST THE COLD, dank wall of her prison cell in Tartarus. The darkness was profound, like a heavy curtain that blocked all the sun light. She felt as though she might never see the light of day again, a thought that might even drive her mad if she wasn’t careful.
Before the guards had locked her door, they’d tossed in a glowing orb, spilling soft light into her cell like a tiny sun. She stared at it now, as it hovered above, her only comfort in the creepy and prolonged silence.
At first, she’d been terrified at the sight of the giant eagles. They’d never uttered a single word until they’d thrown her inside her cell as if she were a common criminal.
“Don’t even think of escaping,” one of the eagles had warned. “If you jump, the Earth’s atmosphere will shred your body into ribbons, and you will die a most painful death. There’s no escaping Tartarus.”
Now that she knew Tartarus was a floating concrete prison with no windows or openings, she believed them.
Alexa had been taken into custody by the archangel Metatron, minutes after Hades’ demise. The Hellgates had all disappeared. Even the demons and pagan gods had vanished.
The High Council held a trial that very same day. Alexa had been tried and found guilty on accounts of desertion and treason. She was sentenced to spend the rest of her angel existence in Tartarus.
It had taken all but ten minutes for the council members to put together a verdict—a life sentence in the angel prison.
No one spoke of the sacrifice Milo had made. Alexa felt as though the Legion didn’t want to admit to Lucifer’s return, that with Hades gone, the balance was now secured in the mortal world.
It was unnerving not knowing what was happening in Horizon beyond the black walls of her prison. The sound of dripping water resonated around her and then the fading echo of distant moaning. The tang of mold and the reek of mildew and bird droppings scented the damp, cold air. But the walls smelled of fear and despair and death.
Her senses and memories slowly returned to her, each one more painful than the last. She remembered everything—her parents, her childhood, her life as a mortal… her death… all of it came crashing down on her until she rolled over and retched.
Lucifer had been right. She wasn’t special anymore. Her soul channeling ability was gone.
She felt none of the familiar light, the pulsing of power, or the compartment inside her soul. It was as though her gift had never existed. She was ordinary.
Her true death seemed colder and closer than ever before. The living world and its cares seemed far away. The thought of Lance escaping a trial made her glad, as much as she could feel anything. Hades was defeated, imprisoned if not made truly dead by Lucifer.
Her work was done, more or less.
And Milo…
“Why Milo, why?” she whispered.
Her soul ached worse than anything she’d ever endured. What if she never saw him again? What if Lucifer was torturing his son now, with Sabrielle clapping excitedly beside him? She bit down on a cry, her tears spilling down her face.
She saw Milo in her mind’s eye, disappearing through the black mist, over and over again… It broke her. She was broken. Broken.
Alexa balled her hands into fists to keep them from shaking. Somewhere, not too far off, screaming began. A high-pitched, pleading moan, accentuated with swellings of shrieking that shot her with a cold panic. That might sound like me in a hundred years, thought Alexa.
She curled her knees to her chest, grasping them tightly, and reined in on her emotions. She clenched her teeth. She couldn’t panic. She had to be strong, had to keep her tears in check, had to keep her wits together.
Alexa wouldn’t give up because deep down she knew this wasn’t the end, wasn’t her end.
Although a great and terrible dark force had escaped, in spite of the dark and twisting path she saw stretching ahead for herself, and in spite of the final meeting with Lucifer she knew must come, she felt her spirit lift at the thought of hope.
And while Alexa knew the times would be even more difficult than ever before, she couldn’t help the tiny smile that formed on her lips.
She wasn’t about to leave Milo to suffer at the hands of his father, Lucifer. She was going to get him back.
The Lord of Darkness
Coming Soon!
BOOKS BY KIM RICHARDSON
SOUL GUARDIANS SERIES
Marked
Elemental
Horizon
Netherworld
Seirs
Mortal
Reapers
Seals
THE HORIZON CHRONICLES
The Soul Thief
The Helm of Darkness
The City of Flame and Shadow
The Lord of Darkness
DIVIDED REALMS
Steel Maiden
Witch Queen
Blood Magic
MYSTICS SERIES
The Seventh Sense
The Alpha Nation
The Nexus
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
KIM RICHARDSON is the award-winning author of the bestselling SOUL GUARDIANS series. She lives in the eastern part of Canada with her husband, two dogs and a very old cat. She is the author of the SOUL GUARDIANS series, the MYSTICS series, and the DIVIDED REALMS series. Kim's books are available in print editions, and translations are available in over seven languages.
To learn more about the author, please visit:
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