Hell Bent

by Cate Corvin

  The thick scent of jasmine drifted in through the windows. I crossed the room, laid the Spear on the bed, and leaned over a windowsill, looking into the garden below.

  The garden had been devastated by the Dragon, but the Chainlings had replanted as much as they could. Glowing motes of light settled on the new flowers, drifting lazily from plant to plant.

  “It’s like nothing changed at all.”

  Tascius joined me at the window. He wrapped an arm around me, pulling me in close and shielding me with one of his snowy-white wings. I allowed myself to relax against the warmth of his side.

  I was just grateful he was here at all. He’d come so close to never seeing this room or garden again.

  “Now we get to start new,” he said softly. “But we’ll always remember it.”

  “We have to. For the rest of our lives, we’ll have to watch the wheel turn and wait for him to come back.”

  Tascius brushed a feather-light kiss across my cheekbone. “I’m sure you’ll be waiting. He’ll barely open his eyes before you shove the Spear down his throat again.”

  I laughed, leaning my head against him. “You saw everything, huh?”

  “I, for one, thought it was very sexy. Who doesn’t want a war goddess as their mate?”

  I turned and wrapped my arms around his waist. “Who doesn’t want an archangel so brave they would risk everything?”

  His midnight eyes darkened, and I knew he was thinking of the pain of carrying the Spear. “I will never touch it again in my life. Once was more than enough. The Spear is pretty damn clear on who it wants holding it.”

  “But you heard its voice,” I told him. “Now you know how it feels, too. Like there’s something alive and sentient inside it.”

  Tascius’s lips pulled down at the corners. “I thought… never mind.”

  “What?” I poked him. “Tell me.”

  He took a breath and looked out the window. “I had to sit there and commune with it for almost an entire day before I actually heard anything. But when I did… it sounded like how I imagine God must’ve heard. Like a tiny little fraction of him was inside it.”

  I looked around the curve of his wing at the wrapped Spear lying on the bed.

  It was ancient, and old, and even Wayland himself had said it felt like an ‘old friend’. It had come from God’s armory.

  Maybe there was a tiny little piece of him in it. “When the wheel turns again, maybe both will return. If Satan gets a second chance, does God?”

  Tascius shook his head, looking grim. “I don’t know. I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see. My only worry is… if he does, then do I have to stay in Heaven?”

  I met his eyes and realized his fear: that archangels must remain in Heaven.

  “No. You were born here, and you possess the free will of Hell. Even if someone did demand it—if the other archangels came here looking for you—I would make them sorry they even asked.” I smiled thinly. “I am a demi-goddess now. Good luck fighting me on my own territory.”

  Tascius grinned, most of his worry melting away. “The best little friend I could ask for. The kind who turns into a twenty-foot-tall she-demon when you piss her off.”

  “Was I really twenty feet tall?” I asked. I had vague recollections of looking down a long way, of the city seeming like a tiny anthill, but… it was hard to believe that was actually me.

  “Pretty damn close,” Tascius said, as Belial’s arms snaked around me.

  The Prince of Wrath chuckled. “All that matters is that you’re a shorty again, and I can do this.”

  He picked me up, shrieking all the way, and plopped me in the bath. Lucifer was already waiting for me with a wicked grin.

  It was just like old times.

  I woke up sweating, clutching my throat and gasping for breath.

  I’d dreamed that the gilded ebonite collar was still around my neck, slowly constricting until I couldn’t breathe. Ereshkigal laughed, her claws plunging into my belly.

  But the collar was gone, of course. There was nothing but bare skin there now.

  And I was in bed at home, surrounded by most of my men. Lucifer’s leg was sprawled over mine, and Belial’s arm was under my head. Their soft, even breaths reassured me that all was well.

  But I couldn’t go back to sleep with my skin prickling. I climbed out of bed and went to the open window, letting the breeze cool me down.

  An enormous raven was in the sky, circling in the darkness. His wings left trails of stars behind him.

  I climbed up on the sill and flung myself into the air, rejoicing in the familiar ache of muscles that had gone too long without use. They carried me up over the Seventh Circle as the raven dipped downwards until he’d joined me.

  I flew with Azazel for almost an hour in peaceful silence, enjoying the cool quiet of the sky and the feeling of wide-open freedom.

  Eventually I tired and began to descend, spiraling towards the roof of my arena. Azazel followed on black wings, shifting shape as we drew closer.

  Two pairs of feet touched down on the roof.

  “Did you do it?” I asked, looking up at him. He just held out his arms, and I settled against him, wrapping my own arms tightly around his waist.

  It was never easy to bury your own parents, but at least Azazel knew Nakir was now resting somewhere that wasn’t a tomb of despair.

  “I went to the furthest edge of the Starsea,” he said. His voice was quiet, barely audible. “That was where they met. I considered the Between, but that place is nothing but old memories stamped in time. If their souls find each other again, it’ll be in a place that was special to them.”

  “They will,” I murmured against his chest.

  He was silent for a moment. “I believe they will, too. There was a time when I would’ve denied the power of love, but if they loved each other half as much as I love you, then they’ll find a way.”

  Azazel leaned down and kissed the top of my head, stroking my shoulders down to where my flesh became feathers.

  I sighed. “Azazel… when you were gone, I thought I’d lost you forever.”

  He only shook his head. “That was something that needed to be done. I was tired of living in fear of her.”

  “It seemed very personal to you. I didn’t realize she was the bloodline you were descended from.”

  Azazel looked out over the city. “Yes. And from the moment she ate her own sister’s heart, the rest of us slowly scattered across Hell. Only Nergal remained behind, tied to Kur in slavery. But after so much time spent in the world, teaching humanity, and finally taking the last steps to become a god… I realized where my place in the Chain was. I give the gift of death, and I’ve taught my Reapers to do it with respect and honor.”

  “She was supposed to do that?” I looked up at him, resting my chin on his chest.

  “She was once meant to guide the souls to the next world and give them peace. Now that is my purpose, not to consume souls, but to lead them to the next life.”

  His hands tightened around me as he spoke. In a way, we’d both been led there to fulfill our specific destinies. “You’re my counterbalance, in a way.”

  “Yes.” Azazel smiled down at me. “For every life you take in war, I will be the one to guide them to the lands beyond. If the call of the abyss grows too strong in me, and makes me like her, you will be the one to call me back. And if you fall too deep into the rituals of war, we will all be the ones who call to you.”

  I squeezed him harder. I trusted them all. Even if I allowed that golden fire to awaken and turn me into something other than Melisande, their chains would anchor me to this world and remind me of who I was.

  My emotions were too strong to suppress, and Azazel felt them through our mark.

  “You will never be anything other than who you are, Melisande,” he said.

  32

  Melisande

  Three days later, Michael left us.

  I felt Tascius call me through our mark while I was with Vyra, w
ho was polishing the scythe she’d taken from the dead Reaper in the Irkallan mountains.

  “Azazel did promise to let me train with the Grigori,” she said, running a cloth over the engravings in the curved blade. “I’ll never become one of them, but this scythe… it feels right. Like it was waiting for me.”

  I was curled on a chair in her room, just enjoying the simplicity of doing absolutely nothing. Her bedroom with all of its pink hangings and glitter was like a safe haven where the memories were kept at bay.

  When I’d come in, the fireplace had been roaring, and she’d been feeding a scroll of paper into it, her brow creased. All I saw on it was a wax seal, a circlet of silver thorns, but she refused to say what the contents were.

  I had a feeling that the succubus temple wasn’t going to let her get away from them so easily this time. Maybe training with the Grigori was a reason for her to stay away from them.

  “He taught you how to reap, didn’t he?” I asked. She’d mentioned it while extolling her virtues to Ereshkigal.

  Vyra shot me a quick smile. “The basics. But I would’ve figured it out if she’d taken me up on that offer.”

  That was when Tascius called. The eclipse on my forearm shimmered with moonlight iridescence. I blinked and the blue chain slipped into view, leading upwards.

  “Tascius is calling.”

  Vyra put the scythe aside. “I’m coming, too.”

  We climbed the curving set of stairs in the back of the arena, Tascius’s call growing stronger, and emerged on the roof.

  Tascius and Lucifer were there, along with Michael.

  The archangel leaned against the balustrade, his arms crossed over his chest. He gave Vyra a quick glance before looking away. “I’m heading out. Thought I’d say goodbye, sister.”

  I held out a hand, unsure of how he felt about personal space, but Michael grabbed my hand and pulled me in for a friendly hug, patting my back.

  He released me, and I stepped between Lucifer and Tascius. His wings were once again edged with razor blades, a golden sword at his side, but he’d foregone his armor.

  “And thanks for getting me out,” he said to Vyra, sounding suddenly gruff. “Nice work with the lockpicking.”

  She just smiled and looked down. She still had the ebonite hairpin stuck through her bun of pale hair.

  “Where are you going next?” I asked. It had only been a matter of time before he left us, but I still felt oddly forlorn at the thought. It was like he’d become part of the team in a short span of time.

  Michael squinted up at the sky. “I still need to find Raphael, but I think I might pay a visit to Heaven and see what fuckery they’ve been up to. Maybe he’s been there the whole time.”

  “If you ever need to come back,” Tascius said, “Our door is open.”

  Michael uncrossed his arms and stretched his wings out. They caught the sunlight and reflected it in a prism. Once again, his metallic eyes slid towards Vyra and then forcefully away. “I’m sure this isn’t a final goodbye, but until then, best of luck, friends.”

  Vyra raised a hand tentatively as he shot into the air, soaring above Dis and punching a hole in the clouds. “Wish I’d said a little more,” she whispered. “He was all right, as far as angels go.”

  I smirked at her. “I have a feeling that very un-final goodbye is in large part because of you. Haru’s got competition.”

  Her pink eyes widened, then narrowed. “There can’t be competition when someone isn’t on the market.”

  Lucifer draped an arm around my shoulders. “He just couldn’t take his eyes off you.”

  Vyra turned pink. “Oh, please.”

  I pushed Tascius and Lucifer ahead of me. “I went to the succubus temple while you were… gone,” I told her, stumbling on the words. ‘Gone’ was a sorry excuse for ‘abducted’, but I knew she was still struggling with certain things. “They told me you refused the initiation. I just want you to know that I’d never push you to do something you don’t want to do.”

  I was fairly sure that the contents of the letter from the succubi were haranguing her to do just that. She’d made it very clear where she stood on that score.

  Vyra cut me a sidelong glance under her dark lashes. “I do have feelings, I just don’t want to act on them until I’m ready. But I understand what you’re saying,” she said softly.

  “If we’re annoying you, feel free to tell us to shut up.”

  “Oh,” she said with a grin. “I will never hesitate to do that.”

  Only a day after Michael left us, the other rulers of Dis summoned us. It seemed our time of peace was over.

  Instead of meeting in the Consortium, we met on the new floor covering the Pit. All around us, demons were at work laying the foundation of a new palace. The chiseled blocks of obsidian gleamed, polished so smooth they looked almost wet.

  We stood in a circle. I was surrounded by Lucifer, Belial, Azazel, and Tascius. Tascius held a lacquered box, possibly a gift for the others.

  Unlike us, the others stood alone.

  Asmodeus, with his quick grin. Belphegor, gnawing a rack of lamb. Balaam dripping with gold, Leviathan in his painted skull, and Pytho twirling cards between his fingers.

  Adranos stood for Fraud, his arched horns shining. And Abaddon… he was passed out cold on his back, soaking up the sun while he napped.

  Prime Minister Lucifuge Rofocale had joined us, standing in the middle. The hunched demon wore what looked like a priest’s robes, and he coughed into wizened hands. “We gather here, Princes and Princess, to ascertain the direction our city is going. In your absence, a vote was held.”

  Lucifer stiffened slightly beside me, staring across the circle at Leviathan. The Prince’s red eyes shone behind his mask.

  “Lucifer, as the son of Satan, our deposed king… you will take his place at the center of the Circles.” Rofocale held out his hands, indicating the massive plate of obsidian we stood on. “You will be the King of Dis, the representative of all the Circles to the wider world. But the Circles will still mind their needs as they desire. Your role is to defend us, against Hell and Heaven alike.”

  Lucifer was so still he felt like a marble statue at my shoulder.

  “You’re the only one of us who’s made of both,” I whispered to him. “You are the defense against Heaven and Hell. You have to take it.”

  “I didn’t ask to be made King,” he said flatly. “That was never what I wanted.”

  Pytho laughed. “Sometimes we get what we don’t deserve, and we deserve what we don’t get.” He flicked another card, revealing the face on it: the King of Swords.

  “Besides,” Asmodeus added, “You might want to hear the next vote.”

  Prime Minister Rofocale cleared his throat. “In light of certain events, and at the insistence of the Chainlings of the Seventh Circle… Melisande, the incarnation of the goddess of war, is now to stand as the Queen of Dis.”

  I stared at him, shock ripping through me. “I didn’t…”

  Lucifer looked at me, raising an eyebrow. “Hmm. What were you just saying about needing to take it?”

  The Prime Minister inclined his head. “You are a Prime power. It would be unseemly to remain in a lower position now. Consider how it would look to our enemies: would we be seen as weak, not giving respect where it’s due? With you at the front lines, any angel or demon conspiring against Dis will think twice.”

  “Do not deny it.” Leviathan’s harsh voice was strangely gentle. “You have arrayed around you the greatest set of warriors and bound them to you. We stand alone, but you stand for all. In our hour of need, you stood up for all the Circles, not just your own.”

  “Yes,” Balaam said. “This is our final vote. A unanimous decision.” He laughed loudly, his golden coins clinking. “A first in the history of the Circles.”

  Adranos shifted in place. “You are the wielder of the Spear. You need to take this. We already had something made for you, regardless.” He nodded towards Lucifer and Tascius. “Sho
w her.”

  I turned towards him, feeling frozen.

  Tascius flipped open the tiny latch on the box and lifted the lid.

  “Oh,” I breathed.

  I’d been so caught up in being home that I hadn’t thought about what to do with Ereshkigal’s claws at all. I’d shoved them in a dresser drawer and forgotten them.

  Now they’d been fashioned into a crown, each claw pointing towards the sky like steel spearheads.

  “We brought them to Wayland,” Tascius told me. Lucifer took the crown out of the box and lifted it onto my head. It rested there perfectly, not too heavy, nor too light.

  Wayland had probably laughed himself sick over it.

  “Perfect,” Belial said, his aquamarine eyes glittering. “The goddess of war, with her enemy’s claws on her head.”

  “You all planned this,” I accused quietly.

  They just looked back at me. Azazel brushed a strand of violet hair out of my face. “Counterbalance,” he said. “Heaven gave us their best, and she will always stand for us against the world. This is where you are meant to be.”

  My throat felt oddly thick. It was a heavy responsibility, but… I loved Dis. I would die for my family, this city, and all the Circles in it.

  I’d become a goddess to prove it, shed my mortal shell for this. We were the opposite of Kur, a city of life, where even a fallen angel could find a new beginning.

  “Then… I accept.” I exhaled, and several golden sparks drifted out on my breath.

  Prime Minister Rofocale bowed low. Several Princes followed, until they were all bowing to me.

  “All hail the Queen of Dis.”

  33

  Melisande

  “I can’t believe what you’ve all done.”

  My crown rested on the dresser. Vyra had found a velvet pillow for it, citing that being Queen meant I couldn’t just throw my things around and forget about them.

  Not that I could forget. It felt so appropriate, having Ereshkigal’s hated claws forged into a crown.