His thoughts were cut short as a fist to his temple forced him sideways to the ground and made thinking impossible.
He looked up through the blood running from the cut on the side of his face to see whom he needed to kill.
“Hello, dear brother. You look well,” Alazar grinned as he squinted in the blessed sunlight and looked down at the angel who was the source of his troubles. “Where is she?”
Chapter 2
Boston, Massachusetts 1996
Anjali walked through the warm sunlight as the breeze fanned out her long black hair. She missed living in the Mortal Realm; she missed being alive. Hell was no place for the innocent, although she wasn’t exactly innocent. She was destined to destroy the mortals and the world they inhabited. She was supposed to be the hope for the faithful, so that they may one day achieve paradise. There were days when she didn’t feel very hopeful. Today was one of those days.
Even though she enjoyed being in the Mortal Realm, it was a constant reminder of who she was. Upon receiving Lucifer’s blessing to leave Hell for occasional visits, she saw the world very differently than she had almost three years ago. Instead of mingling with the crowds and interacting with them, she kept her distance.
Entering the main entrance of the mall, Anjali watched the shoppers happily wandering around. There were mothers pushing their strollers, who were kind and doting, fathers who took care of their families, and sinners who caused the entire crowd to part around them, even if the crowd didn’t understand why they instinctively moved away. Anjali knew their secrets better than anyone. She could feel their anger and taste their lies. It amazed her to see the level of deception it took to make the murderers and pedophiles appear to be law-abiding citizens, out for a casual stroll. The typical criminals were easy to spot, pickpockets, con men, and thieves, but it was the skilled liars that hid themselves beneath polo shirts and khakis. They were the hardest to identify. She scanned the sea of faces knowing that she would one-day watch many of them suffer in the Realms of Torture. There were even a few that she would personally torture in the Realm of Nightmares, where the truly horrific prisoners were punished.
She attempted to act like any other eighteen year old girl in her stylish jeans, 90210 T-shirt, and black Converse sneakers as she walked through the groups of people window shopping. She remembered what it was like to be one of them. She understood life’s difficulties, including how hard it was to make the proper choices. While she could see their sins, she knew it wasn’t time to condemn them all to death and start an Apocalypse. It had taken her countless millennia to learn that lesson, and there had been casualties along the way. She had the ability to unleash what mortals considered “natural disasters.” She called it the darkness that lived just below the surface, barely contained, and scarier than Hell itself.
Without warning, she turned and grabbed the young man in the gray hoodie that was following her and ducked into a maintenance alcove.
“I told Lucifer that I don’t need a babysitter,” she growled as she hurled the tall man with the chestnut hair and blue eyes into the plaster wall.
His back crashed into the wall, but he managed to keep his balance with his arms. It always took him by surprise how strong she was. He quickly stood and adjusted his jacket. “Like I don’t know that? Lord Lucifer commands and I do. You know the consequences of disobeying an order as well as I, my lady,” Radek bowed slightly, hoping to end the fight before she actually broke his bones.
Radek was the newest suicide servant created by Lucifer after a number of “mishaps” with his previous servants. He was lucky to have been given the assignment to stalk Anjali’s every move in the Mortal Realm and be far away from Lucifer and his tendencies toward violence and pain. Having died within the last decade, he could navigate the Mortal Realm more easily than Lucifer’s remaining servants could.
She calmed herself, knowing that the servant had little recourse but to follow orders. She would take it up with Lucifer later. Lucifer was paranoid that either something would happen to her or that she would flat-out run away, never to return to him. It bothered her that he didn’t trust her, though she had promised to stay with him.
“You could at least make yourself useful and get me a hot pretzel,” she said, walking back toward the storefronts.
“If my lady wants a hot pretzel, then she should wave her hand and make one appear. That’s what you people usually do, isn’t it?” he rolled his eyes and took his place next to her.
“You still haven’t gotten used to being around angels and immortals yet, have you?” Anjali chuckled. She was still getting used to the idea of being an immortal.
“Nope,” he shrugged.
Anjali liked Radek, but she was still leery of him since she had been fooled by Lucifer’s servants before. Caleb had disobeyed Lucifer and followed Hades’ orders to have her tortured in the realms. He had died at Lucifer’s hands. Aganon was currently chained the Realm of Torment, waiting for her to decide what to do with him after he nearly kill her with a Celestial Sword through the chest.
She thought back to her mortal death, the moment that had changed her life forever. Having taken her own life in her bathroom, she had ended up in Lucifer’s Throne Room at his feet. He had been waiting for her, having influenced her death. He’d been speaking to her during her entire mortal life, though she hadn’t known who or what he was. In the end, she had been confused by his threats and promises, coupled with a debilitating migraine, and had ended her own life. She wondered if she would make the same choice, if given another chance. Sadly, she knew the answer. Yes, she would do the same thing again. Despite Lucifer’s threats, she had gone to him willingly after hearing the loneliness in his voice.
“Would you have still killed yourself if you had known that you would end up in Hell? By the way, your scars are showing,” she pointed to his exposed jaw.
“My life was crap before and is no different now. I still have to deal with a crazy man who I hate,” he grumbled and pulled the hoodie tighter around the left side of his face. The scars from the gunshot wound under his jaw had slipped out into view of the general populace.
“So why become Lucifer’s servant if you hate him that much?” she abruptly stopped in front of a candy store.
“I hated the Realms of Fire, Frost, Ghouls, and Burning Seas more than the thought of becoming a servant. Word has it you are well acquainted with all the realms as well,” Radek peered at Lady Black from the corner of his eye. He hated asking the question, but he wanted to know if the rumors were true.
“I don’t know which is worse, freezing or burning to death,” she said absently as she watched the store clerk dip an apple into chocolate.
“Is that why you became Lord Lucifer’s servant?” he asked quietly. He didn’t know much about her aside from the fact that he was under orders to protect her and keep her safe. If he were to fail, no one would be able to save him from Lucifer’s deathblow.
“I’m not a suicide servant. I stand at Lucifer’s side because a deal was made, but not by me. My father Gabriel made the deal with Lucifer so that I would serve Hell, to better understand the evils of man in an effort to learn to control my power. There was a time when minor sins and infractions set me off like a bomb. I didn’t understand the complexities of sinning. I didn’t have the experience to understand that a minor sin, such as stealing food to keep from dying, was different from murdering someone. I couldn’t comprehend the reasons why someone would do either. I condemned them both equally. Now I see the different levels of sins and wouldn’t bathe the world in flames for something minor like lying and saying that your dog ate your homework,” Anjali explained as she waded through the gaggles of teens hanging out in the food court.
“Wow. I had no idea that you could do that. I mean, I’ve heard Lord Hades call you the Destroyer, but I didn’t know you had trouble controlling your reactions to sins. That’s rough. How many times have you lost it on the world?” Radek suddenly had more respect for her troubles
. He also understood why Lucifer wanted her watched.
“Enough times that my father made the deal with Lucifer, who was more than happy to take possession of me. Though I serve Hell, I don’t technically serve Lucifer. I do God’s will through him. God wants the evil souls to suffer, so I help make them suffer. Once I obtain my angels, the world will indeed suffer,” she sighed and tucked her long hair behind her ear.
Unbeknownst to most, she was Lucifer’s blood servant, tied to him after Aganon attempted to murder her. He had almost succeeded, but Lucifer had performed a ritual that bound her to him. She owed him her life. He swore that he would never treat her like his true servant. She was to retain all of her rights as one of the three Heads of Hell.
“And you still speak to Gabriel? You’re a better person than I am. If my father made a deal to send me to Hell, I certainly wouldn’t forgive him,” he turned when he realized she’d stopped.
“He had my best interests at heart. He’s done the best for me, given that I have caused serious devastation in the past. I don’t blame him. Deep down I think he fears my power as much as I do. I didn’t ask to be the Destroyer. I can’t help that I was created this way. If I had my choice, I wouldn’t kill anyone. I would live as a mortal and forget about angels and Lucifer. I would just be normal,” she watched a family pass by, laughing and eating ice cream. She pulled out her necklace and played with the Ankh charm. It was the only thing she had left from her mortal life as Michelle Black.
She tried to remember what it was like to be a normal girl, but it was nearly impossible. She had never really been normal. Traumatized by nightmares, or visions of Hell, she had kept to herself and only trusted one other person, her friend CJ. Though she missed CJ terribly, she had decided to keep him out of her topsy-turvy world. She couldn’t tear him away from his normal life so that she could selfishly have a friend. CJ was too sweet to deal with Hell and all of its horrors. Seeing Hades and CJ together in the same room would give her palpitations. She couldn’t handle the thought of Hades toying with her best friend. He was better off without her. He was safer without her.
“I’ll give you a penny if you tell me why you don’t know what your Predznak look like. You said that they were created to serve you, but you don’t seem to know much about them,” Radek smiled and showed her a wet penny. Radek couldn’t help but be curious about the woman next to him with her big blue eyes and raven hair. He wanted to know if she was worth protecting. If assigned to protect Lucifer, he would intentionally fail in his duties, but he didn’t know enough about Lady Black to know how far he would go to help her. She was nice to him and had never hit him, but the jury was still out.
“Please tell me you didn’t steal that from the fountain. That was someone’s wish,” she half-heartedly scolded him.
“Maybe the wish didn’t come true. I tossed in plenty of pennies and my wishes never came true. It was a waste of a perfectly good penny,” Radek couldn’t keep the sadness out of his voice.
“I’m sorry for what happened to you. No one should suffer as you have,” she accepted the penny with a smile. “As far as why I don’t know what any of my Predznak looks like, it’s because I have never met them before. They were created before me and sent off into the Mortal Realm to tempt the mortals. I don’t remember my time in Heaven, so I can only rely on Gabriel’s descriptions. I agree, I should have met them before now, but Gabriel is always vague with his answers. He said that it was best to keep me away from them, until I was ready. Deep down I believe that the Council was afraid to hand them over to me until I proved that I wasn’t going to unleash them for my own reasons. Gabriel won’t admit it, but I know there is something he’s not telling me.
Radek nodded his head. He knew from working for Lucifer that Hell had a lot of secrets. He could only imagine what Heaven was trying to hide.
She closed her eyes and made a wish before throwing the penny back into the fountain.
“What did you wish for?” Radek asked as he playfully spritzed her with water.
“If I tell it won’t come true,” she giggled and slapped him. If she didn’t watch herself, she might actually learn to like him, until he turned on her, just like everyone else.
“Let me guess, you wished for world peace, or that Lord Lucifer would find someone else to dote upon. Personally, I would have wished for the winning lottery numbers,” Radek chuckled. He dodged around a couple holding hands to catch up to her.
“Neither,” she sighed.
World peace would be a nice thing to wish for, but the thought of Lucifer doting on someone else made her skin crawl. She wouldn’t wish for anyone to be subjected to his whims. Hurting her was bad enough, since she could kick his ass if he went too far, but having innocent women around Lucifer was catastrophic. Lucifer had brought others to Hell to rule by his side long before her arrival, but it never went well. As a result of Lucifer’s cruelty, Maraquette had stormed out of Hell and became a Forgotten Angel and Serena had turned completely evil and insane. Lucifer had removed her head and put her out of her misery when she tried to cut herself to pieces. No, a new girlfriend would be disastrous, just as Hades had once warned her. He told her that a third in power never ended well, which was why he wanted her dead, most days.
Quickly turning away from Radek, she looked around trying to focus on her task. She was constantly seeking her Predznak so that she could join with them, but had no idea where to look. Having searched country after country, she was at a loss. In a last-ditch effort, she searched heavily populated areas, places where it was easy to find mortals that should be tempted, hoping to feel their power nearby.
She didn’t want to tell Radek, but she had secretly wished to find Alazar. She had an overwhelming urge to find him first, having dreamed of him. If her dream was right, he was close to giving up. She had to find him before he turned against Heaven.
Anjali feared that Alazar would be the hardest Predznak to convince to join her. Lucifer had warned her that she would be more susceptible to his power due to her suicide as a mortal. If Death fought her, he would use her choice to take her own life against her. He would have an advantage over her and might tempt her to kill herself, for good this time. She wasn’t sure what she would do if he attacked her.
Radek looked behind him and saw that Lady Black had stopped in front of a toy store. “Shopping for dolls?” he asked as he raised an eyebrow.
“No, I’m looking at him,” she pointed to a man who was speaking to a little girl near the counter.
“He’s talking to his daughter, so what?” Radek asked, confused.
“It’s not his daughter, nor does he know her,” she sneered, her fists balling up of their own accord.
Radek nodded, understanding the problem. “Serial killer. I’ve seen that look before,” he grimaced. Having suffered in all of the realms, he’d witnessed every type of sinner imaginable.
“I’ll be seeing him again,” it took everything she had to walk away and not confront the man, or leave him in a pool of his own blood.
“Why not do something about it? You are the Destroyer; you’re supposed to hate people like him. I don’t mean blow the world up, I mean kill him or something,” he said, frustrated. He hated when monsters took advantage of innocent children.
“If I kill him with my power, he won’t come out of Hell until a full Apocalypse is created; trust me, there are too many souls waiting as we speak. I don’t remember killing those people since Gabriel bound my memories and Lucifer pleaded with him not to return them yet. Regardless, I see the result of my actions sitting in Hell, glaring at me when I walk past the Realm of the Destroyer,” she sighed. She didn’t need one more soul to feel guilty about; of course, that guy wasn’t worth the guilt.
“That doesn’t mean you can’t scare the hell out of him,” he smirked. He pointed back toward the store and gave her his best mischievous smile.
“That’s why I’m looking for my Angels of Temptation, my Predznak; they are the ones who are supposed to w
arn every one of my coming. They would have scared him with visions of Hell, or filled him with the hope of going to Heaven. They might have kept him from acting upon his urges long before his first evil deed was committed. Unfortunately, they are all lost to their own temptations. I felt the cold sensation of death and my skin prickled; I was hoping it would lead me to Alazar,” she shrugged; frustrated that she couldn’t find him.
“I somehow doubt that Death is hanging out in a toy store. Oh come on, it’ll be fun. I bet you can get him to pee his pants. I hear that you’re scarier than Lord Lucifer when you’re really angry,” he stopped in front of her, and blocked her path.
“The victims of serial killers and murderers mostly end up in Heaven, which helps ease my guilt, but maybe, just this once,” she stopped fighting the darkness inside that wanted to seek vengeance against the murderer and thought about what she wanted to do to the man.
“I’ll buy you a hot pretzel,” Radek said coaxingly. “Maybe even a chocolate chip cookie.”
She finally gave in when she saw Radek waggle his eyebrows and hold out his hand to her. She nodded and pulled Radek with her as she ducked into the nearest clothing store. She dragged him straight to the dressing room and gave her best evil stare to the attendant as she pulled Radek into the dressing room with her.
He laughed at being inside the women’s dressing room, but knew what she was planning to do.
Before he could blink, they were standing in an enormous parking lot a few cars down from the serial killer. The sun was slowly setting, casting long shadows across the lot. The man was quickly getting the little girl into his beat up brown Chevy Nova. Radek wasn’t surprised to see that the lot was mostly empty. The guy had chosen his exit well. As he turned his head to speak to his Master’s most prized possession, he noticed two things. One, she was now donning her infamous black gown, which instantly caused any man who gazed upon it to have dirty thoughts since it covered very little of her sexy body. Two, she no longer appeared sweet and kind, she appeared deadly, just as the Bringer of the Apocalypse should. She was now mentally and physically Lady Black.
The Third Throne: Angel of Death Page 4
