I draw a sharp breath, eyes snapping to meet his. My stomach flutters for a whole new reason, but this time it’s about us. Me, a queen. What a beautiful thought.
But I know Lucifer. I’ve known him for centuries, and as much as I want to believe in Noah, I can’t picture anyone succeeding if they tried to take over. Nor can I bear the thought of Noah in the Pit for all of eternity if he fails. But how can I explain that to Noah without losing him? He’ll think I don’t “believe” in him.
“Keira?”
I haven’t moved. I’m not even sure if I’ve blinked. But since I have no words to explain what I’m thinking, I do what I know I’m good at and throw my arms around him, tackling him to the mattress and drowning any more treasonous talk with kisses.
“I wonder,” Noah says as I explore every ridge on his chest, “if I can send her back when I take over. So I don’t have to see her.”
“Hmm?” I ask, focused on his body.
“Grace.”
“Oh.” I stop and roll onto my back next to him. It seems Grace is going to come between us in bed whether we like it or not. “If you were in charge, you could take away her Demon status. But you can’t send her back to Heaven, and she—” I stop before I let the words escape.
“She what?” he asks, leaning on his elbow to see my face. He has that hard look again.
“It’s just that I can’t imagine her being tortured in Hell for all of eternity,” I say, my voice breaking, whether from fear of how he’ll react or the actual thought of Grace being tortured, I’m not sure anymore.
But he softens and his eyes glaze over like he’s seeing something that isn’t there. “Those are the only two choices in Hell?” He sounds young again. He flip-flops so fast, it’s hard to catch up. Or maybe it’s all the years of bitterness and pain I’ve experienced since my death that make his perspective seem so naïve.
“And not many people get the choice that I did. For them, it’s all or nothing. You know, once you die, if you were bad, that’s it. Torture forever. Punishment for your sins. For the rest of eternity. It doesn’t feel right to me, but what more could there be? It’s Hell.”
Noah’s lips turn up at the corners. “I’d like to see it.”
“Well, you can’t. Not until you’re dead, and I don’t want that to happen any time soon. Then you won’t be Lucifer’s equal.” And therein lies the seed of my fear. Lucifer is tricky and if Noah were to die somehow… Can the Antichrist die? If Lucifer isn’t happy and wants a different one, maybe…
“If I were in charge, I’d change things,” Noah declares. He’s so confident, which only worries me more. And I don’t want to imagine him dying at Lucifer’s hand. I can’t. All I want is to feel his body against mine.
“Kiss me,” I answer.
He obeys.
Chapter 8
Josh
I might be back in Heaven, but I’d rather be down on Earth with Grace. Her kiss is still on my lips. I run my fingers down my face again, trying to cool down, but it’s almost impossible. It’s been a long time since we’ve been together and it would be so easy to just give up and join her. I might even be able to swing a deal with Lucifer…
No.
I can’t think like that. I groan and fall back on the broken sofa, swearing I can smell her lavender-and-vanilla scent. I can’t give in. I have to do this for Grace. I have to find a way to save both her and Noah. Only, I really don’t think he wants to be saved. And why would he? He’s got everything he wants.
Maybe once Lucifer starts telling him to do increasingly horrible things he’ll grow a conscience? I dismiss the thought immediately. He already killed somebody, and he’s the fucking Antichrist. He’s supposed to rain blood and judgment on the Earth… I can see why Mr. Griffith feels like this is a done deal.
What do I need to save both Noah and the world? I need Noah to have a sudden and very unlikely change of heart. The question is, does he have a heart? And how do I get at it? He has to have some positive feelings about Grace, right? So she really does have the best chance at getting to him. But how? And if I can’t touch him, how do I help? The whole thing gives me a headache.
I stand to stretch, and there’s a knock on the door.
“Come in,” I call. It’s either Mr. Griffith, who’s been too busy to stop in recently, or…
“Hello.” Shona walks in with the giant book tucked in her arms like a baby. “You visited Earth?”
“How did you know that?” I ask, watching her conjure a standing table in the center of my room where she sets the tome gently, despite her thin stature and the obvious weight of the thing.
“Joshua, it’s customary to welcome guests with an invitation to sit and have some form of refreshment. Honestly, we must go over these things if you’re going to save Grace and bring her back up here.”
I roll my eyes at her proper English attitude. “I think we’re past all that, don’t you?”
She grimaces, pulling a cup of tea from the air only to set it on the table as far as possible from the book. “Mmm. I can see the pain on your face. You obviously visited Grace despite my warnings.”
“Am I that transparent?” I ask, already knowing the answer.
“’Fraid so. At least you’re still here, which means you did not succumb to her charms. Yet. Now come take a look at this with me. I may have found some other information of interest.”
I approach the table she set up and peer over her shoulder. It feels kind of weird, like we’re reading Mr. Griffith’s diary, though I guess that’s exactly what we’re doing.
“It’s a story regarding Michael and Lucifer, or Luke, as he’s referred to here.”
She flips through the first third of the book with reverence and runs a finger down the worn page to the beginning of a new passage about halfway down and reads:
Father has begun assigning duties to us based upon ability and what He refers to as “personality.” Luke and I have been given the task of dealing with human souls when their Earthly bodies have failed. Luke has named this “death,” which I think is a depressing term for a happy homecoming. Unfortunately this turned into fodder for another of our quibbles.
“They don’t appreciate it,” Luke chided. “They are simple beings and don’t even understand what’s happened. To those left behind, the soul is lost. Though I suppose they will learn the truth in what is the blink of an eye to you and I.”
“To them, that can be most of a lifetime.”
Luke glowered. “Humans are a mistake.”
“Father does not make mistakes,” I said.
“They are purposely imperfect. Why create them?” Luke scoffed.
“They have free will. They will decide their own nature. They will make those decisions over their short times on Earth and join back with us after. We will be in charge of that homecoming. We can make it happy for them while they wait for their families.”
“What if they don’t deserve happiness?” Luke asked, stepping close to me. “What if they choose incorrectly throughout their lives, again and again? I daresay the few that exist thus far have already demonstrated selfish actions.”
I frowned. He pointed out truth. Still… “Luke, they are like children. And children must learn before they understand.”
“Even if the child chooses unforgivably?” he challenged.
“You would have them punished?” I asked.
“I would have them receive what is deserved. Making selfish choices should not give them leave to spend eternity with us, Father’s perfect creatures.”
Shona stops reading.
“Well?” I prompt. “Keep going.”
“That’s all there is in the passage. This whole collection is a million varied bits and pieces. Some of them are simple bits of dialogue or incomplete thoughts. It probably never occurred to him that anyone else would read it.”
I wonder if Lucifer has a similar diary. What would he have written?
“I believe we can surmise the division of Heaven and H
ell based on this conversation,” Shona says, carefully shutting the book and sitting on the corner of the couch to sip at her tea.
“What good does that do us?” Am I destined to get my hopes up only to realize I have nothing more than I did before?
Shona cups the tea in her hands like she’s warming them even though the room is far from cold. “There has to be more. Information is always the key to solving a problem.”
I wish I could agree. “There’s got to be a better way.” I rub my hands over my face and through my hair. It’s becoming a nervous habit.
“Perhaps you should try talking to Michael again.” Shona waits, cup poised and ready at her lips.
I want to tell her that it’s crazy to talk to Griffith when he’s the one that sent Grace to Hell and went off the deep end about preparing for the End Times. But the truth is, she’s right. We could study his diary for years and never find out what he could simply tell us if he’d only be straightforward.
“I guess it’s worth a try. I have an appointment with him later. He wanted to show me something. Keep reading the book until then, I guess.”
Shona tosses her cup into the air, where it disappears, and smiles at me. She lifts the giant book with care before leaving.
I flop back down on the couch, running a finger over my bottom lip. “Show me Grace,” I tell the magic screen.
Holy Hell.
Grace appears in the same outfit I saw her in earlier. Something Keira would wear. Her hair’s arranged around her face in ringlets and her eyes are rimmed in thick gold. She’s at a velvet-covered roulette table, hanging all over this good-looking guy. He’s tall with a model face and has big muscles I can see right through his sleeves. Damn. I trust Grace, but that’s not the issue. It’s Lucifer I’m worried about. He’s up to something.
“Time to ask Griffith what he knows?” I ask TT, who stares back at me with big innocent eyes, like he hasn’t the foggiest idea.
Well, that makes two of us.
Maybe Mr. G will get mad and order me to stop helping Grace. That would actually make things simpler, wouldn’t it? I could never stop helping Grace. I’d rather join her in Hell than stay here and pretend to try and forget her.
Chapter 9
Noah
“I’ve decided that since Keira’s here, she may as well be useful. I’ve asked her to fix your school records and the memories of your teachers and friends so that you have no skeletons in your closet.” Lucifer swirls the amber liquid in his glass and sniffs.
I’m on the throne, bored out of my mind because he’s sent Keira on this errand and has decided to babysit me in the meantime. Here I thought I’d be threatening fire and destruction on the fucked-up part of the world while demanding money and shit. Figures Antichrist duty would suck just as bad as the rest of the whole afterlife setup. I mean, seriously? You put yourself first in life, and what—you get set on fire in some pit for the rest of forever?
“There are two more days until Saturday.” I scratch at the leather arm of the chair, carving lines in the fabric, which automatically disappear in moments. Self-cleaning. A little OCD there, Lucifer?
“Emily is all set to shoot the governor.” Lucifer grins and takes a swig of his brandy or whatever.
“Then I catch her. She takes the fall, and I become an insta-hero.”
“Remember when you make a public statement that you ‘just knew you had to stop whoever the shooter was before they could hurt anyone else.’ Be sad about the governor’s untimely demise while you’re at it.”
“Yeah, so then I get some media attention. Then what? We do it again? Aren’t people going to get suspicious that I’m always there on time?”
Lucifer snorts. “Only an idiot would use the same play twice. Though, people aren’t as smart as you give them credit for, Noah. Once you’re a household name and we get you appointed to a position, you’ll sort out some corrupt politicians by having them invite you in on a deal, which you’ll then realize is a scam against the citizens, so you make it public.”
“Where do you find these corrupt politicians?” I ask. “Not that it’s a rare breed, but who’s going to let me in on it?”
“You’d be surprised who owes me a favor among the living. It’s not as uncommon as you’d think for people to offer up their eternal soul. I’m just picky about who I reply to.” He tosses back the remainder of the glass and throws it up in the air, where it vanishes.
I stand and stretch before starting to pace. I’m getting sick of being stuck in my room with all these lessons. I’ve been playing the good little Antichrist—at least ‘til I get a handle on what Lucifer expects and what’s actual fact. But this is getting ridiculous. I’m ready to go travel the world with Keira and do something. “So I rise through politics. Then what? Does that make me president in eight years or something?”
Lucifer’s eyes slide back and forth, following my movement, while the rest of him is perfectly still. I force down a shudder. Yes, it’s creepy, but no matter how creepy he is, I have to remember I’m his mortal equal. “In eight years I want you in control of the entire world. Presidency should happen in three to four years.”
“Wait. How? You want me to run for president in four years? That’s crazy. Even for you.” I laugh, but it’s obviously forced.
Lucifer smiles and stands, tugging his shiny suit jacket down. “Elections will be unnecessary and, you are correct, too obvious. Not my style, but I most certainly could if I chose to. No. You’ll be speaker of the house by then, and we will arrange for something terrible to happen to the president and vice president. Then you’re next in line.”
He throws an arm around my shoulder and smacks my chest. “You’re not going to just rule the free world, Noah. President is just a stepping-stone to taking over the UN and then establishing a monarchy over the entire globe. We’re talking about the future of the human race, Noah. You will decide its fate. It’s all part of the prophecy.”
I swallow, remembering the prophecy as Lucifer told it to me. I might not be much for memorization in school, but when it’s a prophecy about me? I pay attention.
…Heaven cannot touch him,
for he is the harbinger of the Day of Judgment.
Through the One shall the fate of the Earth be written,
for his blood sacrifice crowns the King of Hell.
Judgment Day. So where the prophecy says, ‘Day of Judgment,’ does Lucifer think that means I should send all the people to Hell just to be tortured for eternity? I just want power and respect. Joe Shmoe can stay on Earth and live his life. “Why go through all this trouble just to fool people into believing in me? If we’re so powerful, why not just take over and do what we want?” What I want. Like ruling with Keira. Being in charge and taken seriously.
“Noah, Noah, Noah.” Lucifer spins me to face him and presses my face between his hands. His alcohol breath mingles with his cologne, and it makes me want to gag. “The point isn’t to rule the little people, it’s to demonstrate that they can’t make good decisions for themselves. You must take away the inflated concept of self they have by tearing it to shreds in front of them. Then they lose hope. And without hope? No one dares to challenge you. That’s how you rule Hell. That’s how you rule Earth. And that’s how I will rule in Heaven when it comes time.”
Wait. What?
Lucifer lets go and takes a seat in the throne. I’ve noticed he can’t seem to stay away from it when it’s unoccupied. Interesting. But not as interesting as what he just said. He’s planning to overthrow Heaven? I’m no expert, but isn’t that how he got booted in the first place? Maybe the stories I was told growing up are wrong. They sure seem messed up so far.
“How did you end up in charge of Hell?” I ask.
Lucifer turns, eyebrows raised like he’s shocked. But he doesn’t seem angry. “Good question, my boy! You see, ‘death’ in human terms was supposed to be up to me—well, Michael and I, but let’s just say Michael has always been a bit childish when it comes to ruling
others. I recognized that being given free will wasn’t going to help humanity become the ultimate heroes that The Man Upstairs hoped for. I knew they had small minds and would act selfishly, even brutally, toward each other. I foresaw that. So I suggested they didn’t deserve Heaven. Why allow them to be with the Archangels? Perfect creations rubbing elbows with nobodies? The very idea still grates on my nerves.”
“So you created Hell,” I say.
“Indeed. But when I refused to relinquish those souls who’d spent some time in Hell, as was suggested—mind you, suggested—by The Man Upstairs, Michael complained. My own brother! Can you imagine? Ha! I daresay you can.”
I nod like I know what the Hell he’s talking about so he’ll go on.
“I was given an ultimatum.” Lucifer’s eyes glow red, but it’s like he’s looking past me, seeing something else. A long-ago conversation, perhaps. “Follow the rules or be no longer welcome in Heaven.” Lucifer takes a drink of something he conjures and then immediately makes it disappear.
“So you chose your own way.”
“Better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven with no choices. I am not some lowly creature. I am His firstborn! I am an Archangel. Now back to you, Noah, and the plan.”
Time to practice my manipulation skills. “Wow. Sometimes it’s just hard to believe this is really happening. To me.” I sit on the couch like I haven’t noticed his usurpation of my throne, like I’m in my rightful place, literally beneath the bastard. He’s made it crystal clear that he thinks he’s better than humans like me. But despite his real feelings, he keeps trying to placate me, which convinces me more than ever that I’m a threat to him.
He leans down like a benevolent father. The kind I doubt actually exists. “I know it’s a lot to take in. You are still human. I have to remember that. But you’re also the One I’ve been waiting for, Noah. You must understand how excited that makes me.”
I look up with a big dopey grin of my own. “Of course! I just don’t want to blow it for you. So let’s go over the whole thing again, if you don’t mind.” Of course you don’t. You’ve been driving me crazy, drilling the first part into me for weeks.
Soul Conquered Page 6
