by Evans, Misty
My magic warmed at the thought. My heart did too. “And my mother. Where is her soul?”
Luc pointed at the city. “Here. Somewhere.”
Somewhere. How…unspecific.
But at least God didn’t have it. “Can you find it?”
“No.” He glanced at me. “But you can.”
Straightening as much as I could, I kicked at the sand with frustration and started down the hill. Something inside me needed to touch the stone and marble prisons trapping my angels.
Yes, they were my angels. My actions had put them there. “And the others trapped here with my mom? How do we free them?”
Luc walked by my side as we descended the hill. When he didn’t answer, I stopped and looked at him. He stopped, but didn’t meet my eyes as he shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Really?”
“I wasn’t even sure the city would be here.” He started walking again and I hurried to catch up. “But this is your purgatory. Whatever the answer is, it’s yours to discover.”
“No pressure or anything.”
We shared a smile and Luc took my hand.
At the arched entry to the city, the two of us paused. A current of magic rode the air. A second current trickled over the sand. The two teased my senses and wound around my arms and legs. I felt a click inside my chest. My magic seemed to be syncing with whatever lay here.
The energy of the trapped angels grew heavier, suffocating. I had to get them out. Release them from their prisons. But how?
Bracing myself, I stepped across the sandy threshold and went to find out.
Chapter Twenty-five – Faking It
Wind whistled through the abandoned buildings. Sand blew across my feet. My fingers trailed over the tops of the white marble statues. Ironically, most were of angels, like you’d see in a garden.
Or a graveyard.
An angel graveyard.
I shuddered.
A part of me denied this was happening. That any of this could be real. This was purgatory—as everyone kept reminding me—and God enjoyed sick jokes.
Maybe the City of Lost Angels was a figment of my imagination like the deserted town of Eden I’d seen on my first trip here. Maybe the forest was a fake.
Maybe this version of Luc was too.
I snuck a glance his way. He stood on the partially buried steps of a gothic church, so old, the thick pillars supporting the overhang were wrapped in dead ivy and splitting in multiple places. At the top of the entrance, jutting out over the stairs like a figurehead on the prow of a ship, was a large black-winged angel carved from stone. His face was passive, almost peaceful. His arms opened wide, beckoning us inside.
Luc looked at me. I nodded for him to go on without me. I’d had enough of churches.
He climbed the steps and disappeared inside.
I continued along, weaving in and out of dozens of statues, pillars and slabs of concrete engraved with strange sigils. When I touched them, the sigils glowed. My magic hummed a song, and with each touch, picked up another chord to add to the melody. The wind lifted my hair, teasing it around my face.
Laying my hand on a large stone, I focused my magic.
Break.
The stone stayed firm.
Open.
Zilch.
I channeled harder, squeezing my eyes shut and gripping the stone with both hands.
Release.
The tiniest of pulses tickled my palms. A heartbeat? I pressed my hands tighter to the stone, straining to feel it again. Nothing. Either it had disappeared or I’d imagined it.
Pressing my hands against the cold stone once more, I redoubled my efforts.
Release!
Another pulse, almost too weak to sense, but the magic, the energy, was there, struggling to reach me as hard as I was to reach it.
A familiar tickle. The warm rush of knowledge. The pulse and I were connected.
“Mom?”
I hung on, ticking off the seconds, then minutes in my mind. The shadows grew thicker, the night closing in on me, but there was nothing more from the stone.
Maybe I had imagined it. Or just wanted it so badly, I created it.
I hung my head, released my hold. The wind caressed my cheeks, softly.
When I lifted my gaze, I saw the sigils come to life. They glowed in the dark, a jagged trail lighting a path back to the crumbling church.
“I feel you,” I murmured to the angels. “I hear you. You’re not lost any more.”
The wind rose and died as if the angels issued a collective sigh.
My bones ached from the weighty magic. While I stood there racking my brain for a solution and wondering how the hell I’d managed to end up here, a fireball erupted inside the church.
Flames burst from the openings and lit up the night. And then, without warning, they disappeared.
It happened so fast, I wasn’t sure it was real. “Luc!” I ran toward the church, following the lighted trail. As I neared, the building morphed into Immaculate Conception.
Immaculate Conception with a Lucifer figurehead and a couple million years’ worth of abandonment? Leave it my purgatory to play mix and match.
“Luc?” I called as I climbed the stairs two at a time. “You in there? Are you okay?”
“He’s…indisposed,” a familiar voice said.
Zayfeer stepped from the shadowed entrance, sword drawn and glowing. “And it’s time for you to go back to jail.” He gave me that smug smile. “There’s a nice little prison cell waiting for you in Heaven.”
Boy, I’d had enough of this guy and that damn smirk.
I stood my ground and prepped my magic. “Then you’d better call in reinforcements, because I’m not going willingly.”
The smile widened. “Thought you might say that.”
Behind him, shadows moved. Big shadows.
Angels.
Archangels.
Four more swords appeared, all glowing with heavenly light and illuminating the faces of the warriors holding them.
Gabriel.
Michael.
And a couple I didn’t recognize but could guess. Raphael and Uriel. I’d seen them in the war footage the Tree had granted me.
“Five against one?” I chuckled, hoping it sounded casual and unworried. My insides were shaking. “I must be one kick-ass witch if it takes all of you to bring me down.”
They formed a line and pointed their swords at my chest. Michael patted Zayfeer on the shoulder. “Your trap worked, good and faithful servant. Well done. Your Father will be pleased. We’ll take things from here.”
Zayfeer frowned. “But I’m supposed to transport her to Heaven.”
Gabriel fluttered his wings. “Your orders are to stand down.”
Talk about a traitor. My mind began forming an anti-angel spell. I’d sent Gabe back to Heaven once. I could it again. I just wasn’t sure if I could handle all of them at the same time. “Come on, guys. Can’t we all just get along?”
Michael’s eyes blazed with anger. His loud, inhuman voice rang in my ears and echoed off the pillars. “Suffer not the witch.”
Gabe stepped slightly in front of the others, never taking his eyes off me. “I’ve got this, my brothers.”
He pointed the tip of his sword at the base of my throat. “It’s time you stopped screwing up the order of the Universe.”
I swallowed down my fear and locked my magic into overdrive. “And it’s time you went straight to Hell.”
Chapter Twenty-six – Slay The Dragon…
Gabriel lowered the sword. His ginormous hand latched onto my neck so fast, I didn’t have time to flinch. He lifted me off the ground so I was eye to eye with him. “I prefer Earth.”
I kicked my legs, swung my arms. Made contact with his tree-trunk legs and steely shoulders, but I might as well have been a bug buzzing around his face. He spread his wings, effectively screening us from the others, and whispered between gritted teeth. “Be still, witch. I’m trying to help you.”
Gabriel help
me? I stopped fighting and whispered back. Whispering was all I could do since the big lug was squeezing off my oxygen. “Did Keisha send you?”
“Adam and Eve tried to warn you, but as usual, you were too stubborn to listen.” He rippled his wings in a show of power and raised his voice. “Prepare yourself to meet the Maker, Amo.”
“Now, wait a minute there, big guy.” Zayfeer appeared in my peripheral vision. “God and I have a deal. I bring her to Heaven and I get to stay.”
Gabriel’s fierceness was nothing to sneeze at. His wings expanded full-length. He flared his nostrils and sent a wave of powerful mojo at Zayfeer. “You dare argue with me, Fallen one?”
Zayfeer flinched as Gabe’s magic slapped him and he raised his shining sword. “I’d dare just about anything these days to stay out of purgatory.”
Gabriel swung his sword at Z’s head, still holding onto me. My legs dangled like a rag doll’s and I gripped his wrist to ease the hold he had on my neck. Zayfeer ducked and jabbed at Gabe’s thigh. The archangel swerved, swinging me around.
“Enough!” a shout rang out. Loud, insistent.
God-like.
Lucifer emerged from the church, twice his normal size and bearing down on Gabe. Gone was the business suit and in its place…nada. All Devil everywhere my eyes landed, and, wow…I blinked. Blinked again. Gave up and stared openly.
There was no getting around it. His nakedness never failed to impress.
Lucifer’s wings had been restored, their black tips, like the dragon’s, sparked as he walked. Even from this distance, I could feel his heat, his magic. Power rolled off him in waves.
Zayfeer felt it too. He shuffled back, nearly falling in his hurry to retreat. The other archangels shifted to let Luc pass, and in the process, they all grew bigger as well.
Hallucination. I must have eaten a purgatory-laced mushroom and now was seeing things, because ditto on the wow factor.
The Devil, naked and taller than Shaquille O’Neal, was headed my way, with everything…well, moving in a shocking display of sin. Undulating. Swinging heavily. You get the picture.
I would have swallowed hard except for the fact Gabe still had me dog-collared. My heart pitter-pated and I bit my tongue to keep from drooling.
Luc sauntered down the stairs. His gaze never left me and I reared back as best I could when I noticed his pupils were blood red. That little fact had escaped me up to this point. My attention had been a little distracted.
“Release the witch.”
Gabriel said something under his breath in a language I didn’t understand. A swear, by the sound of it. His hand opened and I plopped unceremoniously to the sandy ground at Luc’s feet. Gabe retreated.
The Devil stalked me asI scooted backwards on my butt until my back hit a marble slab jutting up from the sand. “Luc?”
My voice squeaked. I told myself it was because Gabriel, the weasel, had done serious damage to my vocal chords.
That had to be it. Not the fact my bladder, and every other organ in my body, quaked in fear. “Are you okay?”
“No, he’s not okay.” Zayfeer snarled from somewhere on my right. “They’ve turned him! Look at his eyes.”
Turned him into what? Lucifer and his red eyes glared down at me. Anger, determination, and a heavy dose of retribution shone in those unnatural orbs.
Not an ounce of compassion or love. None of the vulnerability I’d seen earlier.
Not good. I struggled to gain my footing, my flight or fight instincts kicking in hard. I glanced at Gabriel as I stood up. “What have you done to him?”
Gabe looked at his feet.
Luc ignored me and spoke to the others. “She is mine.”
He reached out as if to touch my forehead. As big as he was, his hand completely encompassed my head. “I will send her to Heaven.”
Once on Earth, he’d touched me on the forehead and it was lights out. This might have been my purgatory, but this wasn’t my Luc and I wasn’t going to let whatever version of him this was send me anywhere.
I snatched his hand and held it between both of mine, pouring my magic at him. “Luc, it’s me, Amy. Um…” I thought about my angel name. Maybe that would trigger his memory. “Amo. Remember? You don’t want to send me to Heaven. We can’t be together if I’m up there.”
He stared at my hands. Hesitating.
A ripple of power flashed through his body, his muscles undulating and swelling. The tips of his wings flared to life. They spread in a huge arc, red-orange flames shooting from them. His skin grew taut, stretching as his body began to morph.
Oh, boy.
Zayfeer’s voice edged closer. “Way to go, witch.”
The other archangels ran for cover as the dragon burst forth. A beast grew where my lover had been. Bones snapped, skin became scales, hair disappeared.
One minute, he was Luc. The next, he wasn’t.
The shift complete, Luc leaned his elongated, horned head down so we were face to face.
And then he bellowed like the dragon he was.
Hot air licked my face and blew back my hair. I braced, refusing to run.
“Here.” Zayfeer’s sword flew at me. “Slay the dragon, Amo.”
I caught the sword without thought, simply reacting. The handle was cold and alien in my hand, but as my body warmed it, the blade glowed with a faint pink light.
My light. The light of love.
A surge of power ran up my arm and danced with my magic. It felt good. Felt right.
Until I looked in the dragon’s eyes.
The red pupils were dilated, smoke issued from his nose. His body tensed, straining forward. He sniffed me.
“Slay the damn dragon!” Zayfeer yelled.
The red-eyed gaze dropped to the sword, then rose to meet mine.
My heart broke a little. There was no recognition there. No desire or caring.
Only hate.
Luc hated me.
My knees went weak.
No, I told myself. This isn’t really Luc. He’s locked away somewhere deep inside.
And then he lunged.
Two tons of dragon lunged for my throat.
I ran with all my might, forcing my poor human legs to carry me back to the Tree of Knowledge. That tree was my only hope. Get the dragon there and force him to touch it. To remember.
It was the only thing I could think of to bring Luc back to me.
Shouts erupted and I heard a loud swishing noise. The dragon taking flight.
On the way to the Tree, he swooped over me a dozen times. Why he didn’t land or clutch me in his giant claws, I don’t know. I was the mouse; he was the cat toying with me.
My lungs burned and my limbs shook. Still, I pressed on through the burnt forest, carrying Zayfeer’s sword. The pink light grew brighter, illuminating my way.
As I drew close to the Tree of Knowledge, I gripped the hilt like a mad woman. Could I really use it against Luc? Against his beast?
If this plan didn’t work, I might have to.
A shadow passed overhead and fire rained down. Out of breath, I found the Tree and sagged against it, raising the sword to light the forest around me.
Taking a fortifying breath, I called to the night. “I’m here, dragon.”
The ground vibrated. In the distance, a trail of fire emerged, racing in my direction. The souls of the lost angels hovered near me. I secured my back to the Tree and tried to come up with an easy way to get Luc to touch it.
Just touching it wouldn’t be enough. For the Tree to work, I’d have to hold him against it long enough for the memories to surface.
Piece of cake, right?
The dragon emerged from the ruined forest and all logical thought evaporated. He strolled up to me and once again stuck his head in front of my face.
Every puff of his breath released pain and confusion. My magic reached out to him, but he reared back as if it hurt.
He eyed the sword.
I lowered it, then let it fall at my feet. “Do w
hat you will to me, Lucifer.” I sent a wave of comforting magic his way. “I love you more than Heaven or Earth or any god. I will not fight you.”
The dragon tilted his head, sniffed my hair, my cheek, my neck. His hot breath seared my skin. Sweat broke out along my hairline.
Lingering over my chest, he placed his snout at heart-level.
My pulse beat rapidly in the base of my throat. My heart slammed against my chest, determined to escape its rib-clad prison.
I held still. “That’s my heart and it’s beating for you.”
Luc shifted his head back a few inches, his red gaze locked on my heart area. Hope rose inside me. He understood. My love had reached him.
Everything was going to be okay, even if I never saw the earth and my real life again.
And then the dragon reared back and slammed one of its giant horns into my chest.
Chapter Twenty-seven - …Or He’ll Slay You
The horn ripped through my ribcage, pierced my heart, and tore through the muscles of my back.
The horn did not stop until it lodged itself in the Tree.
Everywhere I looked, I saw red. Red eyes, red scales. Blood. Flames.
Purgatory had morphed into Hell. My own personal Hell.
A loud cry split the air…my voice, screaming in pain. The pain, not so much physical as emotional.
My magic cried, too, and in my ears, I heard singing. The singing of angels.
My angels.
Through the haze of pain, I glanced at the forest. Had the angels broken free from their marble prisons?
No. There was no one, angel or otherwise, here. Just me and Lucifer.
His second horn had grazed the right side of my neck and was also wedged in the bark of the Tree. He pulled back, found he was stuck, and surged forward again, driving both horns deeper.
I didn’t think the pain could get worse.
A loud rumble issued from his throat and his eyes rolled in their sockets. He arched both wings, sending flames into the already torched wasteland of the forest. The embers caught and flared to life, creating a circle of fire around us.
The left side of my body went numb. Images flashed through my head. They didn’t make sense, but I knew they were coming from the Tree of Knowledge.
