The Third Throne: Angel of Darkness

by Tabitha Barret

  Before Hades could form a complete sentence, she heard footsteps coming from the bridge. Aganon and Dorian flanked Lucifer and a step behind them was Vincent. Azazel took up the rear. The confused looks on their faces were precious. She wished she had a camera.

  Lucifer stopped dead in his tracks when he saw her. “Where have you been? The Bhakşaka in the Caves said they saw you, but I couldn’t find you. You are lucky that the Shades didn’t attack you,” he bellowed until it dawned on him that she was sitting atop the dais.

  “Yes, I was in the Caves. I was planning to escape Hell, but then I found out that I didn’t have anywhere else to go. It seems that you are the only one who wants me, although, you haven’t been very honest with me. That reminds me, I don’t think we’ve been formally introduced; I’m Anjali, Bringer of the Apocalypse, daughter of the Archangel Gabriel, and apparently, this is my throne. Isn’t that right, Lucifer?” she glared at Lucifer and watched him flinch at the mention of her real name.

  The silence in the room was chilling. She could see the mental gymnastics at work as each person processed the information. The only ones who didn’t seem fazed were Aganon, Dorian, and Vincent. Azazel stiffened at her words. He was certainly guilty of something. Caleb looked like he was trying to disappear into the floor.

  “How do you know that name?” Lucifer had trouble speaking as he quickly looked to Hades with malice in his eyes.

  “I can’t believe that you deceived me this whole time. I actually felt sorry for you and all that you’ve endured in this place. I guess I should have expected nothing less from the devil. You bastard. How could you destroy my life when I only had a few more months left to live like a normal girl? I had things I wanted to do. Granted, they may have been silly things, but it was my life and you stole it from me. On top of that, I have suffered in this miserable place since I arrived. I know about the contract and the provisions made by my father, which you agreed upon. I could have sat next to you on this stupid tombstone throne and instead I’ve had to endure every horror that this place has to offer. I wasn’t meant to be your servant, and I’m done listening to your lies,” she stared Lucifer down. She was surprised to see sadness in his eyes instead of anger.

  Hades looked visibly green and shaken. She liked the look of fear on his face. It suited him. Forget the camera; she wanted a video so that she could replay his shocked response.

  Lucifer couldn’t breathe. She knew. She knew everything and she hated him for it. Everything he had feared would happen had finally come to pass. She knew of his betrayal and how he had kept her from her destiny. She would never love him. She would never forgive him. Everything that he wanted, or at least wanted since she arrived in Hell, was smashed to pieces. He was devastated.

  He looked at her on her throne. She was magnificent. She was beautiful and graceful. She looked like royalty with her head held high. He would have loved to walk into the Throne Room each day and see her sitting next to him, at his side, ruling their domain. He never thought he would want someone else sitting in that throne, but it suited her. She was visibly angry, which made her even more enticing. He pictured the two of them looking down upon his faithless brothers on the Council and mocking them when they dared to question them. He would have taken pride in working with her to rule Hell, along with Hades, under his boot.

  He immediately chased away the thought of letting her go. She belonged here and she belonged to him. Seeing her on the throne, filled with power and confidence made him crave her. He needed her. The darkness inside of him whispered to him, telling him that he had to keep her.

  Lucifer was the first to recover. “I’m not sure who you spoke to, but that isn’t the whole truth. While it’s true you were supposed to be at my left hand, your contract is invalid. You came to me of your own free will and I do not have to honor your contract, my dear. You committed suicide and you belong to me,” Lucifer replied, trying to get the upper hand.

  “Don’t you dare play the suicide card. We both know that you were forbidden to contact me. You cheated. You were supposed to wait until the autumn after my 18th birthday. You got inside my head and told me every lie you could think of to get me here. You are the one who broke the contract,” she sneered. She could feel her anger rising and she let it. She was tired of being a punching bag for the Fallen and a warm body for Lucifer to unleash his desires upon.

  As Lucifer gazed at her haughty expression, something clicked into place. She seemed too comfortable in the throne. She had an air of authority that he didn’t know she possessed. She looked at home in the throne, as if she had known all along that it belonged to her. He remembered how she had seduced him in his own bedroom and then left him cold and alone after she had been sated. The answer had been right in front of him the whole time. The little bitch knew all along who she was and she was playing him for a fool. The shy and quiet act was just that, an act to make him submit to her. She had died knowing the truth. He had never believed that Gabriel would leave her unarmed and unknowing. Gabriel knew him well enough to know he would do everything he could to steal her away. They had probably conceived of the plot together. He would murder them both. He would make her submit to him until she learned her place. He didn’t need her trying to overthrow him, or worse, ending up like her predecessors, crazed and uncontrollable.

  “You will remove yourself from that throne and kneel before me. I am the one who dictates what happens here, not some Heavenly Angel. Gabriel has no right to argue about the agreement. The contract was fulfilled when you arrived by your own hand. Now, you will submit to me. I am the ruler of this domain and you will do as I command,” Lucifer needed to get control of the situation. His servants were watching him closely. She was making him look weak. No one questioned him in front of his servants. He needed to make an example out of her for her insubordination.

  “Or what, you’ll hit me? I’m not afraid of you or Hades. You may be able to render the flesh from my body, boring, been there, done that, but I’m not going to tremble in fear anymore and play slave girl to you. Release me from this Hell or so help me God I will bring the walls down around you and destroy this place. Shit, if I can create an Ice Age, I surely can make it snow in Hell! Oh wait, I already have,” she sneered at him and touched her ring for emphasis.

  Lucifer growled. He was losing this fight. Hades raised his eyebrows at Lucifer as if to tell him to take action. If she continued to defy him, the Fallen and his servants would take advantage of his weakness and rise up against him. He had to show them that he could handle his mistress.

  He stepped forward in a rush, intent on grabbing her and pulling from the throne, by her hair, if necessary.

  Anjali laughed. “What? You’re not going to order Caleb to throw me into the Realm of Fire again? You’re going to personally see to it this time? I wondered when you were going to get your hands dirty. Be warned, return me to the fire and I will turn it into a block of ice, again,” she had finally snapped. Let them try to take her; she would seriously fuck up the first person who took a step toward her.

  Lucifer faulted. “What did you say? Have Caleb throw you into the Realm of Fire…again?” the confusion was clear on Lucifer’s face as he turned to his servant for confirmation.

  Caleb fell to his knees sobbing and pleading in front of Hades. That was all the confirmation that Lucifer needed. The air in the room began to sizzle as Lucifer’s full fury rose to the surface.

  We have a winner, she smiled to herself.

  Chapter 15

  “My own servant has turned against me for the last time,” Lucifer’s anger became tangible.

  Caleb quivered at Hades’ feet while Hades pretended that he had never met the man before.

  She should have felt sorry for Caleb, but she didn’t. He had backed the wrong team and now he was in front of the firing squad, again. Lucifer’s other servants all took a knee and lowered their heads. They were the smart ones for ducking and covering their own backsides.

  Azazel looked extr
emely uncomfortable and inched closer to the door. She was dying to know what he was guilty of doing.

  Lucifer held out his hand and Caleb was wrenched from the floor by an unseen force. He flew to Lucifer, who grabbed him by the throat.

  She had never seen that trick before. She wondered if it would work on her.

  “I explicitly told you that she was not to be harmed. I’m assuming Hades was the one who countermanded my order. Speak!,” Lucifer bellowed at the servant who was pulling at Lucifer’s hands, desperate to get his feet back on the ground and air into his lungs.

  She couldn’t hear Caleb from where she sat, but the murderous look that was pointed at Hades told her the answer. Lucifer was an excellent con man, but she didn’t think that even he could fake this reaction. The look of panic on Hades’ face took the place of an admission of guilt. She was going to enjoy watching Hades burn.

  Lucifer crushed Caleb’s throat and then savagely ripped it from his body. Caleb fell to the floor in a bloody heap. Lucifer muttered something in another language as Caleb twitched on the floor, staring up at Lucifer. He was still alive, though barely.

  Blue flames ignited across the Caleb’s stomach and quickly engulfed him. The fire burned hot, charring his flesh in the blink of an eye. Caleb reached out to Lucifer, begging for mercy. Caleb’s hands disintegrated and crumbled into soot, followed by his arms. His feet dissolved into ash as the fire became focused on his torso and head. What remained of his body turned to dust and sank down into uneven piles on the marble.

  Anjali’s stomach churned as she watched on in horror. She had never seen a man die like that, not even in the Realm of Fire. She knew that Caleb was gone, for good. She was slightly relieved, but uneasy about it. As much as she didn’t like him, she didn’t want him dead. She would have been happy with bloody and bruised.

  Lucifer had long forgotten about Caleb as he turned to Hades, who was backing up to the dais, tripping on the stairs.

  “I was merely trying to help you, my Lord. She is a distraction, one that you don’t need. She strips you of your darkness and leaves you on the floor sniveling like a child. That is not what Hell needs. I was trying to do what is best for us. You chose this life above all else. You were not forced to come here, like some. You rose to the occasion and I was proud of you. Now you are more concerned about her than your duties. It’s maddening. We don’t have the easiest job, but we knew that. That’s why we chose it, to show our loyalty above all the ass kissers. They claimed that they loved Father, but we proved it. We have both sacrificed so much to be here. We sacrificed love, friendship, brotherhood, and most of all Father’s light, but now you are destroying all of that because of that little whore. You are letting her ruin you. Without the devil, Hell will not survive and I won’t stand here and watch it happen. We have worked too hard. Yes, I threw her into the realms, hoping she would tire of this existence and want to end her life. I will not apologize for that,” Hades’ strength and rage grew with each statement. He was thoroughly convinced he was doing the right thing for the survival of Hell.

  “What I do with her is no concern of yours. She is mine and no one else’s. Heaven forbid you have to actually work around here. Yes, we proved beyond a doubt that we love Father, but it’s not enough anymore, Hades. We have a thankless job and for once, I want to be rewarded. She is my reward,” Lucifer stalked closer to Hades.

  Some of Hades’ bravado died on the spot when he looked into Lucifer’s burning eyes.

  “She doesn’t love you, you know that. She puts up with you. She whispers to me of her hatred of you. She would give herself to any man here just to hurt you. She has no loyalty and certainly no honor. She is nothing more than a murderer. I’m told she had other lovers during her time as a mortal. If she returns to the Mortal Realm, she will undoubtedly find them and leave you to mourn the loss of her. Then where will we all be?” Hades was tired of cleaning up Lucifer’s messes. Lucifer needed to grow up and deal with his mistakes.

  “Murderer?” Anjali sneered. She was going to ask Lucifer to go easy on Hades, but after hearing that remark, she wanted to punch him.

  “That is my problem, not yours. Right now, I am taking issue with your failure to follow my command. You tortured her, when I specifically told every Fallen in my domain to leave her alone. How dare you go against my orders!” Lucifer backhanded Hades and sent him crashing into his throne.

  Hades wiped the blood from his mouth and quickly jumped up from the throne, swinging his fist at Lucifer’s chin.

  Lucifer dodged the punch and countered by throwing his fist into Hades’ stomach. Hades tripped on the steps and landed awkwardly. He kicked out Lucifer’s legs, toppling him. Before Lucifer could recover, Hades jumped on top of Lucifer’s chest and swung wildly at his face. Lucifer blocked the blows and rolled to his side, effectively throwing Hades off. Hades tumbled down the remaining steps to the ground.

  Hades picked himself off the ground and sidestepped Lucifer, who was racing toward him. “Yes, I treated her like any other suicide and tossed her ass into the realms. It was more than she deserved. How can you love someone who gave up her mortal life so easily? She is supposed to be a gift from Father, yet she threw her life away. How can one, such as her, be worthy enough to stand beside an angel who sacrificed everything for Father? She’s an abomination. I punished her for her sins, just as I am supposed to do. I was hoping she would beg me to take her life and grant her eternal peace. Suicides so often beg for true death, so I figured she would follow suit and you could be free of her. You can’t see what she is doing to you, but I can. I am trying to free you from her hold. You are better than this. She needs to die and you need to use her death to strengthen your vow to Father. You need to punish the wicked, so that they may learn from their deceitful ways and strive to do better to achieve glory in Heaven to be with Him, not sit in your room, crying over that whore!” Hades roared through the tower.

  Anjali was surprised to hear that Lucifer was in his room, crying over her. She pondered Hades’ earlier statement about stripping the darkness from Lucifer. It certainly explained the change in Lucifer’s demeanor when she was around him. Lucifer had alluded to being different around her. Perhaps she had misjudged him. It was possible that he really did care about her.

  She thought about what would happen if Lucifer lost his darkness. Hades was right to be concerned. If she did somehow turn Lucifer into a cuddly bunny, how was he going to be the devil that Hell needed? Having seen the Realm of Nightmares, she knew that a kinder, gentler Lucifer would never be able to punish the truly wicked. They would break free and devour him. It would be a disaster. Hades was right; she did cause problems everywhere she went. It seemed that Hell would suffer if she stayed. Was there truly no place, where she could go and exist peacefully?

  “You are wrong on so many counts, Hades. My love for her is my vow to Father. The fact that I can sit in this abysmal place day after torturous day and not end my life is the only way to prove that I love Him, yet I feel no love. I feel nothing but hatred. When I am with her, I can feel everything again. I can feel my love for Father; I can remember the reasons why I am doing this job. My love for her keeps me from ending the world, something that I have tried countless times to do. I know Father would forgive me for my actions, but I don’t want His forgiveness, I want His praise for holding strong against the darkness. We weren’t sent here to suffer. We were sent here to make the mortals suffer. We knew it would be hard, but that doesn’t mean it has to be hard. You have said it yourself, I am the worst of the Fallen, the King of the Damned, but I don’t have to be, Hades. I don’t have to suffer. I know the light inside of her lessens my darkness, but I know I can find a way to keep her and still be the Prince of Darkness; I only need time, and patience. I’m not asking you Hades, I’m ordering you to stay the fuck away from Anjali. I swear to you brother, I will destroy you if you continue in this endeavor,” Lucifer’s voice was raw with emotion as he stared at Hades, waiting for him to challenge his comm
and.

  “Well, brother, I don’t believe that can have your whore and command Hell at the same time,” Hades pretended to look away, but quickly kicked Lucifer in the gut, sending him crashing to the floor.

  Hades quickly ascended the dais, grabbed Anjali’s arm, and pulled her from her throne. He pulled a knife from under his suit jacket and held it to her throat.

  Lucifer was stunned when he saw his brother threatening the life of his woman. He extended his wings and crouched down low, preparing for battle. He would be damned if he let anything happen to Anjali.

  “I forbid this, Hades. I swear to Heaven above that I will nail your worthless hide to my bedroom wall and make you suffer for eternity!,” Lucifer roared, trying to decide how best to save his woman.

  Anjali wasn’t really surprised by Hades’ move of desperation, but she had to think fast if she wanted to keep her head. “Hades, we can work this out. I understand your concerns now. We can find a way to resolve this,” she said, trying to reason with him.

  “If this is my final act, then let it be my sacrifice to Father, to prove my love for Him,” Hades tightened his grip on her. “Even you aren’t powerful enough to survive without a head,” Hades whispered as he pushed the knife against her throat.

  Lucifer threw a fireball at Hades’ head, but he was undeterred. He shook off the pain and embedded the knife further into the witch’s throat. As much as he wished to possess her, he had no other option left.

  Anjali felt the knife slicing through her neck. The searing pain was enough to cause her to sway and lose focus. She knew Hades was done playing. She felt the blood pouring down the front of her chest as her vision blurred.

  The shocked looks on the faces of Aganon, Dorian, Vincent, and Azazel were enough to confirm the worst. She was going to die.

  Lucifer leaped up the steps and grabbed Hades by the neck, but Hades pulled the knife deeper into her throat. She knew there was only one thing left to do and she prayed that it worked. Madly grabbing for her ring, she pried it off her hand, which was easier than expected since it was slick with blood. As she dropped the ring, all the tearing and wrenching in her neck disappeared. All was calm for a moment, until a black haze filled her vision. It wasn’t the black void of death, but a turbulent and violent black storm. Wrath and righteousness flowed from her like a river and she reveled in it.