“I understand the unified front, as long as she isn’t your footman, like Caleb,” Gabriel glared.
He knew what it was like to team up with the evil side of his family when they had a mutual enemy. Lucifer and the Fallen had fought their share of battles against usurpers and false gods, and even their own blood. He could envision her unified under Lucifer. They certainly would inspire fear in all those who wished to destroy Heaven or Hell.
“Caleb is dead. He betrayed me. You can inform the Council of that. The bastard was serving Hades and subjecting Anjali to the realms,” Lucifer grimaced.
Gabriel nodded his head. While he wished he had known of Hades’ betrayal, he was grateful, on some level, that Lucifer was able to take swift actions to ensure that his daughter was safe.
“Why haven’t you given her control of her memories?” Gabriel was not happy about this decision. Her memories would help prevent Anjali from trying to annihilate the mortals because of minor sins. It had taken so long for her to learn about sin and how to control her reaction to it.
“Give me time, Gabriel, that’s all I ask for. I don’t want her burdened with all of her memories. The love and the loss she has endured throughout so many lifetimes would crush her. She needs time to adjust to this new life. It is a lot for her to take in. If she remembered all the damage she has done, lives she has taken, and how much guilt she has suffered, it would ruin her,” Lucifer sighed. He didn’t need her losing her mind by grieving over things that could not be changed.
“Very well, let her adjust, but there will come a time when she will need her memories so that she can determine when an Apocalypse should be unleashed. I do not look forward to that day, but it must be done. Promise me that you will unlock her memories. I put her into your care and I expect you to be responsible for her. Hell is your domain so you can grant or limit the power of those under your rule, but do not abuse this power or we will have words again,” Gabriel looked Lucifer directly in the eyes to emphasize his point.
“I promise. You should know that, while the Eye of Sirrush helps to hold back her power, even it can’t contain it completely. I thought between my rule and the ring, her powers would be safely locked away. I was wrong. I must admit that I never intended for her to assume her role as the Destroyer, let alone find the Predznak. As much as I hate humanity and want to go home, I don’t want the world to burn. I want to keep her in mortal form, so that she can never bring about the end,” Lucifer needed Gabriel to understand his intentions.
“It is not for you to decide when she will end the world. That is between her and Father. You have no right to interfere. I understand wanting to contain her power, I too fear it greatly, but I must have faith that she will use it wisely. I have made the mistake of keeping her from her destiny for too long. You know that there have been serious repercussions. It is time to right the wrongs that I have created by coddling her. I expect you to help her transition into her new role. Leave her in mortal form and without her memories, for now, but she will have to seek out the Predznak. You can’t stop her from doing that, even if you hate them. I’m afraid that they will come for her once they know she is here, which will not end well. It is best for her to seek them out one by one. If she faces them as a whole, they may not listen. They might kill her,” Gabriel hung his head, knowing that he had caused so many problems for his daughter to deal with.
Lucifer hated the thought of allowing her to seek out the mass murdering psychopaths, but it was meant to be. “I will find a way to let her fulfill her destiny. I swear it,” Lucifer nodded to Gabriel.
Gabriel nodded and relaxed. He knew he needed Lucifer as an ally if he was going to help his daughter.
Lucifer was relieved to see Gabriel stand down; though a small part of him couldn’t help but set the record straight. “You do know that your love for her has always been your weakness and it finally brought about her downfall. Deny it if you wish, but we both know you were planning to push back her arrival for another thousand years. I was not ready to take that chance. I needed her and I broke our agreement, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you would have broken it first,” Lucifer stared down Gabriel, knowing it was the truth.
Gabriel was sick over the thought of leading Lucifer to Anjali.
Gabriel closed his eyes and hefted out a breath. “You’re right. I have spoiled her every chance I had. I hope you can see why. You are also correct in assuming that I would have pushed back the date again. Though I had made every preparation upon her birth as Michelle to hand her over in this lifetime, I had planned to take her and a friend away during the summer and hide her far away from you. I felt that she still wasn’t ready. My head knew that she needed to experience Hell and all its evils, but my heart couldn’t let go of her,” Gabriel tried to keep the tears from forming. He didn’t want Lucifer to see him crying.
“You were wrong, she is ready. She just needed the confidence to believe in herself,” Lucifer chuckled. “She will do well here, of that I can assure you. I will do my best to protect her, guide her, and teach her, that is my vow to you,” he held out his hand to Gabriel.
Gabriel considered the gesture for a moment, but finally grabbed Lucifer’s hand and shook it.
“Tell me, how badly did she hurt Hades?” Gabriel smirked. He wanted assurances that Hades would think twice about taking on the Destroyer again.
Lucifer chuckled and offered his brother a seat on the repaired section of the dais. “Allow me to tell you every gory detail.”
∞
Anjali wasn’t sure how long her truce with Hades would last, but she hoped that being nice to him, for once, had an effect on him. If it didn’t, she would change tactics and feed him his colon.
Climbing the stairs to the rotunda, she found Aganon standing at the top of the stairs, waiting for her.
“My Master requests that you meet with him in your room, my Lady.” Aganon bowed and extended his arm toward the Hall of Mirrors.
She nodded to him and turned into the Hall of Mirrors as he trailed behind her. She stopped in front of her new throne to inspect it. She thought the fire and ice crystals were a bit overstated, but Lucifer liked them. She didn’t want to upset him, so she didn’t tell him that she was intimidated by the size and grandeur of it.
Her thoughts were cut off as an intense pain radiated through her back and into her chest. She screamed out in pain. The room tilted and she gasped for air. Her legs gave out and she fell to her knees. The reflection in the mirror showed two things, Aganon standing behind her with a vacant look in his eyes and a blue flame protruding through her chest, near her heart. The flame disappeared from her chest when she fell forward to the ground. She would never call Tabbris paranoid again for installing the mirrors.
The room wavered before her eyes. The floor was wet and cold. Lying on the black marble floor reminded her how unyielding the tile in her bathroom had been. She closed her eyes, wanting to embrace the blackness.
Lucifer and Gabriel looked up when they heard a faint scream echoing from the rotunda.
Gabriel shrugged off the scream as a natural sound in Hell. The express on Lucifer’s face informed him that he was wrong to ignore the scream.
“Anjali!” Lucifer scrambled to his feet, pushing past Gabriel. He bolted through the doorway and rushed across the newly constructed walkway toward the Hall of Mirrors. He didn’t bother to turn to see if Gabriel was following him.
Aganon turned and watched his Master and Gabriel enter the rotunda.
“What happened?” Lucifer growled as he grabbed Aganon’s arm.
Aganon was confused by the question. He wasn’t sure what was happening. All he could remember was the blood. “I heard her scream.”
Aganon gasped in pain when Lucifer crushed his upper arm.
“Why did she scream?” Lucifer turned his head before Aganon would answer and saw his nightmare realized, Anjali lying on the floor, completely still. “Release Hades and bring him here immediately,” Lucifer threw Agano
n in the direction of the staircase and ran into the Hall of Mirrors.
Gabriel nearly tripped over his own feet when he saw the disturbing sight. Anjali was face down, bleeding on the floor.
“Not again,” Gabriel gasped.
Lucifer heard swearing and muttering as Gabriel ran and slid across the floor to reach her.
Time slowed down. Lucifer watched Gabriel fall to his knees and roll her over, looking for signs of life. His limbs no longer responded and his thoughts were muddled. How would he survive without her? Fear spiked through him at the thought of losing her. The terror on Gabriel’s face told him how dire the situation was. Through the buzzing in his ears, he heard, “heart.”
Lucifer bellowed in rage and gathered his anger around him like a cloak. He would kill the one responsible and liquefy their remains.
Lucifer realized that Gabriel was yelling at him. He forced himself to focus on the situation. Anjali had been stabbed through the chest. The sword had grazed the right side of her heart. The sounds of gasping finally invaded his turbulent mind. She was still alive, though barely, and she was suffering.
“Remove her ring. Her power saved her the last time. Hades nearly had her head yet she healed quickly,” Lucifer was growling by the time he took the last few steps to her body. He saw that her eyes were open, though they were glassy. Tears were streaming down her face as she stared at Gabriel.
“I’m…sorry,” Anjali whispered, fighting for every shallow breath.
“There is nothing to be sorry for. Conserve your strength dear one,” Gabriel kissed her forehead. He knew she would be dead if not for God’s light inside of her. As difficult as she was to kill, she was dangerously close to losing the battle.
Hades appeared in the doorway. “What happened? Did she slip and fall? Did she break a nail? I hardly think this is worth dragging me away from my vacation. I was about to get a facial,” the smirk on his face quickly faded when he saw Gabriel’s grim expression.
“If you are responsible for this…,” Lucifer’s hands ignited in flame as he prepared to launch an attack on Hades.
“Get her ring off, Gabriel!” Hades ignored Lucifer and watched Gabriel struggle with the ring.
“I’m trying,” Gabriel huffed. The ring was stuck on her finger.
Lucifer paused and watched Hades march across the floor straight to Gabriel. He was issuing orders on how best to save her. It took a few moments to realize that Hades was trying to help and even seem, concerned. If Hades had been responsible, he would have run to the Mortal Realm to escape his wrath. He knew in that second Hades was innocent.
“Damned thing won’t…there, it’s off,” Gabriel was careful not to rip Anjali’s finger off when he finally removed the ring. He held her close to him and prayed over her limp body. Nothing else mattered to him except her. If she were gone, he wasn’t sure he could continue on. “This has to work.”
Lucifer and Hades exchanged looks of confusion when nothing happened and the tower remained in one piece. Anjali’s eyes fluttered and her breathing slowed.
“How did this happen?” Hades snapped at them, eager for answers. When no one answered him, he went to his knees to examine the wound in her chest. He pulled aside the tear in her dress and saw the gaping hole. He had seen this type of injury more times than he cared to recount. He knew immediately what had caused it and what the outcome would be. No one survived a Celestial Sword through the chest.
“We don’t know. We heard her scream and found her on the floor,” Lucifer rambled. He held her face trying to think of a way to save her. He was listening to her breaths and counting the seconds between them. She was quickly slipping away.
“It was a killing blow,” Gabriel tears broke loose.
Hades squared his shoulders and backed away. “You must make a choice Lucifer, lose her, or bind her to you as your servant. As her Master, your power might be enough to save her, but you will be her Master for eternity. Happiness or sorrow, you must decide,” Hades said solemnly. He watched Lucifer wrestle with the decision.
“Why do you care? You tried to kill her,” Gabriel growled.
“I was trying to do what I thought was best for Hell. I realize that I may have acted in haste. Let’s just say that she and I came to an understanding. Besides, no one attacks one of our own, but us,” Hades replied matter-of-factly. He knew better than to enrage a distraught Gabriel. He would strike at both of them if the girl died. Truth was, the girl had made an impression on him. He accepted that she might be of use to him.
“I can’t let her go. She will be cross with me, but I know that she doesn’t want to die. I choose happiness,” Lucifer brushed away a tear from his cheek.
He looked to Gabriel for his consent. He owed him as much.
Gabriel nodded. “It’s the only way. I hate it, but it must be done. Save her,” Gabriel pleaded with Lucifer while he held his daughter close.
“You know what this will mean,” Lucifer gave Gabriel one last chance to change his mind.
“Forever. I understand. Perform the ritual,” Gabriel snapped. He looked down at his precious daughter, knowing the implications of what was about to happen.
Lucifer turned to Anjali and whispered to her. “Darling, you must allow me to help you. I can take the pain away, but you may not like what I’m about to do. I can’t do this without your consent, so please say yes. Do you take me as your Master from this day forth? Do you vow to serve me and commit your life to me? Do you consent to do my will and obey my commands henceforth? Your life will belong to me to do with as I see fit, till the end of days. What say you?” Lucifer’s voice was hollow as he uttered the words he’d said time and again throughout the millenniums. Though he had imagined making her his true servant and thought it would please him to own her, he hated himself for saying the words to her now.
Anjali’s breath failed and her head slumped to the side toward Lucifer.
“I’m going to take that as a yes. You are my servant till the end of days. Rise and join your Master,” Lucifer released his power and forced it into Anjali, filling her soul and tying her life to his. She would be bound to him forever. She would be expected to serve him. He swore to himself that he would never treat her like a servant and vowed that she would retain her authority. She would be a servant in name only, but would do Father’s will through him. He would do this because he loved her and needed her.
Lucifer could feel her life force, which was nothing more than a small flicker of light. He poured everything that he had into her body and willed her to rise and follow his command. He performed the blood rite as he bit his finger and allowed a few drops of his blood to fall into her wound. He waited and hoped that it was enough to bring her back.
Just as he looked to Gabriel for confirmation that he had failed, he felt her power rise, reaching out to find him. She gasped and began coughing. Her eyes flickered but she remained unconscious.
Lucifer quickly pushed her ring back on her finger before the floods came and drowned them. He watched the wound slowly knit back together and listened to her heart beating strongly in her chest. The color came back to her face and lips, eliminating the blue tinge that had spread across her skin. It was a color he swore he would never see upon her features again.
Gabriel let out his breath in a rush. She was alive. He gathered her closely in his arms and carried her to her room to lay her down on her bed to rest.
“It is done. I chose happiness,” Lucifer waved his arm, clearing away the blood from the floor. It was certainly a strange day for him to hate the sight of blood.
Hades grimaced as he watched Lucifer wipe the tears from his face. “Actually, you misunderstood me. I meant, you could choose happiness for her and let her die. She would have been at peace. You chose sorrow for her. You have condemned her to a life of pain and misery, doing your will and suffering alongside the rest of us for eternity. You alone will have to bear the burden of that decision, my Lord,” Hades bowed stiffly and turned to leave.
&nbs
p; Lucifer looked at Hades who seemed genuinely upset that Anjali was saved. “I know you don’t like her, but…”
“I like her enough to want better for her than to live out her days in this abysmal pit. Don’t you dare tell her that I was concerned about her. I’m going to assume that my punishment is over so I’ll be in my room,” Hades said over his shoulder.
“Don’t you want to know who is responsible?” Lucifer asked. He was curious as to why Hades was acting so strangely.
“Not really. What could I possibly do to him that would be worse than what you’re planning; aside from making him live forever so that he regrets his actions for an eternity?” Hades nodded stiffly and left.
Chapter 20
Gabriel watched Lucifer enter the bedroom. He was fuming. After so many years of protecting her, he’d nearly lost her forever. “Who in Hell has access to a Celestial Sword? Who could have done this?”
“Who says they were from Hell? Aside from you, Michael was the last person in this castle with a Celestial Sword. He was angry at me for what I did to Mark, maybe he sought out his own justice,” Lucifer growled. Michael was underhanded enough to try something like this. Normally, he would have praised him for such a brazen move, but now he simply wanted blood.
“I would have been informed if the Council saw reason to kill her,” Gabriel waved away Lucifer’s answer.
“Do you really think if they condemned her to death, they would tell you before carrying out her sentence? Please. You would obviously fight the ruling. No, if there was a decision, they wouldn’t tell you and they would act quickly before you were any the wiser,” Lucifer said as he paced.
“Perhaps you’re right…,” Gabriel couldn’t believe that he was siding with Lucifer, but he knew the Council was nervous about his daughter’s abilities and lack of control.
The Third Throne: Angel of Darkness Page 36
