by C. M. Owens
His eyes narrow.
“He’s right. She’s not good at deceit, but she’s excellent at concealing anything and everything she’s feeling or thinking. Master of it, really,” another castaway says in a bored tone. “There’s only one way to check her for deceit. Force her to emotion.”
As soon as those words leave his mouth, it feels like I’m kicked in the chest by a fifteen-ton earth worm monster. My body bows in on itself from the phantom impact, and a breath tumbles from my lips in a pained grunt as I’m flung backwards.
Flipping through the air, I crash against a set of boulders that crack and groan against my impact. Another pained sound escapes me as I drop to the ground in a heap, the taste of singed ash in my mouth.
I look down as the black blood drips from my lips, and with dizzied motions, I stumble back up to my feet. I blamed the Devil’s poison once for the black blood I was leaking. Apparently, it’s just the natural color of hell spawn blood.
My blurry vision scours the land as a persistent ringing drones in my ears.
I see four familiar figures all beating their fists against a dim, mostly-transparent barrier that is barely visible even to my sensitive eyes. My head darts to the left, spotting my audience for this evening’s entertainment.
I crack my neck to the side as I roll my shoulders back and spit out more of the ashy blood.
Lucifer’s dark eyes collide with mine just as my vision steadies. There’s a peculiar apology in the depths of his gaze that doesn’t buy him any favors.
My lids lower for a blink, and my gaze lands on Rafael when my eyes open again.
He drops from the platform as it levitates into the air, and his eyes narrow lethally on mine as he smirks. A menacing look such as that is rather unbecoming on an angel.
With two quick steps, I throw my hand out, ready to unleash hell, but I’m…spinning suddenly. A sickening stone metaphorically tosses around in my stomach as the world rocks all around me. Am I airborne? What the hell is going on now, dammit?!
A roar sounds just against my ear as I slip against something wet and sloppy, gargling for air as I slide down the slick surface. The light vanishes, and not even my night vision gives me more than a few glimpses of some rather alarming sights, as I continue getting jostled around in the wet, slimy shit.
That’s when I realize what the hell is going on.
“I’m so not getting fucking eaten by a monster when I’m in the middle of killing a murderous angel!” I curse, slamming my fist through the slop in a bile-inducing punch.
Something crunches against my knuckles before I feel it give way.
Hot air wafts over my fingertips in an electrifying breeze, as I use that leverage to drag myself out of the side of the long throat of the monster currently eating me.
An explosion of guts push out of my way when I get particularly agitated, and I leap out of the screaming beast before it can drag me under the ground on its retreat.
I’m dropping in the air when the sight of its grayish, scaly tail rattles into the ground, disappearing from sight as a monster scream lingers in the air.
I land with a squishy squeesh squash sound, running a hand over the gooey hair in my face to push it out of the way. It just sort of sticks there like it’s soaked in quick-drying cement and remains plastered to the side of my head.
This is going to drive my vanity impurity insane. It’s like sandpaper to my inner nerves.
Glaring at the hole in the ground, I make a series of really angry screams and sling off some of the disgusting goop. “Allow me to introduce myself!” I shout into the hole. “I’m The fucking Apocalypse. I will sooooo find you one day!”
I can’t be certain, but I think I hear a somewhat satisfying, terrified squeal echo back from that hole.
My gaze flicks back to the only important ones here. My guys all seem to be struggling with fury and relief and something else entirely. They seem angry at me for getting eaten. Or just really angry that they’re trapped while I was being eaten. One of the two.
I give them a fuck-my-life look coupled with a helpless shrug.
Then I turn my attention back to Rafael, who’s simply staring at me with a quirked eyebrow.
“Clearly, someone forgot to tell it I’m The Apocalypse,” I explain, wiping away the gross, foul-smelling goop from my mouth and flinging it away. I know how unprofessional this all looks and how it sort of steals from the intensity of the situation. “I’ve been gone a while, as you’re aware.”
Quite a few groans sound out at this particularly serious moment, as though these people don’t understand the magnitude of what’s going on right now. Terribly insensitive, even considering the evil audience in attendance.
“You expect us to believe she was killed topside by a simple blade with your poison,” one of the so-called angels asks Lucifer.
“Possibly an echo of her true death,” Lucifer bites out, drawing my attention real damn fast. “The bond hadn’t been reaffirmed. She was more vulnerable. And she’s still vulnerable. This can’t go any farther.”
“That’s not your call, brother. Her existence is a complete imbalance,” Rafael says with a sneer that doesn’t exactly scream angelic.
“The only one here imbalanced is you,” Lucifer snarls.
I have to agree with the Devil on that. I don’t think angels should be this petty.
“He’s right. This is our call,” one of the other good guys says to back Rafael up.
I cock my head. “Shall we get on with it then? You spanking a girl’s ass who has no idea how to control her powers to their fullest just yet? After all, you’re the one who killed me the last time. I thought angels were supposed to be the good guys. Not the bullies and murderers.”
He studies me like he’s searching for something.
I hold my arms out, not even bothering to pretend I know how to fight an angel. Or what it would do to the balance if I even attempted it…
“Hit me again. See if inflicting pain is your new calling. I’m sure that won’t do anything horrible to a pure being’s balance at all,” I go on.
His lips tense like he’s frustrated.
“I still can’t tell,” he says, and I brace myself for the next hit…seconds before I hear my guys yelling in pain.
My gaze darts to the dim barrier, and I rush toward it as my eyes widen.
They’re on the ground, struggling to push up, as blood rushes from their ears. My pulse explodes as panic claws at my chest, and I turn my attention to Rafael, shoving out all the power I can, but I’m launched backwards as a cry of pain echoes in my ears from Gage.
I land in a crumpled pile, and then I feel something slam against my face. The spray of black blood splatters in the path my head is flung back, and the next hit comes so hard at my other side that I spray back over the same pattern in reverse.
Pain lances my side, and a breath is ripped out of me when I’m kicked by an unseen force and blown back hundreds of feet. The dirt in my lungs tries to block my air, even as I cough to expel it, losing more acidic blood.
I hear Jude’s cry of pain, and I heave myself to my feet, biting back a weak whimper as I pop that same knee back into place. The cuts on my face start healing, closing up as my breath rattles in my ears.
My blood burns in my veins when the next hit comes, sending me sliding across the ground and rolling back up to my feet a little slower.
I spot Kai getting yanked across the ground by an invisible attack of some sort, as Ezekiel’s chest cracks open.
I’m slammed hard again, screaming in frustration when I’m hit while I’m down, struggling with panicked desperation to get up. I can’t breathe. The sounds are all muffled by my hammering heart that is pounding in my ears.
I hear a roar of pain from Ezekiel as hot tears rip down my face, and I stay pinned to the ground, unable to move, forced to simply watch as his neck is broken and his body drops lifelessly to the ground.
“Nooooo!!” My scream echoes over and over, spanning the
land all around, as I watch…helplessly.
Ezekiel’s vacant eyes stare back at mine, endlessly blank.
My jaw trembles as a hot fury creeps into my chest, and their pained yells only spread it quicker. The tears drip carelessly down my cheeks as I shove to my feet, feeling the force holding me down.
Eyes on Rafael as something powerful shatters against me instead of knocking me to the ground, I let go.
I simply…let…go.
Gray dirt explodes into the air, and I scream with the effort it takes to squeeze every ounce of deadly power out of me.
My head tips back as a cry is torn from my throat, and I feel my bones all break at once for another time today. But it’s nothing compared to the pain ripping at my heart.
I can’t even swallow as the wind starts violently crashing all around me, slamming that son of a bitch angel into a rock so hard he’s forced to cry out in pain for a change.
Something shatters at my back and another scream comes from Gage just as it all goes up in flames.
Purgatory catches fire like I’m trying to turn it into hell, and it spreads to cover more and more ground all around me.
I’m blown back as a thundering ripple explodes from me and launches outward in a ring of destruction. The roar of the power in the air is mine for once.
Where was it earlier, damn it?
Hot tears race down my cheeks as I see Ezekiel over and over in my mind, the wrath burning so hot in me that it becomes too painful.
Utter, undeniable, crisp obliteration—that’s the only way to describe it. Everything directly in front of me is shattered like glass—from boulders, to trees, to mountainsides…
As I look for the angel, debris rains down heavily, obstructing my view as I weakly shove to my feet once again. The only thing I can hear is the staggered pieces of destruction falling from the sky.
“Gage! Jude! Kai! Somebody answer me now!” I say on a choked cry, limping through the fragments of rock, stumbling my way through thick veil of dirt cloaking the air.
It’s eerily silent, and no one is answering. I’m forced to choke back a sob as I try to stay focused and strong for the moment.
Just for the moment.
“Somebody answer me!” I scream louder, ignoring the hot tears rolling down my cheeks as I spin in a circle, searching and finding nothing.
The air around me suddenly clears as a purifying breeze wafts over me. My jaw grinds and I start to throw myself at Rafael when I spot him limply leaning against another angel and simply staring at the ground.
But I forget he even exists when I hiccup out a sound of a laughing sob, seeing all four of my guys walking toward me without a scratch on them.
I cover my mouth, refusing to make any of the sounds I want to, because I just saw Ezekiel die. Is this an illusion or was that?
“Forgive me,” comes Lucifer’s voice, reminding me what’s going on as my heart hurts and rejoices at the same time, so confused about how to feel.
Needing touch to trust my eyes, I practically drag Ezekiel to me, practically nuzzling him like an affection-starved cat as I narrow my eyes at Lucifer.
“An illusion?” I ask him quietly, swallowing the lump in my throat.
“They now know for sure,” he says with a tight smile. “You’ll heal faster in hell than in Purgatory. You’ll heal faster in Purgatory than topside. We’ll talk when your emotions don’t leave you unreasonable.”
He’s gone before I can call him a whole string of very creative names he can add to that long list of titles he loves so much.
Rafael’s eyes meet mine, and I stay on my feet by the power of utter stubbornness alone.
He almost looks regretful, as though that makes this all okay for his pure-of-heart soul. I don’t like being called a liar, even if I try to lie. I really don’t like being lied to after being called a liar.
He holds my gaze for a second longer in silence, and then he vanishes from sight, along with everyone else, sans the five of us.
The second they’re gone, I give up the charade of being invincible, and give a small cry of pain as I drop, gritting my teeth as I clutch my side.
Ezekiel goes with me, catching me before I hit the ground and eases me down the rest of the way. Eyes go to my middle, taking in all the purple bruises covered in goo and gray dirt.
The bruises are everywhere, and it feels like some things are too broken to heal back as fast as they were earlier.
I’m vaguely aware of the fact I’m only viewing them with one eye, but I don’t care. Because all four are here.
All four.
They’re all okay.
They’re all okay.
The wrath slowly recedes from the edges of my mind, and more choked sobs slink out of me. They all hide any expressions and keep their silence as I take a long few minutes to pull myself back together.
“I’m still mad at you, but you’re my favorite just because you’re not really dead,” I say on a broken whisper to Ezekiel.
His eyes rake over me, jaw grinding, just like all of theirs.
“I’m sick of the games. Someone needs to tell us what the fuck is going on,” Jude bites out as Ezekiel gingerly lifts me, cradling me in his arms like I’m breakable.
He glides with smooth movements, careful not to jostle me, as the muscle jumps along his jaw.
His eyes are cold as he looks over at Kai and says, “I vote we let her heal and start setting fires of our own for a change. Fuck them. Fuck this. Fuck the fucking balance or what-the-hell-ever is going on right now.”
I feel us siphoning, and I let Ezekiel carry me to a familiar bed that has turned fully purple. This is the room where I chatted with the Devil.
“Where are we?” Gage asks as Ezekiel puts me down on my feet.
I manage to go phantom, using that nifty ability to clean myself and change in the short amount of time I’m strong enough to stay in that form.
When I suffer, that form suffers the hardest, when it was oddly the only form I had for so long. It’s like there had to be balance for that as well.
“I don’t know. It’s not like I did that,” Ezekiel says quietly as they look around.
I hobble to the bed, not bothering to hazard a guess as to what’s going on. I just know everything hurts, and hell’s healing abilities are really helping with the unrelenting pain.
Jude looks over as the doors close and lock, and he swings his scythe around, ready to fight.
“I did that. I’m not surprised a piece of information I just know is how to lock my door in hell after having my mind thoroughly tortured by my father and my ass kicked by his angelic brother. It’s a shit family I’ve been manifested into,” I state dryly.
“We cut through a lot of guards. I’m sure that’s going to piss someone off,” Gage says on a tired breath.
“When?” I ask, my lids growing heavy as I hide how much pain I’m really in, toughing through it like a boss, if I do say so—
A slight whimper escapes me, and Kai is quickly in the bed beside me, gently slipping his hand through my hair and pushing it back from my face.
“All good,” I assure him tightly.
He looks over me as he softly presses his lips to the top of my head in quite possibly the gentlest touch he’s ever given me.
“It takes so much to get you guys to be nice to me. It’s hardly worth the effort,” I say through strain, trying to lighten the pitiful stares they’re all giving me.
Kai sighs harshly against the top of my head, not giving me the groan I was expecting.
“I want him dead. Fuck the balance. That was nothing but cold. What’s the fucking purpose of this?” he grinds out.
I’m not sure who the him is that he wants dead. There are a few candidates that spring to my own mind.
Lucifer being one of them.
The beating was preferred to the anguish I felt when I had to watch Ezekiel’s eyes go flat. It was so damn real. I even heard the last quiet patter of his heartbeat, and saw it expire t
hrough his gaping chest.
“I need Ezekiel for a little bit,” I say as I brush a kiss across Kai’s lips.
His eyes show understanding as he kisses my head again and stands. His fists clench as he walks off, and Ezekiel carefully climbs into bed beside me.
I don’t even care how much it hurts to wrap myself around him, or how vulnerable I look in this particular moment.
The other three take seats on the floor, eyes alert like they’re waiting for something. Anything.
At this point, it’s starting to feel like no one and everyone wants us dead. As though there has to even be a balance to the level of confusion I’m forced to endure.
Chapter 10
Small, gentle circles being traced over my back is what I feel when I first stir awake. The hand pauses for a brief second before resuming those lazy patterns.
“I’m simply here to see if she’s awake yet,” I hear a familiar voice saying.
I barely crack an eye open, seeing the door and a hint of Lamar’s profile beyond Jude’s head, as he mostly blocks the doorway. I locked that door for a reason.
“Until someone tells us what the hell is going on, no one is getting through this door. Unless you really do want to fucking kill me. Obviously, it’ll be every man for himself after that.”
It’s still Ezekiel under me. I can tell by the tribal tattoo coming up from the top of his jeans where his shirt has risen up. His body is warm under mine, and his arms are still around me, holding me to him just the same as when I finally gave in to the emotional and physical exhaustion and fell asleep.
Mentally cataloguing the small bit of residual soreness, I start taking inventory of the guys. Everyone’s attention is on the doorway. Kai’s muscles are bunched as he grips his triton too hard.
They’re also still wearing their warrior skirts.
“Lucifer asked for forgiveness. Clearly you know that means he felt true regret. And that’s a terribly hard thing for him to experience, given the obvious,” Lamar prattles on.
The blood stirs in my veins, and I jackknife to the seated position as my eyes narrow.
