Eve pulled back even more and scowled, "Says who?"
"Me. I’m an animal."
“We are all animals, Lucy.”
“But I’m a—” The rest of his pathetic words froze on his tongue as he got a good look at Eve. She looked like ash. A sheen of sweat covered her skin, her eyes were glassy and fogged over. He swiftly caught her before she collapsed. “What’s wrong with you? Did one of them bite you? Hurt you?””
“I don’t know,” her strong voice had reduced to a faint whisper. “I was more worried about you than myself,” she turned her hands over to look at her palms and exhaled a shaky breath. “Something’s happening.”
Lucifer’s heart raced with panic. Were those souls contagious in some way? Was she going to turn into something like them, too?
Every inch of Lucifer’s body was now nearly the same shade as the souls he just destroyed. If he was somehow damned to be like them, so be it. He would gladly give up his goodness and become a monster to protect what was precious to him.
But Eve? Fuck, he never wanted her to suffer even a lick of the hate that accompanied this evilness spreading through his body right now.
This wasn’t the first time he’d been reduced to this level of animal and he had confidence that so long as he held his strength, he could climb back out of the dark and into the light.
Did Eve possess what it took to do the same? He’d rather not find out if he could help it. It wasn’t that he thought she wasn’t strong enough to withstand the onslaught of evil that coursed in his veins right now… it was that he didn’t want her to ever suffer in any way. This amount of anger and hate could eat an Angel alive. The negative thoughts that accompanied it were too ugly for him to ever repeat where innocent ears could listen. A monster like him was built to hold terror and depravity.
Eve was too good and pure to be tainted in the same way.
Lucifer turned towards the others for help, “What do we do?”
“Get her back to the house,” Lazarus ordered.
Lucifer scooped Eve into his arms and held her tight to his chest. His fires died down as he hurried away with her. Not once did he look down to see if there were any surviving souls. He’d made sure there wouldn’t be.
Now he panicked with the fear that he’d done the wrong thing. In his haste to protect Eve and the others from the attacking spirits… had he also caused more harm than good?
Looking at Eve’s cloudy eyes and pasty skin, he had a sinking feeling he’d just fucked up, big time.
Chapter 43
Michael stood atop the cliff and watched the world burn below. Fire spread wild and hungry. He never checked on his warriors before. He always trusted them to follow his orders without deviation, but after the upset of the brotherhood and addition of desire plaguing them – himself included – Michael no longer had the same confidence in his sect.
It felt relieving to see his Angels were indeed still obeying his commands.
His gaze raked over the mass of humans running for their lives and trying to escape the fire chasing them. Michael thought for sure Lucifer would be among them – either attempting to outrun the flames, or doing something to stop them. 666 had a bleeding heart, of that, Michael was fucking sure of and it was a weakness that shined bright with every hole Michael once put into that fucker’s body.
Michael closed his eyes and allowed the background music of dying humans accompany the beautiful memory of when Michael reduced Lucifer to nothing more than a spitting, snarling animal. A beast. That’s all that male was. Wings or not, he was a disgrace to the divine.
Ahhhh, what glorious few days those had been, too.
Call him crazy, but there was a certain intrigue to studying one’s enemy. Discovering what made them tick. What made them break. What made them come alive… and ultimately unravel.
Keeping Lucifer locked in that cage wasn’t just for Michael’s benefit, it was for everyone’s safety. He hated to admit it, but Michael was a little excited that 666 had escaped. The idea of hunting him down made the blood in Michael’s veins warm and his pulse quicken.
If Lucifer wasn’t here, then where could he have gone? His wings were clipped, so he couldn’t fly. And one could only travel so far on foot. The Brotherhood would have flown past any point Lucifer reached and should have closed in on him by now.
So where was he hiding?
Could the beast swim? The thought of Lucifer’s massive wings soaking in the ocean made Michael’s dick harden. Those black wings would be weights that would tire Lucifer out and maybe even pull him under if he didn’t have the strength to swim with that much weight carried on his back.
Michael made it a point to assign a few Angels to dive into the oceans next. And post stations on beaches in case that fucker washed ashore.
Dead or alive, a body was still useful.
Screams of the humans died out as the fire ate their voices and charred their bones. The souls – those toxic, filthy energy copies of their skin sacks – ran like the wind to get away from the danger.
Could the element of fire hurt them? Michael was eager to find out. For now, watching them run in terror was interesting. These souls still feared. Had some basic level of understanding of what was happening around them. He would have to experiment with a few to test out their limitations.
And, just like he feared, it wasn’t a few select chosen humans who carried the energy in them. Every piece of shit motherfucker that died had a soul rise from their bodies. “Duplicates,” he grumbled. If the element of fire didn’t burn them out of existence, would drowning them in water? Surely something out there would decimate these spirits and cleanse the realms of their tainted energy.
Or, Michael’s eyebrow arched, perhaps I could harness the energy for my own use. Maybe share it with the Scourge and turn them even more powerful than they were already.
Raphael, Jude, Nikolai, and Cassian made up the legendary Scourge, and they were not the same Angels anymore.
They’d been improved.
Michael had no regrets for twisting them with magic. Perhaps, if he had a conscience or a moral compass that wasn’t busted, he might have tasted a bit of regret for his actions. But his guilt and remorse died long before he became the leader of the Brotherhood of Angels. And not for the first time, Michael found himself grateful to the old ones who stripped him of the weakness.
It made the consequences of his actions painless. Well, for him at least.
One needed conditioning for this existence. That was something else drilled into him long ago.
“Sire,” Raphael’s voice was nearly unrecognizable, “We are ready.”
Michael turned to admire the masterpiece Raphael was now. Fresh, raised scars slashed his torso. Blood, the color of rusty metal, dried in layers had caked him like an armor. He smelled of Sulphur, war, and death. Eye no longer an Angelic blue, his had changed to bright red.
Raphael’s movements were still stiff. His body bulked and bones cracked while he proceeded to grow into his new form. His wings were leathery now - the feathers clumped and caked with magic. Armed with his sword and ready for battle, Raphael’s chest heaved with each labored breath he took. “I need,” he growled.
Don’t we all. Michael clasped his hand on Raphael’s shoulder. “You’ll be rewarded when you and your brothers are finished.” Then the Scourge could feast upon the flesh of anyone they wanted… however they needed.
Never say Michael didn’t reward those who showed fealty.
Raphael’s left eye twitched with anger. “Then let us be off to see it done.” He turned with his sword ready and wings extended.
“Be mindful of what I’ve told you, brother. This victory will not come easy.”
He could have sworn he heard Raphael respond with, “Neither will death.”
Gabriel couldn’t understand what on earth he was looking at. A female Angel with white wings larger than his stood with a fleet of her own.
Eve. Her name clanged around in his brain like b
ells gonging.
Gabriel’s eyes narrowed. “Who are you?”
“Your superior,” she turned towards Constantine, who puked one last time before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and exhaled in relief. She arched her brow, “You’re welcome, warrior.”
“Welcome for what?” Gabriel’s hand hovered over the hilt of his sword. It didn’t matter to him that they were females of his kind. Something about them made his skin crawl.
“He was revolting. We purified him,” she smiled and it was as cold as the blood running in Gabriel’s veins.
Oh fuck that. If she thinks she could come onto this territory with her high and mighties and insult one of Gabriel’s brothers, this bitch just barked up the wrong tree. “The only thing revolting here is your attitude, female.”
“Your brother had black magics shrouded over his divine light.” She flowed across the grass like she floated, not walked. With the grace of a hummingbird, and the look of a hungry hawk, she tilted her head to the side, unamused. “Could you not see it yourselves? I swear, I have no idea how males of our race function at all considering how oblivious they are.”
“Thank you,” Con bowed with grace. “I had no idea I had so much in me.”
“Yes, well, suckling from the teat each day, a babe knows not that it grows with every swallow, but the mother does.”
“I’m sorry, who did you say you were?” This time it was Rave who spoke up.
She turned her bored expression towards him and tipped her head the other way. Fuck, this female was strange. Her eyes were Angelic blue, but the pinpricks in the middle were white, not black. Standing at about six foot five, she was equal in height to most males in the brotherhood. Not even Eve was this tall…
There was her name again. Eve. Like a fucking battle drum beating in his skull, Gabriel’s mind latched onto her name and wouldn’t let the fuck up.
As if she sensed a shift in Gabe’s focus, the female turned to him next. “Where is she?”
“Where is who?” Shit, he clutched the side of his head and blinked hard. Eve. Eve. Eve.
“Where. Is. She.”
“I don’t have a clue who you’re talking about.” EVE. EVE. EVE.
She cracked his temple with her fist and Gabriel’s head snapped to the side. His knees almost buckled from the force of her strike. Holy Merciful Hounds, who was this Angel?
“I am Merri, from the Purity Sect. Take me to Michael, now.”
Gabriel wasn’t taking this female and her band of hooded Angels any-fucking-where. “Why do you want to see him?”
“You have some nerve,” Merri’s eyes gave him a bored once over, “to act like you do not know what is going on. How stupid is the entirety of the brotherhood?”
Either they were the most courageous group of females under the sun, or the most naïve, because none of them budged an inch. Surely purity Angels would be intimidated if surrounded by bigger, stronger, killer males of their race.
Merri rolled her eyes and exhaled dramatically.
Guess not, Gabriel thought. Then he smiled. Eve was originally from this sect and she wasn’t intimidated by them either. Perhaps they’d been wrong this whole time about the females of their race. They weren’t fragile, docile creatures, they were—
“Take us to Michael now or suffer the consequences of denying a superior’s request.” Merri tucked her hands into the sleeves of her robe and waited.
“We’re equal here.” Gabriel had no intentions of following her orders.
“Keep lying to yourself and see how far you get with that,” Merri turned to Rave. “Escort us now or suffer our wrath.”
Rave’s nostrils flared and his lips almost quirked in faint amusement. “Alright,” he nodded once. “I’ll take you.”
Assembling his men, Rave spared a quick glance to Gabriel. “I will see you soon,” he said stiffly.
Gabriel’s jaw clenched. As he watched the fleet of Angels leave with the Purity sect following them, Gabriel wondered what Rave meant by that. I will see you soon. Whether that was meant to be a threat or assurance didn’t matter. Gabriel looked forward to it.
Chapter 44
When Michael arrived back at the brotherhood, it was well past midnight. He was fucking starving. The fact that his stomach rumbled and cramped pissed him off so much he was ready to tear Lilith apart for her actions. If she’d not eaten that grape, no creature would know hunger.
Of course, he was the one to make her eat that grape, so one might argue that he was to blame. But fuck that. Lilith had free will and she chose to obey his orders. That was on her, not him. Still, there was something to be said for hunger. Strength and energy increased if one was fed properly. His muscles were more developed now and part of that was because of the nourishment he indulged in.
Rotating his neck and cracking his bones, he let out a hefty sigh before kicking his door open. “Lilith get me something to eat I’m star—”
He stopped dead in his tracks. His room was filled with white robes and several of his brothers. Fury spiked in his veins. “What. The fuck. Is this.”
A woman’s deep, resonating voice made his blood turn from boiling to frozen in one word, “Michael.”
He slapped a neutral expression on his face. “What are you doing here, female?”
Merri pulled back her hood and not a hair on her head was out of place in the tight twist it was in. She was pristine, graceful, and frustratingly perfect as she glided over to him. “It’s been a long time.”
He didn’t notice how long it had been. Quite frankly, if he never saw her again it would be too soon. And damn his traitorous body, it hardened the closer she got to him. Fucking Lucifer. What have you done to us to make us react this way? “Why are you here, Merri?”
“I’m looking for one of my own. Her name is Eve.”
Michael’s nostrils flared and his dick throbbed in his pants. “She’s dead.”
“Bullshit,” Merri practically purred. “I think you are keeping her from me. Just like you have another of my own.”
“Why the fuck would I do that?”
“Because you are a smart male. Clever and cut-throat.”
He watched her eyelids lower just enough to make her look even more desirable than she already was. Her pink tongue swiped across her plump bottom lip in a tantalizing way. Was she doing this to tempt him, or was she as turned on as he was right now? Fuck, he didn’t know and the unknown – even this arbitrary – set him off.
“She was here,” might as well tell the truth and get rid of these females as quick as possible. If his lust kicked in, then he figured the rest of them were suffering from the same affliction. Sparing everyone in the room from acting on their dirty thoughts was the safest move to make right now.
“Was?” Merri tipped her head to the side.
He always hated when she did that. It made her look like a bird. “I didn’t stutter.”
“Then where is she now?”
“Gone.” Fuck if he knew where her body was and he didn’t give a shit either.
Merri stilled and not in a startled way. It was in a furious way. Quick as lightning, she grabbed Michael by the neck.
He hissed as her nails dug into his throat like she was trying to rip out his throat column. Fuck this bullshit. With the heel of his palm, he struck out and broke her nose, which was a motherfucking kindness. He could have just as easily driven her face to the back of her skull should he wish.
Merri’s head snapped back and blood instantly began gushing. She started laughing. Like full out, cackle laughing. “You are a fool, Michael.” Merri used her energy to blast the room. Everyone was forced back – crashing into walls, furniture, and each other. “I’m not the same as I once was.”
Michael’s smile was proud, “Neither am I.”
“Then stop lying!” She screamed at him.
Guess she wasn’t as different as she claimed. Merri always did have the fastest temper of their elite group.
“Lilith,” she
said in a sing-song voice. “Come out, come out, little bird.”
Michael’s first instinct was to deny there was a Lilith at all. But that was futile and observed. He’d outed her the second he came through the doors.
Why did Merri knowing about Lilith being here bother Michael so much?
Because I care, he realized. And that was a weakness he absolutely could not afford.
Sealing his heart under another layer of iron, he said, “Come out, Lilith. That’s a fucking order.” And when the female made her appearance from the kitchen, Michael watched Merri’s reaction.
She was furious. Hungry for revenge. Disgusted.
Michael calmly walked over and put Lilith behind him. She trembled like a leaf. Michael knew Lilith came from the Purity sect. Figured she must have been exiled for some reason, but never asked about it. He hadn’t cared because she was so eager to do anything he told her to, and that level of obedience was like a drug to Michael. He’d kept Lilith all to himself like a prized gift from the elders or fate or whoever the fuck had sent such an innocent sheep into his den.
Michael glared at Merri like a wolf protecting its well-earned meal and Merri’s wings began to ruffle under her cloak. She was pissed. Good. “Lilith belongs to me,” Michael purred.
“She belongs to no one,” Merri glowered. “She’s a traitor to us all.”
“Then she’s a traitor that belongs to me.” He wasn’t giving this female up without knowing what Merri’s deal was. And now that the rest of the brotherhood knew his secret, he felt like he didn’t have anything to lose, so he stood his ground. “Why are you here, Merri?”
“I told you. I want Eve.”
“And I told you she’s fucking dead.”
“And that is incorrect.”
“How do you know?”
“Because if she was dead, the souls would have died out too.”
Michael. Was. Stunned.
And the shock showed.
Merri burst with a cruel chuckle. “You didn’t realize Eve was tied to the human’s souls?”
Raise Hell Page 29
