Celestial Storm

by Emma L. Adams

  I broke the connection and stepped back, watching for any traces of Lythocrax’s presence. Then I pressed my left hand to the glass once again. Instead of the taint of demonic magic, heaven’s light hummed against my hand. I’d burned him out—destroyed him.

  And I’d do the same to his other sources.

  I moved the bar to my other hand, my right palm brushing the glass. I’d already travelled further than ever before. With my power upgraded, I wouldn’t fail.

  I stepped through the demonglass, emerging into a basement. I hadn’t the faintest clue where I was, but I’d found one of the other sources. I turned to the glass I’d stepped out of, seeing shadows blurring the light, just like the other source.

  I pressed my left palm to the glass, and celestial light flowed from my hand. The mark was overflowing with magic. More than enough to cancel out Lythocrax’s presence.

  The shadows died out, leaving the glass bare, crystal clear. My body hummed with energy. I’d never felt so alive.

  Once again, I stepped through the glass, willing it to take me to the third source. This one appeared to be inside a large, empty hall.

  “I can still manifest, you foolish girl,” Lythocrax rasped from the glass. “I cannot be destroyed.”

  “I beg to differ.”

  Once more, I lifted my left hand, and burned the demonic influence out of the glass. The shadows, and Lythocrax, disappeared, buried under gleaming light. Three down, two to go.

  For the fourth time, I stepped through the glass, reappearing in a room with whitewashed walls and another sheet of demonglass.

  “You seem so confident that those you care for are safe, Devi,” Lythocrax said, his voice a grating whisper. “You haven’t even checked on them since their return.”

  “Nice try, but you’ll have to do better than that.” I raised my left hand, transferring celestial power into the glass. Lythocrax’s eyes blinked, his mouth twisting.

  “You’re too late,” he whispered. “I already transferred part of myself to Pandemonium.”

  “Like hell you did.” I pushed more power into the glass—and it exploded.

  21

  I jumped clear of the blast, gripping the demonglass bar. Shards of glass cut into my skin, the bar falling from my hand as its light drew me in. I fell through the source and landed on my knees—and looked up to find myself surrounded by warlocks.

  “Ah.” I jumped to my feet, scattering pieces of broken glass. I’d fallen out of the fifth and final source, and by the look of things, the warlocks had got here first.

  “Devi?” Nikolas strode to the front of the group, clad in battle gear, no longer weakened and bleeding. My heart lifted. His face had healed, and he looked as strong as ever.

  “Thank the Divinities. Wait, don’t thank them, they did fuck all.” I rose to my feet shakily, looking at the other warlocks. “What are you all doing here?”

  “Waiting for an attack,” said Nikolas. “We found the other sources.”

  “I shut them down,” I said. “Except one. He blew it up before I could shut it down. I don’t know if it can still be turned into a portal or not, but I need to shut this one off, too.”

  “How did you shut it down?” he asked.

  “I’ll tell you later,” I said, conscious of the curious warlocks watching me. “Everyone near that source needs to be evacuated—I don’t know how far the explosion went. The room had white wallpaper.”

  “I know which source it was,” he said, beckoning to another warlock. “Take a team to Southfield Avenue, but be careful. Devi will deactivate this source.”

  “Yep.” Preferably without supervision. Not that it mattered if the warlocks knew demonglass was once divine, not when they had more important issues to deal with.

  I reached for the glass sheet, pressing my left palm to it. Celestial light filled its surface, cancelling out the darkness. The warlocks were damned lucky nothing had materialised on top of them, but Lythocrax had intentionally blown up the other source. Had he been trying to kill me, or create a portal? I refused to believe he’d die so easily. Part of him—that shrunken, weakened form—still existed in Purgatory, after all.

  The glass gleamed, overflowing with celestial power. Nikolas moved to my side, his own reflection flickering in the glass. Our shadowy auras merged, and I broke the connection, wrapping my arms tight around him.

  “I’m so glad you’re alive,” I murmured into his shoulder.

  “Likewise.” He hugged me back. “That bastard Lythocrax has been taunting me through the glass ever since I found it, telling me you’d die today. I had to resort to begging the celestial guild to allow me access to Purgatory, but they couldn’t get in.”

  “Still locked out?” I loosened my hold on him, frowning. “Lythocrax—part of him—is still there, but… shit. I have a lot to tell you.”

  “Start with that,” said Nikolas, indicating the glass.

  “I cancelled out the demon magic,” I said to him. “It wasn’t my demon magic I needed to upgrade at all—but I don’t know if Lythocrax is still hiding in any of the other pieces of glass in the city. His real body is still on Purgatory, as far as I know. What happened here?”

  “I should be asking you the same question,” said Nikolas. “The shadow demon left me back on Earth yesterday, and I had no way to contact you. I thought you were on Pandemonium when he attacked it.”

  My heart dropped like a stone. “What? Casthus attacked Pandemonium? Or Lythocrax?”

  “Lythocrax.” He moved towards the other warlocks, who’d gathered near the room’s exit, out of range of the demonglass’s brightness. He gave them a brief order, then returned to me. “Can you transport us to the warlocks’ headquarters? I moved Javos’s remaining demonglass there. Lythocrax never touched it, and we have it locked up so none of those angels can get through it.”

  “Sure.” I took his hand and pressed my right palm to the glass.

  In a flash, we landed in a small room filled with boxes. The rumble of voices came from outside.

  “I gathered the other warlocks here,” Nikolas said. “I sent teams to watch all five sources, once we tracked them down. How did you use your celestial power on the glass?”

  “It was never hell’s weapon,” I told him. “Demonglass used to belong to heaven, but hell stole it, and pieces were left behind on the demon realms when they drove Lythocrax and the other Divine Agents out of Babylon.”

  His eyes went wide. “What?”

  I quickly ran through what I’d learned from both Lythocrax and Casthus about how Babylon’s conflict had really gone down.

  “Obviously, Casthus knew Lythocrax by another name at the time, so he didn’t know who I was talking about at first,” I explained. “And he knew the Divine Agents were plotting against him, but not their identities. That’s why he let me take the fallen.”

  “And he let you escape, too?”

  “I guess he did,” I said. “He got his fallen back, which is what he wanted. And he asked Lythocrax to spare Babylon when he declares war. But—Pandemonium. Did he really attack the palace? Is Zadok—?”

  “He’s in there.” Nikolas jerked his head in the direction of the noise. “He conveniently forgot to tell me he set up a portal here to escape through if his new home came under attack.”

  “You let him come to Earth?”

  “It was that or allow him to die at Lythocrax’s hands, and despite all he’s done to me, I wasn’t about to allow him to die unnecessarily.”

  “He helped us save you,” I said. “You know—wait a moment. That pentagram must still be in Casthus’s castle. That’s how he got through to Lythocrax’s realm. I didn’t know the fallen could be summoned, but they’re partly demonic, after all. This is my fault. I should have known he’d see that trick coming. I mean, Zadok is his son.”

  “You couldn’t have known he planned to trade you away to Lythocrax as bait,” Nikolas said. “So you didn’t upgrade your demon magic?”

  “I did,” I said. �
�But I’m not sure what good it’ll do now. Got a demon name, too… which means I can’t be summoned against my will, as long as nobody else knows the name.”

  “Good,” he murmured. “I’m glad.”

  I leaned close to him. “It’s Shadow,” I whispered. “My name. But as I said—I’ve no clue what the Grade Four version of my power can do. It’s an unknown entity.”

  “Take my power and see.” He reached for my right hand, and my demon mark tingled in response. Shadows swept my palm, and I jumped, accidentally firing off demonic lightning in the process. It bounced off the floor, burning a hole in the carpet.

  “Oops.”

  “Devi…” He pointed to my shoulder.

  I twisted my head to the side. Shadows cloaked me from behind. “Hey, that’s new.”

  Nikolas moved behind me. “It’s also wings. Were you thinking of wings?”

  “No, but I like them. They look kinda like yours.” I twitched my shoulder. Shadowy black wings beat once, twice, carrying me up off the floor. “Whoa. Okay, I might need to practise.”

  “Do my eyes and ears deceive me, or is Devi back from the dead again?” The door opened, and Zadok stood in the entryway.

  “Zadok,” I said. “Believe it or not, I’m glad you weren’t on Pandemonium when Lythocrax attacked. Let me guess—you had an exit plan.”

  “Several,” he said. “Your friend and my other sibling have been quite agitated looking for you. I’m flattered that you were so concerned about me, too, Devi.”

  “Actually, I didn’t know you were attacked until a minute ago, but—”

  “Devi!” Rachel yelled. “I should have known we’d find you making out with Niko in a cupboard.”

  Fiona and Rachel both ran into the room and threw themselves at me with shrieks of delight.

  “I knew you’d sneak back without being noticed, Devi,” said Fiona, hugging me. “Uh. Wings? That’s new.”

  I hugged her back, then Rachel. “Not quite sneaking. I think I freaked out the warlocks who saw me appear from the glass they were supposed to be watching for signs of Lythocrax.”

  “Glad you made it back, Devi,” said Rachel. “I guess the war is off?”

  “Not quite,” I said. “I shut down four of Lythocrax’s sources, but he blew the other one up, and I’m not sure if anything got out in the process.”

  “Damn, I bet he’s pissed,” said Rachel.

  “You might say that,” I said. “Part of him was still on Purgatory the last time I heard, but I guess someone’s directing his army on Pandemonium, too. And Casthus swiped his original realm back and his fallen army along with it. So I might be second on his revenge list.”

  “Wait, Casthus did what?” said Rachel.

  I told them, adding in a quick explanation of my new demonic upgrade and my affinity with demonglass. By the time I’d finished, they were all staring at me in shock. Even Zadok.

  “I haven’t had the pleasure of going to Lythocrax’s home realm,” said Zadok. “It can only link to Pandemonium, correct?”

  “And now Babylon, thanks to that pentagram of yours,” I said.

  He gave me a mock-wounded look. “How was I to know a fallen would count as a demon?”

  “Aren’t you the one who claims to always be prepared for every eventuality?” Nikolas enquired.

  “I’m generally more prepared than you are,” Zadok said. “You haven’t even bothered to retrieve your warlocks from Babylon.”

  “I didn’t need to,” he said. “They had instructions to come here the instant Casthus left that realm, if he ever did.”

  “Enough posturing, demigods,” said Rachel. “In case you’ve forgotten, there are two arch-demons with armies on worlds that don’t belong to them, and a potential war coming.”

  Both Castor brothers scowled at one another. At least they aren’t trying to kill one another this time.

  Shouts came from outside the house, followed by a roar. With an alarmed look at me, Nikolas made for the door, the rest of us close behind him. We hurried through the hallway to an open door leading out into the back garden. Several winged warlocks had landed in a cleared space in the middle of the lawn, other warlocks gathering around on the grass.

  “They’re coming,” said a female warlock with jet black wings. “Through the portal.”

  Shit. Lythocrax must have turned the source into a portal when he blew it up.

  “They’re attacking from the sky,” added another. “Winged demons. Or angels.”

  Nikolas swore. More warlocks came out of the house behind us, but only a fraction had wings. “Anyone who can fly, come with me,” he said. “Devi…”

  “I can’t fly,” I pointed out.

  “Looks like wings to me,” said Rachel, poking my shoulder. I still wore Nikolas’s shadowy magic. I twitched both wings, and my feet left the ground.

  “Uh, I’ve never flown before.”

  Nikolas’s own wings appeared, and he took flight, several warlocks tailing him. I hesitated, not having a clue what I was doing, but Rachel shapeshifted into a winged warlock and yanked me into the sky. I flapped my wings frantically, relieved when I stayed airborne. I can do this. I’m a demon, and I can fly.

  Nikolas reached for my hand, pulling me to his side. We flew higher, until a thin mist rose to surround us, masking the buildings below. Damn, this felt amazing. No wonder Nikolas escaped into Babylon whenever he could. My worry that the wings would disappear melted away and I let go of Nikolas’s hand, unable to resist doing a few loop-the-loops in the air. After years of defying gravity with my celestial power, flight didn’t feel that strange at all.

  We kept moving over the city, until Nikolas held out a hand, ordering us to stop. “There’s someone else down there.”

  I squinted through the mist, seeing several winged shapes descending. “Are they demons, or…?”

  Nikolas dropped several feet. “They’re after the guild.”

  Shit. He was right—from above, the guild’s academy was unmistakeable. And they weren’t demons.

  I descended, my heart hammering, and a sudden blast of air damn near knocked me out of the sky. A feathery shape with a familiar scarred face flashed by, descending swiftly. Clover?

  Definitely Clover. She caught up to the winged figures above the guild, drawing them to an abrupt halt. I spotted a large number of people gathering in the guild’s quadrangle, pointing up at the winged figures above.

  I dropped to hover directly above them, and several hundred celestials gaped as they saw my wings. Some pulled out weapons.

  “I’m not attacking you!” I dropped a few more feet until I was close enough to be heard. “Is Mrs Barrow here? The rebel angels are about to attack you from the sky.” Did Clover’s defences reach that high? I bloody well hoped so.

  Sudden dampness touched the back of my neck, and I reached behind my head automatically. My hand came away red, and I tilted my head upright, seeing more moisture fall out of the sky. Not rain, but crimson droplets. Blood.

  A moment later, Clover descended to hover above me, another angel’s limp body in her hands. Above her, the group of angels appeared to have changed directions, flying away from the guild.

  “Clover, you’ve been holding out on us,” I said accusingly. “Did you drive them off?”

  “For now,” she said, looking downright sinister with a dead angel in her arms despite her own snowy wings. “They’re recently upgraded and drunk on power. When the real angels get here, they’ll be sorry.”

  “Do—you mean the Divinities are coming?” About damned time.

  “Tell them,” she said, indicating the celestials below. “It’s time they proved their worth. I will hold off the rebels.”

  “They’ll listen to an angel,” I said. “I look like a demon. They won’t buy it.”

  And that was assuming the celestials hadn’t already been claimed by Lythocrax… but that was impossible. He wouldn’t have had time to recruit all of them when he was too fixated on saving his own skin.


  “Anyone who saw what you did to those sources will know you for heaven’s warrior,” she said. “I felt their light come back at your touch, Devi.”

  “Not sure I wasn’t too late.” I indicated the retreating angels. “So—you got an upgrade, too?”

  “Yes, I did,” she said. “I have Lythocrax to thank for reminding me how to access my true form. And I must apologise for failing to come to the right conclusion. I thought upgrading your demon magic would help, but now I see that I was fooled as well as any. I did not remember the demonglass was once a weapon of heaven. Not until I felt your magic and saw heaven’s light cancel out the darkness.”

  “Happens to the best of us,” I told her. “All right, I’ll tell the celestials that Harvey’s back to make trouble again.”

  I descended, and hovered directly above the celestials. By now, Mrs Barrow had come to the front of the group, holding a pair of binoculars of all things. “Is that—Clover?”

  “Yeah, it’s her,” I said. “The Divinities are coming here. Clover is on our side, but the other angels are rebels sent to wipe us all out.”

  “The demons have sent rebel angels against us?” asked Mrs Barrow, her face ashen as she lowered the binoculars.

  “Lythocrax,” I corrected. “His angels are working against heaven and hell alike. The warlocks and other preternaturals are already fighting. So if you want to join the battle, you have to be prepared to fight on hell’s side.”

  “Don’t be absurd,” she said. “The demons are our enemy. We can’t fight against the angels.”

  “They’re not true angels,” I said. “And the arch-demon who started this is definitely not a typical demon, either. He’s a trickster who fooled even some angels into defecting. It’s your divine mission to stop him.”

  “What are you, Devi?” she asked quietly, her gaze passing over my shadowy wings. “I’ve heard the rumours.”

  “I’m a celestial demon,” I said. “The demon I was marked by fell. It could happen to any of you, and you don’t have time to be petty. The portal is already open, and the armies are coming through. The warlocks are going to fight against them. You can come, or you can wait for the Divinities to show up. Your choice. But I’ll be there.”