by Maya Nicole
We knew it might happen, with the news of Pearl Harbor and the president calling for war. But I thought, no, I prayed, that there'd be enough voluntary enlistments to stop the ever-present fear of my serial number being called.
"Dinner's just about ready. Can you get the boys washed up?" She didn't turn around. She was busy mashing potatoes.
"Margaret."
She stilled over the stove, the potato masher dropping into the pan. I never used her full name. The last time I had used it, I had been down on one knee, asking her to marry me.
She turned slowly, bringing her hand to her mouth as she took in what I could only assume was my scared-shitless expression.
"We'll hide." A tear slid down her cheek, and she came to me, grabbing my face between her hands. They were warm and smelled of potatoes. "We'll pack up the car and head to Canada."
I shook my head and put my hands over hers. A sob left her, and I put my forehead against hers.
"I have to do my duty. Even if I don't want to." The words felt foreign. As much as I loved being an American, I wasn't sure the price for that was worth it now that I had the choice to fight ripped away from me.
I had thought about enlisting with the news of the attack, but I had a family. Now that I had been one of the unlucky ones selected, I didn't have a choice.
My wife was well off. Old money. She didn't need me to support her. There was no way they were letting me out of it.
"What if-"
"No what-ifs. I probably won't even leave American soil." I cupped her face and searched her eyes for the strength I knew was there. "It will all be fine."
I jolted awake as something wet ran up my face. Picard was licking my tears. I batted him away.
Who the hell has a pet monkey? PETA would have a field day over it. As if seeming to know that's what I was thinking, Picard spat his tongue out at me and ran back to Alaric.
I didn't know what to make of the wolf shifter. He seemed decent enough, but he had also left Reve to be captured by Lilith. I didn't trust him.
I pulled myself up and leaned against the wall next to Asher. He looked like shit. I'm sure I did too.
"When you enlisted, how did your wife react?" I tried to steer clear of war talk with Asher. It was hit or miss whether it would cause him to spiral. Lately, he had been sharing a lot more of his memories.
He shrugged. "How do you think she reacted? She called me a selfish asshole, smacked me, and then let me fuck her on the kitchen table. Why are you asking?"
"Why does everything have to be so crass with you?"
"What would you prefer I say, Toby? That I made love to her on the kitchen table?" He made a noise in his throat. "It is what it is. I'm not going to sugarcoat the terminology because you’re a pansy-ass."
I rolled my eyes and looked over at him. He was clenching his jaw.
"I remembered when I told Margie I had been drafted. It's the last memory I have before leaving." I sighed. It must have been painful for me to leave if I couldn't even remember the day I left.
He grunted and turned his head to look at me. "We weren't the only ones that fought in that war, were we?"
I shook my head. Our families might not have been in the line of fire, but every time the mail came or a knock sounded on the door, I'm sure they felt like they were in a battle of their own. I shuddered, thinking about Margie opening the letter announcing my death.
"I honestly try not to think about Lena. It hurts too much." I was surprised he mentioned her by name. He rarely spoke of her. Even when we served together, he didn't talk about her.
"Did you ever find out what happened after we... you know..."
He shook his head in response. I had always assumed he had taken it upon himself to track her down and find out what she did after his death.
"It might help to know."
"I don't want to know if another man was sticking it in her, Toby. You might be into that shit, but I would have probably killed the fucker, even though it was my fault I died."
I decided to keep my mouth shut. He was getting agitated, and the last thing we needed was to come to blows.
"I think Reve is here," Asher whispered after several minutes of silence. "Don't ask me how I know that, but I've started being able to feel the fucker lately."
I looked around the cell, and my eyes stopped in the corner. I could sense him too if I really focused. I wondered how recently that had started happening.
He wasn't saying anything. I didn't exactly trust him at the moment, what with the whole dream fiasco and him up and leaving. It was a shame because I had started to actually like him enough to want to hang out.
Alaric grunted and stood along with his men. They were a relatively quiet bunch. I half expected shifters to be loud.
"They're coming." Alaric scooped Picard off the floor and put him in his pocket. I should have asked what kind of demon he was. Surely he was something other than just a miniature monkey.
"Who's-" Asher's question was interrupted by loud thumps outside.
I looked in the direction of the gargoyles who had just started to transform back into men when two massive fists came smashing down on top of them.
Not going to lie. Asher and I ended up clutching each other like two little girls watching a horror movie. The building we were in shook and rubble fell from the ceiling. Asher was shaking, so I kept hold of him.
"Tony. That's enough!" Reve's voice was coming from outside the bars now. "Stand guard."
An eye appeared in the doorway and looked in at us. Its pupil was big enough that I could walk into it. Jesus Christ. I was about to pass out.
"I'm surprised you found Tony. He and Miles have been MIA for centuries." Alaric was at the bars with his hands wrapped around them. Hair was sprouting from them like he was mid-shift.
I was an angel, but seeing different types of demons I had only read about was making me question everything I knew about the world. I mean, hell, we were in another realm that literally meant hell in Latin.
Reve appeared and grabbed a set of keys among the remains for the gargoyles. I guess with strong enough fists, even gargoyles could be defeated.
He unlocked our cells. "Invitations have been sent out to the elite demons, requesting their presence at a coronation ceremony this evening."
"What?" I knew I sounded stupid asking the question, but I was still mind-fucked over the giant that was still staring at us with its eye in the doorway.
"There was a coronation months ago for Lucifer. She's going to bind Danica to them and make her the heir to the throne."
"But you're the rightful heir." Alaric stepped out of the cell and took several breaths. The hair, or fur, on his hands disappeared.
Reve ignored his comment and looked at me. "I'm sorry."
"You're late." I led Asher out of the cell and eyed the giant. "Can you move your friend here."
"I have an army waiting in the forest."
I stopped and blinked at him. How he had managed to round up an army of demons in less than twenty-four hours was beyond my comprehension. But then again, he was King Reve, not just pain in the ass Reve.
"I have a plan." Reve stepped in front of us to stop us from leaving out the door. The giant had luckily understood my comment and moved.
"And what's that?" Asher was pale, but at least he was talking. "If it involves any more explosions, I'm out."
"We'll sneak in through the secret entrance that appears to have been abandoned since my days in the castle. It will easily give us access to the dungeons."
"What if they aren't in the dungeons?"
"Then, tonight, we'll go to the coronation."
"Lilith is going to know we're up to something. You can't miss a big ass giant and an even bigger hell serpent." Alaric stepped beside Reve.
"She doesn't have as many demons on her side as she thinks." He got a faraway look in his eyes as if he remembered something from the past. He had quite the history to remember. "I will need to stay invisible. Someone fr
om inside the castle told me that she thinks I'm dead."
"Why would she think that? You're indestructible." Alaric seemed shocked that Reve would think he wasn't immortal.
"Not on Earth."
We left the building, and the sight greeting us was destruction. It was as if the giant had just barreled right on through the center of town. Waiting on a pile of rubble from a building was a hell serpent that was twice the size of the one we had seen in Shanghai.
"This way." Reve was invisible again. He was headed to the right of the castle. In fact, we were moving farther away from it.
We walked in silence. Alaric was in front. He seemed to know exactly where Reve was. He had to be smelling him or something. I tried to sense Reve like we had in the cell, but there were too many other stimuli to distract me.
We ended up at the edge of the Black Forest and went into the tree line. I was starting to wonder where this secret entrance was when we came to a rock formation. It was covered in black moss, but if I stared long enough, I could see the opening.
"I'm not going in there." Asher had stopped and crossed his arms.
I honestly didn't want to go into the dark cavern either, but we didn't have a choice. I put my hand on Asher's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
"Do we have any lights?" Our cellphones had already died, so using their flashlights was out of the question.
Alaric's men slipped through the opening, and he stopped, reaching into his pocket for Picard.
"We don't need light to see in the dark. Here. Take Picard. He will help." I put my hand out, and Picard jumped onto my hand and then up my arm to my shoulder.
"How is a monkey going to help?" Asher rolled his eyes. He just didn't like the little guy because he bit him. I would have bitten him too if he had made fun of my name.
Alaric shook his head and followed his men.
"Picard is a luminous demon monkey. If you want him to, he will light up." Reve's voice came from just inside the entrance.
I looked at Picard on my shoulder and raised my eyebrows. A monkey that lit up? I didn't know whether to be scared or in awe. I slid through the entrance, and Picard made several noises before his entire body lit up like a magical orb.
"It's possible we are going crazy." Asher stood next to me, and we looked around the cave we were standing in.
The cave wasn't large but sloped downward towards a corridor.
"Reve, why are you still invisible?" I made my way carefully to the passageway where Alaric and his men had stopped to wait for us.
"She might have spies down here," Alaric answered for him.
A chill ran down my spine. We made a single file line and walked for what felt like ten minutes. One of the men at the front of the line held up his hand to stop us.
Before I even knew what was happening, Alaric and his men hunched and then dropped down out of the passageway. I caught a flash of fur and sharp teeth before several thuds and groans.
Picard seemed to vibrate on my shoulder before the light he was giving off disappeared, and we could only see a very faint sliver of light in front of us.
"It's a small drop, and then you need to crawl." Reve's voice came from behind us. "They will have taken care of any guards."
I could see Asher's eyes watching me as I crept forward and then jumped down into the hole. It wasn't as deep as I expected. What I wasn't expecting was to have to army crawl under rocks that looked like they could come crashing down at any second.
I made it through and stood in a dim hallway that was lit by torches. I felt like I was in the middle ages.
I put my hand out to help Asher up. He was holding it together well, all things considered. We took off in the direction of growls and turned the corner to find a large room with cells lining the sides and wolves dismembering demons.
As soon as I saw the pile of white, silver-flecked feathers in one of the cells, my heart stopped beating. The only thing that brought me back to the present was Asher grabbing onto my arm and squeezing it so tight that I thought he was going to rip it off.
"Do you feel it?" Asher whispered.
I looked at him, still frozen in place. Oliver was curled in a ball in the corner of the cell. His wings were wrapped around him, but there were large patches of feathers missing. One wing seemed to be at an odd angle.
"Feel what?" I grabbed onto his fingers that were digging into me and peeled them off.
"I have to take him."
Asher moved forward, stepping over an arm then a torso. The cell was locked, and I looked around for a set of keys. I grimaced, finding them clutched in a ripped off hand.
I grabbed them before I had time to talk myself out of it and unlocked the cell. Asher rushed in and scooped Oliver into his arms.
"I have to take him home." He blinked a few times and then looked at me. "It's like I'm being summoned, but it's a fuzzy connection. How am I supposed to get back to Earth?"
I looked down at Oliver, who had cracked his eyes open. Dirt caked his face, and his lips were drawn in a grimace of pain.
"Wouldn't let them take my blood," he mumbled. "They rebreak them every thirty minutes. They'll be back soon."
My stomach was in knots as his eyes closed again, and Asher looked at me with panic written in his eyes.
"Have to stop her." Oliver's head fell against Asher's chest.
"I'll help them get out of here," said one of Alaric's men, who had shifted back to looking like a man and not a beast.
"I can't just-"
"Go, Asher. If you are being summoned back to Heaven, you can't fight it." I looked down at Oliver's limp body, then back at him. "If you're with him, I think you can just fly straight through. Let the summons happen; it will guide you home."
He blinked a few times, and then his eyes glossed over. Danica had described to us what it looked like when Oliver and I had been summoned to take Asher back to Heaven. It was a chilling effect to see the blank stare on Asher's face now.
I watched them exit the room, feathers falling from Oliver's wings. I gritted my teeth and turned around in a circle, taking in the room. I wanted to vomit.
"This way." Reve's arm appeared and grabbed my elbow. "We'll go up through the servants' quarters and hide in a room there."
We made it into an empty servant's room, and Reve shut the door behind us.
"Some of the servants are going to get us tuxedos for tonight. It's the easiest way to have access to both Lucifer and Danica at the same time." He started pacing in front of us and looked out of sorts. "I tried to go find them the other night, but as soon as I get to a certain spot, my invisibility doesn't work anymore."
"Dark magic," Alaric grumbled from his spot on the floor. He had one of his men with him; the other two had gone with Asher and Oliver.
"That's an actual thing?" I sat down on a chair and put my elbows on the table, running my hands over my hair. I was ready to go back to Earth.
"How do you think you exist with all your special abilities? That's light magic. Inferna once was full of light magic." Alaric seemed annoyed to have to explain things to me. "It's only a matter of time before your precious Earth turns into another Inferna."
I looked at Reve with raised eyebrows. He just nodded and sat down on the mattress. It made a horrible squeaking sound underneath him.
"Me making an appearance will cause an uproar. Lilith will be distracted, and so will her guards. That's when you need to get Lucifer and Danica out." Reve looked between Alaric and me. "I don't know if Lilith will be able to control me. So be quick."
"What about you?" I frowned at him from across the small room. "She'll kill you."
Reve shut his eyes for a brief moment before opening them. His jaw ticked. "She'll die trying."
Chapter Fifteen
Danica
My day had been a blur of preparations for my coronation, or whatever it was that Lilith was calling it. To me, it felt more like I was heading to my execution.
I had been massaged, waxed, primpe
d, and put in my room to select my gown. I stared at the ten dresses in front of me. I was not a gown person, but I couldn't help but drool over the beautiful fabrics and colors.
I grabbed a champagne-colored halter that was an A-line style and had intricate beadwork. I needed to be able to move in it. I also grabbed a pink ballgown that had a lot of tulle under the cupcake-like skirt. I hung both on the back of the bathroom door.
I hummed to myself and grabbed a lamp off the nightstand, and took it into the bathroom. I needed a weapon, and since there was absolutely nothing around I could shank someone with, I was going to have to improvise.
I shut the bathroom door and shoved a towel in front of it. I wasn't sure how good bear shifter hearing was, but I wasn't going to take any chances.
I turned on the shower and the faucet to drown out any noise. Grabbing a hand towel and the lamp, I looked at the mirror. My best bet was probably a corner.
I held the towel the best I could and then slammed the bottom of the lamp repeatedly into the glass. Pieces fell onto the counter.
I turned off the faucet and shower and listened at the bathroom door. All was quiet on the other side.
I smiled to myself. My plan might actually work.
I took one of the shards of glass and wrapped it in toilet paper and began ripping long lengths of tulle from the pink dress. I then tied the pieces together.
I wrapped the pointiest piece of glass I could find in the tulle and then tied it to my shin. It felt awkward, but that was the only place I could think of that had easy access and no body parts that would accidentally be stabbed.
Satisfied with my concealed shank, I slipped on the champagne-colored dress. It was time to save the light from the dark. At least, I hoped this would be it.
I stood at the top of the staircase leading into the ballroom. I had been here before during my first dream with Reve. I looked around the room of sharply-dressed demons. Most looked human. I wasn't one to be fooled.
Several heads turned in my direction as I wiped my hands on the sides of the dress, smoothing out unseen wrinkles. I could feel the weapon strapped to my leg. Hopefully, it was secure and wouldn't fall off before it was time for me to make my move.
