Possessed (Hades Castle Trilogy Book 3)

by C. N. Crawford

  Samael held up his hands. “It’s me! Count Saklas.”

  “You’re a demon!” one of them shouted, his voice shaking. “We do not follow orders from those without a soul. Sourial will lead us now, when he returns.”

  I could feel Samael’s fury rippling off him, glacial as the wind whipping off the dark river.

  This was probably the first time in his immortal life that any of his soldiers had defied his orders. He’d always commanded, and always soldiers had followed his commands.

  With a twitch of nerves, I wondered how much restraint he was using right now to stop himself from killing them all. It was probably his first impulse, yet it would achieve nothing, and just confirm to them that he was evil.

  “Sourial is close to death,” he bellowed. “And the people who nearly killed him will be amassing their forces outside this fortress very soon. Whether you trust me or not, you are about to be under attack.”

  One of the archers stepped forward, and I could see how much his bow was shaking. “But we don’t take commands from demons. We follow the orders of angels.”

  “You know me,” Samael’s voice boomed. “I am the same person who had tea in my office every night, and again in my bedroom. I am the person who keeps the ravens in the castle. I named them: Eden, Soolam, Za’am, Esh, Nahash, Aryeh. You know me.”

  The archer’s aim wavered. Then, his resolve seemed to harden, and he loosed an arrow at Samael.

  It went wide—a warning shot.

  Idiots.

  But as my blood pounded harder, I knew another army was coming—one that didn’t involve the capricious ways of mortals. Eyes glowing, teeth sharp, my beasts were moving fast through the streets, racing like the wind.

  “Samael!” I shouted. “Forget them. We have another army.”

  He caught my eye and nodded, and we turned to head for the battlements.

  Soaring over the first wall, we landed on the outer walkway.

  I only hoped the Clovians wouldn’t try to mess with us from here. I stood, looking out across Dovren.

  From Underskirt Lane to the north, the army of men started to pour onto Gallows Hill, just in front of the castle. And leading the charge, with a gun in his belt, was Oswald—the Baron.

  His slicked-back hair gleamed under the moonlight. He wore all black, with a wide belt and silver buckle. The rest of his men were dressed the same, and little silver pins gleamed from their chests. I had no doubt those were the lightning bolts. Many of them carried torches, and the warm light wavered over their faces, giving them a monstrous cast.

  Their terrible chants started to fill the city streets, the wild roar of a mob. Fists pumped in the air.

  You will not replace us! You will not replace us!

  They shouted over and over, these small little men.

  My lip twitched. Like fuck I won’t replace you. I’m about to replace your sorry arses into the earth.

  I turned to look at Samael, and his eyes shone as he stared at me with something like wonder. The wind rushed through his dark hair. “This was where I saw you.”

  “When?”

  “In my vision. This was where you stood when you slaughtered the mortals.”

  I smiled. “I’d say that bodes well for my plans tonight. Because it ends here.”

  He quirked an eyebrow. “I like your confidence in us, but it appears to be just the two of us against them.”

  Their chants grew louder, booming over the stones. You will not replace us! You will not replace us!

  I closed my eyes, tuning in to the feel of my beasts. Life pulsed within them as they ran through the streets, hearts beating in unison.

  They were so close now. Not here yet, but so close.

  I opened my eyes again, scanning the streets around the castle. To the west, a figure was racing through the road, blonde curls flying behind her. Harlow wore a long white gown, and her screams filled the air.

  And behind her—my wolves were prowling. Almost like they knew exactly who I wanted dead.

  My heart thumped. I desperately wanted to fly over the army and fight them from the air, but we needed the cover of the battlement. With their poisoned arrows, they could injure us quickly. We’d be captives within moments.

  So instead, I crouched down and connected to the stone of the battlement walls. Here, where the Raven King’s head lay buried under the hill, his power was the strongest.

  As I channeled his power with mine, I called my beasts to surround the Free Men. I knew these streets like the back of my hand. I knew every escape route, every alley, every thieves’ passage and underground tunnel.

  I summoned my beasts to fill the gaps, to trap the chanting, torch-wielding mortals.

  The magic of the Raven King lit me up like lightning, racing from the ground up.

  I could feel the animals’ heartbeats, hear their breath. We were connected like roots in the soil, and I felt them all taking their positions.

  Slowly, a low menacing growl filled the air, drowning out the chants. I opened my eyes.

  The Free Men wanted a harrowing.

  Tonight, they’d get one.

  The music of the city sang in my veins.

  The lions are gone. The ravens are dead. The clouds up above, a storm ahead.

  Then, an ancient word rose from the depths of my memories.

  I raised my arms to the skies and shouted, “Rybel!” It was a word of power, one to start the battle.

  I took a breath, then flicked my wrists, and my army attacked.

  Touching the stones again, I thought of Alice—because I blamed them for her, too. Maybe that was stupid, since she’d made her own decisions. But I had to think of her the way she was in the past. I blamed Oswald for what had happened to her.

  People like Oswald used anger and sadness like a tool. When people were lost, hopeless, he pretended he had the answers. Like a monster, he fed on their sorrow. He used it to make himself stronger. And he didn’t give a fuck what actually happened to them.

  I watched the beasts attack, chaos erupting among the Free Men.

  Old seeds of greenbriers lived dormant under the earth, beneath the stones.

  “Rybel!” I screamed it for Alice and Mum. I screamed it for Emma, whose father the Free Men had killed. For the women they’d carved up in alleyways, and for a city that needed to come alive again.

  I screamed for the Raven King, for Samael, and for me.

  “Rybel!” I shouted.

  The thorny plants lashed at the soldiers. Some of them tried to flee; others dropped their burning torches on themselves.

  My vines strangled them. Bloody pandemonium spread out before us as Samael’s vision came to life. Now, we were at little risk from their archers as they fought for their lives.

  “Like I said. You are the most terrifying thing around.” Samael turned to look at me, spreading out his wings. “But I want to find Oswald and kill him myself.”

  I nodded. “As long as you leave Harlow to me.”

  He smirked. “I did promise you a wedding gift.” He took off into the night sky, his dark wings gleaming with flecks of copper.

  I peered over the battlements. At the edges of the throng, the Free Men were battling my beasts, trying to take them down with swords, to hack into their antlers. But my creatures couldn’t be killed easily.

  Now, it was time to find Harlow. I let my wings spread behind me. As I took to the skies, I searched through the snowy streets.

  She’d been running by the river, coming from the Iron Fortress. I wasn’t the type to take pleasure in killing. Lilith was, though.

  And Harlow had been so unimaginably cruel, so sadistic, that maybe I would take some satisfaction in her demise.

  At last, not far from the fortress, a flicker of white caught my eye. Blonde hair streamed behind her as she ran, her wedding dress muddied.

  I angled my wings, soaring for her. She must have felt my magic rushing over her, because she turned to look up at me, screaming.

  A rich g
irl like Harlow didn’t know the streets as well as I did, and she had no idea she was running straight into a dead end.

  When she turned to find that she’d raced into an enclosed mews, her cries only grew louder.

  “Oswald!” she shrieked.

  I landed hard on the icy cobblestones behind her, and I felt Lilith rising to the surface.

  I gave Harlow a dark smile. “Oh, he’s not coming for you, sweetie. I told you that was how it would end, didn’t I?”

  “I’m going to be queen,” she gasped. “Oswald is going to make me queen.”

  “Harlow,” I said in a sing-song voice. “You didn’t really think that someone like you would have a happy ending, did you, darling? But unlike you, I don’t fantasize about torture. You’re lucky I’m not a monster, and I’ll make this quick.”

  Her screams rang in my ears, and I felt the magic coursing through my veins.

  “Rybel,” I whispered.

  Ropes of thorny plants shot from the ground, wrapping around her neck. In moments, they cut her cries short. Silence fell over the mews, and I heard only my breathing.

  I flicked my wrist, and the vines slid together, ripping through her.

  And Harlow was no more.

  Samael

  Chaos reigned around me. This was Lila’s battle, but it was Lilith’s too.

  I loved them both—life and death mingling in one person.

  Screams rang out behind me as the soldiers wrestled with the thorny plants, the demonic animals.

  Stalking the ground by the moat, I sniffed the air. As an angel, my senses had been sharp. As a demon, they were only sharper.

  And right now, I could smell Oswald, the faint perfume of musk that he always wore to try to make himself seem more masculine. Tonight it was mingled with the sharp tang of fear.

  Of course he hadn’t stayed with his army. He hadn’t stayed with his army at Belial either. He’d run and hid in the prison like a coward. And that night, none of his men had been left alive to tell anyone what happened. When this was over, I would make sure that everyone knew what he was really like. I would not allow his name to live on like he was a hero.

  Fortunately, there weren’t many places he could have run. On three sides of the throng, there was the army of beasts. On the fourth, there was the moat surrounding Castle Hades.

  I turned, scanning the murky water in the darkness. A few bubbles rose from its dank surface, and I moved closer to the moat.

  As I stared at the bubbles, a head shot out above the water. Oswald gasped for air.

  I leaned over and lifted him up by the collar of his shirt, then dragged him from the moat.

  Right now, I couldn’t figure out what enraged me the most about him. Was it that as a leader of soldiers, he was hiding in a moat? Was it his cowardice? Was it his betrayal?

  Gripping him by the throat, I lifted him high above me and stared into his blue eyes.

  No, I thought what enraged me the most about him was that I had finally found a perfect love with Lila, and he’d nearly succeeded in ruining it. He’d tried to let her die on a cold floor underground, alone and in pain. If it weren’t for Emma, maybe it would even have worked.

  I dropped him on the ground, and he started to scuttle back from me.

  I stared down at him, drawing Asmodai. “I know there is a Heaven, Oswald. I’ve been there. And that probably means that there is a Hell too, full of demons just like me. I wonder what they’ll think of you when you arrive.”

  His eyes were wide as he looked up at me. “I was trying to restore Albia,” he sputtered. “I was trying to make Albia great once more. Like it was in the old days. There was a golden age … If you could see yourself … Swanning around castles you don’t belong in. Giving orders to people who should rule. I should rule. This is my country, and you will not replace us.”

  “But you weren’t trying to restore anything though, were you? You weren’t trying to make anything better. You just think the world owes you something.” I cocked my head. “You wanted power for yourself.”

  I raised my sword. Oswald’s mouth gaped open in a silent, terrified scream.

  Swiftly, I brought the blade down through his throat.

  One swift blow, and his blood streamed over the stone.

  As an angel, I’d been created to unleash divine justice.

  As a demon, I’d done just that.

  This was my enemy all this time? This absolute coward? He was hardly worthy.

  But when I turned to see the violent mob raging behind me, I knew it wasn’t just Oswald. It was this beast he’d helped to create—the frenzy of a mob fueled with hate, aristocrats who believed they’d been born to rule, who believed their blood and bones were superior, that supremacy flowed in them.

  They were trapped now, screaming for mercy.

  I looked up at the crowd of deer and wolves, the bears with glowing eyes prowling the outskirts of the throng.

  Then, I smelled Lila moving closer, the scent of wildflowers mingling with rose and oak.

  Frigid wind rushed off the river, whipping through my hair. The beasts’ eyes glowed; low growls rumbled along the cobblestones. The animals shifted, a pathway opening between them.

  My heart sang when I saw Lila striding toward me, like it always did when I saw her.

  She was still dressed in my clothes, the sweater hanging down to her knees. She glanced at Oswald’s body on the ground. “The Baron is dead.”

  “It was frankly a pathetic death.”

  “So was Harlow’s, but that’s not a shocker.” She turned to look at the battle before us—if it could even be called a battle anymore.

  “You’re not going to go in there and slaughter them all?” she asked. “I thought you were supposed to be a horrifying death demon. You’re showing a great deal of restraint.”

  “I’m trying to cut down on the slaughter.” I sheathed my sword. “Once I believed it was my purpose, but I have something else now.”

  “Good.” She turned to look at the crowd. “Because they’re trying to surrender, and I’d rather avoid having war crimes on my conscience.”

  It was almost a surprise to realize I didn’t want to kill them.

  That even as a demon, I could feel merciful.

  “Lila,” I asked, “do you think you can keep them pinned in here, trapped long enough for me to go find Sourial? The Clovian army won’t follow a demon, but they will follow him, as long as he’s well enough to give them orders. We need them to arrest everyone left alive here. There are dungeons in the castle large enough to accommodate all of them.”

  Lila nodded. “I can keep them here easily. I’ll pull back on the greenbriers.”

  I watched as her thorny vines retreated, slipping back into the rocks. Exhausted and bloodied, the remaining Free Men were falling to their knees.

  I turned from the scene and took to the skies, flying west again.

  As a demon, I was no longer a leader of the Fallen, no longer the head of an army as I always had been—since even before I could remember.

  A demon had no place as the head of an angel military.

  I’d always been a warrior. But I belonged with Lila, and whatever my dreams said, she was my destiny. She was the meaning I’d been seeking all this time, and I would marry her no matter what else happened.

  Lila

  One month later

  I sat on a bench by the river’s edge, pulling my coat tight around me. Since the remaining Free Men had been arrested, the city seemed oddly calm, like an ever-present murderous undercurrent had been laid to rest.

  I could feel that Lilith and the Raven King seemed at peace.

  I shivered. A chill still nipped at the air, and the trees lining the river were barren. The warm, humid weather of the Weald around Thura’s house seemed like a distant paradise, a million years ago.

  Ice flowed in the river, and frost spread out over the stones. Snow fell in little whirls, glittering in the sunlight. For a moment I shuddered, thinking of how cold
I’d been in that underground temple, with the blade in my chest.

  But that was all over, and it wasn’t long until the ceremony.

  I had a million things to do right now, but one of those things was more important than the rest.

  I wanted my wedding day to be warm. We’d had enough winter, enough cold and misery. Sometimes, nature needed a little help.

  It was time for the sun to come out.

  I rose from the icy bench, and crossed to the river’s edge. Old habits died hard, and my gaze flicked to a shiny bit of metal buried in the frozen dirt. I knelt down, nearly ready to dig it up, when I realized it was only a bit of tin. And also that I didn’t have to dig for things in the dirt anymore. My mudlark days were gone. My thieving days were gone.

  I had a new job, and that was to make the world a bit better. Smiling, I closed my eyes, feeling the winter sun on my skin.

  Down by the river, the Tower of Bones. Don’t know where to call your home.

  But I knew now, didn’t I? Once, I’d been desperate to get out of the East End. Now, I just wanted to make it pretty. Whatever Alice had thought, it was my home, and it always would be. Samael belonged there with me, too. I slipped off my boots, and dipped my toes into the frigid, muddy water.

  Lilith’s magic—my magic—rushed through my body.

  The old river flowed west to east, and it carried with it all the detritus of the city to our neighborhood.

  I wanted to change that.

  I felt the sun growing warmer on my cheeks, brighter. My magic rushed through me, and I envisioned the river crystal clear. A beautiful blue, gleaming under the sun—just like it had been before the city was built, when Lilith and the Raven King swam in its clear waters.

  I pictured the grass growing around me, the leaves blooming on the trees. The river water started to grow warmer as the world thawed.

  I opened my eyes to watch the city transform. The snow started to melt. Across the river, the trees lining the bank started to turn green, and white flowers grew from the branches.

  I caught glimpses of silvery fish in the river—fish that minutes ago had not existed.