The Devil You Know

by Zahra Stone

  I snorted. “It won’t be enough. Lilith is too powerful. And what of Michael and Gabriel? They were banished to Earth to live as humans. They will be powerless to save themselves, let alone assist us.”

  “I’m sorry, Lucy, I just don’t know,” Dacian admitted, and the anger that had been simmering beneath the surface heated to a steady boil. Fuck my parents. This was all their fault. If they could sort their shit out and learn to get along, none of this would be happening. And the last thing I wanted was to be dragged into the middle of their domestic affairs—Heaven only knows, I had my own problems.

  “It’s coming,” Levi said. He was behind me, off to the right. I glanced at him, my gaze thirsty for a peek. My breath hitched in my throat. He looked…ragged. Exhausted. Tired and fed up. He looked how I felt.

  “What’s wrong with you?” I blurted, breaking my rule of not speaking to him ever again.

  “Oh, you know, been searching the Universe for my mate, who thought it would be fun to play hide and seek.” He hissed the words at me through clenched teeth. Now he was angry at me. At me! The nerve.

  “Fun?” I screeched. “Fun is the last thing I’ve been having, Levi Forrester!” I bellowed, my voice echoing around us.

  “Guys…. GUYS!” Dacian interjected before we could get into it any further. “Look!”

  Levi and I turned our heads. A wall of water over a hundred feet high was barreling toward Fury Island. It would hit in a matter of minutes.

  “Holy shit,” Levi whispered, cracking his knuckles, and stretching his neck from side to side, readying for battle.

  “Spread out,” I ordered, flinging my arms out to indicate to Dacian and Levi to position themselves along the beach on either side of me. My wings spread out at full width behind me. I wasn’t sure we’d be able to pull this off. Dacian and I could fly out of danger, but Levi couldn't. If he got swept up in the wave, there would be no saving him. With my heart thundering in my chest, I glanced over at him. A surge of adrenaline warmed my blood. He met my gaze, his love for me blazing like a laser beam straight into my heart.

  This was what I was afraid of. Seeing him again. Falling for him all over again, after he’d hurt me so badly. Even as the thoughts tumbled through my head and the tsunami barreled towards us, I remembered how Levi made me feel. And despite everything, seeing him now reminded me of how much I loved him, how the ache of being apart was unrelenting. Damn it.

  “Now!” Dacian yelled.

  Without thought, I pushed out my power. Sweeping my arms wide, I pushed an invisible wall up against the swell of water. It pushed back. Hard.

  Grunting, I staggered one step back and then two. Levi and Dacian were doing the same, our combined power hopefully enough to turn back the tide. Digging my heels in, I held my ground, wincing when I was pushed farther back, my feet digging channels in the sand. We were losing ground. Sweat beaded on my upper lip, and my arms trembled from the effort.

  “Fuck,” Dacian swore.

  I knew what he was thinking. We were going to lose. Fury Island was seconds away from being obliterated, thanks to Lilith. The spark of anger that had been boiling beneath my skin exploded at the thought of what she had done. Fuck her. It was time to take that bitch down.

  “Yarrrrghhhhh!” I screamed, putting all my fury into it, channeling everything I had. All the pent-up emotion, wild and feral within me, came spewing out, unguarded and intense. I was raw with it, exposed and vulnerable, but I didn’t notice or care. I had to save the island.

  “It’s working!” Dacian shouted. “Keep going.”

  With a final frenzy of power, we beat it. The giant wall of water slammed to the ocean floor with a thunderous crash, droplets shooting high into the sky and raining down on us. I was euphoric in our victory and turned to Dacian with a grin on my face.

  “We did it.” Dacian cheered, slapping me on the back. I stared at my best friend, sobering.

  “It’s not over. There are earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, cyclones, you name it. Lilith is raining it down on Earth. I shudder to think how many have died already.”

  Dacian nodded his agreement. “The only way to stop this is to stop Lilith.”

  “Duh.” Spinning on my heel, I trudged back toward the cottage.

  “Lucy, wait,” Levi called, jogging to catch up with me. I didn’t stop, but I didn’t protest when he matched his steps to mine, keeping pace.

  “I’m sorry.” He said. “For everything.”

  “I’m sure you are.”

  He tried to take my hand, but I snatched it away.

  “Lucy, please.”

  His begging was almost my undoing. Almost. But then Dacian jumped in front of me, blocking my path.

  “Lucifer, far be it for me to interfere with your love life, but someone needs to. I’ve been saddled with sad-sack here for the last week, and to say it’s depressing would be an understatement. You two need to sit down and have a conversation. Communicate. What happened was an absolute tragedy, it really was, but Lucy? It wasn’t Levi’s fault.”

  “He should have told me.” My hurt was real, and while I knew what Dacian said was true, it didn’t stop the hurt from hurting.

  “Yes. He should have. But he didn’t. And I bet he’s wishing with every molecule of his being that he could turn back the clock and have a do-over.” Dacian waved an arm toward Levi, who was nodding so hard it was almost comical. “But none of us have that luxury. The best he can do is beg forgiveness and move on. How about channeling some of that fury and hate towards the person who is actually responsible for all of this?”

  “Lilith,” I supplied, my anger once more seething beneath the surface, making my skin prickle and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Sucking in a deep breath, I filled my lungs then slowly breathed out, closing my fingers into fists.

  “Exactly. There is no one but her to blame for all of this.”

  I digested what he said, knew he spoke the truth. Had I become bitter and twisted, incapable of forgiveness, like my mother? The thought horrified me. Dacian read it in my face and smiled gently, caressed my cheek.

  “I’m going to check on the key. You two talk.” Dacian began to walk up the hill toward the cottage. My head threatened to spin off my shoulders.

  “He’s right,” I whispered, finally facing Levi head-on. “We need to talk.”

  Chapter Five

  “Come on bitch, deal or fold?” The woman sitting opposite me snarled.

  I glanced at the cards in my hand. The two of hearts and seven of spades. Definitely not a winning hand. Lowering the cards face down on the table, I pushed my chips forward, adding them to the mountain-sized pile in the middle of the poker table.

  My lips curled. “All in,” I replied.

  Her lips thinned into a straight line, and one eye twitched. The room around us was dim. A single light bulb dangled overhead, shedding enough light to illuminate our table before falling away into shadows. We were in an illegal gambling den in a dirty back alley of Redmeadows, where the desperate came to try and win a fortune, and the sharks consumed them.

  Only hours earlier, Levi and I had been on Fury Island battling a Tsunami. With that particular disaster taken care of, we’d talked. He’d apologized, wholeheartedly, and I’d forgiven him, but the question lingered in my mind… could I forget? And that’s when I’d received word from Ashliel that swarms of flies were descending in Redmeadows and she didn’t think it was a natural phenomenum.

  Returning my attention to the woman across from me, I waited. The ball was in her court. The rest of the table was out. Despite Levi’s psychic abilities when he was human, they hadn’t done him any favors today, and he’d folded early. Alongside him was a retired judge who’d burned through his retirement fund and was here, selling his soul for the off chance of redemption. He found none in this room.

  Then there was the desperate husband, who kept spinning his wedding ring around and around on his finger. He’d strayed. Cheated on his wife and was being blackmailed.
They had pictures and were threatening to send them to his wife if he didn’t pay up. His savings were gone, leaving this room his last resort. He was about to lose it all.

  And then there was the cocky young man who believed he was about to win his fortune. After all, lady luck had always been his friend. Sadly for him, this wasn’t a place where luck would find him.

  I knew all of this because I knew them. I knew their stories. I knew the things they’d done, the sins they’d committed. I usually spent my time on Earth trying to steer humans back on to the right path, to atone for their sins before they end up in Hell. But this visit was different. This time, I’m not steering. I’m hunting. My vacation on Fury Island was well and truly over when Lilith released her wrath. We’d managed the earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes. So she upped the ante, releasing creatures from another realm onto Earth to run amok. I was here to send them back.

  Which brings me back to the woman across from me, the one hiding behind a human facade. But I saw her. The real her. Outside, thunder rumbled, adding to the somber mood in the room. The darkness circled us, curling up around my legs, billowing like a mist across the room, and then hiding in the shadows, waiting. Her control was slipping. She couldn’t stay hidden for much longer.

  Outside, the wind whistled and buffeted the building. What sounded like a crack of lightning rang out, but the buzz of the insects was louder. Heads swiveled to the windows covered by black plastic to keep the world unaware of what went on in this room.

  “Deal or fold,” I challenged. Silence echoed between us, the table trembled, and several startled gasps rang out.

  “Lucy,” Levi hissed in warning.

  I ignored him. Did he think I didn’t know what I was doing? Did he think I didn’t know who this was? For across from me, wearing a human disguise, was the female death spirit, Keres. Her entourage of insects gave her away. She was here to bring disease to Earth with her bow and arrow, and in this room, she was building her army by fooling the desperate into doing her bidding.

  Her facade shimmered, revealing her identity. She squeezed her eyes shut, and the mask snapped back in place, leaving no one the wiser. No one except me. The air was thick with tension, and I tilted my head, considering. Did she know who I was and that she wasn’t getting out of this room alive?

  “Well?” I arched a brow. “Seems to me like you don’t have a winning hand there.”

  Thunder boomed, and the whole room shook. My hand was crappy, but my bluff was exemplary.

  Keres slapped her cards down on the table and snarled, “I’m out.”

  Leaning forward, I wrapped my arms around the pile of chips, dragging them toward me. “Thanks for the game, people.”

  “Wait!” Keres barked, her features once more shimmering between human and the curse that she was. She rose so fast that her chair tipped over, and heads swung in her direction. All pretense at being human fled as her true self was revealed.

  She was as magnificent and terrifying as you’d expect her to be. Larger than any human at seven feet tall, the top of her head brushed the ceiling. Dressed in a silver breastplate that covered her chest and fastened around her midriff, leather straps ran across her shoulders while another piece of armor was strung around her hips. The look was topped off by a bow and arrow clutched in one hand.

  A sight to behold, if gnashing teeth and claws didn’t put you off.

  Chairs clattered as those seated at the table stood up in a panic. Keres ignored them, and with a wave of a cape made of fur, she vanished.

  “Where did she go?” Levi stood alert, legs braced, ready for action.

  “Take care of them.” I nodded toward the stunned onlookers and then flew outside to the alley where I knew Keres would be waiting.

  “Who are you?” she demanded, voice booming. Overhead, insects dipped and swayed in a black cloud, their hum almost deafening.

  “I’m disappointed you don’t recognize me,” I yelled over the noise, slowly unfurling my burning wings behind me.

  “Lucifer.” Keres nodded as if confirming to herself what she suspected all along.

  “What are you doing here, Keres?”

  “Lilith opened the door.”

  “Tell me something I don’t know.” It was no surprise that my mother was now opening doors between dimensions. Keres may be the first to visit this realm, but she wouldn’t be the last. My mother was intent on inflicting as much pain and suffering as she could.

  “Fresh blood is appealing. A realm that has always been denied to us?” She parked her hands on her hips, and the fur cape blew out behind her. “It will fall at my hands.” She looked like a cross between an Amazon and a Bear. The curves and sexual allure of the female warriors combined with the claws and teeth of a brutal animal.

  “You know I can’t allow that to happen.” I pulled my flaming sword from between my wings and held it in front of me, ready for battle.

  “You’re too late. It’s destined. The calling of the witnesses has begun, and it cannot be stopped.”

  “Calling of the witnesses?” I frowned. I’d never heard of it before and made a mental note to ask Ashliel about it.

  “With or without me, this world shall fall.” She looked apologetic. Almost. If it wasn’t for the evil twist of her smirk and the darkness that curled around her.

  “What does that…” I was cut off by an arrow heading straight for me. Dodging out of the way, I charged, but she was damn fast, dancing out of range time after time. Around and around, we spun, lunging and feigning. Arrows rained down on me, but I deflected each one with my sword. Her approach was smart, for all the while I was defending, I couldn’t attack, but it ultimately meant we were at a catch-22. She couldn’t get past my defenses, and I couldn’t end this.

  We’d drawn the attention of the humans, which wasn’t surprising given the plague of insects that had descended on the city. The men from the card game burst through the door and into the alley. Levi’s voice echoed in my ears, trying to get them back inside to safety. Despite his efforts, a crowd had gathered around us. Bet they didn’t expect to see a Death Spirit and Lucifer, Queen of Hell, battling it out. A cloud of insects dropped low, buzzing around their heads, and they ran, scattering for shelter, arms wrapped around their heads.

  The distractions cost me. An arrow slipped past and found its mark, embedding in my shoulder. Levi yelled my name, but I ignored him. I couldn’t afford another distraction. Sucking in a pained breath, I wrenched the arrow out and winced. Blood gushed down my arm.

  “That fucking hurt,” I spat, anger fueling me.

  I doubled down on my efforts with the sword, forcing Keres down the alley. Only it was in the wrong direction. She cast a glance over her shoulder, calculated how far she had to travel, and before I could blink, she spun, her cape fanned out, and she was gone.

  I ran to the end of the alley and stood panting, blood staining my shirt as I searched for Keres, but there was no sign of her. Placing a hand on my shoulder, I healed myself, drawing out the toxins her poison arrow had delivered.

  Securing my sword back between my wings, I folded them away and adjusted my jacket. Nothing more I could do here. The plague of insects lifted, and everything returned to normal.

  For now, at least.

  I began walking, each step taking me farther from the illegal gambling den. The alley stunk like wet dog. I didn’t need to mark the men that had been at the game. They knew. They’d seen, and this time there would be no erasing their memories. The world needed to know what was coming and needed to be prepared. Lilith was on the warpath.

  Levi’s voice rang out to me. “Lucy! Are you alright?”

  I glanced at him over my shoulder and nodded. “I’m fine.”

  He jogged to catch up, then got in front of me and jogged backward, so he was facing me. “Are you sure? That looked like it hurt.”

  “It did, but like I said, I’m fine. I healed myself.” His eyes drifted to my shoulder, and I cursed when I noticed the bloodstain there.
I’d forgotten to clean my clothing. On an irritated sigh, I waved my hand over the area, and the fabric was pristine once more. “There, all fixed,” I told him.

  “Look.” He blew out a breath, chewed on his lower lip for a moment before continuing. “I know we talked and sorted things out—sort of—but I’m getting the feeling you’re holding back. You haven’t really forgiven me, despite wanting to.”

  I stopped walking and looked at him. “You’re right. I want to. I’m trying to. I just need time. And with all of this going on…” I indicated the alley behind us. “I’ve kinda got a lot on my mind.”

  “You’re right,” he took my hand in his, entwining our fingers, and I looked at the rosy hue of my skin against the bronze ruggedness of his. Slowly I disengaged, letting my hand drop.

  I expanded my wings and took flight. My time on Earth was up. I’d done what I needed to do, and while I could waste my time searching for Lilith and Keres, I chose to return to Hell and regroup. It was a fool who rushed into battle unprepared.

  Chapter Six

  My head throbbed, and my tongue felt like I’d been cleaning the floor with it. Cracking open an eye, I squinted against the light streaming into my room.

  “Urgh.” I groaned. Rolling onto my back, I flung my arm across my eyes to block the light.

  “Mrmm ‘k?”

  “Ashliel?” I cracked open an eye. The mound next to me moved, throwing the covers back to reveal a tangle of flaming red hair. A hand came up, pushing the hair away to reveal the face of my second in command.

  “What time is it?” she muttered, running a hand over her face.

  “Dunno. Morning?” Now that I was awake, one thing became pressingly apparent. I needed to pee. Throwing the covers back, I sat up, swinging my feet to the floor. The sudden movement didn’t help the throbbing in my head. Still wearing my clothes from last night, I shuffled to the bathroom, my reflection telling me I did indeed look as hungover as I felt. My long hair was a massive tangle around my head, my makeup smeared over my face. It seemed like I’d managed to spill more than one drink down my shirt.