Dance of Wings (Curse of the Guardians #7)

45. Lucifer

Chapter 45

Lucifer

T his would be a super convenient time to develop telepathy. You know, to update the boys on how fucked he was.

“Why fight me?” Gideon called, his skin rippling as he hovered above the city. Power circled him, startling red arcane that whipped out to lick at his chi.

It ached, that power. Like a thousand needles every time he moved a fraction too slow.

“Why not just join me in the new world?” Gideon’s wings were spread, the membrane torn and useless beneath the dark flames, and yet he floated perfectly. Annoyingly, he did actually look like a phoenix, even if it was a little deranged.

Lucifer, in contrast, had to keep adjusting his wings to keep up his hover, the wind beating at him at all angles.

“What new world? You bring nothing but death and destruction,” he said, cursing whoever controlled the weather, because clearly he didn’t have enough problems.

Gideon released a whip of power, cracking across the space like a missile that Lucy barely managed to avoid. Snapping his wings closed he dropped, the arcane twisting above him with a vicious crack of thunder.

Lucifer returned the blast, his arcane hitting Gideon perfectly in the chest. But it was weaker than the last shot, the syphons already beginning to drain. Weakening with every passing moment.

“Pathetic,” Gideon laughed, brushing the arcane off like it was nothing. He held it in his hand, smirking at the flames before absorbing it into himself. “You’ll never be able to beat me, Xahen. I’ve evolved.”

“You sure? Because from where I am, you look like shit.”

Gritting his teeth he closed their distance, tackling Gideon around the waist. He threw them both towards the Thames, hoping to contain some of the hellfire that dripped from Gideon’s wings.

But Gideon laughed, twisting them towards the closest skyscraper instead. They tore through, shattering glass and bending metal. Lucifer tried to protect his head, bringing up his arm, only to have Gideon’s hand clamp down, magic burning through Lucifer’s chi as they dropped from the sky.

“You fear me, Xahen,” Gideon said, smirking as they fell at a startling speed. “I can see it in your eyes, and taste it on my tongue.”

His grip didn’t relent, Lucifer managing to turn them just before they connected with the road, Gideon landing first. It collapsed beneath their weight, screams erupting as they fell deeper beneath the city.

Lucifer jolted, fighting against the arcane that was seeking weakness against his chi. He finally managed to wrench himself away, drifting to the side.

“I don’t fear you,” he said, finding Gideon’s green goo wriggling against him. He ripped it off his body, destroying it in his palm.

“Oh, how easily you lie.” Gideon widened his wings, the flames flicking out to ignite anything they could. A pipe burst overhead, water raining down only to turn to steam before it could extinguish anything.

They’d crashed into the underground, the strip lighting whining as they flickered on and off. They were barely hanging on, swinging from their cables as the surrounding white tiles had been shattered. Escalators clicked, the mechanics broken while people screamed, trying to escape.

They were too confined, the hellfire engulfing everything in its path.

“How can you say you’ve evolved?” Lucifer asked, a dark current rippling beneath his voice. “You failed to ignite the chalice.”

He threw his power towards the flames, but it did nothing. They continued to crackle, seeming to seek out the living as if they were sentient.

A train pulled in with a roar of wind, shooting a freezing breeze throughout the terminal and teasing the flames that continued to grow. Gideon grinned, grabbing a man who tried to dash past. The man didn’t even manage a sound, arcane burning so fast he became nothing but a husk.

Gideon groaned, closing his eyes as if savouring the kill. His body pulsated, skin stretching with a strange light pressing beneath, looking for a release. “Who says I failed to fulfil the chalice’s thirst?”

He stepped forward, the heat cracking the tiles with little pops.

“Or that I even need the chalice anymore?”

Pop. Pop. Pop.

Lucifer glanced at the underground map, and then at the hole in the ceiling from where they’d crashed through.

Fucking Fates.

Lights flickered, a surge of electricity bursting the bulbs to leave them in the dark.

“Time’s up Xahen,” Gideon whispered, his vile breath sweeping across Lucifer’s face. “You no longer have any use to me.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so.” Lucifer hit out, ignoring the way his chi shrieked at their proximity. He drifted them both back to the surface, reaching into his bag to pull out one of Kace’s homemade devices. “Here, catch.”

He threw it, drifting a safe distance before the bomb exploded on impact. Shards of obsidian pierced their target, as well as a bunch of glitter that Lucifer may or may not have added without Kace’s approval.

“I should have crushed you when you first ascended,” Gideon snarled, embers falling from his wings, raining down to feed the hellfire that was eating away at the city.

“You should’ve been swallowed, but here we are.” Lucifer watched how one by one the obsidian splinters were expelled from Gideon’s body.

Fuck.

Nothing was slowing him down, his power seeming endless.

“Enough of this!” Arcane gathered in Gideon’s hand, growing at an alarming rate.

Lucifer braced himself, knowing if that much hit him it was over. Gideon’s power was beyond anything he could ever manage, even with the syphons he’d never be able to break it down fast enough before it killed him.

Gideon released the ball, and Lucifer prepared to drift to the side, only it wasn’t aimed at him.

It was aimed at the civilians below, and one of them was Scarlet.

There was no thought, the reaction immediate. He drifted below to intercept the magic before it could get anywhere near her, calling his own arcane to change the momentum and send the ball crashing against the bridge over the Thames. It dissipated on impact, feeding into the hellfire that had slowly started crawling up the cables. They were beginning to snap, the cars along the bridge being abandoned as people ran to safety.

He could see it then, the way the fire was surrounding on all sides, causing everyone to swarm towards the centre. Like a trap.

“You should never attach yourself to anything that can be destroyed, it makes you weak,” Gideon said, flicking out his hand.

Lucifer’s body ached, his wings strained as he kept himself level. “Everything can be destroyed. Even you.”

Gideon smirked, and Lucifer didn’t have time to react before his magic finally found a weakness. Lightning through his nerves, his head thumping with a sudden pressure that had his eyes squeezing shut.

‘Ah, there it is,’ Gideon’s voice pressed against his mind. ‘I can taste you Xahen.’

“Get out of my head!” Lucifer screamed, scratching at his face. Black wisps surrounded him, choking his throat and strangling his lungs.

‘I can feel your soul, and it’s weak.’

Lucifer’s body jolted, trying to fight the corruption that was taking over.

‘Look.’ Gideon showed him the flames, and the souls that were trapped inside. People were screaming, trying to escape. He pushed the images across his mind, forcing Lucifer to watch the destruction.

Those that didn’t fall to the flames, were hunted by Unhallowed instead.

Lucifer snarled, a warmth spreading through his chest to fight against the tenacious wisps that was Gideon. “Get out of my head!” He embraced that warmth, the surrounding pressure releasing as he concentrated on his mate.

‘Let me in, Xahen.’ A whisper as gentle as a breeze.

Lucifer had only marked Scar’s soul, not taken, which meant it was the one part Gideon couldn’t touch.

Weight so heavy it caused him to scream. ‘Let. Me. In.’

“Lucifer!”

He snapped his eyes open, her voice pushing through the blood pounding in his ears. Gideon was only inches away, black lines wriggling within his irises.

Flames prickled Lucifer’s fingertips, but within the black core was a white light that definitely hadn’t been there before. Scarlet, he could feel her as if she was beside him. Her light to his dark.

“Fuck you.”

The night erupted, his arcane hitting Gideon full on the chest with an influence that would have destroyed anyone else into dust.

And yet it did nothing, Gideon’s hand snaking out to grip Lucifer’s throat. “It’s time we live up in the light,” he said, his voice cold, empty.

“Look around you!” Lucifer pushed out, fighting against the grip. “We’re no longer trapped below in the dark. We’re finally free.”

There was no sanity left in Gideon’s eyes. “Don’t you see? We’re never truly been free. But the Fates have blessed me, I will be the breaker of chains, finding true peace for our people.”

“The Fates have nothing to do with your fucking delusions.”

Gideon tightened his fingers, nails slicing. “My new world will have our kind thrive without laws. They’ll live as kings, superior to every other Breed and human.”

“And where exactly are your kings?” Lucifer’s power was almost gone, the syphons ready to break. “You say you want peace for our people, yet you stand alone.”

The wind was vicious, and yet they didn’t touch Gideon’s flames. “They understood their role, to be sacrificed for their God.”

Lucifer held himself up, his lungs tightening. “Do you honestly fucking hear yourself?”

“Everything I’ve ever done has been to survive.” Gideon’s smile was full of poison. “The decisions I’ve had to make not only for myself, but for our kind. You were once one of us.”

“I was never like you.”

“You were just like me, only I’ve succeeded where you’ve failed. We were trapped, forgotten below like shadows unworthy of existing. The Fates leaving us to rot.”

“You are not a God.”

“I am more of a God than anyone else!” Gideon’s voice was a harsh whip even against the surrounding roars. “I ruled and gave sanctuary to those that needed it. Worshipped, how does that not make me a God?”

“You were feared.”

“If fear is what it takes, then so be it. In the ashes of my flames they will rise to bow at my feet. Those that don’t, well…” A dark chuckle. “They’ll find their freedom in death.”

Gideon’s nails sliced deeper into his skin, and Lucifer gasped as his power was drained. His heart stuttered, the oxygen that remained in his lungs waning.

Except there was a twitch, deep within his soul, fighting back. Releasing his hold on Gideon’s arm, Lucifer grabbed onto his horn instead.

A jolt through his spine, as if he’d plugged himself into the electrical grid, the power…

Fuck.

The horn cracked, Lucifer pulling with his remaining strength before it finally snapped. Gideon reared back, his hold breaking, allowing Lucifer to suck in a painful breath, but not before he managed to stab the spiky horn straight through Gideon’s fucking chest.

Lucifer twisted as Gideon clawed, pain through his wing before he managed to twist away. Flexing his hand he glanced at the swell of arcane, red and black flames with the heart of white.

His brothers had created a new syphon, their chis renewing his with an energy more powerful than he’d ever experienced before, and with it his connection to Scar.

“What is this?” Gideon snarled, the horn slowly pushed out. Except it didn’t heal, leaving a gaping hole.

“Back up.” Lucifer released a blast, aiming for the chest. Gideon didn’t even bother to dodge, releasing nothing but a grunt as the arcane hit.

“Is that it?” Gideon laughed, absorbing Lucifer’s blast until nothing remained, his magic swelling from the wounds splitting his body. “Pathetic.”

The corruption that Lucifer had buried long ago surged to the surface, and rather than battle the instincts, he fucking embraced it. Each one of his moves were cold and calculated, the wind and city forgotten. There was nothing but him and Gideon, life and death.

Ball after ball of arcane was thrown, each hit larger than the last.

“Enough of this!” Gideon’s magic clipped his wing, slamming Lucifer hard enough they crumpled against his back.

Lucifer fell, the membrane tearing before he drifted to the floor, landing on a kneel.

“Lucifer!” Scar called, running over.

He looked up, her blonde hair a halo around her head. There was a slice across her cheek, the blood dribbling down the smears of grime on her skin.

“Angel,” he whispered, pressing his palm against the road to force himself to stand. “Don’t.” He held out his hand, stopping her from touching him.

Her soul caressed his, and his instincts called for him to take it as his own. To use it to heal the damage.

“You’re glowing,” she said. “Why are you glowing?”

His glyphs were alight, matching the new white light of his arcane. “It’s going to be okay,” he said, trying to reassure her.

Those blue eyes snapped to his, her fear washing over him.

“He’s absorbing too much power,” Lucifer said, his voice rough as he turned to watch Gideon laugh above, embers from the hellfire rising. “His body can’t handle the surge.”

Gideon’s skin distended grotesquely, gluttoning himself with each flame absorbed.

Lucifer turned to Scarlet, his smile crooked. She was so fucking beautiful, even in her despair. “Thank you for believing I’m not a monster.”

“Wait!” she cried, eyes glistening. “What are you doing?”

“I’m ending this.” He knew what to do, knew how to keep her and everyone he loved safe. Even if that meant he wouldn’t survive.

“Lucifer, wait!”

But her voice was lost against the dissonance, Gideon grinning as Lucifer rose to meet him in the sky. The embers floated, continuous as they brought him soul after soul.

“Bow to your new God!” he called, voice cracking beneath the power. Black veins pulsated beneath what remained of his skin, a dark light pouring from the rips in his body.

“Sorry mate, I don’t bow to anyone.”

“Then you will…!”

An arrow struck through Gideon’s throat, forcing his attention away. Lucifer used the distraction to coat his fist in arcane, shoving it straight into Gideon’s chest.

“Do it!” He purposely released his power, his chi screaming under the assault. “You wanted me, so take me.”

The arrow snapped against the heat, blackening before it fell.

Gideon’s laugh swarmed around them, his hand gripping at Lucifer’s arm to keep his fist deep inside. He drew on Lucifer’s chi, the power rushing, forced between them.

Lucifer could feel every single person he was connected to, feel them weaken beneath the strain.

Come on Kyle, he thought. Cut them off!

Blaze. Titus. Axel. Sythe.

His chi throbbed, rippling with pain each syphon that finally released.

Kace. Jax. Xander.

Lucifer called to what remained, his own body beginning to fail.

Riley.

“Any last words?” Gideon asked, the dark red light leaking from his pores.

Kyle.

Collecting the last sparks of his power, Lucifer reached up to unclick his bag. “Yeah. I hope you like glitter.” Baring his teeth he released everything left he had in him, Gideon’s skin splitting against the onslaught as he screamed.

Lucifer pulled back at the last second to jam the bag into his chest. Closing his eyes he wrapped himself in Scarlet’s warmth, her soul a siren against his heart.