Chapter 23
Chapter
Twenty-Three
LILITH
“Well, I must say, I think you made the right call,” I murmured, having just listened to Alek’s full report from their aborted supply run. “We haven’t seen a mass possession used like that since before the Princes were locked away.”
“So it was demons,” Alek murmured. “I didn’t realize they were so willing to work together to possess armies.”
“I believe this to be the work of Sloth,” Evander murmured from his perch in the corner. I’d invited the angel to be part of this meeting due to his unique insights. My Drystan was still sulking and hadn’t stopped shooting daggers at him with his eyes. Possessive little poppet.
“He’s done this before?” I asked, even though I knew the answer. I wanted Evander to share what I’d already learned so as to keep from giving all my secrets away in front of the angel. We may currently be working on the same side, but we would always play for different teams.
“Once, right after the Fall. When the Princes went unchecked and Lucifer attempted to strike on the heels of being cast out.”
“What makes you sure it’s him?” Alek asked.
“The pope.”
“What about him?”
I sat back and waited for Evander to relay the information I already had.
“He is under Sloth’s control. He used his influence to possess the surviving humans in Vatican City as they flocked to him for guidance and salvation. The sloth demons are spreading faster than a plague. Before long, humanity won’t exist, and all of those souls will be lost to hell.”
“Why not wait a few more weeks? Seems like a big risk when they’re going to be wiped out anyway,” Drystan asked.
This one I had no trouble answering.
“It’s the difference between a guaranteed payday and a potential windfall. If left to die of ‘natural causes,’ most of those humans would inevitably end up in heaven, but by getting them to agree to possession, they signed their souls over to the other side.”
“What use will anyone have for souls if all this comes to an end?” Alek asked.
Evander spoke before I could. “Souls have power. Lucifer wants to shore up as much power as possible. Life finds a way, Alek. The humans may die, but new life will come crawling out of the primordial soup before long. If Lucifer has control, he will claim them as his people, and heaven ceases to exist.”
The Novasgardian grunted. “And so what happened in Central Park was what? A precursor? A test of some kind?”
“Not quite,” I said. “If I had to guess, I’d say it's the next wave of attacks against you and your fellow . . .” I struggled to find the appropriate word. What did one call a collection of people persecuted both for random blood ties and who they dared to love? “Family members,” I eventually said.
“This was about us?”
“Darling boy, haven’t you been paying attention? It’s always been about you. And Sunday. And dare I say, little Eden. Your connection to the horsewomen has painted a lovely target on your back. Yours as well as your brother’s and everyone else you love in this world.”
“So we will never be safe? That’s what you’re telling me.”
“I—”
“I did it! I did it! Call me Moira-the-fucking-exploira, because I did it!” Moira burst into the room with the glowing crystal orb between her palms, excitement blazing in her eyes.
Thunder shook the room as my Drystan surged to his feet. “Normally I’d not let this interruption stand, but something tells me we need to see what she’s prattling on about.”
“The spell worked?” Alek asked, clearly recognizing the orb in her hands.
“You bet your man titties it did.”
I pressed my lips together to avoid laughing at the incredulous look on the demigod’s face.
“Man titties?” he parroted.
“You could hide a pencil under those things. Hell, you have better cleavage than me,” the witch continued with a pointed look at his tight-fitting shirt.
“You’ve found him,” I stated, snatching the orb from her hands and staring into the swirling gold mist within.
“Yep. And I locked in on him good too.”
“Then let’s go. We need him on our side,” Alek said, shoulders back as he clearly was preparing himself for a conflict.
“That’s the only problem. This isn’t like the spell I used to open a portal to Novasgard. It can’t transport a bunch of us.”
“How many of us can go?” Alek asked.
I could already tell what was coming, but I waited for her to say it.
“One.”
Predictably, the room devolved into everyone vying for the opportunity.
“I’ll go,” Alek offered, all heroic bluster and bravado.
“Why would you go?” Evander pressed. “You don’t know him beyond a few encounters. How could you even help him? I will go.”
The stench of testosterone was more than I could bear. We didn’t have time for this, and the longer Gabriel was gone, the less aid he could provide.
I threw the orb onto the stone floor hard enough to shatter it into dust, and before the two of them even noticed, I was stepping through the portal.
“Lilypad,” Drystan called, alarm ringing in the lone word.
I’d have to explain myself to him when I returned, and I never explained myself to anyone. But that was a problem for future me.
Between one step and the next, I left my temporary office and vexed lover behind.
When my new surroundings took shape around me, I was only mildly surprised.
It was not all doom and torture dungeon as one might picture.
It was giving Rapunzel locked in her tower, which was somehow wholly unexpected and completely on the nose all at the same time.
Some sort of vine grew up one side and gracefully framed the door. No doubt during the summer months, it would bloom with fragrant blossoms and give this structure an even stronger fairytale vibe.
“Fucking Lucifer,” I muttered. “Always has to be a bloody show pony.”
The thick wood and iron door beckoned, and I reached for the handle, not quite knowing what to brace myself for. Would an army of minions rush out at me? Would Lucifer be waiting on the other side?
But no. It was none of those things.
The door swung open with nary a squeak.
The bastard hadn’t even bothered to lock it. The knowledge did not fill me with comfort. One would expect all manner of security and defenses, but Lucifer had done the opposite. He was either overly confident Gabriel would never be found, or this was a trap, and the angel was the bait.
But what he hadn’t planned on was me. It didn’t matter what he had waiting on the other side of the threshold.
He couldn’t catch me. I was most concerned about the state in which I’d find Gabriel.
I was limited in my abilities to render emergency first aid.
My kind wasn’t exactly known for healing.
That said, depending on the state of him, I should be able to get us both safely away in time for others to do what needed to be done.
Inside the tower, I found very little aside from a dust and cobweb-covered table with an empty vase in the center and two wooden chairs, but that wasn’t of interest to me.
The spiral staircase that led up to the top was my goal, especially after the soft sound of chains rattling overhead caught my ear.
I grimaced at the seemingly never-ending staircase, but begrudgingly made my way up.
“Who’s there?”
My heart lurched at the weak sound of Gabriel’s fearful voice.
“He’s not getting what he wants, so he’s sent his lackey this time?”
Now, even through the rasp, I heard anger. He’d endured something awful, that much was certain, but Gabriel wasn’t broken.
“It’s me,” I called, just as I’d hit the top.
He scoffed, clearly thinking it was a trick, until I stepped into his line of sight.
The door to his prison had been left open, and sunlight currently streamed through the room’s several arrow slits.
He was slumped on the floor, bound by thick chains.
Physically he looked well enough, though there was so much dried blood caked on him and staining the floor, it was a little hard to tell.
Narrowed eyes searched my face. “What are you doing here?”
I cocked my hip and smirked. “Rescuing you, of course.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re being held prisoner. That is generally what rescue missions are about.”
“You’re a demon.”
Perhaps I’d been wrong and Lucifer had broken him.
“I’m neutral. You should know this after all our years.”
“If that were true, you’d do nothing. Your arrival here clearly indicates that you’ve chosen a side. Neutral parties do not choose sides.”
For a single instant, I regretted coming here. “You’re insufferable, you do know that, don’t you?”
“I’ve been told.” Without waiting for a response, he let out a soft groan as he lifted his arm. “The chains are enchanted. I cannot break them.”
“Are you healing still? Is there damage to your body we need to address?”
He shook his head. “I’m physically weakened by my bindings, but Lucifer is sadistic enough to allow me to heal so he can inflict wounds over and over.”
Yes, that did sound like him.
“Unless you have the key, I don’t see how you can help me.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “You know, for someone in your position, you are quite ungrateful. Do you really have so little faith?”
His jaw flexed, and when his eyes returned to mine, they were blazing with an emotion I could not recall ever seeing from him.
“And why should I have faith? And in what? I have been Lucifer’s captive for weeks and suffered every indignity at his hand, and the only one who came for me was a demon.
Not my brothers. Not my father—though he sacrificed his only flesh and blood child, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised he’d leave me to rot.
Tell me, Lilith. What good is faith to me? I have been forsaken.”
I gave the moment the weight it deserved before I burst his bubble with a derisive snort. “Don’t cry to me about being forsaken. You’re needed. I’m here to bring you back to the fight, but if you’re going to wallow in self-pity and let the world burn around us, I’ll just leave you be.”
“The fight?” he asked, a small light in his eyes now.