Chapter 25 Ruin
Ididn’t bother going to the shop much since Rome’s little visit. It didn't feel the same, didn’t offer the same escape from reality.
Despite that, I also didn’t want to go back to Heaven. I’ve already searched the library and talked to a few people without trying to raise suspicion, but the last thing I need is to run into Rome there.
The way he made me feel the day he visited me at the garage… I’d never felt like that before, the rage and hatred.
It wasn’t something angels were meant to feel, at least I didn’t think we were.
Now I have no idea.
Ever since Aeri fell back into my life, everything’s been all upside down and inside out.
I wish I could say I want simpler times back, but that would be a lie. No, I do wish she weren’t currently locked in Hell, though.
Even more so, I wish that she and Kai weren’t both there. Unlike her, he could come up and visit me, but I know that won’t happen.
Instead, I sit on my couch for the third day, watching shitty mortal TV, eating takeout, and waiting.
0/10 don’t recommend.
I should be doing something; I itch to be able to offer my assistance, but at the end of the day, I have nothing to give.
What I need to do is go back down to the river and call on Lucifer, asking him to let me in.
I don’t want to.
Like, really, really don’t want to. Nothing is free, and to ask the devil for a favor is just asking for trouble, but I’m not sure there’s anything else I can do, and with every day that passes, I feel more desperate.
Aeri could be dying down there for all I know.
Shit, no, I can’t think like that.
With a huff, I force myself off the couch in order to go grab a shower. I’ve been trying to think of ways to get more information on mates for demons with no luck, but it dawned on me this morning, when I was thinking about Aeri, that Purgatory might just be that perfect place.
With the towel wrapped around my waist, I head back to my room to find an outfit for tonight. Usually, I don’t care much, but if I’m trying to get answers, it might help to dress somewhat nicely.
Clearly, I’m distracted between thoughts of Aeri and the prospect of finding some answers tonight; it’s the only excuse I have for not noticing sooner, and honestly, it’s a pretty shit excuse at that.
“Fucking hell!” I shout, clutching my chest as my heart threatens to beat out of it. I’ve had a lot of crazy things happen on Earth, but this takes the cake for sure.
I’m sure not many people can say they have had the devil come to visit them personally, though I’m sure for normal people that would be terrifying.
Just months ago, I would have agreed, but not now, not when he’s the only shot I have to see Aeri.
The fact that he came here to me without me reaching out to him is a little concerning, though, and if I were a smarter man, I might question it, maybe even overthink it.
As it is, all I can do is watch as Lucifer raises a brow at me from across the room.
I haven’t seen him since the fall, and while that might have been centuries ago, it feels like just yesterday.
He seems like a totally different being yet strikingly similar as well.
The biggest difference is the red that covers most of his skin, which looks like blood, yet it doesn’t appear to flow or move, which is confusing.
The other is the jagged pieces of… I’m not even sure what it is, but it protrudes from his body like built-in armor on his shoulders, elbows, and around his waist.
Maybe that is what happens when one becomes King of Hell? I have no idea, considering I’ve never been there myself, but I’ve heard stories of fire and brimstone. All the angels have, it’s told like mortals tell ghost stories, to keep us in line, and it works.
No, I’ve never seen brimstone, but it would make sense for him to wear it with pride; after all, that’s what he was cast from Heaven for, supposedly.
“I see your vocabulary has expanded.”
Of all the things for him to say, I find myself once again caught off guard.
“Yes, hundreds of years change people,” I tell him, unable to keep the snark from my tone.
“Does it?” I don’t need him to elaborate to know what or who he’s referring to.
“Sometimes it’s not always for the best.” It’s true both for Rome and possibly for him as well, though I don’t dare say it aloud.
I’d been so tempted to call to him, but I’m not sure I’d have ever really had the nerve, no matter how much I craved Aeri.
Lucifer fell from grace, just like so many of my brothers, and I stood by and watched. Kai didn’t hold it against me, but I get the feeling he never enjoyed his heavenly work. The rest of them, though, I can’t be sure.
Lucifer was a seraphim, the highest order of angel, second only to God, the same as Rome.
How could one not hold a grudge against those who got to stay behind? Rumor has it that he went around ripping out the wings of any angel who dared cross him for hundreds of years before he descended to Hell, never to come topside again…
Until now, that is.
The question is why?
Of all the things he could do here, all the people he could visit, why me?
“What do you want?” I ask, unable to fight my curiosity another moment.
His eyes move over my skin slowly as if taking in every inch of me from head to toe before a smirk pulls at his lips.
“You're just as bad as the rest of them,” he says with a chuckle. While I don’t know what he means for sure, I can sure as hell guess.
I don’t deny it. I don’t know what I feel, can’t put a name to it, but I know it’s there.
With every passing day, it’s more impossible to deny.
Lucifer might be the King of Hell now, but once upon a time, he was like an older brother to me.
There’s no sense in trying to hide this from him when he can still read me like an open book.
He throws his head back and laughs, and I see the gleam of his fangs that gives his smile a sinister feeling I’m sure he revels in.
“It’s good to see you again, brother. I’ve missed you, and so has my moonlight.” I’m shocked enough by his words that I don’t realize what he means by ‘my moonlight’ until he’s already stalking toward me.
I don’t get a chance to ask as he grips my shoulder, and the world twists and turns around me in the familiar way it does when teleported.
Somehow, it’s a lot harsher on my stomach when I’m not the one to do it, but I only have to choke down my lunch for a moment before my feet hit the ground and the nausea melts away.
We stand, me still in only a towel, at the edge of the River Styx, the entrance to Hell.
“You could have at least let me put clothes on.” He looks over at me and down at my towel as if only just noticing that’s all I have on.
I call bullshit, though; he’s just being an ass.
For a moment, I worry he will leave me like this, but he raises his hand, and with a snap of his fingers, I’m fully dressed. Though it’s not at all something I would have picked. I have to admit it's better than the towel.
“What the hell is this?” I ask, looking myself over.
The jeans are black and ripped up, with a million pockets, and a plain maroon shirt. The boots have a bunch of straps, go almost to my knees, and feel heavy as fuck.
The last thing I need is to finally see Aeri again in just a towel so she can see just how much I’ve missed her; yeah, no thanks.
“Girls love a bad boy. You’re welcome.” He rolls his eyes as if that were obvious. “Also, you should put those away, or they might not be so white when you leave,” he says, nodding behind me, and with a start, I realize my wings are out.
It must have been instinct when I found him in my room.
I tuck them away, biting back the urge to ask him what he means about them not being so white. I imagine wings are a sore spot for him, and the last thing I want to do is piss him off.
What’s that saying the mortals always use?
Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth?
I have no idea what it means, but I get the gist, and this seems like one of those situations, because despite everything, Lucifer seems to be in a pretty good mood.
With my wings tucked away, Lucifer scoops me into his arms just the way he did with Aeri not long ago.
“Is this really necessary?” I ask, trying and failing to keep the annoyance from my tone. Of course, he notices.
Looking down at me, his face is a mask of indifference I’m not used to. In Heaven, he was much more expressive, vocal, and in your face. Now, the only emotion I can see is in his eyes, and it’s just barely there. I only see it because I know what I’m looking for—the mirth that shines back.
“No,” he says simply, and I pull a face. If this isn’t necessary, then why the hell is he doing it? “You're free to end up with soup for a brain if you want.”
I cross my arms over my chest and give a huff of annoyance. Yeah, he’s pretty much the same.
“Not funny,” I grumble as we reach the other side of the river, and I feel his soul press against mine. It’s not painful exactly, but it’s not pleasant, my divine powers and soul hissing as the inky black of his reach out and mark me.
It’s necessary, all of this, to see Aeri, and while it might go against so much of what I know, I can’t bring myself to turn around.
He releases me, and as my feet hit the ground and my brain starts to function again, I breathe a sigh of relief.
“Yeah, I wasn’t sure that was going to work either. Good to know it does.” He claps me on the shoulder as he walks past, and it takes a whole thirty seconds for me to digest what he just said.
“What do you mean you didn’t know if it would work?” I demand as I turn to chase after him, only to stop, open-mouthed, eyes wide as I lay eyes on the kingdom of Hell for the first time.
The sky is dark, and I hope it’s night and not just always like this, but it’s very possible.
We stand on a ledge; a vast canyon stretches out below with what looks like a town or city, lava flowing around and through it.
It’s hot, and I can smell smoke, but somehow it’s beautiful in a chaotic, dangerous sense I’d never see in Heaven.
In Heaven, everything is pretty, pristine, and bright. I used to think it was because we embodied excellence, but I’m not so sure about that anymore.
The town isn’t our destination, though; the castle is.
It sits on the ledge we’re currently on, a large river of lava surrounding it, so the only way it can be accessed is by the bridges.
The castle has a gothic vibe, and with it sitting in a lake of lava, it definitely screams fortress.
It’s a dark stone with only a few scattered windows.
Five towers, two on each side and one in the center, rise into the sky as if trying to puncture it.
It’s huge.
Something fills the air, and I’m not sure if it’s fog or steam, but it makes everything look impossibly more sinister.
Like the town below, a network of bridges connects the castle to everything else.
Logically, I know magic keeps it all protected, but I can’t help the twinge of fear I feel knowing I have to cross them.
I’d feel better if I could fly, but Luce warned me about having them out while down here, so unless it’s necessary, that won’t be happening.
Still a good backup plan, though. It eases some of my concerns, and the knowledge that Aeri is in the castle has me moving despite any other issues I might have.
I’m in awe, speechless, and grateful that Lucifer seemed to notice and waited for me to snap out of it and catch up. I’m going to go out on a limb and say wandering around Hell on my own isn’t the best idea.
“Is Aeri okay?” I ask, my concern getting the better of me as we make our way to the castle. I’m not sure why he didn’t just teleport us, but I’m not complaining. As much as I want to see her, I need to know what I’m walking into.
The muscles in his back stiffen, but he keeps moving, and I have no idea what that means. Is that good? I don’t feel like it can be.
“She’s alive and fighting. That’s more than most would be able to say in her shoes,” he says finally, and some of the tension bleeds from me.
It’s impossible to miss the way he said it, though, the reverence in his tone.
He doesn’t pause long enough for me to question him, doesn’t miss a beat as he looks back at me over his shoulder, a smile on his face that isn’t the least bit sinister.
His eyes shine with something I can’t understand before he turns back around to push the castle doors open with a flick of his wrist.
I’ve seen a lot of things in my immortal life, but I think the most unsettling thing I’ve ever seen is the devil with a genuine smile, happy in Hell…