Chapter 27
Beware, the viper
The air in Zach’s lungs expelled with such force it felt like he’d been punched in the solar plexus. “No.”
“Oh yes,” Lucifer said. “I really must set an example. No one steals from me and gets away with it.”
“That’s not fair!” Drew cried, taking a step forward.
“Watch your tone, Drew Phillips,” Lucifer warned. “You’ve not been given leave from here just yet.”
“You got your dagger back,” Drew continued, ignoring the warning. “You’re taking your personal feelings of rejection out on Andras, and it’s not fair!”
“You are walking on dangerous ground,” Lucifer growled, and the air within the room grew thick and heavy with his anger.
Drew blanched a little, but held his ground. “I get it, okay. You slept with him, and now you want more. But you can’t hold it against Andras that he doesn’t. You can’t kill him for that!”
What the fuck? Andras had slept with Lucifer? Zach was so out of the loop.
“I am not some pathetic child with a crush, Drew Phillips, so don’t you dare speak to me as if I were,” Lucifer snarled. “In my kingdom, the punishment fits the crime.”
“You can’t kill him. Please!” Drew begged.
“Oh, I can and I will. And I will take great pleasure in it,” Lucifer assured him with a cold smile. “I will stand and watch as he dies, and then when he comes back, I will watch as he dies again. And again. And again. I will watch him die until I feel he has learned his lesson.”
Zach slumped in relief as he realized Lucifer hadn’t been talking about the true death. Andras would suffer, but then he would live. It wasn’t ideal, but it wasn’t the worst possible outcome.
Drew didn’t appear to agree. “You said you weren’t evil, and yet you’re going to take pleasure in torturing him? You’re such a liar!” he yelled.
“Watch your tongue!” Orias thundered.
Drew pivoted and glared at Orias, his face twisted with anger. “Why? Are you worried I’ll spill your secret? That everything will come tumbling out into the open?” Orias froze, and so did Drew. He looked shocked at himself. “I didn’t mean that,” he mumbled. Ashamed. “I would never tell.”
Lucifer was now looking between Orias and Drew. “Tell me what?”
“Nothing,” Drew hastened to say. “Please don’t do this, Lucifer. Please, just let Andras go.”
Kensington shot Zach a worried look, and Zach knew exactly what he was thinking.
If Drew continued to demand that Lucifer release Andras, he might become so angry that he refused to allow any of them to leave.
“Drew,” Zach said gently, turning to cup his cheek.
“Andras will be okay. Please don’t push this. ”
Drew’s eyes were wet with unshed tears. “This is wrong, Zach. Andras doesn’t deserve this.”
“As much as I agree, this is the way things are done here, sweetness. Andras knew that, and yet he still took that dagger.”
Drew closed his eyes, and a tear spilled over his cheek. Then he shook his head. “No. No, I won’t allow it.”
“There’s not much we can do,” Zach told him.
Drew’s eyes snapped open, and Zach was taken aback at the sheer determination in them.
“Maybe not, but I can.” The air around Drew crackled with electricity, and a woven bracelet around his wrist began to smoke.
Only seconds later it was aflame, but it wasn’t burning Drew’s skin.
It burned until there was nothing left but ashes.
And then Zach’s ears popped painfully. He heard Tremblay cry out in pain, and then Drew was calling out, “Leila!”
The familiar appeared out of thin air, landing on Drew’s shoulders, and he reached up to touch her. “Bring him to me,” he told her.
As Leila disappeared, Orias was moving, charging towards Drew. Zach stepped in front of him, but Orias didn’t stop, barrelling into him. Zach pushed back, and they grappled with one another. He heard Kensington shout out a spell, and distantly heard demons banging on the locked doors to the hall.
The urco lunged at Orias, sending him staggering, and Zach used the distraction to take Orias to the floor, getting a knee on his back and pinning him down.
He looked up just as Leila popped back into the room, this time accompanied by Andras.
The demon looked around with wary eyes, taking in the commotion happening around them.
Lucifer had stood from his throne and was stalking down the steps, Tremblay had scurried to the side out of harm’s way, and Cavendish was helping Kensington keep the guards from the room.
“What is the meaning of this?” Lucifer demanded of Drew. His blond hair was blowing in the wind, which had been created by the storm clouds that had gathered on the ceiling.
“I’m sorry, but I won’t let you hurt Andras,” Drew told him. “He’s coming with us.”
“No, he’s not,” Lucifer said, and his hand shot out. Andras cried out as his feet skidded on the floor and he began to move towards Lucifer.
Drew yelled out a spell, the word lost to the noise. Andras staggered to a stop, and then began moving in Drew’s direction. Lucifer snarled and threw a spell at Drew, who yelped as it hit him, breaking his concentration.
“Drew!” Zach cried, and he leapt up to throw himself in front of him, his wings appearing and flaring out protectively.
The urco snarled and lunged at Lucifer, and with a flick of his hand, the prince sent him flying across the room where he hit the wall, hard.
“Cease this before you do something that cannot be undone,” Lucifer warned Drew.
“I won’t allow you to hurt my friend,” Drew said from behind Zach’s spread wings, doubling down.
“You cannot beat me, Drew Phillips.”
“Maybe not, but I’m not alone,” Drew told him.
“Neither is he!” Orias cried. He’d climbed to his feet, ready to jump back into the fray once Zach was distracted. “I will not allow you to harm my . . . what? No!”
Zach wasn’t sure what had grabbed Orias’s attention, but the demon was throwing himself in front of Lucifer.
Something glittered as it moved through the air, and then there was a sickening thud as a dagger embedded itself in his chest. Orias fell to the ground at Lucifer’s feet, and the room fell silent.
Zach turned to see Tremblay crouched down, his arm held out in front of him, his hand now empty.
Had he had a dagger on him the entire time?
Zach had never seen it. Or had he grabbed it from someone here?
Why had he been trying to attack Lucifer?
The last he’d seen, the man had been cowering in fear behind a chair.
“Orias?” Lucifer whispered, and he dropped to his knees on the ground
Orias rolled over, and a dribble of blood spilled from his lips. “Master,” he croaked.
Lucifer’s hands fluttered over the hilt of the dagger, but there was nothing he could do. “It’s going to be okay,” he lied.
Managing a weak laugh, Orias gave a minute shake of his head. “Can’t survive this. True death awaits.” His eyes went hazy, and more blood trickled over his chin. “Master,” he whispered.
“I’m here, Orias. I’m here,” Lucifer assured him, slipping an arm under his shoulder and cradling the demon to his chest.
“Need to tell you,” he wheezed. “Need you to know.”
“Know what?” Lucifer asked, even as he brushed a lock of thick brown hair away from his face.
“I love you,” Orias whispered. “Have always loved you.” He coughed, a pained groan tearing from his throat. “Master . . .”
Lucifer looked up at them, devastation across his face. “Please. Can you heal him?” he begged.
Kensington shook his head. “I’m sorry. None of us has that ability.”
Lucifer closed his eyes in defeat, and Zach saw his shoulders start to shake.
Then Drew stepped forward. “Let me try.”
“Drew,” Kensington warned. “This is not the time to be experimenting. You could hurt yourself.”
“Let him,” Zach said. “He healed the urco. He can do this.”
Kensington looked surprised, but then nodded.
“No!” Tremblay yelled and lunged for Drew.
Before Zach could move, Andras was there, and he tackled the man to the ground. Cavendish ran to help hold Tremblay down, and Zach turned his attention back to Drew.
“Please,” Lucifer said brokenly. “Help him.”
Zach knew that at this moment, Drew could make any demand he wanted.
He could withhold his magic from Orias until Lucifer promised to let all of them, including Andras, leave.
He could ask for riches, for more power.
Drew could ask for the world in exchange for Orias’s life.
The way Lucifer was holding the Shadow Blade so gently, the devastation on his face, the grief in his eyes—everyone realized he felt more for Orias than he’d ever revealed, maybe even to himself.
Zach knew that anything Drew asked for, Lucifer would give him.
But he didn’t. He wasn’t like that.
Instead, Drew reached out and placed a hand next to the wound and closed his eyes. Then he called upon his vast well of power.
If Zach had thought the magic he’d felt earlier had been powerful, it was nothing to what he felt now.
The atmospheric pressure in the room dropped so suddenly that the air seemed to twist inwards on itself.
Lightning strikes struck the ground, sending shards of marble flooring into the air.
The black clouds above roiled and then let down an absolute torrential downpour of sleet.
Zach’s head began to pound, and he worked his ears furiously to try and pop them, to relieve some of the pressure that was gripping his skull like a vice.
More lightning struck, and Kensington flung himself sideways to avoid being hit.
“Move!” Zach screamed into the howling wind. “To the sides!”
He grabbed Kensington’s arm and with a flap of his wings, half carried him over to the edge of the room.
He saw Andras and Cavendish dragging a struggling Tremblay between them.
They all pressed themselves flat against the wall next to where the urco was hunkered down, and then all but Tremblay were throwing up shields to try to protect the group from the magical storm.
A funnel was forming, reaching down from the clouds and touching the ground, ripping up even more tiles.
Chairs were dragged towards it, and then were flung into the air, caught in the spinning vortex of power.
Zach squinted through the commotion, trying to catch sight of Drew. There was a strange bubble of calm around him, Lucifer, and Orias. Drew’s eyes were still shut, and his lips were moving as he spoke the words to channel his power. Lucifer was watching him, hope and despair in his orange eyes.
Leila was perched on Drew’s shoulder, and suddenly, she began to rise into the air.
She wasn’t flying—her wings weren’t flapping, but she was rising steadily until she was several feet above Drew.
There was a deafening crack as lightning ripped across the room, striking Leila in the chest. Instead of destroying her, she appeared to absorb the energy.
Another crack, another strike. And another, and another.
The sound was so loud that Zach clutched at his ears, worried his eardrums would actually burst. At his feet, the urco whimpered, hiding his face under his paws.
When he looked again, Leila was now glowing an eerie blue-green colour.
Her eyes were pure energy, and she floated down through the air to land once more on Drew’s shoulder.
He jolted as she made contact, and then the glow around Leila grew dull.
It took Zach a moment to realize that Drew was now glowing, the power Leila had absorbed transferring to him.
Drew threw back his head and shouted, “Mors, mihi hunc daemonem exolve1,” and everything in the room stopped.
It was like time itself had frozen. The clouds were still there, black and angry, but they were no longer churning.
The sleet had stopped mid-air, and there was an odd light in the corner where a flash of lightning was frozen just as it was about to connect with the ground.
The silence was so absolute that Zach could hear his own lungs expanding and the way blood was pumping through his veins.
Everyone was frozen. Zach didn’t know if it was because they were caught up in the magic, or if it was just the shock of what was happening, but no one moved an inch.
The glow within Drew seemed to coalesce, and it grew brighter as it formed into a single pinprick of light.
Then that light separated from Drew, shooting out from his chest and flying towards Orias.
It hit the demon’s chest, and Orias was suddenly gasping, his whole body convulsing as death was banished and he was restored to health.
The room unfroze. The clouds churned, the lightning hit the ground, and the sleet continued to fall. Lucifer was sobbing as he held Orias close, and he covered his face with small kisses. And Drew was stumbling back and falling to the floor.
“Drew!” Zach cried, and he darted across to him, skidding on the sleet-slick floor. He cradled Drew in his arms, searching his face for signs of life.
“’M fine,” Drew mumbled. “Jus’ tired.”
Leila fluttered over, and she slumped half on top of Drew and half on top of Zach. She gave an exhausted little bok, and Zach leaned down and kissed her head. “Thank you for helping him,” he whispered. Without Leila’s help, he feared Drew would have killed himself trying to save Orias.
She blinked sleepily at him, and he recognized it for what it was. A truce.
It felt like the biggest victory he’d ever had.
“Shit, grab him!” Andras shouted.
Zach looked up just in time to see Tremblay sprinting across the room, the shattered leg of a chair held in his hand like a stake, heading right for Lucifer.
1. 'Death, release this demon to me!'