Wings of Sacrifice (Daughter of the Seven Circles #3)

Prologue

Saraqael

Twenty-one years ago

“My eternal star, I wasn’t expecting you,” Lucifer said, jerking up from his desk and striding over to me. He wrapped me in his arms, melding my body to his, and pulled me tighter. “Saraqael,” he breathed, the word heavy on his lips, as though the very utterance of it anchored him.

It was only years of training in the Ethereal Military that kept the tears at bay under his tender touch. I loved Lucifer with every piece of me. But I was breaking all the rules coming here, and we both knew it.

“Sara, are you alright?” He drew back. Two icy rings of Hell circled his gray eyes, gleaming like shackles. A pang of sadness hit me, the emptiness inside my soul throbbing in outrage. Those rings were a permanent reminder of what he now was—and what we would never have again.

Did he hurt as much as I did? Did he not see what they did to us?

I smiled. “Yes, my love. It’s just been a long year without you.”

The longest.

He didn’t know the half of it. Beneath my clothing were countless scars from Michael’s abuse—scars I explained away, blaming them on whatever evil I last faced.

I was supposed to be this skillful warrior, able to defend myself against anything.

Yet I didn’t fight back when Michael took advantage of me.

I needed him, so I endured his abuse.

Lucifer brushed his thumb along my cheekbone. “I know. There’s nothing I desire more than to see you. But we both know the King of Hell isn’t allowed a cordistella. I shouldn’t even allow you to come here. They’d punish you if they found out.”

“I know the risks, Lucifer.”

He shook his head, more at himself than me, a hint of sadness tugging at his lips. “You are a weakness I can’t help but indulge in.”

I used to be his strength. Half of his soul. Now we were both left with gaping holes from the removal of our bond. Because of them.

Lucifer clung to his duty to the Council of Righteousness.

He trusted them and the choices they forced upon him.

They destroyed us, and he saw it as necessary for the greater good.

They cut off his wings, stole his angelic powers, and replaced more than half of the original council—and still Lucifer continued to trust them, to believe in them.

I looked away, my gaze catching on the carvings in his large fireplace.

The cherry wood glistened with tormented souls clawing toward open air.

Their silent cries echoed the voice in my head.

The cold, empty center mirrored the shriveling thing in my chest. “You are no longer part of the council, Lucifer. Why do you continue to trust their word after what they’ve done to us? ”

Did they have to sever our bond during the mysterious Unmaking Ceremony? Did they have to bind Lilith to him while he was unconscious?

He had no recollection of what they did, only what he was told when he woke. And despite all my investigating and accusations, I still couldn’t figure out what their underlying plan was.

Lucifer groaned. “I’m not fighting with you over this again. We only have so much time, and I still have a couple souls to condemn. Grab a drink, and I’ll see you in my room.”

I went to his room and pulled out the vial of blood Lucifer had given me the last time I visited.

The once-red liquid now swirled with ebony tendrils, mixed with Lilith’s powerful blood to give my body the ability to create life.

Uncorking it, I drank every drop without hesitation.

After shedding my clothing, I crawled beneath the silk sheets and waited.

I must have fallen asleep, because it wasn’t until I felt something wet and warm caressing my nipples through my lace lingerie that I woke.

“There she is,” he whispered, trailing kisses down my stomach to my core. “I was wondering how many kisses it’d take to wake you.”

I ran my hands through his white-blond hair. “And how many kisses did it take?”

He glanced up, smirking. “Two to make you moan in your sleep, four to wake you up, and”—he grazed a finger against my core—“five to make you wet.”

“Seems like you’re losing your touch.”

A cunning twinkle overtook his gaze.

“Am I?” He thrust a finger into my core, and I gasped. “I don’t think my touch is an issue at all.”

“Lucifer,” I moaned as he continued.

“Yes, my eternal star?” he asked, amusement in his voice, trailing his lips back up my stomach.

I laughed, enjoying his playfulness. It wasn’t until he seated himself against me that I realized he had no pants on. I grasped his arms in a death grip, stopping him from entering me. If we did this, that was it. There was no going back or changing my choices.

He paused. “Sara?”

Oh, Heavenly—if I went through with this, he could never know. This truly would be our last night together, and he could never suspect.

I knew he loved me, but it would never be enough. He would never turn me in for what I was about to do, but he would do everything in his power to stop me, if only to keep me safe. Miriam said as much.

I released his arms, grabbed his face, and kissed him like it would be the last time we’d ever have this.

Because it would be. He kissed me back with just as much force, groaning into my mouth.

When he thrust into me, we both moaned. I loved the way he filled me, the way his mouth refused to leave my skin.

He nipped and licked my nipples and every inch of skin he could reach, like he was searing the memory of his mouth into my mind forever.

When we came together—his seed filling me, my body clenching around him—my soul sang, but my mind grieved.

“You will always be mine, Saraqael. No matter what they did to us. No matter the marriage between Lilith and me.” He pulled back and gazed into my eyes with such tender love. “You are my eternal star.”

“Brilliant, radiant, and forever,” I finished, keeping my tears at bay.

Lucifer smiled in answer, then found the clasp to my lingerie and painstakingly undressed me, pressing kisses to every one of my scars until his mouth found my core. The next few hours of our lovemaking passed too quickly.

When we were both exhausted, satiated, and happy, he drew me into his arms like every night I stayed with him. I allowed myself a few minutes, basking in his warmth and strength, before I pulled away. I refused to look at him.

“Lucifer.”

“Yes, my eternal star?”

His words felt like a punch to the gut, but I had to continue.

I picked up my shirt from the floor and started to dress. “I can’t do this anymore.” My voice broke.

He framed my face and forced me to look him in the eye. The physical touch made it harder to think of the words I needed, but it helped me use my powers to manipulate his emotions.

“You need to be very clear with me, Sara. We both agreed to this, as bad as it is. I know you love me, so please explain this change of heart.”

As an empath, sensing emotions came naturally. Manipulating them was another matter entirely, especially when it came to powerful beings. Currently, Lucifer held no anger toward me. Only fear, sorrow, and confusion.

Which meant I had to do better.

“I can’t be with you once a year anymore. It’s not enough for me.” That was true. “It’s not a relationship. I’m sick of it.” Also true.

“I know, my—”

“I’m choosing Michael.”

Lucifer jolted, and the icy rings around his irises flashed. It was as horrible as I imagined—not just the hurt in his eyes, but feeling his heartbreak alongside my own.

Underneath the pain was a tiny seed of anger, born of jealousy and possession. As he touched me, I sent a trickle of energy toward the emotion, feeding it to create the fight I wanted. But I fed it slowly enough that he’d never know I influenced him.

“You don’t love Michael.”

I raised a brow and grabbed my pants from the red-and-black rug. “How would you know? You see me once a year. I’ve grown fond of Michael.”

Lucifer had been placed in Hell before he ever met his replacement, so he didn’t know what a despicable angel Michael was—or how power-hungry and jealous he could become.

“I don’t believe you.”

He didn’t entirely. But the growing fear I sensed meant he believed it a little.

I nudged that fear, feeding it along with his anger.

“You can’t please me anymore, Lucifer. These nights have been nice. But it’s nicer with Michael, and I can spend day after day with him.” My stomach churned, bile rising in my throat. I couldn’t believe I had just said that.

“I can’t please you anymore?” The temperature dropped, and frost crawled across the red, ornate ceiling. “So all that moaning was what? Me failing to please you?”

Heavenly, I didn’t want to say the words, but I had to hurt him enough that he wouldn’t seek me out.

I sent him a larger dose of fear and anger.

“Michael is always there for me. I never have to sneak around and hide from an entire world with him. I’m not his weakness.

I don’t have to risk my soul for him. He takes care of me and…

” I glanced up at the layer of ice overtaking the crystalline frost, knowing what would happen next.

I lowered my head, stared him dead in the eye, sent him a surge of negative energy, and said, “Plus, he makes me moan louder and more often than you have—or ever could.”

Ice exploded from the ceiling, walls, and floor. It shattered his windows and whipped around us in a deadly storm. Little pieces sliced through my clothing, stinging my skin.

“Get. Out.”

I shrugged, holding back my threatening tears. “There’s nothing more you could do for me anyway. You gave it your best shot.” I nodded at his covered cock, adding salt to his wounds. And my own.

“Get out!” he bellowed as ice pelted my body.

I shoved down my guilt, gave him one last long look, and luscelered out of his room and out of Hell.

Once I passed through the gates and entered the thick evergreen forest, I fell to my knees and sobbed—for shattering the heart of the one person I loved, all for the sake of a miracle baby and the events Miriam foretold.

It took me hundreds of years to realize that, to exact my revenge, I could no longer abide by Heaven’s laws.

And eventually, I agreed with Miriam.

The celestial world needed to burn and be made anew.