Chapter Two
LILY
Eliza pounced the second I was alone, descending on me quicker than a hellcat in heat. She didn’t walk so much as appear beside me with Vol tucked up against her neck—or, as he liked to call it, riding shotgun.
“Oh. Uh, hi?” I said, one brow raised.
She didn’t say a word. Just silently kept pace beside me until we reached the bedroll I shared with Rathiel.
“So.” She sat and watched as I started grabbing my weapons. “Gonna resurrect the dead, are ya?”
“Mm-hmm,” was all I said. I sheathed my daggers, then reached for my swords. “It shouldn’t be too difficult. Levi, Rathiel, and Calyx will be there to help me, so I’m sure we’ll figure it out in no time.”
Eliza leaned back on her hands and crossed one leg over the other.
“Levi is right. It’s my father’s magic, which likely means I have the power as well, so—”
“Damn, Meat Sack, you’re chatty when you’re lying,” Vol piped up.
I glared at my rude imp. “You know, I really should have let you freeze to death,” I said, referencing the snowdrift in Edmonton where I’d found him.
At the time, I’d never seen anything like an imp, and the thought of leaving him there to die hadn’t sat well with me.
So, I’d wrapped him in my scarf and brought him home.
Since then, I’d regretted my choice. Many, many times over.
He was the definition of a pain in my ass.
Vol gave a toothy grin that showed off his tiny—but deadly—canines. “And yet, here I am, warm, thriving, and suffering the grace of your angelic presence.”
He said “angelic” like it was a bad word, and my eyes narrowed on the little shit. He glared back, stuck out his tongue, then retreated into the shadows of Eliza’s hair.
“He’s right, though,” Eliza said. “Clearly, you’re not comfortable with this.
” She raised a hand when I opened my mouth to argue.
“And don’t bother with more lies. Do you think we didn’t see you and Rathiel having what looked like quite a serious conversation?
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out you’re worried, Lily. So fess up.”
I stiffened, then reached for the edge of the bedroll, smoothing it out.
“You don’t need to fake anything with me,” she said. “I’m here to help you, remember? To protect your ass and help you kill your father. Just because some angel says you need to resurrect your army in order to win the war doesn’t make it gospel.”
I almost laughed at her description.
Eliza had only recently met Levi. She’d heard Rathiel and I discuss him before, but she didn’t know the full story.
Levi had spent millennia trapped in Hell, hiding in snake form and posing as a former friend’s pet just to stay close to me.
He’d waited until I’d fully matured and could fight for myself to reveal the truth about the prophecy, the one that claimed I would restore Hell to its rightful state.
He knew more about this war and had fought in it longer than any of us.
So, if he said I needed to resurrect my army, then I would damn well resurrect them.
I just wished I knew how.
“Look, clearly you’re scared, even if you won’t admit it to me,” Eliza said. “I saw it in your eyes when Levi first suggested all of this. I know you, Lily. Maybe even better than anyone else here.”
Oh, that wasn’t true. Not even close. But I wasn’t in the mood to correct her.
The only one who truly knew me here was Rathiel.
Eliza knew Earth-Lily, but that version of me was long gone now that I’d regained my memories.
That Lily had lived her life on Earth free of responsibility, bloodlines, titles, and prophecies.
Everything was different now that I’d stepped back into my former role as Lucifer’s daughter and heir.
I was the Princess of Hell and the leader of the rebellion.
There was no going back. I’d been born for this battle, and I would not chicken out simply because I was a little afraid—okay, petrified—of tapping into darker magics.
“I’m fine,” I told her.
She tilted her head. “No, you’re not. It’s okay to let your guard down around me, you know. I’m not gonna tattle to anyone, I swear.”
Okay, that earned a wan smile from me.
Eliza pushed off her hands and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her crossed knees. “Lily, no one expects you to be perfect. You are facing something most people can’t even fathom. You’re allowed to have emotions.”
I forced myself to swallow, then shook my head. “No. I can’t let fear sway me. I just can’t.” My voice might have broken a little on that last sentence.
“Fear isn’t weakness,” she said. “And honestly? I’d rather follow scared-you more than cocky-you any day of the week.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at that. I sat back, my gaze locked on my hands. “I—I’m frightened that if I explore this magic, it’ll change me. Turn me into my father.”
“And if it does?” she asked without hesitation.
I tore my attention away from my hands and met her eyes. The words were stuck in my throat, but I had to get them out, even if they came out as a rasp. “Rathiel would never kill me. Not in a million years.”
“No, he wouldn’t,” she murmured, her eyes narrowing as though trying to figure out where I was going with this.
“Levi wouldn’t either,” I said. “He has me on a pedestal, I think. He’s never said the words, but I think he believes I can get him home.”
“Wait? Home?” Eliza repeated. “What do you mean?”
I nodded. “If I win the war and restore Hell, Heaven will open the gates again.”
She paused, not looking at me. Just stared past my shoulder as she idly picked at a piece of dirt on her pants. When she finally spoke again, her voice was carefully neutral. Too neutral. “Right. Makes sense. Guess he would want to go home, given the chance.”
Frowning, I glanced behind me to find her presumably watching Levi, standing a short distance from Rathiel as the two spoke. When I turned back to Eliza, the look on her face told me everything I needed to know.
She cleared her throat. “You were saying?”
“Right. Me losing doesn’t fit with Levi’s plans. And Rathiel…” Well, he’d rather die than ever hurt me.
When I fell silent, Eliza reached out, took my hand, and gave it a squeeze. Vol peeked out from behind her hair, and if I didn’t know the imp, I might have thought he looked almost sorrowful.
“What are you trying to say?” she asked.
I took a deep breath and forced the words to the surface. They had to be said—I needed to know we had a contingency plan in place, in case, for lack of a better phrase, all hell broke loose.
“If I resurrect my army and it awakens a darkness in me… If it looks like I’m turning into him, I need you to kill me. Please, Eliza.”
Her expression twisted. She slowly shook her head. But before I could say another word, she said, “Lily, I’m just a siren. Yes, I can fight with a sword, but I’m hardly as skilled as you. Nor do I possess the pure power you do. And if you awaken some unknown powers, then what chance do I stand?”
“I know,” I told her. That was the biggest part of what terrified me. “But Calyx will help you if you ask.”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
“He’s not my friend, or the one I love, or even an angel anymore. More than anyone, he will understand what it means if I turn into my father. He won’t take much convincing, trust me. He’s been trying to kill me my whole life.”
“Yes, trying, Lily. But he’s never succeeded. Do you honestly think the two of us could manage such a thing?”
I gripped her hand and squeezed so tightly, she winced. “You have to, okay? I’m entrusting this to you. I know it won’t be easy. Rathiel won’t let you anywhere near me if the worst happens. So, you’ll need to be clever about it.”
She fell silent, then drew a deep breath and glanced away from me. After a few moments, she turned back and nodded. “Alright. I don’t know how we’d manage it, but if the worst happens, I will take care of it.”
It being me.
“Promise me,” I begged.
Tears pooled in her eyes, but she said, “I promise.”
“Thank you.”
“Hey,” she said in a watery voice. “What are best friends for?”
“Apparently, for murdering each other when one of them goes ‘dark side,’” Vol snarked, though it lacked his normal edge. “Friendship goals, amiright?”
Eliza and I shared a small smile, though neither of us responded to his comment, seeing as how Levi and Rathiel took that moment to approach.
“Are you ready?” Levi asked.
Eliza bent down fast—too fast—to recheck a buckle that definitely didn’t need fixing.
I blinked, shocked by her strange behaviour.
But then…oh.
Clarity struck, and I gave a bemused laugh, one that Vol echoed, followed by a little “oooh” noise under his breath.
Well now, this was an interesting development. Perhaps this was more than the one-off blush I’d caught the other day when Levi said they’d “spent time together.”
I coughed into my hand, mostly to hide my growing grin.
Eliza glared daggers at me and mouthed, “Shut up.”
A second later, she stood and dusted off her thighs, like our conversation hadn’t just included a murder pact. She was the image of casual indifference—except that her ears were pink and she was studiously looking anywhere other than Levi.
I had to admit, I found this downright hilarious.
Eliza was a siren. She was used to everyone fawning over her.
But I’d never seen her fall for someone.
Maybe she never had? It must have been hard to develop relationships when your siren abilities attracted anything with a heartbeat.
Anything other than celestials, of course.
We were immune to her powers. Perhaps therein lay the appeal.
“What’s going on?” Levi asked, his gaze darting between us.
“Nothing,” I said too quickly. “Just girl talk.”
Not exactly true. But oh, we sure as hell would be girl talking tonight when we returned to camp. Because apparently Eliza had it bad for the only halo-wearing angel in our group.
“Girl talk?” he echoed.