Chapter Fifteen
LILY
The march to the outpost was about as subtle as a hellhound in a china shop.
A thousand hellspawn weren’t exactly discreet—too many weapons, too much armour, and far too much murdery enthusiasm.
Each step made the ground quake, and their cheers and war cries echoed for miles.
Blood pumped through my veins, and I thrummed with excitement in a way I never had before.
The exhaustion that had clung to me since waking quickly burned away, replaced by an almost electric hunger for a good fight.
Maybe I was more like hellspawn than I thought.
Or maybe the anticipation of battle just had a way of clearing a girl’s head.
Brain fog would get me killed, after all.
Unfortunately, a thousand marching soldiers would mean the sentries would see us coming. So, why bother with subtlety? I’d always been a big fan of the direct approach, and it hadn’t failed me yet—well, other than the time my father slaughtered my army and nearly killed me. Hmm…
We crested the last rise, and the valley opened below.
The outpost squatted at the base, exactly as I remembered it.
Built right into the rock, the walls surrounded the place in an attempt to hide it from plain sight.
The stone wall encircled the entire perimeter, which meant the northern gate was our only way in.
Hellspawn patrolled the inner walls and a few stood watch in the towers. But the second we came into view, the sentries noticed us. Because of course they did. Even the most incompetent soldier knew they were in trouble when a thousand hellspawn came stomping at their front door.
A horn split the air, the piercing sound bouncing off the valley walls. A second call answered from the opposite tower. Then came the shouting and the unmistakable sound of soldiers drawing their weapons. The usual pre-slaughter soundtrack.
I turned on my heel, cupped my hands over my mouth, and shouted as loud as I could. “You know what to do! Take the post, leave none alive”—because prisoners required resources, and I refused to provide those—“but the dragon’s mine!”
We fanned out into formation, our rows spreading wide across the valley mouth. I grinned, even as the watchtower sentinels took aim with their bows and arrows. There was a certain satisfaction in letting your enemy watch their death walk right up to the gates.
But before I could give the order to attack, movement came from above.
Magic suffused me and I immediately crouched into a defensive position, fearing they’d sent out the dragon. But it wasn’t a massive beast that came plummeting down from the sky.
It was two figures with black wings.
“Fuck,” Calyx muttered to my left.
I echoed his sentiment seconds before the two fallen angels landed hard enough to send up a cloud of dust. When it cleared, Ezrion and Miriel stood before us, their faces twisted with hatred.
Another sentiment I very much shared. I could practically taste their deaths on the scorching breeze.
Before anyone could speak, the outpost’s gate ratcheted open and dozens—maybe hundreds—of hellspawn came pouring out, snarls ripping through the air. They fanned into a curved line behind the fallen angels, forming a living barricade between us and the outpost.
Neither side seemed ready to attack, though.
Instead, Ezrion’s boots crunched over the terrain as he started toward us at a slow and deliberate pace.
Miriel kept a pace behind him, but she locked her wide, unblinking gaze on Calyx.
Ezrion wasn’t the only one to approach—Levi came from my right, standing next to me and Rathiel in a show of support.
To my left, Calyx released a long sigh. He had to have expected this moment.
According to Rathiel, he’d left the last battle—the one where Rathiel had killed Gremory—because Rathiel had ordered him to get me somewhere safe.
I hadn’t been in any state to fight, seeing as how at the time I was unconscious and trapped within my own memories.
Calyx had done as ordered, which meant this was the first time he would face his brethren.
The same angels he had fallen with, fought beside, and bled alongside for millennia.
A part of me was curious to see how he handled this, if he’d stand with us as promised, or turn on us the first chance he got.
“Tell me this isn’t what it looks like,” Ezrion said, his voice low. “Tell me you are not standing with them.” He jutted a finger toward me and Rathiel, but never once looked our way.
“I mean, I quite literally am, so—”
“No!” Miriel snapped. “Don’t joke with us right now.
This is serious, Cal!” Her wings flared, her feathers ruffling.
“You disappeared. One moment you were with us, the next, gone. We couldn’t find you.
We weren’t sure what to think, but we’d hoped—” She bit off her words and spun on her heel, crying out her frustration. “How could you, Calyx?”
His silence didn’t appease either of them.
Ezrion’s eyes cut briefly to Rathiel and fire flared in his palms. My power instantly came to life, and I stole the fire right from his hands, snuffing out the flames.
That got Ezrion’s attention—and his gaze shot to me.
The shock in his expression was oh, so satisfying.
I wanted to grin and wink at him, wanted to crow that I was finally stronger than him.
I’d never been before. Whenever I’d tried to use my powers in any of their presences, they’d always won.
Not anymore. But I kept my grin to myself.
Nonchalant was a better look for me anyway.
“You’ve given yourself to these traitors,” Miriel murmured, her voice stricken.
“They’re the only ones that can give me what I want,” he finally said.
“And what’s that?” Ezrion demanded, his attention laser focused on Calyx again.
“My freedom,” he said, his voice hardening. “Lily is the only one who can give me that, because you damn well know Lucifer would never!”
“You’re naive if you think she’ll give you anything at all! You think she can actually free you?”
“I know she can,” he argued. “And if you’d just stop and think about it, you’d side with us too.”
Ezrion’s wings flexed. “You don’t just get to walk away. We pledged ourselves to him! Does your honour mean nothing?”
“I served him for thousands of years!” Calyx shouted, his face darkening with anger.
“It’s finally time I start thinking about myself and what I want!
We chose to fall with him because he had these beautiful ideals.
These beliefs that he could do better. That he could create better.
But look around you! This is all he’s capable of!
Hell isn’t supposed to look like this. These hellspawn never should have existed!
Their fates were altered by him, their souls tainted.
I just can’t stand back and watch that happen anymore. ”
“Don’t pretend to be so altruistic,” Miriel shot back. “We all know you aren’t capable of such emotions.”
Calyx sighed and his shoulders slumped. “Then you don’t know the real me at all. Don’t you remember what it was like before we fell? The beauty, the wonder? In Heaven, life had a purpose. But down here, it’s nothing but rot and blackness.”
My eyes widened. I hadn’t realized how deeply Calyx felt about it.
“They’ll never betray him,” Levi murmured. “They’re too loyal.”
Calyx shook his head, as though he refused to believe that. “For the first time in millennia, you have a choice here,” he said, his voice rising. “Denounce Lucifer, fight with us, and win back your freedom. Or—”
“Or, what?” Miriel hissed.
“Or die,” I said, my lips curling as the word left me.
Ezrion and Miriel both shot me a glare that might have withered a lesser creature.
I met their stare head-on, steady and unblinking.
I’d spent my whole life cowing before them.
No more. The air between us tightened, heat and hatred coiling together, but I didn’t flinch.
Instead, I smiled and showed them exactly who they were dealing with.
“It’s your choice,” Calyx repeated, his words breaking our staring contest.
Ezrion faced Calyx. “Are you sure you want to do this, brother?”
“I’m begging you,” Calyx said. “Please, reconsider.”
Miriel stared at him, heartbreak in her eyes. Something passed between her and Calyx, but after a moment, she shook her head. “No. I won’t betray Lucifer.”
Calyx’s jaw tightened. “Ezrion?”
“I stand with Miriel. With him.”
I glanced at Rathiel and spotted the disappointment in his eyes.
He’d wanted his brethren to join us. I could understand that.
Levi, though—he just smiled. I met his eager stare and found myself grinning back.
His reaction didn’t surprise me. Angels didn’t look too kindly upon their fallen brethren, so them staying gave us a chance to exact some righteous fury.
A beat of silence passed. Then Calyx shook his head. “So be it.”
He’d barely finished uttering the words when Ezrion attacked.
One moment, he stood there glaring at Calyx, the next his blade was slicing through the air, arcing toward Rathiel’s throat.
Steel rang when Rathiel lifted his own blade to deflect, while Miriel launched herself at Calyx, her own blade flashing in Hell’s fiery glow.
“Vanguards! Attack!” I shouted, the order sparking through me like a live wire. For a heartbeat, I suddenly understood why my father liked giving orders.
Both sides surged forward, the two front lines meeting in a clash of steel, fists, and claws. Levi instantly took to the sky and raced toward the watchtowers.
“Go, Lily!” Rathiel shouted.