Chapter 6
Sam led the way, his mood souring with every step.
“Is there something else bothering him?” I wondered.
Azra’s wings occasionally brushed mine, sending zings of power over my shoulder blades.
“It’s the demonic activity,” he said with a shrug.
“Angels and demons don’t really… get along.
” He grinned. “Like cats and dogs, I suppose. Although I’ve seen some cats and dogs have really good friendships.
There are some Youtube videos of this kitten and—”
“Angels watch Youtube kitten videos?” I asked, incredulous.
He chuckled, the sensual sound making my stomach do flips as we walked.
“Sure. Angel Academy is in Purgatory’s realm, or was.
There are plenty of humans there to hang out with, if you know the right places to go.
” He sighed, his wings dropping as they dragged the ground.
“Purgatory used to be fun before Sam had to go and fuck everything up.”
“Pick it up back there,” Sam called out over his shoulder. I wasn’t sure how good angels hearing might be, but the expression on Sam’s face suggested he knew what his brother was talking about. “The air up here is changing. I think we’re getting close to an exit.”
Azra muttered something about Sam’s head and an exit point and I laughed despite the grim set of my thoughts.
Sam shot a look back at us, focusing his attention on his twin.
Azra gave him a look of complete innocence.
“Don’t try that with me,” Sam said.
“Try what, Samael?” Azra asked, a wounded look on his face. He stopped and since he still held my hand, I stopped, too. With his free hand pressed to his chest, he said, “You wound me, brother. I—”
He hesitated, glaring upward as a second drop of water splashed down on his forehead.
One struck me on the nose and I shivered. It was cold.
“Where’s the water coming from?” I asked.
Sam frowned, taking a step toward us as he peered into the gloom above our heads.
“Azra…”
But Azra wasn’t listening. A harsh curse escaped him and then he had his hands around my waist as he dove over me.
He groaned as something crashed on top of us, debris raining down as blood and feathers splattered on my face.
I blinked, stunned, as he took the full weight of the tunnel’s collapse on his back.
His brother released a curse, using a blast of light to push the debris back.
“Catch, brother!” Azra shouted, tossing me toward the identical angel.
Azra hadn’t lifted me with gentle care this time.
He’d hurled me through the air with incredible force and unrelenting strength.
Sam’s face was carved into taut lines as he caught me. I knew they had to be weak after their long imprisonment, but he displayed such casual ease as he took the weight of my body, one arm going around my waist, the other cupping the back of my head, keeping my face tucked against his neck.
The long, lean lines of his body had gone rigid. Another one of the thunderous noises echoed through the cavern. Sam muttered under his breath.
“The ice is melting and shifting the tunnels,” Azra said, kicking off the worst of the debris as his wings cracked back into place. “Maybe Lucifer isn’t as far off as we thought.”
“I don’t think that’s the case, Azra. Lucifer isn’t the only one who can wield Hellfire.” Although his voice was flat, Sam stroked a hand down my back as he let me go. “Come on. We need to get moving.”
And then it was over, as if they hadn’t just nearly killed themselves protecting me.
Because they would do anything for me, I realized, anything at all.
Then there was the other thing he mentioned.
Lucifer isn’t the only one who can wield Hellfire.
Sam’s words echoed in my mind. I was the Princess of Hell. My mother could use that power. As her daughter, the ability lived within me as well. Was I the one who caused this? Could I keep Hell intact?
Should I care?
That thought left me feeling dirty and ashamed.
Yes. I should care. I had friends who came from Hell. I had a demon for a lover and another mate who would be mine—both of them had come from Hell. I had the powers of Hell inside me.
Where we hailed from didn’t define us. I wouldn’t let it.
Something nudged my foot. At the same time, I felt a touch on my mind. Hunkering down, I held out my arms to Uni. “Hi, baby.”
She jumped into my arms, her little head whipping around to glare at Azra, then Sam before burying her face against my chest. “You didn’t like that unexpected bump, did you?”
“Did I scare him, uh… her?” Azra asked. “I’m sorry… What’s her name again?”
I told him and he carefully stroked a finger down her soft, downy back after she deigned to look at him.
“Sorry, Uni.” He gave her the same charming smile he’d shown me. By her puff of fur, it worked just as well on her as it did me.
Uni sniffed, then she sighed, shivered and tucked her head more completely against me, relaxing into the curve of my arm.
“Guess I’m carrying you for a bit,” I said with a chuckle. While Uni liked to hide in my wings, it wasn’t the most secure place if I was going to be hurled by angels in the face of danger.
“Not much longer,” Sam told me.
He pointed. “There’s the tunnel we need. I sense the strongest demonic activity that way.”
I also felt Kaito in Sam’s indicated direction, so it was a good bet.
I definitely had a word or two to say to my demon professor.
The tunnel dipped, then climbed before finally leveling out.
After a quick bend, it opened up and we stumbled into the bright light that passed for day in the realm that held the Academy.
I froze, staring at the oily barrier wavering just feet away, then shifted my gaze to the school, all of it still in one piece.
A sob of relief rose in my throat, but I battled it back. I wasn’t going to cry. Not even happy tears. Not yet. I had too many questions and I needed to know about my mates.
“Lily!”
I turned as a tall man with rainbow hair strode toward me.
Azra stiffened as the male caught his gaze and glowered.
Behind him, there were others and I knew without a doubt that they were like him, unicorn shifters. With their rainbow hair and unnaturally beautiful looks, they could be no other creature in all of the realms.
I started toward him just as Uni leaped from my arms, racing toward the man who had once been her caretaker.
“Keep Uni away from that rainbow jerk,” Azra shouted, but it was too late.
She leaped into Raze’s arms only a few seconds before I reached him. He chuckled, tucking Uni into one arm and wrapping the other around my shoulders. “Get the stick out of your ass, Azrael.”
So, they knew each other. Great.
Azra’s wings flared at the sight of Raze touching me, even in a platonic manor, sending his violet eyes blazing with rage.
Sam rushed in, rested a hand on his shoulder. “Easy, brother. Now is not the time to settle the score between you two.”
Raze squeezed me once more, then broke away. Scratching Uni between her ears and around her horn, he eyed the twins. “I see you found what you were searching for.” He tilted his head. “Although I’m surprised you chose these two sadists as your mates.”
Sadists? That was a weird thing to call angels.
My cheeks heated as the angels moved up to flank me, each of them laying a possessive hand on my shoulders.
Raze arched his brows and his smile widened a fraction, but he didn’t say anything.
Still, nervous and terrified to ask what I really wanted to know, if my mates were still alive, I focused on the other unicorn shifters.
Because I didn’t want to know the answer.
“What are they doing?”
“Healing the barrier,” he said. He lifted one hand, his eyes going distant as a warm red glow began to hover above it. “It’s taking time, but we can do it.”
I nodded, the other question lodged in my throat. I had to clear it twice before I could finally speak. “And my mates?”
The words had barely left my lips before I felt the angels shift their attention to me—their very unhappy attention. Given Sam’s attitude, he didn’t believe in unnecessary distractions.
Well, he was going to have to deal with it.
“They’re alive,” he said, “but we haven’t seen any improvements. I wish I could tell you otherwise. Your mates are safe and they still live—they are fighting, which is a good sign. They remain under our protection and Lucifer isn’t going to get to them.”
Fighting back tears, I nodded as I rubbed my arms against a chill breeze. “Thank you.”
It was getting colder, the temperature already several degrees cooler than what it had been moments earlier.
I had no idea where Lucifer was, or what he was doing. But I had to find him and if the temperature change was any sort of indicator, then he was getting farther and farther away.
Lily.
The whisper came to me from the back of my mind and it sent a shiver down my spine.
Cole.
He’d been silent since our last encounter. I’d been glad, not ready to deal with him just yet.
But the grim tone of his voice as he said my name, just my name, no darkly thrilling flirtation, no innuendo, worried me.
I decided to get rid of Raze so I could respond.
“Keep up the good work, Raze,” I said, offering him a genuine smile of gratitude. “I trust that my mates are in good hands. Could I visit them later? After I’ve taken care of a few things here?”
Lucifer might have fled Hell, and he was likely up to no good, but aside from the encroaching frost, this would be the time to process, rest, and regroup.
And without even knowing where Lucifer had gone, we were sitting ducks, anyway.
I needed to talk to the Dean, and Kaito, and see if they knew anything.
Perhaps my mother had left behind some sort of instructions or guidance.
Assuming it hadn’t been an emergency and she’d left because she had no choice.
Which really had me curious as to what Lucifer was up to. This had to be part of a massive plan. First, infecting my mates with Calamity, giving me a reason to stay in Hell—and perhaps keep it intact so he had a throne to return to—while he went and did… only the gods knew what.
“Of course,” Raze said with a friendly bow, his rainbow hair glimmering in the light of the blood moon that hung over Fortune Academy Underworld.
I waited until he was gone and the angel brothers were caught up in an argument, notably in another language that I didn’t understand, although it sounded Icelandic in nature.
My angels only became more mysterious by the minute.
Turning my attention inward, I faced the darkness lingering inside my soul.
Cole?
There was a faint pause, almost surprise, and then he answered.
We must speak. It’s urgent.
Common sense dictated I ignore him. How often had he manipulated me? Lied to me?
In the short time we’d known each other, it seemed as if every other word he spoke had been a lie and the few truths offered had been done in a manner that would allow him to use me to his benefit.
I couldn’t trust him.
He’d hurt me. Not physically, perhaps, but the hurt was there nonetheless. If he could, he’d hurt my other mates.
And yet…
If anybody would have insight to Lucifer, it was his brother.
It was Cole… my mate.
Is this about your brother? I asked. Sam wasn’t the only one who had to keep his brother out of trouble. Yet, I suspected Cole’s relationship with Lucifer had broken into pieces long ago. They played games of betrayal rather than ones of care.
Yes, he said after a moment. Which means you’ll have to enter the dream realm to find me. Are you feeling sleepy, little angel?