AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m not sure. That was when the Wretched attacked. He got away from me, then.”
“Medrion was just stalling,” said the Tyrant. “He would have said anything to save his own skin.”
“I don’t know… I feel like he was telling the truth.”
“Why? What reason could you possibly have to trust anything he says?”
I didn’t know.
I had even less reason to trust Medrion than I had the Tyrant, but with some strange kind of confidence I knew he hadn’t been lying. Luciferwasinvolved, somehow. Or maybe he was the key to all of this. I wasn’t sure.
Still, I felt right in invoking Lucifer’s name, despite Helena’s apprehension.
“That Lucifer could have a hand in this…” the Tyrant said, then paused. “Could he or his demonic legions have somehow infiltrated Heaven and… struck God down?”
“And gotten all the way to Her without anyone knowing?” asked Helena. “We would have sensed it. I would note too, that demonic activity seems to have decreased since the Burn.”
Demonic activity wasn’t unheard of on Earth. Whether some demon managed to crawl its way out of Hell or was summoned by stupid, human occultists, occasionally one slipped through and made a mess of things. Angels like me and my unit were sometimes sent down to Earth to deal with them or clean up the aftermath of their passing.
That God was dead, and all the angels had fallen and were roaming the Earth maybe meant demons were less inclined to venture out.
“So, Medrion was lying,” Helena said, a definitiveness to her tone. “Lucifer couldn’t have gotten to God. He would first have needed to escapeHell, and even if he did, the stench of his demonic taint would’ve been far too powerful to hide. And we haven’t sensed his workings down on Earth, either. If what you’ve told me about Medrion is true, I agree with the Tyrant that he was likely trying to get you to hesitate.”
“I… suppose…” I conceded, though in truth, I was disappointed. Lucifer’s involvement in the Burn would mean there were answers to be found, and maybe even a solution. If he had nothing to do with it, then that meant we were out of leads once more.
Still, I couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that hewasinvolved.
“Lucifer had nothing to do with the Burn,” said Micah, his voice rising out of the blue.
“What do you mean?” asked Helena.
Micah looked up at all of us, his boyish eyes sparkling with otherworldly knowledge… and full of grave worry. “Lucifer is no demon… and he’s not in Hell.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
SARAKIEL
“Micah…” Helena ventured. “Please elaborate on what you just said.”
The three of us—Helena, the Tyrant and I—stood in stunned silence around Micah, in the wake of what he had just said about Lucifer.Lucifer is no demon.If he wasn’t, that was news to all of us, since Lucifer was the first angel to get thrown into the pit. The pit wasbuiltfor him, and in the belly of the pit is where angels became demons.
That much was a universally accepted truth, and the main reason why I tried to save Gadriel.
Angels, once created, couldn’t be destroyed—not before the Burn, anyway. God also wasn’t in the business of killing Her creations. Instead, those that sinned against her—and usually far worse sins than what Gadriel and I had been sentenced for—were broken of spirit and sent to the pit, where they would sit, writhe, and squirm for all eternity, knowing just how much they had disappointed Her, how much they had hurt Her.
There had always been rumors that Lucifer, having been the first and most powerful angel thrown into the pit, found a way out. Not out, exactly, butthrough. They said he had managed to bore a hole into the walls of the pit and carved a deep, and darkdomain for himself. A place where he and his followers would be safe from the Light of Heaven. The Light that burned a demon’s tainted body, caused it to melt away and disintegrate.
No demon could ever set foot in Heaven.
Not even Lucifer.
“Luciferisa demon,” the Tyrant contested. “He’s the first.”
Micah shook his head. “You’re wrong.”
“Do not stretch this out, boy. Get to the point.”
“This boy is a Cherub,” barked Helena. “Watch your words.”
