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Medrion took to the air on his wings and held himself up in front of Lucifer, who spread in arms in defeat. “Yes,” he said, inching closer to the first Lightbringer. “You, Lucifer… arepowerless.”
Lucifer and Medrion squared off. The sadness in Lucifer’s eyes was gone, replaced by a stoic determination. “Do what you must do, Archangel,” he said.
Medrion grabbed at one of the chains that bound Lucifer to the Pit, unimpeded by its pull, and, with his bare hands, tore them apart. “Your machines are broken, Lightbringer,” said Medrion. “Your world lies in ruin, your creator is dead, and your rebellion failed. But I am here to save us all.”
“I know you will,” said Lucifer. “Your intentions are good, and pure.”
I screamed, not only because the Pit was slowly pulling me further in, but also because I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “He’s a monster!” I yelled.
“I am no monster,” said Medrion as he continued to work through Lucifer’s chains. “I am going to usher in a new age for angel-kind. I shall not be an absent creator, but a mighty deity, righteous and true—powerful, and beautiful without comparison. All will bow to me and fear me as much as they love me.”
I slipped another couple of inches, the pain shooting through my fingers. My hands were shaking, feathers were being pulled from my wings and were falling into the pit. I wasn’t going to make it another few seconds, and there was nothing I could do.
Someone grabbed my wrist, and when I looked up, I saw Abaddon. He had one hand up to his mouth, his finger across his lips, and with his other hand he pulled me up and over the ledge. I fell into him, sobbing from the pain and the panic of what had almost just happened to me.
I was about to open my mouth to speak when Abaddon wrapped his hand around my lips. “We have to leave,” he whispered.
I violently shook my head. Leave? We couldn’t leave! We had to stop Medrion!
“We have failed,” he said, as if he had read my mind. “We cannot stop this from happening, Sara—and I cannot let him hurt you. I have to get you out of here, now.”
I was crying silently into the palm of Abaddon’s hand. We had to do something. We hadn’t come all this way to do nothing. But Medrion was already done with two of Lucifer’s chains; soon, he would free…wait.
Wait.
Why was Medrion freeing Lucifer? Medrion had come here toconsumeLucifer, he didn’t have to free him to do that. I stared up at the first angel and at the archangel I hated with every fiber of my being.
None of this makes sense.
CHAPTER THIRTY
SARAKIEL
Abaddon pulled me to my feet and put his finger to his lip once more, dropping his hand from my mouth. He led me quietly around the edge of the Pit, aiming to make it back to the opening we had spilled through. Looking up at Medrion, though, I wasn’t even sure he would stop us if he did see us—he seemed entirely absorbed with what he was doing.
It didn’t take him long to undo the last of Lucifer’s bindings, and when all of his chains were undone, Lucifer lowered himself to the ground; floating through the air effortlessly without a single beat of his wings.
Abaddon and I had reached the opening that would lead us back to the labyrinth, but I stopped us from going through. “Wait,” I whispered, looking back with a growing sense of horror and dread, my stomach tightening itself into a knot. “Something is wrong, look.”
Lucifer and Medrion stood face to face in front of the Pit, both about as tall as each other, only Medrion was clad in golden armor that made him seem bigger;mightier. Medrion puffed up his chest as he stared down the first Lightbringer. “I have freed you,” he said, “Now you mustkneel before me. Such is God’s decree.”
Lucifer smiled at him. A soft, warm smile. He reached a hand up to Medrion’s cheek and gently stroked it. “God’s decree…” said Lucifer, trailing off. “What else did God tell you?” he asked as he gently thumbed Medrion’s jawline.
Medrion grabbed Lucifer’s hand and pulled it down. “She told me you would kneel to no one but me, and I demand to see that done before I consume you.”
Lucifer looked past Medrion to me. He didn’t have to move his head to look at us, only glance at us.
“Didn’t anyone tell you, Medrion?” He said, eyes still fixed firmly with mine.
“Tell me what?” Medrion asked, impatiently.
“God isdead… So, She hasn’t been the one sending you messages.”
“What are you—” –before he could finish, Lucifer grabbed Medrion’s head with both of his hands, and with a single, brisk movement, he snapped Medrion’s neck with a sickening crack.
The archangel crumpled to the ground, his eyes wide, his head twisted the wrong way around. Lucifer looked down at the dead archangel, sighed, his shoulders falling. With a soft shove of his foot, he swept what was left of the archangel into the Pit. Medrion slipped away into nothingness, soundless.
“A shame…” he said to himself, echoing a word Medrion liked to use. Abaddon was trying to tug me away when Lucifer turned to look at us both. His smile was wide, and beaming, his eyes bright and filled with hope, and warmth. “I hope you aren’t planning on leaving, now, are you?” he asked.
