The words hung in the air, heavy and strange.I stared at him, my mind trying to make sense of what he had just said.I wasn’t sure what stunned me more—Rathiel claiming I’d led a rebellion, or that he was including himself in that group.“Us?”I asked slowly, my voice cautious.“You…fought with me?”
His head dipped in a single nod.“I did.”
I couldn’t wrap my head around it.Rathielfighting alongside me?That didn’t track.Rathiel had always been faithful to my father, the enforcer who did everything asked of him without question.
“Youbetrayed Lucifer?”
“Yes,” Rathiel said quietly, his voice resolute.
The idea was absurd.It didn’t make any sense.“Why?”
He didn’t answer.
A bitter laugh escaped me, but it lacked genuine humor.“You’re lying,” I said, though the conviction was slipping from my voice.“You would never betray him.You’re loyal to a fault.Always have been.”
“I wasn’t loyal to him, Lilith,” Rathiel said, his voice hardening.“Not in the way you think.”
I shook my head, still trying to make sense of it all.“You were his weapon, Rathiel.His tool.My whole life, I watched you do his bidding, no questions asked.”
“Because I had no choice,” he growled.He pushed to his feet and strode to the window, his steps slow but purposeful.“When we fell from Heaven, your father insisted we take vows and pledge ourselves wholly in his name.We did so without a thought.It didn’t take long for us to realize that we’d given up something truly precious.”He sighed, a sound full of heartbreak.“Our free will.We could not disobey.The magic binding us together wouldn’t allow it.No matter your father’s orders, I couldn’t to do otherwise.”
I blinked, shock rippling through me.I didn’t know the fallen had given up their free will.Suddenly, my whole life began to make more sense—the way my father’s inner circle obeyed his every command without question.All these years, I’d believed them loyal by choice.But I understood differently now.Lucifer had shackled them to him.Rathiel too—until Lucifer freed him.
“Then…how?”I whispered.If he couldn’t disobey, how could he have sided with me?
Rathiel’s jaw clenched, his voice laden with the weight of old wounds.“When you joined the rebellion, your father was furious.But he’s a strategist first and foremost, always planning three steps ahead.He saw an opportunity, and he ordered me to infiltrate the rebellion.He believed that, with me there, he could tear the rebellion out at the roots.I was supposed to prove my loyalty to the rebellion by denouncing him, betraying him in front of your followers.Make everyone believe I had turned against him.But in order to accomplish that, he made a fatal mistake.He released my from my vow.”
The air left my lungs in a sharp rush, the last of the puzzle pieces falling into place.
“He thought he was being clever.”Rathiel’s lip curled in disdain.“He knew I would need my free will if I was going to convince the rebellion, and you, that I was truly on your side.Without it, I couldn’t have defied him convincingly.So, he severed the bond.”
I couldn’t fathom my father’s arrogance, the complete certainty he must have had in his control over Rathiel in order to take that risk.
“He believed you’d remain loyal regardless,” I said.
Rathiel nodded, his expression tight.“He never considered that I might take my freedom and never give it back.He underestimated me.”
My heart pounded as the gravity of his words sank in.“So you took that freedom and…what?Sided with me in this rebellion?”
“Yes.”Rathiel’s voice was steady, resolute.“I finally had the chance to make my own choices.For the first time in centuries, I could do as I please.And I did exactly that.I chose you over him.”
“But why?There’s nothing special about me, I’m just?—”
Rathiel closed the distance between us in three long strides.“Everythingabout you is special.You are a true leader, Lilith.Where you inspire loyalty, your father commands through fear.Where you lead with kindness, he rules with an iron fist.He is a blight on Hell.You are the light.He is nothing but darkness.”
I started to shake my head, but Rathiel wouldn’t have it.“It’s who you are, Lilith.It’s in your bones.You led us with fire and conviction, and that part of you hasn’t changed.It never will.”
I shook my head, refusing to accept what he was saying.“I’m nothing now, Rathiel.My memories are gone, my wings—” I stopped, my breath hitching.The phantom pain of my wings being ripped away flared at the thought.
He took another step toward me, his gaze never leaving mine.“Your wings were only a part of your strength.They didn’t make you who you are.Your father may have taken them, but he didnotbreak you.I saw to that.”
Something clicked.Deidre’s words in the mine came rushing back, loud and clear, echoing in my head.
You left quite the mess behind, Lily.And you know your father—someone had to pay the blood price.He made sure of that.And the lucky winner is someone you know very well.
I had dismissed her words at the time, believed it to be part of her twisted mind games.But now?Now it was all starting to make sense in a way that made my heart absolutely ache.
Your father got his hands on him not long after you disappeared.Poor Rathiel—he never saw it coming.
