Rage does the trick.
I lean into it, growling through gritted teeth:“What do you want.”
Again, no reply comes. I expected just as much, but it was still wortha try.
At least my will to live is still thoroughly intact, even if I am acting a bit more impulsively than I prefer. I know I need to get a handle on my anger and play the long game. If I’m stuck here, I should use this to my advantage. Because I’d be a fool to pass up any opportunity to scope out the Adversary, right?
“Fine. Let’s say you’re the devil himself.” I keep my voice as flat as possible, and I’m glad the bag over my head hides how my nose cringes in repulsion. It sickens me to entertain him. “That makes you the first beast of Revelations, yeah? Let me guess: You’re going to free Azael, and he’ll be the second one?”
A hint of amusement edges his low, rolling voice. “Your beloved Council told you Azael was still imprisoned? I thought they might have let the Key to the Abyss in on our little secret by now.”
“Of course he’s…” I trail off, second-guessing myself.
“—Still held in captivity, being eternally tortured? Yes, it’d be very convenient if everyone believed that, wouldn’t it?”
Shit, shit, shit. He’s already getting to my head! I cannot put myself on the back foot here. “Look, if you’re going to kill me, could you just do it already? I’ve never been dead before, I’d like to give it a try.”
My captor fuckinglaughs, and I get the feeling it’s not at my sarcasm. It’s a low, villainous sound that makes my blood boil even hotter, and he ends it with a steadying inhale. “Ah,foolish girl. Do you not think I’m aware of your immortality? If I killed you, you’d just come right back, and I would have lost track of you. No, I have no desire to do that.”
The reality of how deeply fucked I am starts to set in.
If my captor is telling the truth, then the Adversary wouldn’t even need an Antichrist. Not when they already have him.Azael.
He’s the one who brought so much evil into the world that God decided genocide would be a better option than letting it fester. If he’s returned from wherever the Council had him locked away, then the end of the world must be a lot more imminent than I had thought. The opening of the Abyss isn’t until the fifth trumpet in Revelation. Therewere supposed to be seas of blood and such before me. Is it out of order? How much time do I have left? I have to warn somebody?—
“There’s nothing to panic about, girl. I have no motive to deceive you. I only want to have a little talk while we have the chance.”
With a sudden ache in my chest, I realize he’s reading every emotion in my soul. Uninhibitedly. Just like Abaddon.
And I can’t even feel him do it.
He doesn’t skip a beat, jumping straight into his next detestable musing about his findings: “Interesting. That scares you even more.”
“Stop it,” I growl, trying to clear my ego. I need to ignore his bait. He’s counting on me to be emotional, so I’ll do the opposite. I’ll think only with logic—even if it requires taking a likely noticeable steadying breath before I can say anything again. “Why did you abduct me?”
“Straight to the point, are we?” Insolence pours from his every word. “Fair enough. You see, girl, I need you to?—”
“Kae,” I correct him, venomous and spiteful. “Not ‘girl.’ My name is Kae.”
Another pause. “Your birth name is Kaelene, actually.”
I jerk against my chains like a rabid, caged, snarling animal. “My name iswhatever I fucking say it is!”
“Such a spiteful little creature,” he notes with acidic amusement. “Have you always been this uncivilized, or did the locust king turn you that way?”
“Have you always been this much of an asshole?” If one thing gets unreasonably under my skin, it’s self-righteous assholes calling me a name I no longer choose to use. “How about your name, you goddamn hypocrite. Did you give it to yourself after you got tired of Lucifer, or was it always Azael?”
There’s a beat of silence—followed by a short huff of a laugh.
“Interesting. Why ask me my name if you already know? Perhaps you’re more clever than I thought.”
I didn’t. It was just a hunch, and I never expected him to outright confirm it for me, but…holy shit. He’s Azael.This is actually Azael.
“And now the confidence diminishes,” he muses. “Your humannature reveals itself so easily. You’re very much afraid.”
“No,” I scoff, refusing to give him the satisfaction of being right, even if I’m internally panicking. “I’ve simply confirmed who you are, and now I know that I cannot believe a word you say.”
“Oh? And who am I?”
