The pucás stopped shifting, all their heads turned to me as they awaited an answer. The one closest to Gage rested its horn against his shoulder. Terror flooded me. I’d seen what it could do with that horn.
“No,” Kobal said. “No species will be locked away again because of the actions of one, or even a hundred of its kind. Those who slip up will be punished individually and accordingly for the crime they commit. The demons who were placed behind the hundredth seal for disobeying the laws while on Earth”—a good number of the crowd behind Lucifer leaned raptly forward—“have free reign of Earth now. There’s no reason for them to be punished anymore, unless they do something on this plane that warrants it.
“It will be the same for all demons, Hell creatures, and escapees from the seals. Some things, like akalia vine, will have to be destroyed no matter what. That can’t be allowed to spread across the Earth, and neither can the revenirs and lanavours. However, for everyone else, new laws will be established and those who obey them will find a home here, and freedom.”
They also need to go,I thought as a manticore flew overhead.
“If you follow Lucifer, he will keep you enslaved,” Kobal continued, and his eyes bored into Lucifer’s. The hatred between them sizzled across the air. “He believes you beneath him and expects you to do his bidding.”
The púca with its horn on Gage moved it off him. It glanced at its fellow creatures, and some of them backed further away. If they couldn’t speak, then they must be able to telecommunicate, I realized as more of them slipped toward the woods.
“And what of you, Kobal?” Lucifer inquired as he bounced Bailey on his knee. “I assume you thinkyouwill rule over them, force them to obey your laws, and the laws of the humans you work with—humans who are far beneath angel and demon in strength, yet they stand behind you.”
“They standwithme,” Kobal corrected. “And I expect all of us to work together. We all need each other to survive. Your way will be the end of existence. You seek to destroy. We seek to build a new world from the ashes of Hell and Earth.”
“And you will rule, of course,” Lucifer said and bounced Bailey faster.
Gage threw his hands out toward Bailey when he cried out. His movement caused him to jerk against the barta who slammed him against the throne. “Don’t!” I yelled at it.
The barta revealed all its hideously sharp teeth and released a chattering laugh.
“Better I rule than you,” Kobal said. Resting his hand on my shoulder, he gave it a gentle squeeze. “I am stronger than you, and as you have pointed out, you may have orchestrated the seals coming down, but my queen,myChosen was the catalyst behind it. The power she contains broke those seals, which younevercould have done. She is the first and only true World Walker to exist. No one else can do what she is capable of doing.”
“She ismydaughter,” Lucifer replied.
“I am also Michael’s daughter,” I stated and lifted my chin. I despised being considered the daughter of either of them, but my birth parents weren’t exactly prize winners either, so I didn’t see what difference it made anymore. “I am angel, I am demon, and I am human. You have no claim on me.”
Gage gawked at me before his eyes ran over all those standing behind us. A drakón swept overhead again as all the demons around Lucifer halted. The fallen angels crept closer to him.
“I am still the reason those trapped behind the seals are free,” Lucifer said. “If I hadn’t forced her to do it, if I hadn’t discovered a way to unleash her abilities in a powerful blast, the seals would still be standing.”
Lucifer shifted his hold to tuck Bailey against his side, almost under his wing. My throat went dry as I realized he planned to fly away with my brother. If he fled here with Bailey, he would use my brother against me every day for the rest of our lives. He would twist Bailey to his way, turn him against us, and tear my heart out in the process.
Gage was too far away for Lucifer to grab him too, but Onoskelis approached the barta until she stood beside it.
“I set the demons free, and if they’re to keep their freedom, they must fight for it!” Lucifer called to the demons. “The fires that forged the varcolac were destroyed when Hell fell. Which means Kobal is the last one who can create a seal. If he lives, even if he cannot create seals on Earth, he can still open a gateway into Hell and toss you back in there, for good.”
Malice radiated from the demons behind Lucifer as they crept closer.
“There is no power strong enough to destroy the Fires of Creation,” Kobal stated with a certainty that had many of those gathered around us nodding their agreement. “If I die, a new varcolacwillrise. Unlike me, it probably won’t be inclined to work with any of you.”
The demons on Lucifer’s side all froze.
“Or you could be lying about everything,” Lucifer said. “I say that having a chance to be free for the rest of your existence is worth fighting for. If you bring the girl to me, we will have control of Kobal and you will never have to fear him working against you again. If you kill him, so be it, we will destroy the next varcolac should one arise.”
Some of the púcas approached again while others slipped away into the forest. Lower and upper-level demons vanished into the woods, but more remained. Manticores, bartas, gobalinus, an ogre, and numerous other Hell creatures closed in on us.
“Remember to help Raphael,” Kobal said to me.
“I will.” I glanced to my brothers once more.I love you,I mouthed to them as a bloodthirsty cry rent the air and the battle resumed.
CHAPTER 56
Kobal
I knew Lucifer planned to take flight with the child. If he succeeded in doing so, he would flee as far from here as possible with the biggest piece of leverage he had over River. No matter what happened, I couldn’t allow that.
Turning, Raphael emitted a blast of white hot energy that formed a wall behind us and allowed everyone else to focus on the threat before us. River rested her hand on my arm. Golden-blue light crackled over her fingers and my skin before she moved her hand away and placed it on Raphael’s arm.
