He was also lethal, malicious, and cunning. And he was more than willing to do anything to me to get what he wanted. But what did he want from me? Back into Heaven? Had he brought me somewhere that would make that possible?
“I love your eyes, daughter,” he said, his smile growing. “Mine were once the same shade.”
He brushed his fingers over my cheek, causing me to flinch. I tried and failed to get my body to move away from him.
“There’s nothing to be done for the pain, for now, but soon it will be eased.” His fingers caressing my cheek caused another icy tear to slide free. “My child.”
“N-not your ch-child,” I managed to get out between my chattering teeth. They’d become so icy that I was certain they would break out of my head.
He grinned at me and pushed one of his fingers into my cheek until I cried out. He scratched his nail across my skin. Tears burned my eyes, but I refused to shed any more of them, not for this monster.
“More like me than you realize,” he replied, and grinned at me when he pulled his hand away. He slapped his palm against the floor and rose so fast that I barely saw him move until his toes touched my nose. “Let’s get her ready.”
His hands seized me under my armpits and lifted me up. I couldn’t stop from screaming when my bones shattered into pieces. Their shards slipped into my bloodstream, sliced through my veins, and pounded toward my heart, which beat so fast I was certain it would tear out of my chest. Whether my bones really shattered or not, I couldn’t tell, but it felt like it. My screaming stopped when unconsciousness rushed up to drag me into its depths.
***
River
When I woke again, it was to the same cold, but at least my veins didn’t feel as if they were shredding with every heartbeat, and I was certain my bones weren’t in pieces. My bond with Kobal made me stronger and caused me to heal faster, but I could never repair every bone in my body, or survive the pieces of them tearing through my veins.
Cracking my eyes open, I watched as my breath plumed out of me. Lucifer stood before me, his face completely healed except for a puckered area on his chin and another running across his forehead.
“Your hair… gr-grew back,” I chattered, unsure why that was the first thought that crossed my mind, but at least I grasped my memories now. I recalled what Kobal had done to him as I prayed for Hawk and the others to still be alive.
Lucifer smiled at me as he clasped my wrist. I winced, but I couldn’t do anything to stop him from pulling it upward. I fought against the blackness trying to drag me under again. I had to stay awake. I had to know what he planned and where I was.
“Angels are beautiful creatures, my daughter. Imperfections are not allowed. Unlike the filthy demons you’ve been associating with and rutting with.”
“I bet the demons fuck better though,” I replied. I should have just kept my mouth shut, but Idespisedthis creature before me, and I wanted to piss him off, even if it meant he tortured me more. Maybe he’d kill me before he could do whatever he planned. Better death than being Lucifer’s puppet.
“That’s no way to speak to your father.”
Before I knew what he intended, he hammered something through my palm. I jerked and screamed as my flesh and bones were pierced. Blood seeped out of the wound, briefly warming me before it froze against my skin. I bit my lip to hold back another cry. My screams were probably music to his ears.
When I tried to move my other hand, I realized it also had something driven through it as it hung down by my side.Am I standing?
I couldn’t tell. I couldn’t see behind him as a wall of black swirled there.
Wraiths!
My heart sank as understanding hit me. The cold, the lack of being able to draw on anything, it was because he had surrounded me with wraiths. And not hundreds of them,thousandsswirled around us.
This had never been a good situation, but I sensed something very,verybad looming. Something that would help him, and I was the key to it.
Yes, death was definitely preferable at this point. I couldn’t be the cause of this monster becoming stronger. Couldn’t be the cause of more deaths if he succeeded in whatever plot churned within his sick head.
I focused on him again. “What are you doing, Lucifer?”
His eyes sparked with malice over my use of his angelic name, but he didn’t rise to my bait. “Setting the world free, daughter.”
CHAPTER 23
River
Behind Lucifer, angels walked through the wall of wraiths. Onoskelis moved to Lucifer’s right while Caim stepped to his left. Caim’s rainbow-kissed eyes held mine, but his face remained blank. Onoskelis rested her sword against her shoulder as she smirked at me.
“She reminds me of you, Satan,” Onoskelis said.
