“Another one,” Eros whispered, looking at me.
It had been at least twenty years since the first angel had fallen without their wings having been cut off.And that was Dani’s mother’s greatest friend.I could only imagine who this was.Was it Raphaela?Was this any angel I had known while I was in the sky?
“Dad’s letter.”Realization painted its way onto Dani’s face.“Do you think?—”
“I don’t know,” Eros said.
“An angel fell with wings still attached?”Tonia asked.Her brows were furrowed, and she was holding her hands against her chest—like we cared about decency around here.She gnawed on the inside of her cheek.“That can happen?”She gazed at Dani, never peeling her eyes away.
Eros grasped Dani’s hips, and even I placed a hand on her knee for a moment.Then I pulled it away.Jealousy wasn’t my style.Dani would like me whether she got with Tonia or not.
“Take us to him,” I said.
I stood and pulled on my pants.Dani hopped up and dressed too.
Tonia gazed at Dani.“Can I come?”
“No,” Biast said, not even sparing her a glance.He clenched his jaw.
Eros eyed Tonia, anger pooling in his eyes.“I’ll stay back too.”
Eros buttoned up his shirt, pulled up his pants, and got out of bed.He escorted Tonia out of the Lust Room.They walked down the hall toward the party, and Dani, Biast, and I walked toward the portal.
Twenty-Two
Portals were different for everyone.Some were filled with people’s worst nightmares.Some were filled with people’s worst fears.Mine was filled with Raphaela.
Everywhere I looked, I saw her face on a white backdrop.The white feathers of her wings closing in on me, suffocating me.Her smile when we had been together, when we married.Her begging on her knees for me to stop cursing her from my mind.Me falling from Heaven, at the hands of their god for my pride.
All my pride was on display, yet so was my shame.
I walked through the portal with my head held high.These were memories of long ago, memories I shouldn’t care about.
Dani tugged on my hand, pulling me out of my thoughts and through the portal.Biast was already waiting on the other side—in the portal room in Wrath.
“If I didn’t think you should know, you wouldn’t be here.I have more important things to do, but Sathanus won’t tell you a fuckin’ thing.”Biast yanked open the door from the portal room and walked out, cutting in front of me.
I braced myself for the heat and humidity and stepped out.Fire burned all around the kingdom; black ash rained down upon the both of us.No wonder I never came here.
There was a single winding road to the kingdom itself.On both sides of the road, there were steep cliffs that led straight to the pools of lava, where Wraths liked to tortured humans.If you traveled down the river far enough, you would find Tartarus.
As we walked to the kingdom, the screams of humans echoed.I didn’t bother gazing down at the pits.I had seen it one too many times.I didn’t like torturing the bodies of humans that much.It wasn’t my thing.
I had a thing for the mind.The mind hung by a thin string and had so many layers to fuck with.Even humans had little control over themselves.And corrupting the mind, breaking someone’s will, was so much more fun.
Instead of leading us straight to the castle itself, he led us down a path to the torture pits.On top of dried lava, silver chains were hooked into the ground.Some humans were chained, begging to be let go.They were screaming.They were crying.They looked absolutely useless.
“He’s right over here.”Biast walked over to a tree made of charcoal.
An angel was lying against it, his white wings attached.All of his feathers were still there, except for a few that had been burned near the edges from the pure fire here.His lips were parted slightly, cracked.His left cheekbone had been scraped from the impact.
I was surprised he wasn’t more hurt.Falling hundreds of thousands of feet and only a mere scrape?
“Is this Belial’s prophecy?”I asked.
“Belial?”Dani asked, brows pulled together.She still had so much to learn.
“She prophesied about The Unholy Trinity.One angel with wings will fall in three of the seven kingdoms.The first angel fell in the Kingdom of Lust years ago.The second angel fell in Wrath.”
