Page 57 of She Who Holds My Wrath

“I could try. It would take time, and power. More than I have alone.”

Lucifer’s grin returns, sharp enough to draw blood. It’s all polished cruelty and dangerous amusement. “Darling,” he says smoothly, “if there’s one thing I have in abundance, it’s power.” His words carry that familiar velvet menace, but there’s an edge beneath them now.

Velentha arches a brow, studying him carefully. I can tell she’s trying to determine whether this is genuine or just another performance. “You’d help?”

He gives a careless shrug. “I like the girl,” he replies lightly. “And if Kaelith’s behind this, I’d quite enjoy setting his precious aurora castle on fire.”

The images of his frozen empire burning under hellfire is almost enough to make me smile. “Nothing to do with that boyfriend of yours?” I smirk, unable to resist.

Lucifer’s blood-red eyes snap to mine, narrowing into thin, dangerous slits. The temperature in the room rises several degrees in an instant. Every instinct I have screams at me that I’ve just poked something very volatile. I immediately look away, clearing my throat like that will somehow erase the last five seconds. I am not in the mood to be punched in the face right now.

“Then we move fast,” I say quickly, stepping towards the circle again before he can decide to kick my ass. “We’ll trace the leylines beneath Hell. If Daisy’s alive, we’ll open the leyline on this side so we can bring her back.”

“Them back.” Lucifer growls.

I nod, grimacing at the way I just casually left Maelkar out of the rescue plan. It’s not intentional. It’s just… my thoughts are all on her. On the possbility that I could lose her. No. Not going there.

Velentha rises slowly, pushing herself to her feet with visible effort. Exhaustion drags at her posture, but she forces her shoulders back, spine straightening through sheer will alone. “Then we begin now. I’ll need my grimoire, and⁠—”

She stops mid-sentence. Her gaze goes unfocused, eyes going distant as though she’s looking through the walls rather than at them. Her pupils dilate, swallowing the silver of her irises until her eyes appear almost entirely black.

“Velentha?” I warily move towards her, careful not to scare her. I know being jolted out of any kind of vision can be not only jarring, but potentially harmful.

Her breath catches, a thin, fractured sound tearing from her lips like something’s breaking deep inside her chest. Her hand shoots out blindly, fingers clawing for purchase until they slam against the window’s edge. She grips it so hard the old stone gives way with a sharp crack, splintering beneath her palm.

Panic overruns reason before I even register moving. I seize her shoulders, the heat of her skin startling against my hands. “What do you see?”

Her eyes snap open. The silver in them blazes, incandescent, like molten metal. “Shadows. Chains. Moonlight.” Her voice trembles, each word dragging out of her. “And blood. A lot of blood.”

A chill rolls through the chamber, causing goosebumps to erupt over my flesh. The air suddenly feels suffocating, pressing against my ribs so painfully I’m afraid I won’t be able to take another breath.

Lucifer mutters from somewhere behind me, his voice low and grim, “Well, that sounds promising.”

I pull her into me, lowering my voice instinctively, as if speaking too loudly might shatter whatever fragile connection she still might have to the vision. “Can you see her?”

Velentha’s throat works as she swallows. “No. Just darkness.”

The words hit like a hammer. Darkness. Not death. Not yet, anyway. Just an unknown absence. It’s enough. It has to be enough.

I drag in a slow, steadying breath, forcing the frigid air into lungs that feel way too tight. “Then we get her out before the darkness swallows her whole.”

Velentha moves from my hold, her hand trembling as she reaches down and presses her fingers to the ruined runes. “Then we’d better hurry. Because whatever’s waiting for her in that realm—it didn’t want her returning home.”

Lucifer frowns, the expression tugging his mouth downwards in a way that looks unfamiliar on him. I stare at him, dread already coiling in my gut. “What?”

He doesn’t answer immediately. His gaze drifts to the lifeless circle on the floor, then to Velentha, then back again—calculation sharpening his features.

“If they’re in trouble,” he says slowly, “we can’t just pull them back. Someone will have to go through and retrieve them,” he mutters. “We don’t have another anchor to open a leyline into Aurora’s Veil. We can only open it from this side.” He glances at Velentha. “Right?”

“Shit,” I growl, scrubbing a hand over my face as the reality settles in. “He’s right. Someone will need to be at the other side to help them.”

“But none of us can pass through the Gates,” Lucifer continues, almost too casually. His eyes slide deliberately towards Velentha. “Unless…”

Understanding hits me hard. “No,” I snarl instantly, stepping forwards into his vicinity. “Absolutely not. No fucking way.”

Lucifer’s gaze lifts to mine, cool and unbothered. But something sharp glints behind it. A challenge, maybe, or simple indifference to my authority in this moment.

“Aran,” Velentha says softly. “I’m the only one that can travel through the Gates.”