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Something inside me shifts, and I exhale a long breath as she materializes in my arms. Cassius falls to his knees behind us, ruining the moment. I roar and swing around, kicking him so hard that he flies back into the lava lake, unable to catch himself before the souls engulf him.
“This is your fault!” I holler, watching Cassius try to pull himself free. “Let this be a lesson. You cannot come into my kingdom and try to steal Raven. You cannot lie and manipulate her. I won’t allow it.”
“Brother, please. Don’t abandon me. I have good intentions.” Cassius struggles to pull himself up, but the souls drag him down. “Luce, I know you have it in you to see what I see. I know that for once, we can agree on things with Raven.”
“No. You don’t have a say in her life and soul. The only way that will ever happen is if you join me by my side how we had originally planned.” I shift Raven in my arms, petting her hair, trying my best to show her that she’s safe. All she does is cling on and squeeze her eyes shut, forcing the world away.
“I can’t. Raven needs someone like me. She needs someone in good grace. Now help me. Prove to me that you have changed.” Cassius stretches his arms up into the air as if some force will drag him from my fiery pit.
I slowly shake my head, turning my gaze from his. I have nothing to prove. His opinion of me doesn’t matter. He doesn’t matter. “I haven’t changed. And you know what? I will abandon you again. You were supposed to follow me, and you didn’t, so this is how things will be until you realize your true purpose. Goodbye, Cass.”
Cassius hollers my name again, but I ignore him and summon hellfire, creating a wall between us. I use it to trap the souls, keeping them from trying to leave the pits of Hell.
Squaring my shoulders, I carry Raven with me and head in the direction of Micah’s kingdom. In this moment, she needs us all together. She needs to know how to fight and keep the darkness of humanity’s worst souls away. We will all teach her. Together. And Cassius is wrong. Raven doesn’t need him. If she needs Heaven’s good grace, she has Elias right now.
Honestly though, the only thing she needs is Hell.
All she needs is her devils by her side and for the seven sinners to join me in creating the eternity humanity and Raven need.
I will do so. I will take down all of Heaven if I have to.
Hell will rise.
Chapter 18
ANDRE
Kingdom Come
“YOU CAN DO better than that. Boredom can be torturous, but it’s nothing to freak out about. The souls need to learn a lesson. They cannot grow otherwise. Our goal is to see to it that when Purgatory rises, they have a chance to go there.” I scratch my fingers across the back of my neck and watch as Zade tips his head back as if he is still trying to tap into Heaven for answers. It will take him time to get used to his new power, but he will get there. I know it. My companion has always been adaptable despite everything. It’ll just take him some time getting used to having control over his path instead of following one put before him.
“I don’t know exactly how I want things to be yet. Give me some time, Andre. All I can think about right now is Raven. I worry about her. The things that I’ve seen the guardians do need to be addressed more than coming up with ways to punish the wicked. I would much prefer to focus my punishment on those bastard angels. They ruined everything. I can’t believe how disgraceful they have become. It makes me question everything.” Zade plops down on the onyx ground and rests his head on his knees. His wings still heal from the attack of the heavenly blade of one of the guardians.
Strolling closer, I sit down beside him and touch my hands to his wings. I summon a bit of Hell power and manage to singe the blood still dripping over his now ruby feathers. He winces and turns his head to me, meeting my eyes. I wish there was more that I could do or say to comfort him, but all I want to do is celebrate that he finally made the right decision, and we are together as companions again.
“I think you should help me cut them off. I can’t stand them. I don’t need them anymore.” Zade tightens his jaw with his words.
I raise my eyebrows. “They come in handy, Zade. You might regret it. Once they are gone, they are gone forever.
“That’s what I want. If I need to fly somewhere, you can do it. Lucian and Kase manage just fine. I can still feel the sting of Heaven coursing over my back because of them.” Zade unfurls his wings and expands them out, showing the clusters of missing feathers and revealing parts of black bone. “I don’t think I can even heal from this anyways. Raven managed to mend my body but not my wings. I think the damage is permanent. They got me mid-descent as I took on a devil form.”
I nudge him, getting him to shift on the ground so I can get a better look. I stroke my fingers along the ruby feathers and to the black bones, feeling the sting that he feels. He might be right. They might be useless after all.
A part of me aches for him, and I blink my eyes a dozen times, clearing my vision. I don’t know what it’s like to make such a decision because my wings are still here. They transformed with me.
“I think you just want me to carry your ass around all the time, you sloth fucker.” I force myself to smile with my words. “I’ve seen how you’ve watched Dante flying with Kase and Raven. You just want to be in the middle of our sandwich, don’t you?”
Zade’s shoulders shake with his silent laughter, and he glances over his shoulder at me with a beaming smile. It’s the first one I’ve seen on him in a long time. He’s usually a broody bastard, and it’s nice to see him like this again. I hadn’t realized how much I had missed our friendship. It has been difficult without him around.
“You just want to try to grind against me when there’s nothing I can do about it,” he says, his smile widening even more. “I’m not sure about that.”
I laugh, the deep sound of my voice bellowing through the air. “You might change your mind. Honestly, though, I don’t care where the pleasure comes from as long as somebody gets it. It’s exhilarating.”
“I can’t say I understand, but I’m not going to say never with Raven involved. I know she likes that kind of thing, and...I don’t know.” Zade averts his eyes and stares at his hands, his smile faltering as he loses himself in his thoughts. I can smell his lust building as he thinks about everything he wants to do with Raven, and maybe even me. I just want to feel the power that comes with my kingdom. It’s hard to explain. I am content when everyone else is. What I want from our eternity is to always have our desires fulfilled.
“I think I’ll talk to Raven about it when I get a chance. I don’t even know if she wants me anymore. I nearly failed her.” Zade releases a long sigh and shakes his head, pushing his thoughts away. “Right now, I just want you to help me with my wings. My decision is final. If you don’t help me, I’ll figure out how to do it myself. I would just really appreciate you doing it for me.”
I rub my hand over my jaw. What if he resents me for agreeing? I really disliked our time on separate sides of humanity.
