Page 27

27

DIANA

“ Y our time-rewind magic trick didn’t work on me. Probably because Fae aren’t susceptible to such things, or I’m just too powerful, like Lucifer and Michael.” He gave the guys a pitying glance. “The first thing I did was check on Claw, Fang, and Tank. Their habitat wasn’t breached. Then I checked on your family and Feta in their safe location. They’re all fine. Judas will check in on then periodically during the battle.

“Thank the stars,” I breathed. Judas and Angela may have their issues, but I trusted him to keep them out of harm's way.

“I figured the first thing you’d do is try to release the guys, so I went into my old room—you know, the one I slept in when I was trapped here for centuries—” he reminded us all, as he cut a probing glance at Lucifer. “I found the original schematics for the actual pit, where the prisoners are held. There’s an emergency button.”

“Which does…?” Bash asked.

“We press it, effectively stopping the magic that creates each prisoner’s person Hell. The door to all the cells will open, which would free them…and all the other prisoners. Which would suck, but…you’d be free. It’s the only solution I can find to get the job done,” Q said.

“I had suggested early on we recruit the prisoners and offer them commuted sentences, but no one listened to me. Just pointing it out, in case you all forgot,” Ares grumbled. Being trapped down here was making my happy lunatic cranky as fuck.

“Well, since I’m calling the shots now, I say we press it,” I decided. “It’s a great idea, Ares.” I was willing to do anything to set my men free. Fighting Red alone would lead us back to the same outcome as before, and I refused to watch him hurt my men.

I would not fail the entire world a second time.

“How will you win them over? Some of them were put here by Lucifer, so seeing him won’t help our cause,” Az asked. “And they’ll see Quelier right away and know something is up.”

“Hmmm…” I stared at my father as I thought of something. I lit my finger on fire, then extinguished it, then repeated it. Sometimes it helped me think.

“Your magic works down here?” O asked.

“Yes, because I’m not in a cell, duh,” I answered.

“Well why don’t you transfigure them to look like someone else. If you can morph your own features, you can probably morph someone else’s,” Michael suggested.

“It’s a thought…” Truly, it’s the only option we had at this point. The longer we pussyfooted around on pushing the button, the less time we’d have until the alarm went off.

“You’re going to do it even if I disagree with you? I don’t think adding a bunch of unknown variants into the mix is the best idea.” Desmond’s golden eyes silently pleaded with me to think of another way.

“One hundred percent. Show me the button, Q.” I cracked my neck, mostly out of nervous habit. The longer I stayed down here, the more antsy I felt.

My PA waved his hand, and a big red button the size of a dinner plate appeared on the wall between the two cells. “Press the button…” he said in an ominous voice.

With nothing but hope and pure fucking dumb-bitch energy, I pressed the button. The doors to both cells released, and everyone walked out. Lucifer bent down so I could fix his face. I had no clue if I could do it, but it was the best shot we had.

Placing my hands on both of his cheeks, I channeled a small flow of my magic into his skin, least I use too much and fuck it up. I thought of the bridge of his straight nose becoming crooked, and his eyes changing to a deep green. Then I imagined how a rounder facial shape, no beard, and higher cheekbones would look. As I thought of each aspect of his face, my magic changed it. By the time I was done, I barely recognized Dad.

“Woah, he’s a whole new person…” Michael commented, reaching out to touch Lucifer’s face in awe. “This new look is something .”

“But not as handsome as the original, right?” Dad asked.

“Hmmm, I can’t say for sure. Let’s try it out for a few days and see what Marilyn thinks,” Michael teased him. While my father’s flirted, I made Q’s hair black. Then I gave him apple shaped cheeks and a button nose. He seemed different enough to pass as another person.

A trumpet sounding through the entire pit startled me. It wasn’t the alarms, but a sound coming from the bottom of the pit. The floors where the worst of the worst were kept. I faded us down to the bottom floor of the pit. It was the largest level, where the most dangerous prisoners were held under the strongest magic. The oppressive heat stifled my breathing, and sweat crawled down my back like a slinking creepy-crawly. A group of prisoners gathered around a giant…well, I wasn’t sure what the creature was.

It towered over Ares, Oisín, and Desmond, three of the biggest men I knew, by at least a few feet. It had a humanoid form, with distinctly masculine facial features, but a demonic body. Massive black horns protruded from its head, like a bull’s. It had bird-like claws and huge black feathered wings. The most remarkable thing about it was its eyes—two glittering yellow orbs with black vertical slits, so reptilian…intense. Angry. Crazed. Freed.

And they were staring directly at me.

The way the other demons flocked around him designated him as their leader, so he was the one I’d deal with.

“Diana…” Desmond said cautiously.

“I got this,” I said, even though I had zero clue what I was doing. I stepped forward, until I was close enough for the creature to hear me.

It inhaled deeply, its slit pupils dilating as he captured my scent. The guttural, crisp sound it made was…terrifying. And unnatural. But I put on a brave face, because this was my only chance to get things right.

“A female Morningstar. Interesting . And two male Morningstars,” it stated, glancing at Oisín and Lucifer. “Did your crook of a father send you down here to imprison us again?”

“My name is Diana Morningstar, and I am representing my father, Lucifer, but not to imprison you. We want to set you free,” I announced. “A great war is happening above, one that will change the world. We want you to fight for us in exchange for your freedom.

Some of the prisoners seemed excited by the possibility of freedom, whereas most of them were stone faced. A small red demon to the creature’s left gave me a smile filled with pointy, needle teeth. Another shook its head in obvious disbelief.

“I am Xhaltion, and I have existed in this pit for centuries. We are already free, Diana Morningstar. And we will not fight in a war for a traitor who trapped us down here for eternity,” he growled.

“Only because I made it so. I can lock you back into your cages, or I can be merciful and end your lives. Because I promise you this…If you thought Lucifer was awful, Red will make him look like a parlor trick. He will use the very wickedness which landed you here for his own benefit, until there’s nothing left of you to squander.”

The prisoners whispered amongst themselves. I could tell from their expressions that some of them knew who Red was. Others were buoyed by the idea of war and bloodshed, insisting they should participate for the chance to sow chaos. One demon pointed to Oisín, then said something to the creature in a language I didn’t understand.

“We wish to talk to Lucifer’s heir apparent to discuss the matter further,” he requested, his lips curling in a sneer at me. His tail swished behind him, conveying his arrogant attitude.

“That would be me,” I commented drolly.

His skeptical facial expression enraged me, and I was tempted to rip his tail out of his ass and shove it down his throat. Of course this horned fucker didn’t think a woman could be Lucifer’s heir apparent. Sexism existed even in the deepest, darkest parts of the world—and I shouldn’t have been so surprised—but after dealing with sexism my whole life, I was tired of it.

I channeled the anger and injustice I felt, focusing on the demon standing next to Mr. Sexist Asshole. With merely a thought and a wave of my hand, I snapped its neck. For good measure, I levitated it by the horns and shredded the corpse into dozens of pieces before setting them all on fire.

Try reanimating as a pile of ashes.

“Every time you annoy me, I’m killing one of you. It’s no sweat off my brow if you die here or on the battlefield. I’m growing bored of this and may lock you all up again for fun.” I put my nose in the air, just to drive the point home of how beneath me I wanted them to think they were. I had to display dominance, Head Bitch In Charge energy.

The massive thing aimed a neon wave of magic at me. He was completely caught off guard when I stopped it and redirected it at him, hitting him right between his eyes. His roars and growls of fury made his counterattack sloppy. Each hit was either aimed badly, or slow enough I could block it.

“Instead of wasting your time, why don’t you fight me, one on one? If I win, you all fight for Lucifer Morningstar. If you win, you can all go your own ways.” I heard my men’s gasps behind me, and felt Ares put his hand on my shoulder. Whether it was to support me or stop me, I wasn’t sure.

The monster took too long to answer so as promised, I directed a black wisp of shadow down the throat of the poor, tiny demon with the needle teeth. It wrapped around his throat, and before he could try to fight his way out, I snapped his neck.

It’s nothing personal, bro.

“And what if we slit the throats of everyone in your entourage and leave? I will not be forced to play your games, little girl.”

“Oh no he did not just call her that!” Quelier’s outburst carried through the whole cavernous space. “You want to die today, don’t you?”

“I think he does,” Desmond agreed. “But let me do the honors, dollface.” I saw his horns pop from his hairline out of the corner of my eye.

“No, let me. I want to mount that ugly mug of his on my trophy wall,” Ares guffawed. “Maybe you can use his blood to paint me a new original piece to go next to it, Oisín?”

Oh yeah, because I damaged the other one when we lived in Las Vegas.

“It can be a wedding gift,” he offered. “Assuming she doesn’t get tired of you by then.”

Xhaltion huffed and puffed, growing tired of our banter. You’d think after being down here for so long with the same company, he’d enjoy some lively conversation.

“You’re going to play my games, and when you lose, you’ll make a magically binding deal with me on your group’s behalf. Because if you don’t, my men and family will pregame with you all before we go back up and slaughter Red’s entire army. They make me look like a ray of sunshine.”

“Fine. Kiss your people goodbye. I’ll make your death quick for their sake and give them a head start before I slaughter them all,” he quipped.

Everyone stood off to a circle around us, except Lucifer, who bent down to whisper in my ear. “I sentenced him here. He has mind powers, most notably compulsion. Keep your shields strong, and aim for his throat.”

Desmond stood in the center of the circle, acting as the referee. “You’ll fight until someone taps out or to the death. Good luck.”

I casted a shield over the circle the second he left it, sealing us inside a bubble. The shield blocked his ability to cast mind magic, only leaving him the option for magical combat. He hit me with a blast of fire, but I was able to block most of it. A small lick of it hit my leg, but it would heal. I had to focus on incapacitating him. Or worse case scenario, he had to die.

My magic buzzed under my skin, and I let my intuition guide me. It had never steered me wrong before in difficult moments. Opaque black fog erupted from my mouth, curling around and filling the bubble until it blocked our view outside it. It made its way down Xhaltion’s throat, choking him until he was scratching at the shield around us in a desperate bid to escape. I wielded a rope, wrapping it around his throat and pulling him back to me. It winded down his body, trussing him up like a juicy Thanksgiving turkey.

“Do you want me to choke you and burn you to ashes like I did to your friends, or do you want to tap out and live to fight?” I asked him. He thrashed as much as he could, rolling his body and shaking his head.

“I can’t understand you. Can you repeat yourself?” I asked him, sardonically. I tightened the rope around his neck and eased my fog out of his throat so he could respond.

“Fuck you!” he rasped, thrashing harder, banging his head into the stone floor.

“You’re a feisty one. So you’d rather die than fight under a Morningstar? End your life because of your pride then have a second chance at it? You’re so stupid, you don’t deserve to tap out. Hold still, I’m going to saw your head off for Ares’ wall mount.”

I magicked a dagger, putting it right against his throat. I pressed the blade into his skin, just enough to draw blood. The fight left his body, and he sagged onto the floor.

“I yield,” he shouted.

“Are you sure?” I asked. “It took you long enough to decide, and I won’t give you the chance to fuck me over. If you truly yield, I’ll give you all a clean slate. Freedom. Position in my father’s army if you earn it. But if you fuck me over, I will kill you, and all of your friends here.” He nodded.

I deactivated my shield, letting all the fog go. Then I unbound him and gave him an expectant look.

He sat up, his eyes firmly on the floor as he announced, “I, Xhaltion, yield to Diana Morningstar and accept her terms and conditions on behalf of the prisoners of the Pit. We will fight under the Morningstars for the chance at a new life.”

I offered him a hand, and he shook it. The sparks erupting from our hand signified the sealing of the deal.

“How many of you are there?” I asked him.

“At least a hundred, maybe a hundred and fifty,’ he said, rubbing the sore skin on his hands.

“Ares, you need to get back to your post, Apollo and Morrigan are already looking for you. Take the new members of our army with you.” I didn’t want to part from any of my men, but they had roles to play to ensure this outcome differed.

Ares kissed my cheek, then Mal’s, Zaz, Bash’s and Desmond. He bent on one knee in front of me, taking my hand. Oh fuck, he’s not proposing right now, is he? For fuck’s sake.

“Little Goddess, I will slaughter your enemies, with a smile on my fucking face. I’ll lead this army to victory. When this is all over, I want that cabin in the woods too. I want to meet our children and go on that picnic in the woods with you and Feathers. The six of us will make it happen, I promise you.”

“How did you know about all that?” I glanced at Zaz, who shook his head. He didn’t tell Ares about it…

“I listened to your whole conversation with Feathers that night. When you finally fell asleep, I made Bash enter your psyche and show me, then promised him not to tell you about it.”

Bash sighed, shaking his head. “This is why no one tells you secrets, A-Bomb. You blow them up. Birdie, I promise you, we will get through this. Together.”

The five of us gathered in a group hug, and being surrounded by my men—knowing they fiercely supported me—it made me feel whole. Loved. Safe. I felt warm as my entire body was set alight with a golden glow. My magic buzzed inside me like a fucking live wire, and every atom of my being aligned just right.

Was I still scared? Of course. I was fucking terrified of defeat and losing the people I loved.

But with my men beside me…I felt like everything was possible.

“Awww, love is beautiful,” a feminine, husky voice behind me said. I turned my head to see a bluish translucent figure. She was a living embodiment of water, as if ocean water had formed a beautiful woman and thrust her into the world.

“Thank you, Diana Morningstar. For giving us a chance at a new life. Red trapped me down here decades ago, for a crime I did not commit. Now I’m free to be part of the world again. We all are.”

I walked up to the newly freed prisoner, and reached out a hand. She took it, and I felt the water coursing through her form, wetting my skin. “I promise you I’ll kill Red and make it a world worth returning to.”