Page 13

Chapter Thirteen

RATHIEL

I let myself drift. Rest.

I shouldn’t have—Hell was no place to relax or seek comfort. But with Lily warm against my side, her head on my shoulder, her breathing deep and even, I didn’t fight it. I’d wanted this—craved it—since the moment I found her again. And now, with her leaning against me, trusting me enough to sleep,I wasn’t about to move.

She needed this. Maybe more than I did.

My arm loosened around her waist, my fingers brushing her hip. She stirred, barely, but instead of pulling away, she pressed closer, tucking against me like she used to before all this happened. I let my head tilt toward her, resting it against hers. A slow, steady breath left me, soothing a tightness in my chest.

After ten years of torture, this had to be Heaven. And right now, in the quiet stillness of the cave, I allowed myself to have it.

The world outside the cave didn’t exist. Not the rebellion, not the Fallen, not even Lucifer’s looming presence. Right now, there was just this . Us. The press of her body against mine, the quiet trust in the way she didn’t pull away.

I didn’t deserve this, but I would protect it— her —with everything I had.

Lily sighed, the sound drawing to mind memories of us sleeping like this. I breathed her in, letting myself believe that this moment could last forever.

“Incoming!” Vol’s shout split the quiet like a blade.

Lily instantly snapped awake, already reaching for her weapons.

The imp barreled toward us, then launched himself at my chest, his fingers digging into my shirt as he scrambled to climb. Lily launched to her feet, her blades already in hand, eyes scanning the cave entrance. I grabbed my sword and rose to my feet.

Eliza cursed and scrambled out of the pool, liquid sloshing. She yanked her base layers back on, then reached for her weapons.

“Hellspawn,” Vol panted.

Relief coursed through me. For a moment, I’d feared the worst—that Lucifer had found us.

“Vol, get Purrgy out of here,” Lily ordered, hellfire sheathing Inferno’s Kiss.

The imp gave an obedient nod and took off toward the back of the cave, chasing off the damn cat. They disappeared into the shadows, out of sight.

Good. One less thing to worry about.

“Should we meet them outside or—” A snarl cut Lily off.

Her grip tightened on her swords, her stance shifting. Eliza, still wet, moved into position, daggers at the ready.

A dozen hellspawn stepped into the cave, their movements slow and deliberate. They weren’t in a rush. They knew they had us trapped.

Their armor was piecemeal, scavenged from whatever unfortunate hellspawn they had slaughtered. Spiked shoulders, plates of blackened metal, cracked obsidian skin glinting faintly under the dim glow of Hell’s skies. Some bore fresh scars, others still had dried blood smeared across their faces.

Recognition settled like a weight in my gut. I remembered them from Fellmoor, watching us from the shadows, their eyes full of cruel amusement.

They had followed us.

Lily shifted beside me. “They tracked us,” she said, coming to the same conclusion as me.

“Great. But it doesn’t look like they’re interested in joining our side,” Eliza said.

I clenched my jaw, sizing them up. No, they weren’t. Their expressions lacked hesitation. They weren’t here out of curiosity. They hadn’t followed us to weigh their options or listen to Lily’s offer.

They had already made their choice.

And that was to kill us. To tear us apart and drag our bodies back to Lucifer like trophies, proof that they’d stamped out his lost daughter and her so-called rebellion before it could truly begin.

The biggest of the group—of course, another brimlord—stepped forward, his eyes flicking over each of us before landing on me. A slow, knowing grin spread across his face. The hellspawn fanned out, silent and sure, cutting off our escape with precise efficiency. This wasn’t about intimidation. It was about capturing—or killing—us for Lucifer. Especially Lily.

I adjusted my stance, shifting slightly in front of her.

Lily immediately stepped to the side, forcing herself back into position beside me, her shoulder nearly brushing mine.

I should have known better.

She wouldn’t want me shielding her. She didn’t need anyone standing between her and a fight.

The brimlord leader watched us. Then, without another word, he lifted his rusted blade and pointed it straight at her.

“You shouldn’t have come back.”

Lily tilted her head, her grip tightening around her swords. “Too late,” she said, voice flat.

The leader bared his teeth, not quite a grin, not quite a snarl. “You should have stayed dead.”

“I was never dead,” she said. “Lucifer lied to you. Because that’s what he does. He twists the truth, bends it to suit him. He tells you what you want to hear, right until the moment he doesn’t need you anymore.”

She wasn’t just trying to get under their skin—she was giving them a choice. Even now, facing enemies who had hunted us across Hell, she was offering them a way out.

The brimlord let out a low, humourless chuckle. “You think we don’t know exactly who Lucifer is?” He adjusted his grip on his hilt. “We don’t serve him because we believe his lies. We serve him because he is Hell. Because he always wins.”

Lily shook her head. I could see it in the set of her jaw, the fire in her eyes—she had been prepared for this answer, but it still pissed her off. “Then you’re a fool.”

The hellspawn’s grin vanished. He lifted his blade in a deliberate movement. Then he attacked.

Lily moved first, meeting his strike with a clash of steel. Sparks flew as their blades connected, the force of the impact sending a shockwave through the cave. She didn’t hesitate—she adjusted, twisting her second sword up, forcing the hellspawn leader to retreat a step.

The other eleven attacked, and Eliza and I burst into action. The cave exploded into chaos, bodies colliding, steel clashing, the snarls and growls of hellspawn mixing with the heavy grunts of battle. Twelve against three. Those weren’t good odds for most people.

But we weren’t most people.

I twisted, bringing my sword up to catch an incoming strike. The netheron pushing against me was strong, but sloppy. His blade skidded against mine, throwing sparks into the darkness. I shoved him back and slashed my sword across his throat. Blood sprayed as he dropped.

Another took his place before the body even hit the ground.

To my left, Eliza ducked under a broad swing, quick and fluid, her dagger flashing upward as she drove it into the venerath’s gut. She yanked it free, whirled, and parried another attack from behind, moving fast and precise.

Lily locked with the leader, their swords clashing together in a relentless exchange. But she wasn’t just defending—she was testing him, pushing, pressing, looking for an opening.

I didn’t have time to watch.

Two hellspawn came at me at once. One swung high, the other low, trying to box me in. I shifted, let the first blade scrape past my shoulder, then ducked under the second. Before they could recover, I lashed out, driving my boot into one’s knee, hearing the sickening crack as the joint snapped. He went down with a howl, and I finished him off with a downward stab.

The other recovered faster. He came at me with a brutal overhead swing. I barely caught the strike in time, the impact rattling up my arms. He pressed forward, trying to force me back.

I let him.

Then, the second he thought he had control, I dropped my weight and twisted my body. His momentum carried him forward, just enough for me to shove my sword up through his ribs. He gasped, eyes going wide, then collapsed.

Lily slashed across the leader’s side, her sword carving through armor and drawing a deep, dark wound. He grunted but didn’t fall.

Eliza spun, ducking behind one vexori and slicing through the tendons in his legs. As he dropped, she rammed a blade into the back of his skull.

I cut another down, barely dodging a spear that whistled past my ribs.

We were cutting through them.

But they weren’t breaking.

Another netheron lunged at Lily from behind. She twisted at the last second, catching the attack mid-swing, but it threw her balance off just enough for the leader to land a strike of his own.

His blade caught her shoulder.

Not deep. Not lethal.

But it was enough to set off the monster within me.

Now that blood filled the air and spilled across the floor, I could finally reach for my power. I couldn’t control blood while it still ran through veins, but once it spilled, it was mine to control. I lifted my free hand, and the air thickened as my power surged through me. A ripple of crimson illuminated my fingers, heat pulsing from my skin as I called to the blood staining the cave floor.

Every drop, every smear soaking the ground, trembled. Then, as if yanked by an unseen force, began to rise.

The hellspawn faltered, horror twisting their faces as they saw my power unfold before their eyes.

The blood coalesced midair, twisting and writhing into a dark, glistening mass waiting for my command.

I clenched my fist.

The liquid hardened, forming dozens of lethal spikes.

Then I shot them forward.

The first volley struck with deadly precision. The leader let out a choked snarl as the spikes ripped through him, punching through his armor like it was paper. His body jerked violently, his limbs spasming as his own blood betrayed him.

He wasn’t the only one.

Three more hellspawn tried to retreat, but they weren’t fast enough. With a flick of my wrist, another surge of spikes shot forward, impaling them where they stood.

Screams echoed through the cave—ragged, raw, inhuman.

The one remaining venerath, still standing, turned to run.

“Rathiel!” Lily’s voice cut through the chaos.

I didn’t hesitate.

A single wave of my hand, and the blood ripped free of the bodies on the ground, condensing into one massive spear.

The fleeing hellspawn barely made it two steps before the blood spear punched through his back, stabbing him clean through the chest. He lurched, arms flailing, before collapsing face-first onto the cavern floor.

Silence.

Lily lowered her swords. Eliza, still gripping her daggers, straightened, eyes flicking between me and the carnage. Lily had told her I drank blood, but she hadn’t mentioned my abilities. And if I wasn’t mistaken, the siren looked a bit shaken.

However, the hellspawn were dead. And right now, that was all that mattered.

I let my power go, and the blood collapsed back to the ground, pooling around the bodies in thick, glistening puddles. Hunger hit me instantly—not enough to slow me down, not yet, but enough to remind me of the cost. There was a cost to using my power, and that cost was hunger.

I’d need to feed tonight. Ideally before we found the next cave. I couldn’t afford not to. Lily needed me strong and powerful—which meant, I needed blood.

“You couldn’t have done that at the start?” Eliza asked.

“Blood has to spill before I can command it,” I told her. “No blood, no power.”

Lily touched the wound on her shoulder. The cut wasn’t deep, but I still caught her wince.

I also caught the scent.

Copper cut through the thick stench of death in the cave. It hit me hard—harder than it should have.

Hellspawn blood was thick, acrid, tainted by this place. But Lily’s? If I lived another thousand years, I would never forget the taste of her blood. The smell of it had my hunger gnawing at the edges of my control. It didn’t help that she’d been my last meal, or that it’d been a few days since I’d fed.

I forced myself to focus. I wouldn’t give in to my need. I’d get her and Eliza somewhere safe, then find myself a fresh meal. Maybe a hellcat.

Lily straightened. “We should move. There could be more.”

I barely heard her. My pulse thudded heavy in my ears, the scent of her blood lingering in the air between us, wrapping around my senses, coaxing something darker to the surface. My fingers twitched, my hunger growing stronger.

I forced the reaction down, shoving it back where it belonged. I’d already taken enough from her.

“Rathiel?” Lily called through the haze, her voice grounding me.

I dragged in a shuddering breath. “You’re right. We need to move,” I said, my voice harsher than I meant it to be.

She studied me for a beat longer, but didn’t push. Instead, she nodded once, then quickly cleaned and sheathed her blades.

The moment Lily finished securing her weapons, a familiar voice rang out behind us.

“Well, that was unnecessarily dramatic.”

The three of us turned to watch Vol and Purrgy strutting toward us, Vol atop Purrgy’s back. The imp slid off and stared at the corpses. Purrgy, however, sauntered away, completely unaffected by the sight of them.

“You know, when you said, ‘keep the cat safe,’ I thought you meant from danger. Not from missing all the fun.” His teeth flashed in a grin as he peered at the nearest body. “Vamp-boy sure did a number. Not bad, though. Very bloody.”

Lily wiped her blade against her sleeve before sheathing it. “It wasn’t fun,” she muttered.

“Speak for yourself,” Eliza said, flicking a bit of hellspawn flesh off one of her daggers.

“Pack it up,” I told everyone. “We need to leave, now.”

Lily grabbed her pack and strode toward Purrgy. When she grabbed the carrier, he yowled his displeasure, but this time, he didn’t fight her when she stuffed him inside. Small miracles. Once she had the carrier secured to her pack, the three of us—four if I included the imp—hurried out of the cave.

But the second we stepped into the open air, I stopped short.

The scent hit me first.

Cold, demonic, male.

My body locked before my mind caught up, my instincts reacting before reason could. My hand clenched around my sword hilt, my shoulders going rigid. The scent wasn’t strong, but it was distinct—too familiar, too unwelcome.

Lily took a few more steps before noticing I wasn’t moving. “Rathiel?” she called, turning toward me.

I didn’t answer.

I scanned the horizon, my breath slow, steady, controlled.

Then I spotted him.

Calyx.

He leaned casually against the rock outcrop a few feet away, one boot planted against the stone, arms crossed over his chest. His dark coat, tattered at the edges, barely fluttered in the stagnant heat. Midnight-dark hair framed a face that was too smooth, too perfect. If not for his eyes, most would have called him beautiful, like all the other fallen.

But those eyes.

Pale, ghostly, unnatural. Courtesy of the somnix parasitic demon residing within him.

A slow, knowing smile curved his lips. “Well,” he drawled, his voice smooth as glass but carrying that familiar undercurrent of something predatory, “I was starting to think you wouldn’t make it out of there alive.”

Lily stiffened beside me.

Eliza’s fingers twitched toward her daggers.

Vol muttered a curse.

I didn’t move. I just stared at him, every muscle wound tight.

Because I knew Calyx.

And if he was here, waiting for us, it meant we had a bigger problem than hellspawn.