Page 9

Chapter Nine

LILY

I yanked my pack’s strap with a little too much force, the worn leather creaking in protest. It still wouldn’t tighten the way I wanted, which was infuriating because I was the one who’d packed this damn bag in the first place. The stubborn buckle, much like everything else right now, seemed determined to make my life harder.

The main culprit in that department was Rathiel, but thankfully, he wasn’t here right now to see me murdering my bag. He hadn’t returned since he’d stormed out a few hours back. Clearly, he didn’t want to be around me right now. But hey, the feeling was mutual.

I would have killed for a few minutes alone, but without wings, I couldn’t fly off like he could. Instead, Eliza, Vol, and Purrgy sat near the fire, eating their breakfast, while watching me cuss under my breath as I pounded the stuffing out of this stupid bag.

I growled something obscene under my breath and wrenched on the elastic cords one more time. When they slipped from my hand and the bag popped back open, I slammed it down onto the rocky ground. Purrgatory flinched, his eyes narrowed, while Vol bit back a grin. Yes, my pain was so amusing.

“Would it be silly to ask what’s bothering you?” Eliza questioned.

I pressed my knee into the middle of my pack, punishing it for existing. Maybe if I ignored her, she’d take the hint.

“All right,” Eliza mused, stretching the word out. “Let’s think this through, shall we? Is it the pack? Hmm.” She tapped her chin as though trying to solve an actual mystery. “While I think that’s the current source of your annoyance, it’s not the only one. Is it the unrelenting misery of Hell?” She shot me a teasing grin. “Nah, you grew up here, and sometimes I think you revel in chaos. So that leaves?—”

I shot her a look. “Eliza.”

She grinned. “Yes, Lily?”

I yanked at the strap again. “I could throw you off a cliff, you know. There’s plenty of them around.”

She waved a dismissive hand. “You love me too much to murder me. But also, your threats won’t distract me from the question at hand.”

I snapped the buckle shut with unnecessary force and sat back on my haunches, dragging a hand down my face. “You’re exhausting.”

“Rathiel and I could say the same about you.”

That jerked my head up. Eliza’s smile had vanished, and she watched me with a serious expression. “I heard your whole argument,” she said, like I didn’t already know. “That’s what’s bothering you right now. And I’m sorry to say, but I agree with Rathiel.”

“Traitor,” I grumbled.

“Look, I get it,” she said. “You’re stubborn. And this feud with your father is personal. I really do understand that. But this goes so far beyond your feud. Did you forget that I came to help you? That Rathiel followed you here? We did so because we understand how important this battle is. We also came because we both love you—some of us in a more intimate way than others,” she said with a wink. “But neither of us have any desire to watch you destroy yourself. And if you go after your father alone, that’s exactly what you’ll be doing.”

I groaned. “You don’t understand?—”

“No, I do understand,” she said kindly. “You have daddy issues, and I say that in the most loving way possible. If my father were Lucifer, I’d be a little fucked up too.”

“A little?” I said with a bitter laugh.

“Okay, a lot. I don’t know what your life was like before Earth?—”

“It was hell,” I cut in. “And not in the dramatic, angsty-teen kind of way. I mean literal, soul-crushing torment, courtesy of the actual Devil. Whatever nightmare you can imagine? He made it worse. Whatever pain you’ve felt? Multiply it by a thousand, and you still wouldn’t be close.”

Eliza didn’t speak.

“My father is a monster,” I continued, my voice quiet. Even Vol listened raptly, though he disguised his interest by playing with Purrgy’s tail. “He’s a sickness that seeps into your bones and rots you from the inside. And me? I was his pet project, his little experiment. He was determined to mold me into whatever suited him best. Everything was always to ‘better myself,’ or to ‘serve him best.’” My lips curled bitterly. “He carved obedience into my bones, broke me down piece by piece in whatever way pleased him.”

I forced out a bitter laugh, then glanced out the cave entrance to ensure Rathiel wasn’t nearby, listening. He’d been there for it all. Seen it happen firsthand. But I didn’t want him to hear this. Because my whole life, my father and his lapdogs had taught me to mask my emotions and feelings. To bury the pain and the hurt. To never show vulnerability.

“I never got to be a child,” I went on. “Children are allowed to make mistakes. I wasn’t. He punished every single one, beat every weakness out of me. My father didn’t want a daughter—he wanted a weapon he could wield. Why he even bothered having children, I don’t know. I’ve often wondered if it was because it was his ultimate chance to create something. He’s obsessed with that. Creating. Building. Orchestrating. But everything he makes, he twists and warps into his dark image. That was what he wanted to do to me. Thankfully, he failed.”

Eliza slowly nodded.

“The only friend I ever had was a spy, and it took me far too long to learn her true purpose. I loved her, trusted her, and she stabbed me in the back.”

“Deidre,” Eliza murmured.

I nodded. “See why I don’t trust anyone?”

“But you trust me. And you trust Rathiel.”

I ground my teeth, but didn’t argue her point.

After a moment, she asked, “And speaking of Rathiel, I think it’s time you gave me the full story. And don’t tell me it’s too complicated or we don’t have time. Apparently, we have all the time in the world right now, since we can’t go anywhere until Mr. Broody comes back.”

I tipped my head back and released a long breath.

“I don’t even know where to start,” I said with a weak laugh.

“At the beginning, my dear,” she said.

“The beginning. I guess that would be when Lucifer murdered my mother simply because she wanted to keep me safe from him. She stole me from the palace, and that was all the excuse he needed.”

Eliza winced.

“Then when he deemed me old enough to begin training, he handed me to his fallen with orders to teach me. To break me. And they did. To them, training was just a fancy word for torture. They would give me a sword, then beat me bloody just to see how much pain I could take before I’d scream. They would starve me for days to ‘build endurance,’ then throw me into fights to see if I’d survive. If I failed—which happened a lot—they would drag me back by my hair and force me to do it again. Until I succeeded. They would tell me it was all for my own good, that they were shaping me into something better. Stronger.”

A bitter laugh escaped me. “The funny thing is, they weren’t wrong. I did get stronger. I just didn’t do it for them—I did it for me.”

“Goodness,” Eliza whispered, her brow furrowing. “And Rathiel took part in that?”

“No,” I admitted. “He was different. He did as Lucifer commanded—he had no choice. But he always found a loophole. A way to work around Lucifer’s orders while still obeying. He never did more than train me. He taught me how to stay alive, how to fight back, how to wield a sword. And whenever I stepped out of line?—”

“Which I imagine happened a lot,” Eliza murmured.

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yeah, more than he even knew. When I stepped out of line, it was always his job to rein me back in. I resented him for that—loathed him, even. I saw him as my father’s favourite lackey. As far as I was concerned, Lucifer put him in my life to piss me off, annoy me. Both things he did very well. But he was never cruel. Not like the others.”

“Do you still resent him?” Eliza asked. “After everything that was done to you? After everything that’s happened with you two? Taking your memories, sending you to Earth, and all that.”

I thought about it. Really thought about it. For a long time, I’d held onto that anger like a shield. But now? The truth was clearer than I wanted to admit.

“No,” I said finally. “I don’t. He did what he had to do in order to keep us alive. Yeah, he took some very important memories from me, and I can’t get those back. But he did it to save my life. It wasn’t an act of malice—it was desperation. He was just as trapped as me, caught in the same impossible situation, and he made the only call he could. I can’t blame him for that no matter how much I want to. But the truth is, he saved me. And that’s not something I can hate him for.”

Eliza shot me a grin. “Feel better?”

I blinked at her. “Huh?”

“Getting that all out—did it help? Do you feel better now?”

“Uh…what?”

“Ugh, she’s dense,” Vol chirped. He rose from his spot next to Purrgy and stared at me, his little face twisted with annoyance. “Listen, Meat Sack, you’ve been going on and on about how you can’t trust anyone. But look at you—baring your soul like we’re in some group therapy session.” He puffed up and cupped his wee hands around his mouth. “ News flash , you trust vamp-boy.”

I scowled at Vol. “Go find something else to do.”

He stuck his little tongue out at me in response.

“He’s not wrong,” Eliza commented. “You obviously trust Rathiel. And personally, I think that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how you two feel about each other. But that’s a conversation for another time.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but Eliza sighed. “Let’s just agree that you trust him and move on. We have more important things to discuss.”

“We do?”

“My god, Vol is right. You are dense.”

“Told ya so,” the imp muttered.

Eliza shook her head, a look of exasperation twisting her features. “Let’s circle back to this crusade of yours.”

“It’s not a?—”

“Nope, it’s not your turn to speak yet,” Eliza said.

Vol howled with laughter, then ducked beneath Purrgy’s tail when I shot him a glare sharp enough to cut stone.

Eliza leaned forward, her expression serious this time. “You trust Rathiel. And you obviously trust me—you said so yourself. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have invited me along. So trust us to help you. Let us in. Communicate with us.” She drew a deep breath. “Let’s start with you telling me how you intend to kill your father.”

“I haven’t gotten that far yet,” I admitted.

“But you still think this little plan of yours to sneak into the palace is the best option?”

I nodded.

Eliza barely paused. “And you actually think it’s a wise choice?”

“It’s the only choice,” I grumbled.

“That’s not a strategy, Lily. That’s suicide.”

I sighed. “Yes. Rath has already stated his opinion on that.”

Eliza chuckled. “It’s cute when you call him Rath. But I digress. My point is, you’re not thinking clearly. You’re letting your fear of failure drive you instead of figuring out what went wrong last time and learning from it.”

She leaned forward, her voice quiet. “Rathiel was right when he said Lucifer would never let you just stroll up to him, blade in hand. You’ve told me he’s the Devil. Satan. Lucifer. He’d bury you.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I bit out.

“And let’s say you did manage to kill your father,” she continued, ignoring me. “Then what? You think his fallen would just turn their loyalties to you?”

My mouth twisted as I considered that.

“No,” Eliza said. “You’ve stated again and again that their loyalty is to him. If you killed Lucifer, they’d want you dead even more than they do now, right?”

“Most likely,” I begrudgingly admitted.

“Okay… So, I only see one course of action here.”

I frowned. If she thought she could convince me to forget my plan?—

“Let’s hunt the fallen first,” Eliza said.

Her words stunned me into silence.

“Finally,” Vol muttered. “I was beginning to wonder if any of you had a brain.”

I ignored the imp’s commentary—as I often did—and met Eliza’s gaze.

“How many fallen remain?” she asked. “Just the six that we fought yesterday?”

“ Just the six ,” I repeated, laughing under my breath. “Six is more than enough.”

“But there aren’t any others hiding away down here?”

“No,” I said. “They’re all that’s left. And Rathiel, but he’s?—”

“Firmly on team Lily,” Eliza concluded. “Fine. Then that’s your strategy. Take out the fallen first. Weaken your father by culling his strongest warriors. The hellspawn are still numerous, but when Lucifer falls, I suspect they’ll look to whoever takes the throne. You take out his fallen, and you cripple him.”

My whole body stilled the second Eliza finished making her suggestion. Not only because she was right, but because a damn lightbulb had just clicked on in my brain.

The fallen weren’t only my father’s warriors. They were also the essence my father required to build his hellspawn ranks.

I stared at Eliza, stunned completely into silence while this thought—and the resulting plan—took shape in my mind. If we took out the fallen, my father wouldn’t be able to create any more hellspawn. It wouldn’t diminish his current numbers, but it would keep him from creating more. And without that ability, we could finally cut down his forces without him replenishing them.

“Eliza, you are a freaking genius!” I announced, excitement bursting within me. I leaned forward and dragged her into a bone-crushing hug.

“Naturally,” she said, laughing. “That’s why you brought me, after all, but I think I might need more context here.”

I pulled away and beamed at her, my nerves dancing with anticipation. “The fallen!”

“Yes, the fallen. We’ve established that part,” she said slowly, as though speaking to a child.

“Without them, my father can’t make more hellspawn!” I practically shouted. Laughing, I plunged my fingers into my hair and raked the strands back from my face. How had I not thought of this before? “Lucifer uses their essences to create more hellspawn. With them, his army is infinite. I could kill hundreds of them. He’d just make more. But without the fallen?—”

“We can destroy his numbers,” she surmised.

I snatched her for another hug. “Have I told you you’re a genius? Because you are!”

She laughed and slowly extricated herself from me. Then she held me at arm’s length and studied me with a stare. “Glad to be of assistance. But just promise me something. No more asinine plans, no more schemes to assassinate your father, okay? Don’t be the reckless hero who thinks they’re making a noble sacrifice, when really, they’re making a stupid move. We’ve all read about that person. We don’t like that person. Okay?”

“Okay,” I said, my mind still spinning.

Cutting down the fallen to cripple my father’s army—it was so obvious, so painfully simple, I had no idea why it had never crossed my mind before. Maybe because I’d never bothered considering a different strategy. Either way, I was an idiot. A really tired idiot who had dragged a lovesick vampire, a too-smart-for-her-own-good siren, a chaotic imp, and a judgmental cat into the bowels of Hell.

But the more I thought about it, the more this plan took shape. Finally, it felt like we stood a shot. Not to mention, offer me a chance at a little retribution. Any plan that involved killing my father’s fallen, I was down for.

A strong gust of wind swept through the cave entrance, carrying with it the dry, acrid scent of Hell’s air. I instantly reached for Inferno’s Kiss, but my fingers released the hilt when Rathiel flew into the cave.

He landed and immediately folded his wings against his back, his eyes sweeping over me, as though to reassure himself I was fine.

Eliza jerked her head toward Rathiel. When I didn’t move, she sighed dramatically and shoved me hard enough to send me sprawling sideways. My hand shot out to catch myself before I face-planted into the rocky floor, and I glared up at her.

“Go,” she ordered, like I was the difficult one here. “You two need to talk, because I’m not traveling with sulking companions. Sort your shit out while I rescue your sad excuse of a pack.”

I shot a glance at the poor, abused bag and winced. It slumped like it had lost the will to live, half my things spilling out in defeat. Fine. Maybe I’d been a little rough on it.

I stood, brushing the dust off my hands, and turned to find Rathiel staring at me. His tight expression told me he was still angry.

Sighing, I strode toward him and said, “Can we talk? Somewhere private?” I abhorred the idea of having this discussion in front of all the extra ears surrounding us. Vol and Eliza didn’t need to be privy to this conversation.

Rathiel jerked a nod, then without a word, scooped me up and with a crack of his wings, launched us out of the cave and into the air. But instead of down, he carried us higher, to the top of the Blazing Cliffs.

We landed, and Rathiel immediately released me and stepped back, putting space between us.

Oh yeah, someone was pissed.

For a few seconds, neither of us spoke. The wind screamed across the cliffs, carrying with it the scent of sulphur and scorched stone. But between us, the silence was deafening.

Rathiel watched me, his expression blank, but I knew him too well to miss the tension in his jaw, the way his hands curled at his sides like he was waiting for another fight.

But I didn’t want to fight. Not this time.

I sighed and dragged a hand through my hair. “You’re not going to make this easy, are you?”

Rathiel’s brows lifted slightly. “Make what easy?”

“This.” I gestured between us. “Talking. Fixing this. You’re still pissed.”

His wings shifted slightly, his posture rigid. “I have a right to be.”

I blew out a breath and turned, staring at the endless molten sea on the other side of the cliffs. I took a moment to relish the view—it was a sight Earth never could have offered—then faced Rathiel once more. Time to bite the bullet and get this over with.

I scraped my teeth over my bottom lip, hesitating. The words felt foreign, heavy, but I forced them out anyway. “I was wrong.”

That got a reaction.

His head jerked slightly, his eyes narrowing like he was trying to determine if he’d heard me correctly. “Say that again?”

I scowled at him. “Don’t make me repeat it.”

Eventually, a slow, almost disbelieving smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “I think Hell just got a little colder.”

“Oh, shut up,” I grumbled, crossing my arms. “I still think my plan would work.”

His amusement vanished. “No, it wouldn’t.”

Arguing seemed pointless, considering we had a new plan now, so I bit back my retort.

“What changed?” he asked. “Earlier, you were ready to storm into Lucifer’s bedroom alone. What made you see reason?”

“Eliza,” I admitted.

His brow furrowed slightly. “Eliza?”

I nodded. “She pointed out all the holes in my plan, but beyond that, she made me realize that my father isn’t the only problem. When I kill Lucifer, his fallen will come looking for revenge. They would never obey me. So, we need to kill them first. Before we kill Lucifer.”

“We,” he repeated. “Not just you?”

I swallowed. “Not just me. We’ll do this together.”

Relief softened his face.

“This plan comes with an added bonus too,” I continued. “Killing Lucifer’s fallen keeps him from creating more hellspawn. Which is another win. The fewer numbers he has, the better our chances of survival are. I suppose if we’re going to do this, then we should do it right, and that means…” I took a deep breath. “Raising another rebellion and?—”

I didn’t get to finish.

Without warning, Rathiel stepped forward and swept me into his arms, crushing me against him until my bones audibly protested. The force of it nearly knocked the breath from my lungs, my feet barely touching the ground. His grip was solid, unyielding, and for a second, I thought he might actually break me. But I didn’t care.

Because beneath the iron hold was something fierce, something raw.

Relief.

Rathiel buried his face against my hair and curled his wings around us, shielding us from the rest of Hell. He wasn’t just holding me. He was grounding himself, as if he needed proof I was still here, still alive, still willing to fight.

I swallowed hard, my arms lifting hesitantly before finally wrapping around his waist.

“You have no idea how badly I needed to hear that,” he said.

His words triggered something in me, and I let myself sink into him.

My hands curled tighter in the fabric of his shirt, my forehead resting lightly against his collarbone. His scent—warm skin, a hint of salt from the relentless heat, and something uniquely Rathiel, something deep and grounding—filled my lungs. My body, the traitorous thing that it was, relaxed against his. His grip loosened just enough to let me breathe, but not enough to release me. Like he was waiting to see if I’d run.

I didn’t.

For once, I didn’t overthink it. I just let myself enjoy the quiet. The closeness. The brief moment when I wasn’t Lucifer’s daughter, wasn’t Hell’s failed rebellion leader, wasn’t the ticking time bomb of a prophecy waiting to go off.

I was just…here.

With him.

His fingers brushed the back of my head, barely there, like he didn’t quite believe this was real. I squeezed my eyes shut and ignored the strange feeling twisting in my gut. If I let myself think too much about this, I’d ruin it.

With an exhale, I finally— finally —pulled back. He let me go without hesitation, but his hands lingered for half a second longer.

I cleared my throat. “We should get back before Vol starts selling my belongings to the highest bidder.”

Rathiel huffed a quiet laugh, shaking his head.

I started toward the edge of the cliff, feeling strangely lighter.

“Lily.”

I turned back.

His gaze was steady and serious. “You know this won’t be easy, right?”

I swallowed. “Yeah. But nothing worth doing ever is.”

After a beat, he nodded. “Then let’s do this.”