Page 35 of Wings of Darkness (Daughter of the Seven Circles #2)

Chapter

Twenty-One

LUCILLE

A fter my dream-walk, I wasn’t able to sleep.

Aspen and his actions plagued my thoughts.

I couldn’t shake the feeling he was… off?

Hiding something? I wanted to trust him.

I should trust him—especially if I thought I loved him.

But was love really this rollercoaster of want, confusion, frustration, and lust?

The questions rolled around in my head as I limped my way to the library. Each step tugged at my sore muscles, reminding me I should be resting and icing my legs.

Rune followed along. I couldn’t make her stay in my room or go to the general’s.

I paused at the Doors of Moirai, studying them closely.

They depicted Ni standing in her Hell Squadron uniform.

Odd. Besides the vacant expression replacing her normally inquisitive gaze, she looked the same.

Although… I stepped back, noticing something off about her neck.

Black veins crawled around the gash as if it were infected.

The Doors of Moirai were supposed to reveal glimpses of the past, present, and future, but I couldn’t tell which this was. I saw Ni a couple days ago, and there was no sign of this infection.

“Is there a purpose to what you show me? Or are these images for the king?”

The tiles didn’t spell out the answers to my questions like I hoped. I stood there, talking to the doors, probably looking insane to both Rune and—judging by her glowing gold eyes—the general.

I usually hated that little power of theirs. But right now, I couldn’t hold back my smug smile.

“I bet you’re seething in your little boots, aren’t you, General?” I teased. “But don’t worry, I’ll be resting as I read. If you get a chance, let my father know I’m here.”

I sat down in my spot and read about Elora, Hell, and a little of the Tenebrous Kingdom, but none of it gave me any clues on how I could get out of the Hell dimension.

I found a little more information about the lake Oliver mentioned.

But all I learned was that it was linked to the Seven Circles of Hell and was a way for the king to oversee his lords and their duties.

It also stated something about how it connected to Earth, but as I frantically flipped the page to find more information, the chapter ended.

I sat back in my chair, squeezing my fists. We needed answers, and reading was getting us nowhere. But the only person I knew who could give me those answers was the king—or…

“Cato!” I yelled, peeking between the rows of books. Cato had this habit of sneaking up and scaring me. But today, I was prepared to catch him. I positioned my chair so that my back rested against a shelf, and I had a full view of the library.

A tap-tap on my shoulder made me jump. I whipped around to his unamused expression and a slight twinkle in his eyes.

“One of these days, I’m coming back with a bell.”

“A bell wouldn’t help you, Princess.”

“I’m probably wasting my breath telling you to stop calling me that.”

A title like princess carried weight—it meant I had sway over Hell’s lands and its people. It came with duty, obligation, and sacrifice. Or so I’d gathered from all the books I’d been reading. But none of that resonated with me.

He gave me his favorite dry expression.

“Right.” I rolled my eyes. “What can you tell me about Portal Lake?”

The time for beating around the bush had long passed. I wanted answers, and I wanted them now.

Cato nodded to my mini library of books resting on the table.

“Everything you have there.”

I tapped my fingers against a book, analyzing him. “I don’t believe you.”

He blinked. “Pity.”

Heavenly Hell. “The king?—”

“Your father,” he interrupted.

I gritted my teeth. “ Lucifer said you can retain everything you read. Assuming you are a few hundred years old, give or take, I can imagine you’ve read a lot.”

“Naturally,” he drawled .

“So if you’ve read as much as I think you have, then you can’t tell me you have no more information on Portal Lake.”

“And why are you so curious about Portal Lake?” Lucifer’s voice echoed through the library.

Luckily, I’d already thought about an answer to that question. “How else will I escape to find and kill Michael?” I said, turning to Lucifer.

One thing Oliver and I never considered was the fact that everyone believed we were stuck here for another year. And if they didn’t think we could escape, then what was the harm in asking a question they thought wouldn’t matter?

Lucifer strode toward me, his white-and-black suit perfectly tailored to his build. The coloring matched the rings around his eyes.

“You barely escaped him alive last time, and you think two weeks of training has transformed you into a warrior who can take on an Archangel?”

I was so sick and tired of everyone doubting me—of calling me weak, floundering, or unskilled.

“And what are you doing to find and kill Michael?” I fired back, rising. “Sitting on your royal ass while my mother suffers?”

White light flashed in his gaze. He walked right into my space, leaning down until his face hovered inches from mine.

“Don’t for a second think I haven’t been to Portal Lake and our gates every morning and night, carving open my flesh so I can send the general out to bring that repugnant angel back here to pay for his sins.”

Pressure built behind my eyes, and my Infernus sang in my ears, my anger rising with his .

Straightening, he continued. “I’m the only one with the blood to access Portal Lake, and even then, it has not answered me. So you’d do well to rid yourself of your fantastical imaginings and focus on something more practical. Like controlling your powers.”

His eyes settled back to their normal state, and he gazed down at me with a superior air.

It frustrated me to no end, but at least I received an answer. Now I knew his blood was the key to opening the lake—and, it sounded like, the gates too. Although he had a point. What made me think we could escape when Lucifer couldn’t?

My shoulders slumped. Lucifer frowned, looking almost regretful.

“Your mother will be okay for the year. Cato and I have a temporary solution,” he said, like he was trying to be reassuring.

“Are you sure it’ll just be a year?”

The general had said he was locked in Hell for the last ten.

“The gates used to open annually on the same day for a short time. Then it stopped—and started again when we rescued you. I’m sure the pattern will repeat itself.”

If he knew the pattern repeated, wouldn’t he state that? Why say I’m sure , like he was making an assumption?

“Did you know they’d open when the general rescued me?”

Lucifer’s expression said it all.

“You didn’t.” I sat back down, feeling like a fist had slammed into my gut.

I’d hoped that if Oliver and I didn’t find a way to escape sooner, we’d at least have that year.

It would be torturous and horrible to wait that long, but it was a backup plan.

But now? We might be stuck here indefinitely.

My mom couldn’t stay in a coma. And Aspen…

I wouldn’t allow him to remain with Lilith. I needed him out of there.

“Are you sure you’ve tried everything to open the gates?”

He considered me, the minutes awkwardly ticking by as my father pierced me with his lofty gaze.

“We have tried to understand why the gates closed. We scoured the library for information, used dangerous runes, ripped apart the ground, bashed in the iron rods, and used every means we had to try and pry open Hell’s gates or use Portal Lake.

I even blamed it on your mother at one point after she left me, but she doesn’t have the power capable of closing Hell,” he spat, icicles growing from the glass ceiling.

“We have tried everything. Now, we can only pray to the Weaver that the gates will open once more next year.”

I straightened. “Is that what you did for me as Michael carved me open?” I raised my voice. “You prayed to your Weaver they’d open and gambled on our lives?”

He narrowed his eyes at my tone. “You were supposed to go north, where I had connections who could help you until we could retrieve you. You disobeyed me.”

“I was trying to rescue my mother! Like I am now!”

“And I was trying to rescue you with the only means and information I had at the time.”

Me? He was trying to rescue me ?

I stared at him, hearing the remnants of the undeniable sincerity in his voice and seeing it in his softened expression.

It was strange. Lucifer wasn’t cuddly or warm.

He wasn’t the fatherly type—and I wasn’t exactly sure what it even meant to have one.

But hearing that he was trying to protect me, and seeing the truth in his face, shifted the bitterness I held onto.

Cato was right. Lucifer wasn’t like Michael. And my mother, despite her beliefs, was wrong. Lucifer—my father—wanted me to survive. He cared about me, not just her.

“Why did she leave you for him?” I whispered, needing to understand why she’d traded someone who would bleed for her for someone who made her bleed.

Hurt tightened his eyes before he could mask it. “She told me she wanted him. I think… she thought it was the only way to protect you.”

“With Michael ?”

Lucifer shook his head. “I wish she’d wake up so I could ask,” he said so softly, I knew he wasn’t talking to me.

This was the most sincere emotion I’d ever seen from him, and the ache in his voice made me uncomfortable. “I spoke with her. She seems good.” As far as I could tell.

“How?” Cato asked, assessing me with a sharp gaze.

I had forgotten he was still here.

Lucifer scrutinized me just as hard, the same question on his face.

“Do you know what a dream-walker is?” If anyone knew, it’d be them.

Cato stepped forward, his eyes narrowing. “Where did you hear that term?” he asked slowly.

“From Michael.”

Lucifer’s irises flashed. “I wouldn’t trust a thing he said.”