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“Exactly. I’m telling you, we’re done fighting. We want to be on your team… Lucy.”
Lucy. What the hell are you doing, Sarakiel?
“Lucy…” Lucifer said, trailing off. I thought he was about to vaporize me by the ever darkening look on his face, but then he grinned. “I like that. I like it a lot. Nobody’s ever called me that before.”
Relief washed over me like a warm wave of tropical water. “We’re angels, Lucifer. We’re meant to be a family, and with God dead… we’re all we have. Don’t you want to be a family again?”
A grin spread across Lucifer’s face. “What the hell,” he said. “Sounds like fun.”
I nodded, then I began my descent back into the glamour bubble the demons had placed over Helena. At first, there was only water beneath my feet. But as I moved through the barrier, the entire bastion came into view; the bastion, and each and every one of its inhabitants who was currently staring up at the sky, watching on bated breath.
They had been able to see me, even if I hadn’t been able to see them. They were also able to watch Lucifer descend, and while many of them looked ready to put their lives on the line defending this bastion, others looked entirely enraptured by him. I couldn’t blame them. His aura was difficult to resist, to look away from.
Even if he was the most obnoxious prick in the entire cosmos.
I noticed Azrael was still holding her light sword in her hand. My eyes widened, and before Lucifer could make it through the barrier keeping Helena hidden from his eyes, I waved my hands frantically at her. She didn’t seem to take my meaning at first; either that, or she flat out refused to drop her weapon.
She dismissed her sword, but only at the last possible second. Just in time for Lucifer to make it through the glamour and see a bastion of angels and demons, each of them unarmed and staring up at him—just like I had promised.
The only person missing from the lineup was Micah; I had a hard time spotting him for all the wings and the suits of armor.
I landed just off to the side of the ritual circle we all needed Lucifer to stand on. My hope was that I could coax him to land right beside me, but he stubbornly refused to bring his feet to the ground. He hovered about ten feet up—just high enough that he could tower over us all without needing to be ten feet tall.
“Look at all of you,” he said, “What a good-looking bunch. And you’re also here Abaddon,” he added before breaking out into a fit of giggles.
Abaddon didn’t even acknowledge the dig, much to my relief.
“I told you,” I said, “no weapons.”
“You did,” said Lucifer. “And here I thought I was walking into a trap ready to be sprung at a moment’s notice. Like maybe there were more of you hiding around here, or something. Not that it would’ve made a difference how many of you there were. I’m Lucifer.”
Azrael glared at me. She wanted to hurt him, to draw her sword once more and run it through his smug face. I could see it in her eyes, the rage, the venom. She also seemed keenly aware that Lucifer wasn’t landing like he was supposed to. He was simply hovering precariously above the trapped spot, his wings gently moving to keep him held aloft.
I needed to get him down onto the ground, but I didn’t know how.
“Right,” said Lucifer, “now what happens?”
“As I told you earlier,” I said, “we have agreed to follow you. All of us.”
He shook his head. “No, no. I think I’ve heard enough from you. I want to hear from them. I want hear them say it. Starting with you.”
Lucifer’s eyes went to Azrael, who instantly stiffened as if she’d just been hit with some kind of eye-beam. Azrael’s expression darkened, then hardened, her eyes taking on the qualities of precious gems, her fists clenching so tightly her gauntlets squeaked.
She glanced at me, then took a series of short steps toward Lucifer. The effort it took for her to drop to one knee was monumental, I had never seen someone struggle with something as much as she was struggling right now, but she managed. Then she looked up at him, her stony eyes fixed on his radiant form.
“Lucifer, Morningstar… the first angel,” she said. “The Bastion of Helena formally declares its surrender.”
Lucifer smiled brightly. “There, that wasn’t so hard, was it? But I think I need a little something extra from you. You had some choice words for me the last time we met.”
“You were trying to destroy this bastion and kill everyone inside.”
“Details. Nuances. I think I deserve an apology. What about you, Sarakiel? Don’t you think I deserve an apology?”
I really didn’t want to answer that question. I had a feeling Azrael was likely to try something incredibly stupid if I asked her to apologize, but at the same time, this was going to be the only shot we got at Lucifer. Because even if we surrendered now, there was no guarantee he would actually let any of us live. Maybe the lesser angels, sure, but Azrael, Abaddon, Missolis and me? We were gone.
He would’ve been an idiot not to take us out.
This wasn’t about forgiveness, or about mercy. It was about ego, about power. Lucifer wanted Azrael to humiliate herself in front of him and everyone else. The moment was tense, and it lingered way longer than I wanted it to. Then Azrael spoke.
