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“Perhaps if you came down here,” she paused, “I could apologize more fully.”
Lucifer’s eyebrow arched while he considered her response. He then descended, coming down the remaining ten feet to touch the ground. My heart skipped into my throat and started beating hard and fast against the sides of my neck. This was it; he was down. Then I caught Micah’s eyes, and they were wide with alarm.
The cherub had been hiding among Helena’s soldiers, using their large profiles to keep himself from being spotted. When I saw him, his lips were pursed, his eyebrows were arched, and he was cocking his head to the side repeatedly, and decisively.
I wasn’t sure what exactly he was trying to tell me, until I glanced over at Lucifer and realized… he wasn’t entirely in the ritual circle. I couldn’t see the circle itself—none of us could save for the demon who had hidden it—but, I knew based on the pattern of the tiles at Lucifer’s feet where the center was supposed to be. Where Lucifer was supposed to be.
And he wasn’t on it.
Dammit.
“Here I am,” said Lucifer, who now stood in front of Azrael. If only Azrael had knelt another foot or so two the left, Lucifer would’ve been exactly where we needed him. “I’m ready for my apology. And it had better be a good one.”
Azrael posture was that of a coiled snake. At the drop of a hat, it seemed, she was ready to strike Lucifer down. The only problem with that was, she would probably lose that confrontation. Lucifer was probably expecting that kind of behavior from someone like Azrael. He wasn’t expecting her to actually debase herself in front of the rest of her kind. She was too proud, too stubborn, too much of a Warrior for that.
And yet, Azrael lowered her head. “I have learned the error of my ways,” she said. “It was wrong to not allow you to murder us all.”
Lucifer watched her, his head tilting from side to side. “I’m not sure I believe that,” he said. “I want to, I really do, but I feel like maybe those words would sound better if you were… kissing my feet.”
“Lucifer,” growled Abaddon.
“Easy, big guy, you’ll get your turn. In fact, I want you all lined up to kiss my feet. Right now.”
The angels and demons assembled in the courtyard exchanged confused glances.
“You heard me,” said Lucifer. “Form an orderly line, and get ready to kiss my feet. Do it well enough, and I’ll consider sparing your lives. Do it badly, and well…” he ran his thumb along his neck. “Nothing personal.”
“I will not kiss your feet,” said Abaddon.
“You won’t, huh?” asked Lucifer.
“You should know me well enough by now.”
“Oh, but I do know you. I know you so well. And so do all of they, right? I mean, you are a killer of angels, now. Angels and humans. We’ll add demons to the list pretty soon, don’t the rest of you worry.”
Abaddon was keeping Lucifer entertained, and while that was happening, I was trying to figure out how to get Lucifer to move a single foot to the left. All it was likely to take was a nudge, but getting close enough to do it… Lucifer would see me. He would see any of us coming.
Micah didn’t know what to do or what to say. Our entire plan hinged on Lucifer standing exactly where we needed him to, and none of us could move an inch to make that work. Worse, Lucifer was starting to get annoyed that Azrael wasn’t already kissing his feet.
He looked down at her, the contempt rising in his eyes. “What is it you’re waiting for?” asked Lucifer. “Are my feet too dirty? Because I could make them dirtier for you. Is that what it is?” Lucifer paused. “Kiss my feet!” he barked, his voice echoing around the courtyard like a gunshot.
I turned to look at Lucifer. “Is that necessary?” I asked. “She’s sorry, we all are.”
Lucifer never took his eyes off the Warrior. “Of course, it is,” he said. “I want everyone here to know I’m their superior. If this is a family—like you say it is—then I’m the head of this family. Is that too much to ask?”
“Yes,” said Azrael, who had clearly had enough. Her sword of Light manifested in her hand, and before she lunged it towards Lucifer’s midsection she added, “It is.”
“Azrael, no!” I screamed, but it was too late. She had made up her mind, she had thrust her sword arm, she had rolled the dice. As fast as she was, as strong as she was, Lucifer was faster—and stronger. Her sword thrust made Lucifer jump a foot or so to the right, going further off target. Worse, after the thrust missed his midsection, Lucifer delivered a swift kick to the side of Azrael’s face that hit with the force of a thunderclap.
The Warrior’s jaw shattered, and she flew across the courtyard only to roll wing over arm before coming to a sudden stop far, far away from where she had been a moment ago. Lucifer patted himself down as if he were dusting his clothes.
I couldn’t move. I was rooted to the spot, paralyzed by a sudden surge of crippling fear. Azrael had been wearing a suit of armor that looked like it weighed a ton, but Lucifer had put no more effort into dispatching her than a human would kicking a ball around.
“Unfortunate,” he said. “That’s not the way I wanted her to go, but that’s just what happens. Let that be a lesson to the rest of you. I won’t suffer fools, rebels, or weak-ass ang?—”
A dart shot out of the corner of my eye and zipped towards Lucifer at blinding speed. I hadn’t caught the movement until a shadow was upon the first angel—a shadow in the form of two feet, closing rapidly in on Lucifer’s right side.
“Remember me?” came a voice just as the shadow’s feet slammed directly into Lucifer’s arm, causing his body to crumple and stagger off to the left.
