1
A King’s Queen
Flapping his massive wings, Lucifer cleared the dust and smoke as he emerged from the cave. The ensuing chaos was expected, but finding half of his ranks fighting alongside Belial was not.
Asmodeus dropped from the sky, landing at his left side. “My king.”
Lucifer didn’t respond; he was staring at Thanatos, who had been guarding the mouth of the cave.
“You let her go?” Asmodeus asked, glancing at Lucifer’s hair. “You took her demon into you?”
“I think that is obvious,” Lucifer said, calling forth his sword. “Death has her. She is safe for now. Go, if you wish. I have things to do.”
Asmodeus roared out as loud as his dragon form was capable of before vanishing into a cloud of red smoke, his legions following shortly after him.
Lucifer nodded to Thanatos. “You know what to do.”
“Yes, my king.” Thanatos glanced at the battle. “Belial was told about Jane’s soul. He is not happy. Half your legions betrayed you once they felt Death’s presence.”
“I assumed as much,” Lucifer said, walking away. “Go. See that everything happens as it should. Do not fail.”
“Will she recover?” Thanatos asked.
Lucifer turned and glared at him. “He took her to the vampire. I have no doubt she will thrive between them. Now, do as you’re told so things fall back into place. You already know what will happen from here.”
“Yes, my king,” Thanatos said, bowing before vanishing.
Astaroth walked toward him. Those who could not flee in time were incinerated as the huge fallen angel came to stand in front of Lucifer. “My king, what have you done?”
Lucifer flexed his wings, glancing at the battle, snarling when he made eye contact with Lancelot, who was retreating with the remaining wolves. “I saved my queen.”
Astaroth’s gaze lifted to Lucifer’s hair. “She will be in grave danger, Lucifer. Half souls are rare, and they do not last for long . . . Belial has been given gifts to aid him, and he will receive more. If he gets to her, you will be at his mercy.”
“Anything else?” Lucifer asked as the light within him pulsed to a heartbeat that did not match his own.
“Yes.” Astaroth looked up at the moon. “Separate her from Death soon. You know what will happen if you do not. Work swiftly.”
Lucifer nodded. “Gather those who are with me and be ready.”
“Yes, my king.” Astaroth bowed before nodding to Beelzebub. Both Fallen glanced at him, signaling for their legions to follow.
Belial came into view. They stared at one another, neither moving to attack.
Lucifer allowed his light to come to the surface, a command for his most loyal men to prepare. “How long have you known about her?”
Belial smirked, stabbing his sword into a fallen angel’s back. “I did not know who she was at the time, but I was told there was a female with unimaginable darkness and power. Should I or my men locate her, we were instructed to break her. Her identity only made sense when she fucked Lancelot to break your heart.”
The High King of Hell kept his expression blank. “Again, how long?”
“I would imagine it was near her fifth birthday. Apparently the beast had a weakness—a pure soul from which she was created. It was said they could not be separated, but for the lovely monster to rule, the pure half needed to be broken. Some of us got there early on.” He smiled, his blood-red eyes gleaming with sick joy. “I only wish I had partaken in the fun . . . You know how much Berith enjoys the young ones. So weak and innocent.”
Even though he was furious beyond anything he had ever experienced before, he smiled. “You think my queen weak? Why do you think Jane needed to be broken for that bitch to be worth your time?” Lucifer laughed, letting his power consume him. He could taste Jane, his queen, as her sweet presence lingered within his light. It wanted her back. “Jane is not weak. She is stronger than you can imagine. I wasn’t just freeing her from that darkness. I was unleashing my queen, cleansing her so she can be the great being she is destined to be. At. My. Side.”
“You speak like a lovesick fool.” Belial pulled his sword free of the dead fallen angel. “If she is still strong, she has not realized it yet, and that is all I need to claim her. It is only a matter of time now. Your kingdom is falling, and your legions will stand behind me as I drag your little queen on a leash until you break with her.”
Lucifer released a breath, smoke spilling free from his nostrils as he summoned his powers. “You should know better, Belial . . . Never threaten a king’s queen.”
2
Their Moon
“Brother, are you certain Death is trustworthy?” Guinevere glanced away from Natalie, who was taking a bath, to where David leaned against the doorway.
Dragging his hand down his face, David sighed and looked over his shoulder to check on Nathan. The little boy was already asleep on Guinevere’s bed. “I have no choice, Gwen.” He turned back to his sister. “Everything he said makes sense.”
Guinevere shook her head but smiled at Natalie as the little girl poured a cup of water over her head. “How could he allow such things to happen to her, though? If he was truly present for most of the torment she suffered . . . I simply cannot understand it.”
“Because he loves her, sister. He watched because it was his way of being there for her; he suffered as well. Death and Jane are very similar—they make drastic choices to save each other. He was offered the chance to free her or watch her suffer and perhaps lose her to the demon. He took it because he saw no other way. I do not think the Archangels lied about Lucifer being the only one able to free her. I trust them.”
She gave him a serious look. “It was never a demon, though. You have not even expressed how you feel about it actually being half of Jane’s soul. How can you be so calm? It was her all along. Not a possession or entity—it was her.”
He clenched his jaw, dropping his gaze away from her disapproving stare. “She did not become evil on her own. He said her soul was split by someone—he could not say whom—but they corrupted it, gave it power, and placed it back alongside her true soul. Jane is the one who locked it up. Jane did that. It’s still not exactly Jane.”
“But it is, David. You need to accept that and decide if she is still worth sacrificing your heart for.”
David slowly raised his gaze to glare at her. “She is worth everything.”
His sister smiled sadly. “Do you really believe that? What are you going to do if she does return to you? She still made a bargain with Lucifer, abandoning you and her children.”
“She did so to protect us,” he said through gritted teeth. “You have never had to look into her eyes and watch her battle that part of her soul. She knows what she’s capable of, and she is always ready to sacrifice herself for those she loves. That’s what she did.”
“But to Lucifer? How could she trust him? You said he was the one torturing her.”
He released a stressed breath and glanced at Natalie; they were talking low enough that she wouldn’t hear them, but he knew she had picked up they were talking about her mom. “You don’t understand. Lucifer is a manipulator, and he played the game just right. He tormented her until she was too hurt to fight and then he showed her he could control it for her. She saw him as someone who could truly save us from what she could do. Everything she has done by leaning on me or Death has been because we helped her be the woman she really is—but Death and I are not capable of the things Lucifer can do.”