Prologue

THREE HUNDRED YEARS AGO

SASHA

I held my sister close to my side as we slipped past the stone walls of our home. We both wore cloaks with the hoods pulled low over our faces. Sein’s shoulder felt bony and fragile under the hand I used to guide her through the shadows, and I felt the familiar pang of fear take root in my chest.

Sein had been born sickly and weak, which was something my father could never abide. It was bad enough that our mother had only born him daughters. Having one who barely survived infancy was an affront to his masculinity.

Earlier in the day, I had headed to the prison, bringing the lunch my mother had made to my father. While I was in his office, placing the basketful of meats and bread on his desk, I overheard voices speaking from the room next to his. The walls were thick and made of stone, the way all buildings were in the Underworld, so I couldn’t make out what they were speaking of. From where I was standing, just a few muffled words came through. It wasn’t until my sister’s name was spoken that I froze in my tracks and crept toward the wall, hoping to get a better vantage point to hear.

“... child is nothing but an embarrassment. I want her gone.”

“I can do that. The question is, how painful do you want her… disappearance to be?”

The first voice was definitely the General, my father. I didn’t recognize the second voice, but that didn’t matter. What they were saying made my blood run cold, and every nerve ending sparked with the fear that quickly swept through me. On the heels of the fear was a vicious rage I’d never experienced before.

My father’s reply had a dull ringing fill my ears and made it impossible to hear any more of the vile words coming from his mouth. His tone was flippant, as if ordering the death of his youngest child wasn’t any more important than what he wanted for his evening meal.

“I don’t care. Have fun with it. Just remember, it needs to look like an accident. Maybe I’ll have you take care of my other female offspring as well if I ever manage to fuck a male into my worthless mate.”

My father was a ruthless, coldhearted asshole to his family. As far back as I could remember, he’d had nothing but a harsh word and the back of his hand for both me and my mother. When my little sister was born ten years ago, I was always careful to stay between her and our father, taking any slaps intended for her. One look at her frail frame would tell anyone that she wouldn’t be able to handle the physical abuse. Unfortunately, her mind was just as fragile, and there was nothing I could do to shield her from his words.

As I stumbled away from the wall, my mind spun with the options facing me. One thing was absolutely certain—there was no way I could stand back and let my baby sister be murdered. I stumbled over to the doorway, ready to head back to our dwelling and needing to start planning how to protect Sein. In my dazed rush to leave, my shoulder hit a shelf mounted to the wall, causing something to fall. I watched with horror and dread filling me as a gaudy award that my father had received for his esteemed service in Lucifer’s army crashed onto the polished stone floor. The glass shattered, and the jewels that had once encrusted the award skittered across the stones.

As I willed my legs to move, I already knew it was too late as the scraping sounds of chairs being pushed back sounded from the meeting room next door. Heavy footsteps echoed down the hall as the High General came to the doorway, a look of thunder darkening his face.

“What the fuck did you do, girl?”

His bellow of rage was enough to cause the fine hairs on the back of my neck to rise, but it was the hand, glistening with heavy, ornate rings, that had me cowering.

“I-I am so sorry, General. It was an accident,” I pleaded, already knowing there was never an excuse for clumsiness in his eyes.

My ear rang from the blow that sent me to the floor, my hand sliding across the shards of broken glass. I barely felt the sting from the gashes as my blood coated the glass pieces, making them glimmer vibrant red under the candle wall sconces.

“Get out of here. I don’t have time to punish you properly,” he snarled.

I scrambled to my feet, holding my bloodied hand against my chest, and made to move past him, grateful for his busy schedule. Just before I made it to freedom, my upper arm was grasped in a tight, painful grip. “Make no mistake, girl. I will be punishing you dearly for this.”

With a shove that sent me tripping on my own feet before I caught myself, I scurried down the hallway, heading for the exit to the prison. The cells were below, a place I had only been once. It was where the men and women who had committed crimes against Lucifer were kept. I remembered it being an ugly place. Whereas the floors and walls of stone on the upper level were smooth and polished, the lower level was dark, dank, and rough-hewn.

I left the prison without a backward glance, eager to get home to our dwelling. I ran inside, ignoring the staff milling about doing their duties, and rushed past my mother’s room. It was where she spent most of her time sitting near the window, staring at nothingness. I ran straight to the room I shared with my sister. I grabbed a satchel and stuffed all that I could into the leather bag, uncaring what I had grabbed.

I found Sein playing in the garden. It took far too long to convince her to come with me. I knew I couldn’t just grab her and start dragging. Sein wouldn’t understand, and it would just scare her, causing her to scream and cry. In the end, I had to make her promises that I knew I would never be able to keep.

By the time I had her up and covered in one of my smaller cloaks, the sky was already darkening. I sent a panicked look over my shoulder as I ushered her around the side of the dwelling. As we passed our mother’s room, I glanced in to see her blank stare, the dark bruises from the General’s last visit stark against her pale skin. I wanted to urge her to see me, to really look at what we had all become under his rule, but I already knew that it was hopeless. My mother had retreated into herself long ago with the birth of Sein and the failure it was seen as.

With my hand on my sister’s shoulder, I held her close as we stopped at the corner where I could peek out to ensure our path to the woods beyond was clear. Before my mind could understand, my throat was gripped in a tight hold, choking off my breath.

“I knew you were up to no good.”

The General didn’t even raise his voice as he squeezed painfully. As I attempted to gasp for breath that wasn’t coming, I took in his expression. I had seen him dark with rage many times, but the cold fury emanating from his yellow eyes, so like mine, had my blood turning to liquid ice in my veins. I had to squeeze my legs together to keep myself from peeing from fear.

Just as black dots were taking over my vision, he tossed me away from him like I was nothing more than a ragdoll, causing my head to bounce against the side of the dwelling. As I slid to the dirt, I watched as if it happened in slow motion as he turned to my sister, who was cowering, whimpering with tears flowing down her cheeks.

With a single strike, he backhanded her. She let out a short cry of pain a second before her small body hit the ground just a foot away from where I continued to lay in shock, holding my neck and gasping. As soon as she hit the stone, her sounds cut off. As if a candle snuffed out, the life inside her died before my eyes, and I couldn’t even say a word of protest.

I continued to stare at her lifeless body, her deep red hair that matched mine and our father’s tangled and sprawled out around her. The General kicked her side and then grunted with a sound that I would swear was pleased. I was sure he was delighted. The little girl who he had been so ashamed of was no more. He turned on his black leather boots and walked away, calling over his shoulder, telling me to get in the dwelling and prepare for my punishment.

As soon as his steps faded, I crawled away from my sister, tears blurring my vision, and stumbled to my feet. I glanced toward the front of the building and then back toward the forest beyond, where I had heard about the portals that would lead to the Earth realm, and made my decision.