1. Lucifer

Lucifer

Love is a fallacy, as Lucien discovered while cradling the body of his dying lover after their child was ripped from her womb. He promised forever to an angel and damned her to Hell. He had failed in his duties as both the son of Satan and a human. Their blood bond meant their hearts would forever beat in tandem. His heart slowed as Sadie's life force slipped away. If hers stopped, so would his, and he would face a fate worse than death. There was no time to lose.

His body rippled as he lost control of his emotions. His demonic self had already stolen the life of an innocent. Beatrice's body remained crumpled on the cold, hard ground where it had fallen, and her soul was already in Hell.

In his anguish, Lucifer took on his angelic form. He tore his shirt a moment before wings sprouted from his back. One was large and black with coarse feathers. The other was snow white with long, delicate feathers.

He reached up and plucked a white feather from his wing. The pain was excruciating, but it paled in comparison to the pain in his heart. The feather was soon drenched in Sadie's crimson blood.

If anyone were to stumble upon them, they would lose their mind as they gazed upon him. This form wasn't meant for human eyes—except for Sadie. They were bound: heart, body, and soul.

"Mother!" Lucifer screamed into the wind as he plunged the quill into his heart.

The falling snow froze before his eyes, hanging in suspended animation.

"Mother!" he bellowed. "I need your help."

The snow swirled around him in a frenzy, trapping him in its vortex. A portal opened before his eyes. The song of heavenly hosts wasn't meant for his unworthy ears, so he was forcibly deafened. As the son of Satan, he was condemned by holy beings, and he fucking despised them for it.

His heart had grown embittered toward that side of himself as a child. His big brother bullied him for thousands of years. Cain was born as his father took the form of a serpent and tempted a woman in a garden. He fucked her beneath an apple tree and left her with the choice to eat the ripened fruit and bear his heir or die from his venom. Naturally, she chose the former. Cain was born with a twin, similar to Sadie. Like Constance, the elder twin was shrouded in darkness that slowly poisoned their souls, twisting them in insanity until they lashed out in malice to destroy their sibling.

Unfortunately for Abel, no one was around to protect him. He was brutally stabbed with a broken bone shard. Lucifer had thought choosing Sadie as the Winter Maiden would save her from a similar fate. They have a saying about good intentions for a reason.

A moment later, a delicate touch caressed his shoulder. He turned his face into his mother's ethereal gown, clinging to her like a small child. His tears soaked the thin fabric, making it translucent.

She stroked his hair lightly. Her voice was barely a whisper as she spoke. "You're sobbing, Lucifer. You haven't cried since you were a child."

The last time he cried was when his mother ascended and left him alone. As the son of the Devil and a birthright Angel, there was light and darkness in him. He had buried the goodness and embraced his demonic nature until Sadie awakened feelings and desires that were foreign to him.

She loved him despite his origins. He'd warned her what would happen if she gave him her heart. Now he would do anything to save her.

"Save her, Mother," he begged. "Please."

His mother gazed at Sadie for the first time. Her chest heaved as she made little gurgling sounds as though each breath was more painful than the last. The angel caressed Sadie's forehead with a gentle hand.

"I can't, Lucifer. It's her time."

Lucifer's roar echoed around them. Snow tumbled down the hill, but they were protected in the vortex.

"I need a fucking miracle. You owe me. The angels owe me for taking you away. I need Sadie! You must save her. I know you can do it. Save her!"

"No," she said softly.

Utter hopelessness threatened to send the devil into a blind rage. Darkness flooded his irises, turning his eyes dark as midnight and his velvety voice became hollow. "I will tear apart the castle, stone by stone. I will find Mrs. Winters and slice her belly open, pull out her entrails, and shit inside them. Then I will burn the wench alive. When I find Constance, I'm going to impale her on a spike, peel her skin off in strips, and feed it to my hounds. I will force her to drink my blood to remain alive for days before throwing her to the wolves and allowing them to ravage her before dragging her into Hell and torturing her myself for eternity. I will murder every man, woman, and child in the village and burn it to ash. These lands will be cursed forevermore."

"Luci–"

"I'm not finished yet," he snarled. "I won't stop until this world is destroyed. I will find my son, because that's the last promise I made to his mother."

The angel's eyes glowed with a blinding white light. "Your child is no longer alive."

Lucifer jumped up. "That's a lie. I can feel his heartbeat like I feel Sadie's."

"Your child–"

He roared again. "Stop saying my child in pity . It's my son, and I will find him."

"Your child is in purgatory, Lucifer. I'm sorry, but you know you can't go there."

"No!" he howled in grief.

"While you were throwing your tantrum, the Winter Maiden has taken her last breath."

He stood motionless and placed his hand over his heart, which was no longer beating.

"Bring her back!" he screamed. "Bring her back, goddamn you!"

"I'm sorry," she whispered sympathetically.

Lucifer detonated. He didn't just pluck a white feather out of his wing this time but bellowed as he tore the entire thing out of his back. Blood ran in warm rivulets down his spine, but he was impervious to the agonizing physical pain because the loss of Sadie made him wish he was in oblivion. There was no life without her.

Once the blood stopped, he took a deep breath and tore the black wing out.

"I denounce your kind, Mother," he roared. "I denounce Satan!"

He stood and raised his hands. "I vow to burn this world to ash. It shall know war, destruction, and death. I will destroy The Society, if it's the last thing I do."

Lucifer pulled his dagger from his belt and slit his palm, letting the blood fall onto Sadie's forehead. "I will do it for her."

The angel stroked her son's back. "The pain is fleeting. "

He screamed in agony as new wings sprouted from his back. They weren't black or white, but gray—the color of clouds before a storm—and he was the harbinger.

Lilith wasn't impassive as she watched her son's grief; she was forbidden to interfere. A single tear ran down the angel's face, and she raised her palm to catch it.

A golden light engulfed Lilith, illuminating her very skin as though she had swallowed the sun. Her lips moved as she prayed words that Lucifer couldn't hear. It lasted only moments, but it was enough. She held her hand out to her son.

"Place this in her heart. It will reverse the poison that has infected her. No matter what you do, she will die. If you don't want her to ascend and take her place among us, you must drag her to Hell.

"She will be forced into the circles. There will be only one point at which you may interact with her before she ascends or descends into the next ring. Each time you meet, she will experience unbearable pain and suffer death again."

"And how do I save her?"

"Offer her a choice. If she agrees to allow you to take away her memory of the trauma, she will face the next circle. This will continue until her psyche is ready to become whole once more. When she refuses your offer, she will be freed."

"And how long will that take?"

The angel frowned. "You know I can't see that. It's what they call free will. The cycle may last all eternity. "

Lucien gazed at Sadie. "How will I know when and where to find her?"

She shook her head and spoke as though the answer was obvious. "Your heart will start beating again."

Thump… thump … He gasped and clutched his chest as his heart started beating again.

"What is this?"

"I am giving you a chance to say goodbye."