Chapter 13: Lana

A fter bathing and sleeping off the lingering shame and arousal, I limp out to the training area where my teammates, and the rest of the Elioud as well, train daily to maintain optimal physical readiness. While we heal faster than we did in the mortal realm, it's still going to take Kevin and me a couple of days to recover from the sprain and broken humerus.

Jess, Liam, and Ethan are stretching while giving Kevin, arm in sling, their rapt attention.

Oh no…

"Lana!" Ethan yells once he sees me, his chocolate eyes sparkling with mischief. Ethan is tall, lithe, and always obviously Cambion. Most of us don't really know where in our family trees the Celestial blood mixed in, me being an exception thanks to Maalik. But Ethan's grandmother swore up until her last days at a mental asylum that his grandfather was a demon that stole her virtue and left her bred and unwed. His family was sure it was the desperate ramblings of a mentally unstable woman, trying to save her reputation in a strict society. I mean, it worked for Mary, right?

"Yes, Ethan?" I ask warily as I finish approaching my little group.

"I heard you got a dose of demon di–"

The blast of wind I send his way knocks him on his ass and interrupts the very obvious thing he was about to say.

"Really, Kevin?" I say to the culprit between gritted teeth.

Kev raises his functional arm in a gesture of surrender, his bound one making it look like he's about to swear in for presidency over a bible.

"I didn't know I wasn't supposed to say!"

To his credit, he looks regretful, with his eyebrows furrowed and bottom lip pouting out, and I can't really stay mad at him when he's technically right.

"I thought it was implied." I glare at him.

"Hey, everyone knows Evander bangs every succubus he encounters on patrols," Jessica says in a soothing voice, her eyes somewhat giving away the mirth she feels at my situation. Evander's a team leader and a bit of a himbo.

"I don't care if every winged creature in the realm took a turn riding Evander's pogo stick," I reply grumpily. I know it's too late to stop the rumor mill – curious glances were already being thrown my way from every corner of the field since I stepped out of the fortress. "This was different and we all know it."

I groan when I see everyone within earshot now obviously struggling to catch my words and perhaps a salacious little nugget of information that distracts from the humdrum of daily life in Purgatory and Hell.

"Twenty laps around the field," I say to my team in my best ‘I Am Your Commander' voice. "You guys are going to make up for two of us being benched." Whines and pitiful looks are the reactions I expected and got, but I have no mercy on them – even on Liam, who minded his own business like he usually does. He's a goody-two-shoes. Cracking the proverbial whip works on lightening my mood, and I drop unceremoniously onto my ass in the dirt, Kev joining me.

"I really am sorry, Lan," he says quietly. "Figured you'd know I'd blab to them ASAP."

I sigh and pat his good shoulder, "It's okay, the chances of keeping this under wraps were slim anyway."

"Why are you this upset though? Jess was right about Evander and, uh… I may or may not have dallied with a succubus or two on solo patrols," he says, blushing at my stunned expression. He can't take the eye contact and looks at our teammates ribbing each other while jogging around the field, clearly wishing he was there and not under my scrutiny.

"I'm not judging, Kev," I hurry to say. "I'm just surprised. And it is different. Succubi and incubi, while far from innocent, normally leave humans alive. Weak and sex-addled but alive," I add with a twist of my lips.

I grab a dried out husk of a stick and start drawing squiggles in the sand, needing to occupy myself so I feel… less.

"He's likely thousands of years old, party to countless atrocities, and probably picks his teeth with the bones of innocent babies in his free time," I mutter into the ground, far more embarrassed than Kev was about his demonic horizontal tangos. Despite not initiating the encounter and knowing I was unlikely to break free, it's not like I didn't enjoy it. I enjoyed it more than the demon did, and I'm sure that was a purposeful move made to compound my guilt further. Speaking of baby bones, I quickly drop the hollow stick.

I look up at my squad, Liam now laughing as Jessica tries to trip Ethan up so she can take the lead. The normality makes me smile and gives me the courage to look at Kevin. He gulps, shakes his head, and says, "I'm not sure what to say, Lan."

"It's okay," I repeat, even though it's not, but it's obviously the motto of the day.

?? ?

I'm sparring hand-to-hand with Jess, finally back in fighting shape after what feels like an eternity. Her long blonde hair's up in a ponytail that keeps slapping me in the face as she turns.

I sputter and say, "Do you have a weapon permit for that whip?" making her stop mid-move and laugh.

I take advantage of her distraction, drop to my hands, and swipe my leg out low, tripping her. Standing up, I give her a smirk. "Don't get distracted, girly-girl." She flips me off, still lying on her back, and now we're both laughing.

Long hair is a distraction in a fight. In the last few years, I managed to singe the ends of mine, and also slice off a significant amount of the ponytail it was in at the time with my own damned sword. We're still clinging to the dredges of normality, though.

Also, demons and manifestations of evil souls – being amorphous – don't exactly resort to hair-pulling in a fight. The former usually come equipped with claws and razor-sharp teeth, the latter burn like acid if you happen to graze against them.

I just finish helping Jess stand when a blanket of oppression covers us. It's like storm clouds descended all at once, and static electricity sparks over organic matter. I know this feeling, though this is a hundred times more powerful, and not at all pleasurable.

All at once, two dozen cloaked figures materialize at the outer edge of our training field. The corner closest to my team, naturally. Our Fallen mentors burst out into the field and stop a step in front of us, their pupils automatically positioning themselves behind them, team leaders first.

Akira, Corson's team leader, intones quietly, but loud enough for the front row to hear him. "Hell is empty and all the devils are here." He's quoting Shakespeare.

He's right, because it's obvious that a good amount of Hell's top demonarchy is here, and not in their own regions.

I can't help but look over the powerful beings standing in front of us and wonder which one of them is my demon. Not that he's mine , I remind myself. But have I stopped thinking of him these last couple of weeks? No. Am I admitting that to anyone else? Also no.

It's bad enough that everyone knows about the nature of the encounter. In the first week following my… attack, Nick, the asshole, crashed into me while running and snarled, "Don't touch me, demon cockslut." Suffice it to say his attitude towards me hasn't improved through the years. I just flipped him off, trying to keep my face impassive, but his team leader, Darla, slapped him across the head and nodded at me. Girls supporting girls, gotta love it.

Suddenly, I feel a sting at the now-healed junction of my neck. I press my hand against it automatically and my gaze snaps to one of the cloaked figures. Nothing really distinguishes him from the rest of the pack – he's taller than some, and less brutally brawny than others, but they're all imposing and menacing in their own way.

I know without a doubt it's him, just as I know that my unthinking reaction pleased him. Like he's letting me know that, while not visible anymore, his marks remain on my skin, in my flesh.

I drop my hand just as Kevin sidles up to me. "Are you okay?" he asks, brushing against me to speak near my ear. A massive lightning bolt splits the sky, the thunderous boom instantaneous.

While the majority of the soldiers around me are ducking, flinching, or yelping, I instinctively step in front of Kevin and look at the figure that displayed his displeasure. I don't know what to make of the pulse of emotion I feel in my belly at his reaction to Kevin's touch. It's not something I've felt before, a mix of protectiveness but also smugness. I divert my gaze just in time to notice that Daniel followed it and is now frowning. That's an expression I haven't seen on his beautiful face before .

"May I inquire as to why you gentlemen are out en force in Purgatory?" Maalik's voice is always loud enough to echo, despite not shouting.

"We couldn't decide who to send," a honeyed voice replies. "It seems that we, ah, don't trust each other not to take advantage of a… rather delicate situation."

This demon's voice makes me think of the snake that lured Eve to the Forbidden Apple.

"What is the situation and what does it have to do with us?" Ramel sneers, tact never a part of his arsenal.

"Well, it seems that there is an ungoverned rift, through which demons are escaping to the mortal realm."

This proclamation has us all stirring from our enraptured states and looking at our mentors, trying to gauge their reactions. Surely this is a task for us, right? Will we get to visit the human realm? While Maalik has been bringing us some essentials like razors and novels (that is essential to me, okay?), we haven't seen a bright blue sky in three years. I'm not sure what would be worse – visiting and then returning once our mission is done, or not visiting at all.

"You need us to find the tear?" Corson, our proverbial master of intelligence on all things Hell asks, his brow furrowed.

The snake-tongued demon laughs condescendingly. "No, of course not. We know the tear is in Asmodai's realm. And before you ask another imbecilic question, he appears to be missing. Or at least not returning communiques."

This time there are murmurs in our ranks, all of us wondering how an archdemon goes missing.

"Quiet," Maalik says to us, and then louder, "and your Dark Prince ," the title uttered with much sarcasm, "doesn't know where one of his minions is?"

A monstrously brawny demon bristles at Maalik's irreverence and grunts, "You are free to go ask our Lord yourself; see how many pieces are returned to your brothers ."

"Why are you here?" Daniel repeats the pertinent question, likely stopping the two males from coming to blows. He normally lets others do the talking, but it seems like he's had enough of the tension between our two groups.

"If we go, we will be sensed immediately. Our presence will be considered an attempt to conquer an unprotected region."

The shock of hearing that voice freezes every cell in my body. My face warms. My ears are ringing. I feel light-headed and realize I stopped breathing. Cognizant of Kevin and Daniel's attention, I try to control my expression.

"The Elioud, however, won't be as easily sensed, and they're insignificant enough not to be considered a threat," Forked-Tongue finishes.

"And they're also expendable pawns to send to the slaughter, correct?" Maalik grits out.

"You said that, not us," the demon retorts. "The fact of the matter is, your soldiers are the only ones who can get in and out without detection to tell us whether he's interred in his domain and not giving a damn that we're at risk of being exposed beyond containment, or… if we have a bigger problem to contend with."

Maalik growls, gnashing his teeth and looking at his fellow Fallen. They nod, some with more reluctance than others.

"There is an elaborate system of tunnels throughout Asmodai's ziggurat," Corson supplies. "It could be for ventilation or lighting; their use is unknown to us. Regardless, it is possible for a lithe individual to crawl through them to the interior. Two, at most, could plausibly avoid detection."

Everyone takes his words in in silence, letting Maalik strategize. "Lana?" he asks, not looking at me.

I think about it objectively. I'm not the strongest, fastest, or most powerful among the soldiers. But I know why he asked me first. I purse my lips and nod. Thunder echoes in cracks as the sky fills with a webbing of lightning.

"Lana, perhaps due to being Nephalem," Daniel starts to explain, and I swear he's looking at my assailant while doing so, "has a uniquely strong sense of detection. She can not only sense when demons are present, but also their numbers and strength. Certainly strong enough to sense the presence of a being as old and powerful as Asmodai."

After a beat, Maalik asks me, "And? You're not going alone."

I don't need to think it over. "Akira." I pick my teammate for the unusual mission. Maalik and Corson nod at my choice; Akira is Corson's stealthiest Cambion. He's careful and calculating. He's also too proud to just leave me behind in a tight spot, like some of his other soldiers might.

Kevin however lets out a low, closed-mouthed noise, unhappy, but ultimately he must know my choice was the only correct one.

"Weapons?" Maalik asks next.

I shake my head. "Just a couple of knives. If it comes to a fight, we'll be overwhelmed by sheer numbers anyway, and there's no point in dragging large weapons through small tunnels."

"That's what she said," Nick snickers, and Darla smacks him. Her hand must hurt all the time.

"Read the room!" she hisses at him.

"Your ankle is fine?" Maalik checks with me, ignoring the idiot behind us.

"Yup," I reply. "Perfectly capable of running like a scared little girl when being chased by a hundred imps determined to make Lana kabobs," I finish while mock-saluting him.

Maalik, more than used to my antics by now, just scoffs.

The demon who had the most to say is now suspiciously quiet. I look at the figure whose burning gaze I feel on my cheek. Lightning is still crackling angrily above us, showing his displeasure over my choices. Well, tough luck. I'm a soldier and if nothing else, the last few years have indoctrinated me into believing that it's my duty to shield innocent people. Like Mike.

Just because the demon lord got his teeth in me – both literally and figuratively once – doesn't mean he has a say in the decisions of Abaddon.

"Go get ready." Maalik nods at Akira and me. "This will take a couple of days," he says to the figures still choking us with their oppressive aura.

I turn in the direction of the armory, Kevin and Daniel leaving with me.

"Lana…" Kevin says plaintively.

"I'll be fine," I tell him. And myself. And perhaps even the demon glaring at my back.

"Which one?" I quietly ask Daniel as we move across the field.

He knows what I'm asking and replies even quieter, "Ashtaroth."

"Ashtaroth," I repeat, and feel every hair on my body stand at attention. As if he heard me invoke his name, despite my quiet voice, despite the distance now between us.

As I step into the fortress, I glance behind one last time. Some of the cloaked figures are still conversing with the mentors who remain on the field. Some of them have turned and vanished. But one figure stands still, the darkness under the hood of his cloak turned in my direction.