Shea’s spell disintegrated a few feet from him. Chloe grabbed hold of my shoulders and tried to pull me back, while Luke rose up on his hind legs and roared.
Lucifer slammed his palms together and black mist shot out. All three of my friends went flying in different directions, each crashing into the nearby walls, and sinking into unconsciousness. I tried to move but couldn’t. Trailing my eyes over each of my friend’s chests, relief flooded through me that they were all breathing.
I had reached him now. Twelve inches from the maker of evil.
‘What do I do?’ I asked Sera as my knees wobbled in fear.
‘I don’t know.’
Oh God. She’d never said that before. I was totally screwed.
Lucifer’s eyes narrowed at my blade. With one flick of his wrist, Sera was torn from my hand, and sent sailing across the room, hitting the ground with a clink.
“You’re the one from the prophecy.” His eyes glittered in excitement.
The portal was still behind him. If I could possibly kick him through and somehow close it, maybe I had a chance.
“Just leave me be. I won’t hurt you. I’m just a kid,” I pleaded. I knew it was useless to try and gain empathy from the Devil himself, but I couldn’t stand there and do nothing.
He grinned, stepping closer. “You think I’m scared of you?”
The stench of oil and vinegar burned my nose.
His hands lit up, a glowing red that pulled my gaze down to where they rested near his waist. “No, no, no, my child. You’re the first and only human creation of mine. I want to mold you into the great and dark warrior you can be.”
Those glowing hands were freaking me out. I tried to squirm, but it felt like I’d been molded into a statue.
Taking a deep breath, I remembered my training with Archangel Michael and tried to call Sera to me, sending my energy out behind me to brush against hers.
“I want you to be endowed with all of your powers, my child.” He slammed his hot palm right into the center of my chest, gripping my arm with his other hand, and pinning me in place.
A shriek tore from my mouth as pain like I’d never felt before ripped through me. A dark heaviness coated my skin, like a wet blanket, as sadness enveloped me. Mind-numbing depression crawled into the corner of my mind, and I screamed harder as I tried to fight it. Rage built within me at the unwanted violation. I felt that darkness searching inside of me, looking for an outlet. I’d kept it pent-up for so long, trying so hard to be good and full of light, that I wanted to burst.
Another flare of red surged from his palm to my chest. I let it all go. I screamed, as agony and rage swirled within me, letting the dark, ugly monster inside of me loose. A huge, black inky blob crawled up my throat and flew from my mouth, wrapping around his neck, and the lower half of his jaw.
Shock marred his features but was quickly replaced with absolute pride. His eyes glittered as he assessed me with complete adoration.
No.
He snapped his fingers, and the black necktie fell from his throat as if it was made of paper. Then he took his hand from my chest and beamed at me. “You’ll do great and terrible things in my name,” he declared, his voice reverberating off the walls.
Fuck that.
With the last reserve of energy I had left, I wrapped it around Sera and pulled. My legs were still frozen to the spot, but when she flew across the room and into my hand, I was able to move my arm and thrust her at him. Lucifer saw my jab coming and sidestepped it, grabbing me by the neck and trying to pull me with him into the portal.
At that moment, Lincoln and his team burst into the room, screaming my name. He took one look at the Prince of Darkness standing in front of the portal to Hell and the blood drained from his face.
The Mage girl in their group shouted a bunch of words in another language, and a bright blue star shot from her hand before it burst across the ceiling, sending little sparkles of glitter over everything. When they touched Lucifer’s skin, he cried out and pulled his arm back, releasing me. I was still thankfully on my side of the world, him in his, but my toes were inches from being in Hell, literally.
“Come, child,” Lucifer beckoned and thrust his arm out again, latching onto mine. Lincoln leapt into the air, and came down on the Devil’s outstretched arm with his sword, cutting it clean off.
I fell backward on my ass, the Devil’s spell over me broken. The Mage girl jumped in front of Lincoln and started to close the portal as Lucifer sat on the ground, blackish-crimson blood spurting from his forearm.
The arm Lincoln had cut off suddenly levitated through the portal, and Lucifer caught it in midair, smirking at me.
Then the portal closed.
Everyone turned to stare at me, eyes wide in shock. I glanced behind me to see that Shea, Luke, and Chloe were all stirring, waking up. Thank God.
On the ground, panting, I managed to look up at Lincoln, who was gaping in horror at my chest.
“Wha—” I looked down and a sob tore from my throat.
There, branded on my chest, was a skull with a sideways crown, the black wings behind it.
“He’s marked you,” Lincoln said with mild revulsion, as if that made me evil. As if it made me a devil as well. Then his face quickly changed to something more compassionate, trying to mask his initial reaction, but it was there, I’d seen it.
I clawed at the tattoo to no avail, leaving red streaks on my chest.
“What does this mean?” I asked him, and he gave me the same look of pity people had given my father.
Lincoln crouched down and reached out for me, but I recoiled. He sighed, staring off at the floorboards, unable to meet my eye. “I think it means he’s fully activated your dark powers.”
My dark powers. As if I owned them, and had chosen them. A black cloud crossed over my soul then, and I knew I’d never be the same again.
My greatest fear had been realized.
I’d gone dark.
Chapter Twenty-Four
I could hear the hushed voices arguing inside the room as I sat outside the door to Raphael’s office. As much as they tried to keep quiet, I heard everything.
Once again, I’d been whisked away from the revelry like a freak, just like at the Awakening ceremony.
“He branded her!” Lincoln shouted venomously.
“Hang on, we don’t know exactly what he did,” Archangel Michael’s strong voice cut in.
“Raphael, you’re not going to kick her out, right? Her team killed all of the demons. Four demons dead. That means they passed the gauntlet.” Lincoln’s voice was sharp, threatening.
Technically, the fourth demon was dead when we got there—compliments of the Prince of Darkness, I assumed—but I was going to go with it.
There was only silence for a moment, and I started to get nervous.
“Of course I’m going to pass her. Everyone needs to calm down. She’s innocent in all of this. What Lucifer may or may not have done doesn’t matter. Let’s not alienate her any more than she already is.”
Bless him.
“She carries his mark over her heart. That’s very deep, dark magic,” Mr. Claymore said. I hadn’t even known he was there. I’d been in shock since the Devil himself opened a portal in the middle of my school exam and branded me with dark magic, so I figured I was allowed to be a little out of it.
I looked down at the mark and tears welled in my eyes. The skin was angry and red from me scratching at it, hoping I could peel it off. But it was no use.
“But you can get it off, right?” Lincoln asked, a mild hysteria tinging his voice.
Silence. Moments and moments of silence.
“I don’t think so, but I’ll try. My magic is no match for the Prince of Darkness,” Mr. Claymore sighed, resigned.
I drew my knees up to my chest and cradled them. I wanted my mom to wrap me in her arms, and stroke my back while singing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” But she was in Demon City, and I was stuck here.
“Let’s all just take a breather and keep an eye on her. See if anything… manifests. We can take it from there.” Gabriel was the level-headed one, the peacemaker.