The Demon's Song

CHAPTER Twenty-One


She’d thought he would come back. Some part of her really had thought he would return, if only to make her another ridiculous offer, or to keep fighting. That’s what she really wanted—for him to keep fighting. To fight for her.

As the sun sank into the ocean, Sofia stood at the doors that looked out over the sea, the salty breeze lifting and blowing her hair, gentle as a kiss.

Phenex might not have a heart to give, but he’d broken hers.

When the tears came, for what felt like the thousandth time that day, they were slow and silent. She’d offered him the only thing she had to give—her heart. But it wasn’t enough. He wanted the one thing she couldn’t give up.

Her life.

It was hopeless. Maybe she’d known that from the beginning. She just hadn’t understood how much having to let go would hurt.

Sofia stood at the doors for so long that she lost track of time, finally turning away when her eyes began to water from the sand in the rising breeze. The sun was gone, the world had fallen into darkness by the time she came back to herself. She wanted, needed some light. It had gone far too quickly. The room seemed to have gone black as pitch behind her.

Sofia took a step forward, then another, and felt the air begin to thicken. She’d felt that once before. The horror crept up her throat, but just as before, her limbs grew heavy, and then stopped working altogether.

“So sad, little human,” came the soft hiss out of the blackness swirling around her. “So very, very sad. You’ve become just the weakness I’d hoped. I’ve been waiting, you know. Waiting and watching, knowing what was coming. I knew what would kill him the night I discovered he’d stolen my pretty bird and set her free—his pathetic angel’s heart. This fall will be his last.”

“You’re wrong,” Sofia choked out as her throat threatened to betray her. “We’re done. He doesn’t love me. He can’t. So it’s over. You’re only hurting me, not him.”

The laugh was bright and somehow awful, like the shrieks in a carnival funhouse.

“Wrong, you hairless ape. You’re as stupid as he is. Come along with me, darling. Come help me destroy the worthless, treacherous bastards of Terra Noctem. Amphora will burn, and you with it. He’ll see you go up in flames, just like all the demons he’s killed. Then he can burn, too. But I want to see his face when he hears you screaming. It will be sweeter than any music he’s ever made.”

Sofia tried to shout, to scream for help. But her throat had tightened, refusing to work. She swayed, then fell, all her muscles locking at once. As she fell, Sofia finally saw Belial’s face. It was the face of an angel, beautiful and terrible. He could have been any of the Fallen she now knew…until he smiled, and she realized what the difference was between the high demons of Hell and Terra Noctem’s exiles. With Phenex and, to varying extents, his brothers, their true smiles, even though rare, lit up their faces with a light that made them astoundingly beautiful. But Belial’s smile was full of the biting, writhing dark. It was empty, and cold.

Predatory.

All Sofia could do was open her mouth and scream, silently, as the darkness enveloped her.

…

He couldn’t make himself go back. Just as he couldn’t make himself leave.

Phenex sat at the end of a pier, staring at the water. He’d hoped she might come out and look around, that she might see him and come tell him that she’d thought about it, that she would gladly give up her mortal life to come hang out in a cave with him for all eternity.

Hellfire, what a mess.

People came and went around him, boats sailed by. But there was no Sofia, and he had no better handle on the situation. He knew he had to go back. Nothing changed the fact that until Belial was dead, she was his responsibility. The sticking point seemed to be what “his” meant to each of them.

Sofia wanted love and acceptance.

He just wanted her, and the security of knowing she would neither die nor leave.

Why those two desires were incompatible was something he couldn’t fathom. Oh wait, no. It was because she wanted dinners with her parents, her job, sunlight, friends with reasonable lifespans…a human’s life. A home. And especially, for him to love her back.

Everything in him rebelled against the thought. He was a demon, damn it! Demons didn’t love. Demons didn’t have Ma and Pa Human over for casserole, and sit on the front porch to talk about their days, and maybe bake cookies in a sunny kitchen…and get a boat, a nice big one, that they could take out on the ocean with a bottle of wine.

Phenex buried his head in his hands. He was losing his mind. The only couples he knew were still very…supernatural. They loved Terra Noctem. Why did he want these things? When had he started wanting these things?

Cookies? Hellfire.

But…maybe. Maybe?

He could hear her scream in his head, so clearly that it was like someone had shoved an ice pick through his skull. Phenex winced and doubled over, clapping his hands to his ears. Then it was gone, vanishing as abruptly as it had come. He whipped his head around.

Sofia.

He was in the air in two steps, back at the balcony in three pumps of his wings. The doors were open, the bed still rumpled. The smell of her was strong, as though she’d just been standing here. Then he caught the other scent—brimstone. Belial had taken her. Another living toy for the Prince of Sloth. And this time, it was all his damned fault.

His heart constricted painfully in his chest, and something welled up from deep within him, places that had been locked for thousands of years. He thought of Sofia, alone and bloody in the cage that had once held Celestine, or clasped in Belial’s fists while she wept for a mercy that would never come. He thought of her touch, her laugh, her smile, and the way she came apart in his arms. Even the way she’d shouted at him—You a*shole, I’m in love with you!

He wanted her back. He wanted her to want to come back. He needed…

Later. Phenex rose, putting every thought aside but one. He had to find Sofia before Belial broke her. To the demon, this was a game. One that would end with blood. All that mattered right now was that the blood shed would be Belial’s.

With a roar that shook the building, Phenex shot into the sky, chasing the scent of brimstone, and hoping that he wasn’t too late to finally, after all this time, make something right.



Even with his speed, Phenex always seemed to stay just behind Belial. The demon, and Sofia, remained infuriatingly close, but always just out of reach. He was unsurprised, though, to find that the trail ended as the sun was setting, back in the place where everything had begun.

Amphora was in chaos.

Phenex dropped through the roof, unable to get in the front doors. The building was already surrounded by firefighters and police, none of whom seemed to be able to get inside. That was luck, Phenex thought, as he fell like a shadow through a glass dome already riddled with cracks, the building below filled with smoke.

It wouldn’t last. Eventually, whatever power kept the humans out would let them in, and more blood would be shed. But for now, this fight was between the Fallen and the forces of Hell.

At least Belial had chosen a Wednesday, going for surprise over maximum carnage. It was unlike him…but a mark of how desperate he’d become for the blood of his renegade brethren.

Phenex landed, catlike, in the middle of a smoke-filled ballroom. It was barely recognizable as the luxe space it had been. Now, nefari, squat and red-horned, clambered out of holes in the ground, the walls, setting fire to anything they wanted.

Which appeared to be everything.

The shrieks and grunts of the demon horde didn’t interest him, nor did the fifteen or so he carved through as he strode across the room and into the hallway. Bodies of vampires littered the floor. They’d been taken by surprise, Phenex thought grimly, recognizing most of them. The scouts had done their jobs well.

The first dining room Phenex passed was full of upended tables, black ooze, and Murmur battling at least fifty nefari. He looked perfectly happy as his fire sword flashed between the lesser demons, pieces of them falling to the floor as he moved.

“Phenex! Good!” Murmur shouted. “Grab a sword, do something useful! Justin had to fight his way through the tunnels to get back to Terra Noctem…they’re crawling with demons, but they haven’t breached the city boundaries yet. Raum is covering him. Looks like the city is moving tonight, and we’re not leaving much behind.” He hacked the head off of another nefari. “They don’t pay us enough for this shit! Where’s Belial? Him I’ll fight!”

“Get in line,” Phenex said, flapping his wings to get above the horde. He spotted an extra fire sword jammed in a painting, much higher than any lesser demon would be able to reach, and grabbed it. It felt good in his hand, the power of it drawn right from his blood and channeled into the sword.

He caught Sofia’s scent again and raced after it, slicing and slashing his way through the squealing, grunting mass of low demons. Fortunately, most human ears wouldn’t be able to hear these sounds outside, but a few would…and the noises would haunt them.

Phenex saw each of his brothers in turn as he made his way through the ruins that Amphora was quickly becoming. They were battling masses of demons, who were pouring through walls and floors, a clever trick that could only be facilitated by a very powerful high demon. Phenex flew above them, or sliced through them, but he saw no sign of Sofia.

Then, all at once, he heard her.

“No!”

Her cry was anguished, sending fury black as night pounding through him. Phenex jerked to a halt in midair, changing direction to dive down a different hallway.

The air had grown even thicker with smoke, flames licking up the walls. He saw one inferi on fire, the stupid creature having assumed that it would be as much in its element here as it was in the fiery pits. But Earth fire was a different matter. Most of the demons here, though, were carcasses. The area had already been cleared. When a traitorous vampire crept up behind him like a shadow, Phenex barely had to turn, ending its pitiful existence with a single sweep of the powerful sword.

They were waiting in the last room, the one with the door he’d taken Sofia through to get to Terra Noctem. Bodies littered the floor, this time with vampires who would be missed in Terra Noctem. They’d died defending their city. Belial stood grinning by the half-open door in the wall, clutching Sofia against his chest like a lover. Belial’s hand cupped her throat, gently. A thin rivulet of blood trickled down her skin, but she looked whole, and alive.

Her eyes were wild. Her robe looked as though it had been clawed at, sections of it shredded. She was barely covered, and terrified.

“There you are,” Belial purred. “I’ve been waiting. I almost thought you’d catch up to us, but you always were slow.”

“Let her go.”

Belial snorted. “No. Come, Phenex…follow me down. Catch me if you can.”

He splayed his fingers over a space of bare floor, and a section of it caved in, creating a large, smoking hole between them, black shot through with red light that flickered and twisted. Phenex inhaled, and smelled what had once been home. Fear curled deep in his belly, supplanting some of the fury.

“She’ll die as soon as you take her through, Belial. No human can survive Hell for long.”

“Oh, we’ll have a few minutes together, I’m sure,” Belial said, grinned, and then leaped into the darkness.

Phenex heard himself bellow, but it was no use. Without another thought, he leaped in after them.

The sounds of the battle vanished instantly, replaced by the pulse and thrum of some ancient and hideous heart. There was a darkness, thick and black as pitch, that wrapped itself around Phenex, squeezing him tight as he dropped through this small rift between worlds. It would close again soon enough, but Phenex moved swiftly, and in an instant the light grew red.

He was home. Or rather, in the deserted courtyard of Belial’s home.

The hair at the back of Phenex’s neck prickled when he imagined what might happen if Lucifer discovered he was here. He shook it off, flexed his hand around the hilt of the fire sword, and sprinted into the manor house through the massive doors that stood open. No one was here, not a single one of the many low demons who served Belial. A few wretched human souls, damned and cowed, shrank from him as he strode quick and silent down the halls.

He already knew where Belial was headed.

Down the stairs, through the massive wine cellar where Phenex had once come to find an expensive bottle of something to drown his sorrows, instead finding something very different.

The door to Belial’s “game room” stood open. Phenex never faltered, stepping inside.

Nothing had changed. Not the whips, chains, spikes, and ropes that hung from the ceilings and walls, not the massive disheveled bed with the mirrors mounted above it, not the blood spatters on the wall nor the faint, stale smell of sex. And especially not the large, gilded cage that had once held an imprisoned angel, and which now held a gasping, writhing Sofia.

Her dark hair hung in her face as she tried to get to her feet, but the air itself seemed to be too heavy for her to bear. This world had not been made for mortals. Just being here would crush her from the inside out.

She was dying. And Phenex felt a piece of himself begin to wither painfully away as well. What had he done?

“So here we are. This is such a perfect place to end it. My horde overruns that pit of filth you live in, and I get you. Here. Watching the woman you love bleed out through her nose, her mouth, her eyes… That should be soon, by the way.” He smiled, his handsome face somehow monstrous. “It’s just a shame she won’t last longer. I discovered so many enjoyable things before you took my Celestine away.”

“She wasn’t yours. We have an entire realm of wretched souls to punish if we feel like it, but you had to have something forbidden,” Phenex spat. “Even Lucifer wouldn’t—”

Belial burst out laughing. “Phenex. You’re so naive. It’s sort of charming and disgusting all at once. You think he didn’t use her? We all did. Celestine served the pleasure of the Council more than once. But she was mine.” His eyes flashed, lip curling. “She was so difficult to trap, so worthy a prize. Beautiful. Sweet. Pure. None of my possessions could hold a candle to her. And you let her go. You sent her f*cking home! Even before I fell, I wanted her, and now I’ll never have her again. Never!” he shrieked. “You’ll pay for it. You and your whore!”

Phenex’s blood thundered in his ears until he could no longer hear Belial. There was only the sight of his lips moving to silent invective while to his right, Sofia had begun to cough up blood. Her eyes lifted and caught his…and he remembered that terrible crush of emotion as though it was the first time.

Kill me. I beg you.

That was what it meant, to be possessed by a demon. To have no say in your fate. To simply be owned. He was no Belial…but not all the lessons he had learned in Hell had been as lost as he wished.

Loving Sofia would mean opening the cage door all over again. And this time, as with Celestine, he knew deep in his bones what he had to do. But with Sofia, the realization came with a burst of bittersweet joy—he hadn’t forgotten how to love. He loved her.

He loved her. Even more than he was afraid of losing her, of someday having to let go.

The truth of it filled him, and so many things that had been locked inside himself broke open. A rush of light consumed him, and for a single moment that seemed to hang, suspended, all the universe was the song he had been created singing. Phenex’s wings snapped out to his sides, and there was a brief, searing pain that he had to close his eyes against. And within, Phenex could feel something new, something shimmering and sweet and endless that pulsed with the love he had found. A gift, even now, for a creature who would never again be quite an angel…but who had proven himself worthy of something more.

From the depths of Phenex sang something new. His soul.

With it came a power unlike any he’d ever known.

Phenex opened his eyes to find Belial staring at him, his face contorted with fury.

“No!” he shrieked.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion after that. Belial drew his sword from between his own wings, but Phenex was already ahead of him, his own fire sword raking a line of black blood across Belial’s chest. The demon screamed in pain and anger, and their swords connected on the next pass, again and again. Always, Phenex tried to keep an eye on Sofia, knowing time here was short. Her struggles seemed to be getting weaker.

The next time Belial’s sword passed by in a rush of air, Phenex sliced out with his hand, thinking of Sofia’s clever move, and caught the demon full force in the throat. Belial’s eyes widened, and he gagged. It left enough opening for Phenex to make one more slash of the fire sword, neatly detaching Belial’s head from his body. Even before they hit the floor, both head and body were in flames.

The demon’s final scream echoed, filling the room before expanding through the walls, a warning that Phenex knew the Council members and their hordes would hear.

Traitor.

He had to get out of here.

The cage was unlocked, at least, and Phenex gathered Sofia quickly into his arms. At first, he thought he had managed to catch her before the worst of it.

“It’s over. It’s done, Sofia. We can go home. I’m here. Can you hear me, baby? It’s going to be okay.”

But it wasn’t. His stomach rolled when her head fell back. Only the whites of Sofia’s eyes were visible, and the blood was running down her cheeks like tears. Her body was limp. She was nearly out of time.

“No!” Phenex cried in the terrible silence. “No, no, no, hang on…you have to hang on.”

He was back in the courtyard in a few quick flashes of movement, back to the departure point Belial had set up. Phenex muttered the words he remembered to open the temporary rift, and even as shouts and screams began to echo through the skies, warning of his presence, he was springing up, rocketing into blackness that was suffocating. Somewhere beyond were the remains of Amphora, a battle that might still rage on…

And he found he cared for nothing but the life that was ebbing away right here in his arms.

As the darkness lightened, he did something he had sworn he would never again do. He used an ability that ought to have vanished from disuse, but that was still as keen as the edge of his blade. With all the light that still burned inside him, he cried out for help.

Please. Save her. Help me save her. There has to be a way.

And in the silence that followed, he heard Uriel’s voice.

There is. But there’s always a price.

Phenex understood without having to be told. Whatever happened, whatever he did, he would have to be willing to accept that he could lose Sofia. What would she want? What could she bear? He had so little time left.

“Tell me,” he whispered as the world around him lightened.

And Uriel responded with a choice.