He shook his head, then glanced at me. “Is it painful? The merging?”
I almost laughed. Once, I would have said that painful didn’t begin to cover it. But thanks to my time spent in Lucifer’s tender mercies, I measuredpainon a new scale.
Creating hellspawn required three elements: a body, a condemned human soul, and the essence of a fallen. Lucifer never used his own essence—the bastard was selfish like that—but he had no issue taking ours. He’d take the condemned soul, stuff it into a freshly made body, then merge the two together using our essence. The nature of the fallen he chose determined the hellspawn’s form. My essence bred the sanguinari—aka vampires—while Ezrion created the brimlords, Gremory the netherons, Miriel the plaguebearers, Raelia the venerath, Gavrel the vexori, Tavira the ravagers, and Calyx the umbrari.
As for Levi’s question—whether or not the merging was painful—I merely shrugged.
His gaze softened. “Then I’m sorry. But I feel this is necessary. She needs an army.”
Yes, she did. We all had sacrifices to make in order to win this war.
“I haven’t explained the merging process to her yet,” I said.
Levi watched Lily for a moment, then said, “Don’t. If you explain Lucifer’s process, she may mimic it. Let her discover this magic in her own way. Bond with it. She needs to feel it for herself and understand how it works.”
His reasoning made sense.
I gave a curt nod. “Then we let her lead.”
Lily rose, dusted the ash from her pants, and turned to face us. Her eyes locked with mine, and I caught a flicker of fear within. She masked it well, but I knew her well enough to see it without her saying a word. I gave her a small, encouraging nod.
She could do this—I had no doubt. But I also understood her concerns. Becoming her father was her worst nightmare, and she feared using that type of magic might awaken something within her. But she wasn’t only Lucifer’s daughter. She was Sofiel’s too. And while Sofiel had fallen alongside the rest of us, Lucifer had never infected her with a demon.
Because she’d been the purest and most beautiful of us all.
Across the ages, she’d borne Lucifer many children—all of whom he’d murdered—so when Lily was born, Sofiel had run. Where she’d planned to go, none of us knew. There wasn’t anywhere in Hell she could hide without Lucifer finding her. But she would have done anything to protect her daughter and keep him from destroying her.
That blood, that innocence and light, existed within Lily. I saw it every day, even if she didn’t. I believed her mother’s blood wouldn’t fail her now. Lily had to believe it too, though, which was a difficult ask when she had no memories of her mother. She’d been far too young when Lucifer killed Sofiel.
Lily looked to the others, her gaze moving from face to face until finally settling on Eliza. The two locked eyes, and I saw it again—the silent exchange. The stiffening of Eliza’s shoulders. The subtle twitch of her fingers as they ghosted toward the dagger strapped at her hip.
My eyes narrowed just as Eliza turned and met my stare. I didn’t miss the flicker of guilt in her expression. Then, just as quickly, she glanced away.
What the hell was that?
I’d spent enough time around the two of them to know when they were excluding me from something. This wasn’t the first time, and I doubted it would be the last. But before I could demand answers, Lily spoke.
“Rath, Calyx, are you two ready for this?” she asked, drawing my attention back to her.
No. I wasnot. Not until she explained herself.
Calyx, however, gave her a grim smile and nodded.
“It’s nothing we haven’t experienced before,” he commented, his voice devoid of emotion. “We’ll need to rest for a day or two afterward, but we’ll be back on our feet in no time.”
Lily turned her gaze on me again, the anxiety bright in her eyes. Then she faced Levi. “Take care of them.”
Gorr wasn’t the only one who twitched. I took an involuntary step forward, my instincts roaring to life. Something was wrong. I knew the whole concept of her resurrecting her army scared her, but this was beyond that. She looked like she was going to her execution.
She released a slow breath and looked once more at Eliza.
“You know what to do.”
The siren squared her shoulders, raised her chin, and nodded.
And just like that, it all clicked into place.
Lily and Eliza had struck an agreement of some sort. And the way Eliza’s hand settled on her dagger hilt told me everything I needed to know. Lily looked like she was going to her execution, because in her eyes, that was exactly what was happening.
