Purrgy gave a small, blissful chirrup, then gently swatted at Mephisar’s snout. Everyone sucked in a collectively anxious breath, but thankfully, the gigantic hellwyrm just booped him back and continued licking.
I was the first to release the breath. If Mephisar could handle Purrgy swatting him, then it seemed safe to say we were in the clear.
“Well, as exciting—and disturbing—as this is to watch, perhaps we should discuss the ellafump squatting in our midst,” Levi began.
One by one, everyone turned to stare at him. Until I shot Eliza a questioning glance. She clapped a hand over her mouth and started laughing, shoulders shaking as all eyes turned to her.
“Theelephantin theroom, Levi,” she said.
“You’ve been teaching him Earth phrases?” I asked.
She shrugged. “A girl has to find some way to amuse herself in her downtime. It’s not like we have any form of entertainment here.”
I gestured broadly to our surroundings. “Are hellwyrms bathing cats, a literal civil war, and murderous fallen angels not enough to occupy your time?”
Calyx snorted a laugh. “Onlyyouwould consider any of that ‘entertainment.’”
“What is an elephant?” Levi asked.
“It’s a mammal—” I paused, realizing that was another word he wouldn’t know. Right. “Picture a tharnox.”
“Dreadful creatures,” Calyx intoned. Everyone native to Hell nodded along.
“Now remove the venom sacs and bone-saw tail and replace its mouth full of barbed tongues with a long, singular trunk framed by two massive teeth called tusks.”
“That sounds…,” Levi said.
“Horrifying,” Rathiel added.
He hadn’t spent much time on Earth, and we’d been too busy fighting for our lives for me to show him all the finer points of life there. So far, the only animal—domesticated or otherwise—that he’d encountered was Purrgy. Unless we included Vol in that list. And I wasn’t quite sure my imp qualified asdomesticated.
I shared a chuckle with Eliza. “They’re actually quite cute. They enjoy playing in mud and splashing each other with water. Tharnoxes, on the other hand, take their playtime to a devastating degree. Their idea offunis stomping their enemies into a puddle of goo and masticating whatever remains with their sharp fangs and barbed tongues. Yes, plural.”
Eliza blanched. “Remind me to run if we ever come across one of those tharnox thingies.”
“Don’t worry, they’re only native to one part of Hell, and I have no intention of taking us there.”
Because we’d never come back. I’d gone once, a long time ago, back when my life had been simpler and my biggest concern had been escaping my father’s abuse. I’d barely survived, and the only reason I had was because Rathiel had followed me and swooped in to save the day. As he always did.
“So…back to the ellafump?” I said.
Levi grinned, clearly proud his phrase had caught on. “We’ve taken a few days to let everyone acclimate to each other and to give you time, Lily, since recovering your memories. But we cannot remain idle any longer. Raelia and Gremory are now dead. Out of the original nine fallen angels, your father is down to three. I must imagine he’s livid. And the longer we wait, the greater the risk of Lucifer striking first before we’re ready.”
When my father fell from Heaven, he hadn’t done so alone. Nine angels had chosen to fall alongside him. And how had Lucifer shown his gratitude? By corrupting them. He’d merged each of them with demons, twisting them into unholy caricatures of their angelic selves. They’d become his strongest soldiers. His generals. But their power had come with a price, one they hadn’t realized they’d agreed to.
He’d stolen their free will—a fact I’d only recently learned.
They couldn’t disobey him, no matter how cruel the command. And truthfully, few wanted to. Most had become as twisted as him. Most. But notall. Two had joined my side.
The first was Rathiel. He’d spent millennia under Lucifer’s thumb, obeyed countless commands, shed more blood than history itself, and considered himself a monster. But when it came to me, he’d always found a way to bend the rules to protect me. And when the moment of truth came, he’d chosen to stand at my side rather than Lucifer’s.
Then there was Calyx. Unfortunately, I couldn’t give him the same glowing review. He’d made my childhood a living hell, alongside the others. The only reason he stood at my side now was because he wanted something from me. His freedom.
Of course, it wouldn’t be that simple to win back. Lucifer had freed Rathiel from his vow in order to plant him in my ranks and infiltrate my rebellion. My father was brilliant in the evilest of ways, but even he’d been blind to Rathiel’s true feelings for me. Lucifer hadn’t expected his right-hand soldier to betray him.
Calyx, however, hadn’t received that same freedom. His vow still held, a complication we had to keep in mind the next time we faced Lucifer. If my father ordered him to kill me, he’d have no choice.
But that was a fun time bomb we were currently ignoring.
