Her eyes softened, then she started walking. “Come on. Before Calyx decides to take that nap.”
It didn’t take us long to catch up to the others, and as a team, we strode toward the edge of the battlefield.
Her army stood exactly where she’d left them—row after row of soldiers. My gaze passed over one face, then another, and another, picking out the familiar ones. I still couldn’t believe she’d built them all from the bones of Hell itself, forming them from her own memory. If ever I’d needed proof that she had a deep connection to this realm—aroyalconnection—this was it. The only other being who could have done this was Lucifer.
Now, it was time to wake them. I needed to prepare myself. In the past, whenever Lucifer used our essences to forge more hellspawn, it’d hurt. Not in a torturous way—no, I’d experienced enough of that to know the difference. It was more like a draining. Like he was siphoning off our souls to create new life. Not even Lucifer could create life from nothing. There was only one being capable of such a thing.
Lily came to a stop next to Eliza, in front of the first row of soldiers. I stopped a few paces behind Lily, Levi to my left and Calyx to my right. The latter leaned against his sword like he was conserving energy. If he thought he needed a nap now, it wouldn’t compare to how he’d feel in a few minutes. But he knew that. We both knew how taxing it was to infuse souls with our essence. He and I would need a solid day of rest after to recuperate.
Lily’s shoulders lifted with a long breath, her chest rising against the weight of it. Then she exhaled and glanced over her shoulder at us. “Let’s do this.”
A second later, she lit up with magic, and the ground beneath our boots seemed to hum in answer.
She was in it now—locked in whatever place she went to when she worked this kind of magic. And whether this attempt succeeded or ended the way the last one had…none of us could say.
Chapter Eleven
LILY
The roots were black.
That was the first thing I noticed when the forest formed around me. One moment, I’d been standing on the battlefield with Rathiel and my friends behind me—literally and figuratively. The next, I was here, surrounded by towering blue-green trees, and their roots wereblack.
They twisted and sprawled beneath my boots, spreading as far as the eye could see. Some were fine as spider silk, others thick as braided rope. And if I stood still long enough, I could see the darkness moving,creeping, as it slipped into the untouched roots, poisoning them one by one.
I curled my fingers into fists to keep from touching anything. The last time hadn’t ended well, and I wasn’t eager for a repeat.
I still hadn’t told anyone about the darkness, afraid of how they’d react. If I told them about it, would they make me stop? I couldn’t allow that. The last time I’d led a rebellion against my father, I’d lost everything—Rathiel, my army, my wings, mymemories, my home. The thought of all that happening again was like a dagger to my heart.
Ihadto win this time.
And to accomplish that, Ineededsoldiers. I couldn’t let fear stop me. Not mine nor anyone else’s.
That meant forging onward regardless of the darkness. Whatever this was, I could handle it.
Pulling myself up by my figurative bootstraps, I strode toward the heart of the forest, then ventured deeper, toward the light and my essence—mysoul. The brilliant light still blinded me, but the glow at the center wasn’t pure anymore. Shadows ran through it in branching veins, disappearing deep into its core, as though they belonged there.
They didn’t.
They feltperverse. Like an infection that refused to let go. I was the host, and the darkness was the disease.
I stepped closer, my pulse drumming in my ears. I expected the darkness to lash out and push me away. Instead, the tendrils snaked forward, wrapped around my waist, and dragged me closer. I instinctively tried to steady myself, and the second my fingers touched the tainted light, both heat and shadow flared through my hand and up my arm. Its touch was cool and slick. The two twisted together, forming a band of black embedded with gold. Then it sank into me, vanishing from sight.
Power swelled within me and my breath quickened. The roots came next, piercing the light and snaking around my legs, wrapping around my calves. Something pulled at me, a tug from beyond the forest. Rathiel? No. My soldiers. Their souls called to me, begging for their freedom.
Without hesitation, I gave myself over to them. Sparks flickered at the edge of my awareness, hundreds of them. A thousand. Each one calling my name.
The magic lifted me off my feet, the bands now coiled tight around my wrists and ankles. Only then did the thickest coil of darkness unwind itself from my essence, peeling itself away from the light. Once freed, it rose, climbing into the air until it hovered directly in front of my chest.
It didn’t move. Just hung there, pulsing, almost like it was watching me.
Then, it struck, piercing my chest.
My head fell back, and my mouth opened in a silent scream. I squeezed my eyes shut as pure, undiluted magic streamed through me.
It was so much.
Toomuch.
