I glanced over her head to find Lucifer now standing at the head of his army, Gavrel at his left, Calyx at his right, and Eliza one step behind him.
“We can do this,” I reminded Lily. “Youcan do this.”
She closed her eyes, just for a heartbeat. When she opened them again, the steel was back. She nodded once. “Then let’s do this.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
LILY
Everything felt…hollow.
The echo of my rousing speech still rang in my head, but the words now fell flat. Lucifer hadn’t caged or chained me, but he’d certainly crippled me. Three of my best weregone. Just like that. One to death. Two ripped out of my reach.
Eliza. Levi.
It killed me even to think their names right now. A tight, physical ache pressed on my ribs until I could scarcely breathe.
Eliza wasn’t dead, but she might as well have been. Standing at my father’s back, trapped, unable to take those blades she so dearly loved and stab him through the heart. And all because he’d stolen her will with a vow she’d never understood.
She’d been with me since the start of this new rebellion. She knew everything—every secret plan, every night I’d doubted myself. She knew my fears and insecurities. She knewallthat I’d been struggling with. Throughout it all, she’d been my anchor. My friend.
And in one swoop, my father had stripped her from me.
Just like my mother.
Just like Deidre.
And now Levi too.
My throat tightened, but I forced myself to take a deep breath in through my nose and blew it out through my mouth.
I could drown in the ache later. After.
Right now, my armyneededme. This was our moment. Our battle. One we needed to win if my people were to find redemption, if I was to live, if Rathiel and everyone else were to survive.
That last one sparked a new fire within me.
Eliza, Calyx, and Levi were gone. But Rathiel still stood at my side, as did Gorr, Calder, Varz, Mephisar, Korrak, Sareth, and a thousand others. Lucifer had stolen some of those I cared about, but not all. I wasn’t alone. I wasn’t weak.
My army didn’t need a shattered princess—they needed a queen. And I would give them one.
I straightened, rolling out my shoulders until my tremors passed. The darkness inside me stirred, eager and hungry to be set free. It must have sensed the crack in my resolve, and now it pressed against the edges of my mind like a tide against a dam. It wantedout. It wanted free rein to purge and destroy and devour.
No.
It was not in control here. I was. No matter my state of mind, the darkness belonged tome.
As though to prove that to myself, I summoned a fraction of the power. Just enough to feel its cold bite in my veins, then shoved it back. Twice more I did this, until my whole body thrummed with unspent energy.
This was my power, and no one else’s. Lucifer couldn’t take it away from me, and I wouldn’t lose control over it. Not again. Not now. Not when everything and everyone depended on me.
“Get it together,” I whispered to myself.
Then I turned, chin high, and faced my army.
I signaled my generals, who signaled their ranks. And just like that, the first scream of a war horn pierced the air. Korrak answered first. The brimlord threw back his head and roared. The molten seams along his body flared white-hot, and he thrust his clawed fist into the air. Beside him, Rathgor stood tall and snarled, the sound building deep in his chest, while Drek’thar gave a mighty cry. Together, the three of them sounded monstrous. And my army responded with a singular roar that shook the dusty ground.
“Forward!” I shouted, drawing Inferno’s Kiss and pointing it directly at my father.
