With a nudge from Lucifer, Eliza’s song changed—darkened—and a nearby ravager lunged at a fellow soldier, jaws closing around its neck. Netherons turned their blades on allies. The roar of battle twisted into something worse—half scream, half worship.
I hit the ground hard enough to jar my knees and carved my way through the madness, using both Inferno’s Kiss and Dragonbane to slice a path toward the source. Two plaguebearers lunged at me—mine, both of them—eyes glazed with the siren’s call. I spun, fire licking from my palm, and burned them down before their claws could touch me. Later I would regret harming my own. But right now, I was fighting for all our lives.
“Eliza!” I shouted, forcing my voice to carry over the chaos. “Don’t do this! You know compulsion—fight it! Fight him!”
She simply shook her head. Her song continued to pour from her lips even as tears streaked her cheeks. She swayed once, as though she hated every note and still couldn’t stop. Lucifer stood just behind her, eyes glinting like a cat’s in the dark.
Another netheron crashed into me from the side—one of mine. I ducked, slammed my elbow into his jaw, and swept Inferno’s Kiss across his chest. Black blood fountained. He crumpled.
I forced myself forward, every step a battle.
“Eliza!” I roared again, parrying a sanguinari’s strike and skewering him. “He doesn’t own you. If anyone can break his compulsion, it’s you!”
Her shoulders trembled. The melody—whatever it was—wavered for a heartbeat. Hope flared in my chest.
Then Lucifer leaned close and whispered something I couldn’t hear.
Eliza’s voice rose.
Her pull over my army deepened like a riptide. Hellspawn howled their anger. Some dropped their weapons to keep from turning on their brothers in combat, while others turned their blades on their allies. A nearby netheron stumbled forward, her eyes burning with fire, drawn toward Eliza like a moth to a flame. A ravager clawed at his own head, likely trying to silencethe music resounding in his head. Gorr dug his claws into the dirt next to me and threw his massive head side to side, fighting Eliza’s call with a guttural roar that rattled my bones.
“Eliza, look at me!” I ducked under another swing and drove my blade through a plaguebearer’s chest. “You’re stronger than him. You’re stronger than this!”
For the briefest second her eyes met mine. They were wild with terror—pleading—and still the song poured out, unbroken.
Lucifer’s grin widened.
I cut down another hellspawn, barely pausing to look now. If they attacked me, I ended them, it was as simple as that. But with every hellspawn I cut down, another took its place, keeping me at a distance from Eliza and Lucifer. It felt like I was wading through tar. Around me, my soldiers faltered, some clamping clawed hands over their ears, some biting their own tongues until blood ran, others completely lost to her allure.
“Hold your ground!” I shouted, but my voice drowned beneath the pull of her melody.
A netheron lunged at me, eyes glassy. I ducked his strike and blasted hellfire across his chest. He shrieked, stumbled, then crawled toward the sound again—toward her.
Panic scraped up my throat. If I couldn’t break the song, my army would eat itself alive. If she didn’t stop, I would have to stop her. And I couldn’t. I couldnotraise a blade against my best friend. Not again.
My mind raced through every option, just as Dragon screamed overhead and unleashed a torrent of fire on the enemy line.
Dragon…
He’d once belonged to Lucifer, had he not? Until I’d tamed him. It wasn’t the same thing as Lucifer owning Eliza’s free will, but maybe—justmaybe—I could do the same for her. She’d avowed herself toLevi, not Lucifer. Clearly, my father still hadpower over her, but maybe that distinction would be enough to free her.
I couldn’t do nothing. And I’d never forgive myself for killing her.
Ihadto try.
I cut my way closer to Eliza. “I’m sorry,” I breathed. Then I summoned the darkness and prayed this worked. Otherwise, what good were these powers that plagued me?
It rushed out of my chest and burst across the ground. Thick, shadowed ropes coiled outward, writhing like starved serpents. All nearby hellspawn recoiled at the sight, and those too slow to respond, my shadows snatched and hurled across the battlefield. Two fresh shadows slithered from my palms and spilled toward Eliza.
Lucifer’s head snapped toward me, eyes narrowing. “Don’t you dare,” he barked, dragging Eliza against him as he summoned his own magic. His darkness met mine in a violent clash, shadow against shadow, sparks of black fire exploding where they collided.
For a heartbeat, I thought he’d overpower me. He always had. But then something changed. My shadows pressed harder, surer, responding not to rage but to purpose.
I had to get her away from him and break his control over her.
With merely a thought, my magic surged. My shadows slithered between him and Eliza, then shot upward, straight to the sky, cutting him off from her. Pure shock twisted his face—an expression I couldn’t recall ever seeing on him before—and he stumbled back a step, his snarl echoing through the chaos.
Lucifer’s fury instantly sparked. His eyes blazed, and he drove his power against my barrier. Shadows cracked and hissed under the assault, the air itself vibrating from the force of hisrage. I felt each strike in my bones, the wall shuddering as he tried to rip through it.
