I had seconds. Less even.
My shadows took the opportunity to wrap around Eliza and pull her closer to me. The moment I deemed the distance between them acceptable, I poured my magic into her. Tendrils of magic wrapped around her waist, her arms, the soft curve of her throat.
Her eyes widened with fear a second before a single thread of darkness slid into her. Instantly, Eliza’s voice fractured and she stopped singing, the look of pure relief on her face slumping my shoulders.
For a moment, the silence deafened me. The surrounding hellspawn staggered and blinked as though waking from a dream. They took a moment to gather their thoughts, regardless of which side they fought for. Then they surged forward, the sound of war echoing in my ears again.
Lucifer’s roar snapped my attention back to him. Black veins crawled under his skin, and his pupils bled into pure darkness.
“You dare defy me, child?” he shouted, his voice cracking with the promise of violence.
“I’ve always defied you,” I proclaimed. “And I always will.”
Eliza’s eyes, still wet with tears, found mine. She glanced over her shoulder at the black barrier separating her from Lucifer, and her whole body deflated. She staggered away from him. One step. Two. Three. The next thing I knew, she was running to me. A part of me wanted to open my arms to her, offer her comfort. She’d not only learned that the angel she loved was dead, but that the devil had manipulated her into promising herself to him. I couldn’t imagine the pain ripping her apart right now. But unfortunately, this was war. A fact proved true when, instead of seeking comfort, she drew her daggers and struck down a hellspawn too close to me for comfort.
Cursing myself for becoming distracted, I refocused my attention on my father.
He stood amid the carnage, power rippling off him in waves strong enough to distort the air itself. Magic leaked from his hands like black fire, but he didn’t move, content to watch, to wait. I pushed forward, cutting down every hellspawn that dared stand in my way. By the time I came to a stop before him, at least a dozen bodies lay scattered in my path.
I paused and eyed the barrier between us. He’d stopped trying to break it down, likely because he knew I’d do it for him. Why waste the effort when he knew I’d come to him? Remove any obstacles standing between us. And I did. Because today, this fight ended.
When I finally stopped, I stood only a few feet from him, and the world had narrowed to only the two of us.
Lucifer’s eyes burned, twin pits of black flame. “Come then, daughter,” he said, voice low, almost tender. “Show me what you’ve learned.”
“Gladly.”
I raised both swords—Inferno’s Kiss in one hand, Dragonbane in the other—as my shadows coiled tighter around me. Hellfire poured from my palms and rushed down the edges of both blades. Fire wouldn’t kill my father, but he surely would feel it. And right now, I wanted nothing more than to cause him pain.
“Care to surrender?” I asked, my voice glib.
He tilted his head, and the faint curl of a smile split his face. Except, the smile wasn’t pleasant or calming. It was downright cruel. The sort that promised me a world of pain and suffering.
“Do you?” Power infused his voice, and it took every shred of willpower not to flinch. But I’d long since promised myself I would never flinch again. Not in his presence.
I matched his grin. “Never.”
“Ah.” His smile deepened, wicked and knowing. “At last, something we agree upon.”
“Looks like.”
Lucifer rolled his shoulders, then summoned his power. It came to him as quick as lightning. A surge of darkness thundered across the field and coalesced behind him just as he snapped out his wings and drew his sword. His power pressed on me, silently demanding I bend a knee and yield.
I wouldneverbow to him again, but it took effort to remain standing on my own two feet rather than drop before him. My darkness instantly responded, and I let my wings flare out behind me.
“Then,” he said, his eyes—two endless pits of blackness—locking on me, “let us finish this.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
LILY
Lucifer stretched his wings,each feather black as obsidian and rimmed with an ember glow. His power slammed across the field in a single tidal wave—the air buckled, ash shot upward, and stone cracked under my boots. Sound died for a heartbeat as I struggled to brace against his magic. Then the pressure came, crushing and absolute, trying to force me to my knees.
I locked my stance, sucked in a deep breath, then sent hellfire hissing down both my blades. Inside, the darkness woke, hungry and eager to prove itself.
Let me out, it whispered, low and tempting. We can end him. Take what is yours.
Not yet, I sent back. I couldn’t lose control just yet. If I did this early in the fight, my father would end me. I had to play this smart. Lure him into a false sense of security before burying Inferno’s Kiss in his charred, black heart.
