That he was alone.
You stand apart from your kin.There is more ofmeinyouthan any of them, my Saerkhanum.I gifted you time.
The way Lucifer hissed the last word painted the insides of Saer’s skull with the acidity of Its distaste.His maker had expected him to come to It—and Saer forced It to wait.The fallen angel’s umbrage seeped through him like a caustic poison.
I have been merciful while you throw your temper tantrum.
The words churned in Saer’s stomach, sickening, but Lucifer’s control wouldn’t allow his body to vomit.
His kin.Were they okay?Had he been right?
What did you do to them?he thought.
A hesitation answered his query, a flush of startled ponderance which loosed some of the tension in Pride’s body.When the fallen angel’s voice floated in his mind, it hissed, multiple overlapping thoughts at the same time:
I reward those who heed me.
What are you suggesting, insipid offspring?
I do not hurt them, you hurtme!
Saer wanted to tremble with relief at the insulted tone laced through Lucifer’s words.They were safe, his kin.His creator hadn’t unmade or harmed them, too focused on Its First, exactly as he’d predicted.
But for how long?
He needed to keep Lucifer’s focus away from them.
Summoning every ounce of defiance, calling upon Neyu’s willfulness and his own stubborn determination, he screamed inwardly,You hurt yourself!
Another deadly pause.
Dizzy, Saer wished he could fall over, but his maker forced him—forcedhim—into a shuddering kneel.
I’ve waited for you.Come home to me,Lucifer whispered, a warm caress inside his cranium—the undercurrent of rage behind the words, unmistakable.
No.
A spark.The faintest burning threat ignited in Saer’s abdomen.Unimaginable pain bloomed from an ember within.His flesh steamed, just as Neyu’s had before she’d been engulfed in flames.
Unmaking.
He was being unmade.
No, no, no, no, no.
Your strength, so like mine,Lucifer purred.
The tendons and ligaments of his neck ripped from the strain the fallen angel thrust upon him, blistering rivulets of anguish under his flesh.
Get out.
Saer felt himself laugh, though not of his volition.While the sound resonated through the clearing, the fallen angel persisted in his mind,My stubborn, beautiful First.Say you’re mine.Say you’ll obey my commands, and this will end.
His back bowed, neck craned, everything arched at an unnatural angle.The muscles and sinew threatened to snap, and Saer still couldn’t scream.Burning.Burning, burning, burning, he wasburning!
Colors flashed in front of his eyes.Black, red, black, red, white, black.A grating bark ripped out of his throat, not of Saer’s making.
He was Lucifer’s puppet, Its control complete.
