Then they slid to Neyu.Neyu, who stared back, unabashed.Neyu, whose eyes threatened to drown him.She mouthed a single word without uttering a sound, “Yours.”
Fear and exhilaration warred inside him.She felt the same pull.She must.
Lucifer pivoted, and the First and Second averted their gazes immediately from one another.“You’ll construct me a throne, Neyuukhan,” Lucifer said.“It will rest upon the dais Saerkhanum builds.”
If they could work together, perhaps...
The fallen angel looked from one to the other of Its creations.“You’ll work apart.”
Saer’s hope wavered.Lucifer wouldn’t settle for anything less than perfect obedience to It and only It.Proving dominance by denying them what they wanted.
But Saer shoved the renegade notion aside and nodded instead.From the periphery of his vision, Neyu did the same, and together they whispered, “Yes, Master.”
Saer gathered materials for their collective duties, using the strength of his silver claws to dig tunnels from the central chamber.The molten rock he placed in a pile for Neyu to shape their maker’s royal seat.Neyu took Saer’s offerings, then channeled her Hellsfire energy into the stone, melting and molding, constantly replenished by the fiery surroundings of Hell.
If he focused on gathering the stones with haste, he was rewarded with more opportunities to see her, to share a glance as she carried out her orders.An undeniable line of electricity ran down his spine each time their eyes locked—one he could do nothing about, nor would he know where to begin.Frustration and longing brewed.
Lucifer’s quiet mutterings, the scrape and scratch of claws into stone, the steady cracking of fire, and the occasional growl of exertion were the only sounds echoing through the caverns of Hell.The fallen angel’s movements dragged as It poured over the next half-formed figures in line, losing Itself in the crafting of an army befitting Its station.The endeavor siphoned Lucifer’s luster over time.Their construction—his and Neyu’s—must have weakened his maker as well.
What must Lucifer have been before Saer had awakened?
How would Lucifer create more soldiers if It couldn’t draw strength from the heat of Hell as he and Neyu did?
But Saer had agreed to obey, to serve, and not to ask questions, even if they plagued him.
He didn’t chance speaking a word Neyu’s way, fearing for her safety.
Minutes, hours, or days passed as they all tended to their duties.Time in Hell had no meaning, but Neyu’s pointed glances grew, a question on her face each time Saer drew near.
At last, she parted her lips when Saer approached, and he gave a harsh shake of his head.
Whether she read his non-verbal message or not, she closed her mouth and frowned.Neyu glanced past Saer, then snapped an ebony hand forward and curled her fingers around Saer’s wrist.Gentle, but urgent, all at once.Time stopped, save for the pounding of Saer’s heart in his chest.The first touch of her flesh against his surged along his nerve endings, and he immediately craved more.
She stood half a head shorter than him, but dominated him in that instant.
He dared not move as Neyu drew closer, her hooves scraping over the steady crackling of their Hellsfire surroundings.Saer flinched and looked over his shoulder.
Lucifer’s tense spine bent over two furtherDaemoenica.
Neyu slid her hand along Saer’s arm, curling behind his elbow.The simple touch pulsed through him, and he shuddered as he returned his attention to her.
Her head angled up as she touched her nose to his muzzle, brushing his skin with a dulcet whisper, “You feel it, too.”
Whatever theitwas, he couldn’t deny the pull to touch her, know her, hear her.What would it do to him if she spoke his name?
Saer drew breath to respond.
An enraged shriek cut between them a heartbeat before Pride and Lust were thrust apart with a violent wrench.Saer’s neck whipped to the side, vision whirling as he tumbled end over end, slamming into the cavern wall in a bruised heap.He scrambled to get his claws and hooves under his body as dread and rage spiked in his chest.
Neyu’s pained cry pierced through him.
Lucifer’s trembling arm pinned Neyu against a stone pile, Its hand squeezing her throat.The fallen angel’s alabaster wings flickered pitch black.Blazing, scarlet light flashed in Its eyes.“How dare you, after the centuries I spent?The vitality I gave to grant you life!”
Saer lurched towards them.“Master—!”
Hissing, Lucifer craned around to fix that crimson gaze on Its First.“You cannot be trusted.”
A strangled scream left Neyu, and steam rose from her pores.
