Chapter One
Lilith
She had black hair, plump lips, and pale cheeks with the slightest pink tinge to them. And she hadn't been scared. She was brave, that little girl of mine. She'd seen all the demons pouring out of the gates around me as I stood in shock for a split second, the hair of a moment that it took me to send out my power to try to grab her. She'd watched them with curiosity in her eyes, but not fear.
She was either brave or desensitized. I hoped it didn't mean he'd had her around hordes of demons. As Queen of Hell, even I wouldn't have introduced her to the subjects of my rule for many years yet.
Either way, she was brave. But why had he brought her here? To tempt us into searching harder for her? Or to mock us.
"Lilith," Lucifer yelled. "Do something!"
I snapped back to the present. I stood with my arms spread and my deep magical reserves strained as I held up a shield of power to keep demons from escaping Hell.
My mind whirred with idea after idea, but none were feasible. I couldn't put up a shield and leave it. If I didn't have enough power to maintain this one, I certainly couldn't leave one. The demons would shred it in seconds.
They were weak alone, but en masse like this, their powers worked together to batter me.
"Freeze!" I screamed, using magic to amplify my voice again. I weighed the words down, soaking them with as much power as I could, but still, none of the demons listened.
"Thank goodness you're back." My brother's voice carried over the sounds of the demons snarling and scraping. I saw him coming through the crowd. Demons moved aside for him. Asmodeus. My little brother. We weren’t as close as I was with Michael and Gabe, but we were still family.
He'd sided with us during the rebellion and had been sent to live under our charge. The first Fallen we'd created, and general of our armies. The armies that should've been helping us now.
"What is happening?" I asked. I wanted to scream in frustration, but I was back in Hell. Even if all the demons had found a way to ignore my every word, I was still the Queen.
He reached the front of the crowd and stepped up to the shield, wincing as he touched his finger to it. The demons ran all around him, still battering at the wall of power, but stayed out of his immediate personal space.
"How are you doing that?" I asked.
He dropped to one knee. "Forgive me, Sis, Lord Lucifer."
I glanced over my shoulder at Luc, who still stared at the gates with a constipated look on his face.
Asmodeus gave me a questioning look. "Is he well?"
"He is not. Can you help with these demons?" I asked.
"They refuse to listen," he replied. "I'm sorry. The Fallen and I are useless now. They are running and hiding if I'm not mistaken. The demons seem to be giving us a berth of some sort, but there's no discernible reason."
"Go find them. Round them up," I hissed. "Get up." I still stood with my arms outstretched. "Start rounding demons up and get them back to Hell. Work on Earth the best you can."
He gave Lucifer one last glance, then nodded. "Of course."
He couldn't leave without fighting against my wall of power.
"Luc," I called over my shoulder. "Come here."
How he'd managed to get back into his ethereal body without his magic made me want to gnash my teeth. What had Raphael done to keep Lucifer's magic blocked so soundly?
He walked over, staring at his hands. "I don't have my power," he said, sounding like a lost little boy looking for his mommy.
"I know." I couldn't hold the shield up much longer. A few more demons had slipped through at the edges. I understood Lucifer's lost expression. In a few minutes, I was going to be forced to let the shield go and allow the demons of Hell loose on Earth.
There were countless demons in Hell. Hundreds of thousands at the least, maybe millions. Some demons could procreate. Like our version of rats. We were able to keep them in relatively low numbers thanks to the Hounds—oh, the hounds. What of Jellybean? Where was he?
"Jellybean!" I yelled, projecting my voice. It wouldn't reach out of the realm, but if he'd come back, he'd hear it.
"Where are my powers?" Lucifer whispered.
