“Thirty years ago, I went to the underworld to help Anubis with something important. When I returned, Uriel was gone, and you handed me a note saying it was from my mate, then disappeared for days. I thought nothing about it because it was in your nature to leave for a bit, but you always came to my side when I called.” Azazel turned around to face Gadriel, who had his head down, but he ignored it all and got to the point. “When did I ever fuck you, Gadriel?”
Gadriel gasped and raised his head. “My lord, I—”
“Don’t call me that!” Azazel shouted, clenching his fists tighter. “You do not have the privilege of calling me your lord! Not after you watched me suffer for so long.”
He kicked Gadriel hard in the chest, sending him flying across the room. Azazel took large steps and reached Gadriel's side, glaring down at him. “You watched me mourn the man I love as if he were dead, and all along, you played a part in why he left.”
“Please, forgive me, my lord. I was forced to do it. I didn’t mean to torture him, but he…”
Hearing Gadriel’s last words, Azazel bent down and hurled him up in the air and his back hit the ceiling, causing him to fall back down to the ground hard.
“Torture? What torture?!” Azazel shouted as he kicked Gadriel in the side, making him roll over onto his back.
Gadriel stared up at him, his lips moving as he tried to speak as blood slipped down from the side of his mouth. Not feeling a bit of guilt, Azazel raised his leg and brought it down heavily on Gadriel’s right leg, hearing bones break. Gadriel screamed and begged for mercy, but Azazel paid no heed to his words and pain. Angels could heal themselves, and minor sprains or a broken leg would be no problem in a second, but a shattered leg was different. Unless he soaked himself in one of the healing herbs, Gadriel could never again use his leg, which was fine with Azazel since he was out for blood.
“Do you understand my anger, Gadriel? Not only did you make him believe that you and I fucked, but you tortured him. Tell me when you did this.”
“My lord,” Gadriel heaved. “I’m sorry.”
“I don’t care for your words of sorry,” Azazel growled. “Answer my fucking question. When did you torture my mate?”
“My lord, please, grant me forgiveness.”
“Forgiveness, bah! I will never forgive you for driving my mate away. I gave you everything you wanted. I treated you as my brother, yet you stabbed me in the back,” Azazel said as a thought came to him.
Gadriel had always been faithful to him and was an intelligent man. He could be scheming and treacherous when he wanted to be, and Azazel had always thought he wouldn’t betray another who was even more devious than him. Someone coerced Gadriel to act against him.
He kneeled next to Gadriel and gathered a fireball in the center of his palm, glaring at the man lying before him. “I’ve been living in a cloud of despair for so long I was unaware of another working against me. Tell me who you’re working with.”
Gadriel’s eyes strayed from the fireball, back to Azazel. Gone was the fear from his green eyes, replaced by defiance and anger.
“I once admired you,” Gadriel sneered.
“Who wants your fucking admiration! Now stop stalling and tell me who you’re working with.”
Gadriel scoffed, seeming to ignore Azazel's outburst. “I followed you from the heavenly realms because when you allowed your anger to rule like it did tonight, I found it stimulating. I chose to follow you because you despised those goody-two-shoes from the heavenly realm, and I loved that you wanted to make the world see us, but that all changed and you became a fucking tool when that bastard came into the picture.”
“Do you expect me to feel guilty for falling in love?” Azazel growled. “Enough of your nonsensical chattering. Tell me who you’re working for.”
Seeing that Gadriel refused to talk, Azazel pressed the fireball into the other man’s side, causing him to howl in pain. Azazel ignored the scent of burned flesh and exerted a bit more energy into the fireball. He could only think of the torture that Uriel had experienced, and it made him angrier.
What if he was pregnant at the time? Fuck, my poor babies.
Azazel had never thought there would be a day when he’d torture someone he once considered a brother and find out that man had hurt his lover. Removing the fireball, Azazel allowed the skin to heal.
“Being stubborn won’t save you tonight, Gadriel,” Azazel said calmly.
“You better kill me, because I will never tell you who my new master is. Unlike you, he doesn’t allow his heart to take precedence over his goal.” Gadriel cackled, showing his bloody teeth. “I’m not the only one close to you who wants to see you suffer. I can’t wait to see your face when you find out who else is out for your blood.”
Azazel took his words to heart, realizing that he would need to question the men in his ranks. There were at least four or five people who he considered his brothers, Loki being number one. But Azazel knew it wasn’t Loki, since he had no designs on taking his place as the king of the lower realms. Loki’s goal had always been to usurp Odin and Baldur, so it only left to reason that it was one of Azazel's ‘trusted angels.’
Azazel smiled. “I’m sure you’d love the show. I know how much you love drama. It’s a pity you will never get to see it. I always thought you’d be loyal to me until I finished my goal. But that’s how shit goes, I suppose.”
He brought up another fireball and pressed it on the same spot as he had earlier, letting it seep into Gadriel’s body. The other man writhed on the floor, groaning, trying to hold on to his screams, but he failed after a few seconds. The fire would kill an ordinary human, but it would take much more to kill an angel. This was torture, plain and simple, an act that Azazel did not take pleasure in but found it necessary at the moment.
Azazel needed answers in order for him and Uriel to have the future they deserved, and if he had to burn the entire universe down to get it, so be it.
The rest of the night Azazel tortured Gadriel, before taking his powers away and locking him up in the dungeon with his hellhounds to keep watch. It broke Azazel’s heart that he had to do that to a friend, but Uriel and their children were much more important.
