Rebellion

ONE BY ONE, the chains fell away from the ice. Each made a sound like a funeral bell as it hit the floor.

A single crack split the surface of the block, running from top to bottom... and deep inside the ice, Lucifer’s eyes opened.

“MALLORY!” ALICE WAS screaming at him, but he didn’t hear her; he couldn’t hear her. All he could hear was the sound of blood rushing as he brought the rod he’d picked up from the bar down on Rimmon’s prone form. The metal was glowing bright red, and it hurt to hold it – Alice’s doing – but he held on all the same, the skin of his palm blistering. There was fire nearby – he could feel that too – but nothing else mattered. Only this.

“Mallory!”

TOBY WAS STILL weeping when he heard another set of footsteps.

It was Alice. It had to be. She’d come back for him.

“Afraid not,” said a voice he did not know, but it was not kind, and at that moment, he despaired. Whatever hope he had left abandoned him.

“They left you, didn’t they? Left you behind. Abandoned you when you needed them the most. Even her. Especially her.” There was a sigh. “See, that’s the thing about angels. Can’t trust them. The second you do, that’s when they’ll always, always let you down. Never rely on them. That was your mistake. That’s what got you into this mess in the first place.” He paused, and Toby could hear him smiling. “Now... you and I. We should have a little chat, don’t you think?”

CASTOR BURST THROUGH the door and saw them through the fire. Alice was burning, shouting Mallory’s name as he leaned over the figure on the floor, and Castor knew instantly what was happening. Without thinking, he aimed the gun that Mallory had given him and he pulled the trigger.

The shot caught Mallory’s shoulder, punching a hole through muscle and bone... and he dropped the rod. He hesitated, and it was all Alice needed. She slipped in front of Mallory, the fire dying as she moved, and placed herself between him and Rimmon.

“Stop,” she said. “Stop now.”

“No.”

She could see him shaking with anger, and there was something dark in his eyes.

“This is what they want. It’s all part of the game to them.”

“I don’t care.”

“But I do.” She put a hand on his shoulder. “This isn’t you.”

“You have no idea who I am, Alice.” Mallory’s shaking subsided. He was coming back to himself.

“Sure I do,” she said gently.

Castor tucked the gun away. “Mallory!” he called. “It’s Vin...” He hurried back out through the door, and Mallory charged after him.

Alice stood over Rimmon, who had curled himself into a ball under the ferocity of Mallory’s attack.

“You should have let him kill me...” His voice was thick with blood, and it sounded altogether too like Toby’s.

“Maybe. I mean, that was a hell of a beating. And you don’t heal like he does. I’m not sure you ever really recover from something like that.” Alice looked down at him. “Mercy’s not something the angels are very good at, is it? I wonder whether they even understand the concept. Humans: they get it. Or at least they did before you came along and started changing everything. They understand mercy. They may not always like it, but they get it. So there’s humans, and there’s angels. And then there’s me. It’s taken me long enough to figure it out, but I can be both. I’m not one or the other.” She leaned close to Rimmon’s ear. “Guess which one I’m being right now?”

He made a whimpering sound, and Alice stood up. “I’ll leave you to work on that, shall I?” She walked towards the door. “See you round, Rimmon.”

The door swung shut behind her, and Rimmon lay on the floor, surrounded by bodies, as the bright disco lights swirled above him.

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE Death, Be Not Proud

THE ICE SHATTERED. Diamond shards flew across the room, clattering into the walls and showering Gabriel with chips of ice... and Lucifer stepped out of his prison and extended his wings, laughing as the shackles fell away.

“Call them,” he said. Gabriel nodded.

Lucifer stretched his arms out wide, curling his fingers in on his palms and smiling.

“I knew I was always your favourite.”

“They’ll fight...”

“Of course they will. And I wouldn’t enjoy it nearly so much if they didn’t.”

THERE WAS THE sound of feathers, and something like whispering voices... and Adriel appeared from the shadows. He looked the same as always: neat in his morning suit, with his beard and hair clipped. He didn’t flinch when he saw Lucifer, nor when he saw Gabriel behind him. He simply waited.

Lucifer smiled at him, holding out his arms.

“Welcome, brother.”

“You called me.”

“I did. You aren’t pleased to see me?”

“I hardly think you need to ask.”

“Clearly it’s been too long since you had to answer to anyone... Kneel.”

Adriel blinked his black eyes and knelt before Lucifer, smoothing the fabric of his suit as he did.

Lucifer circled him. “Do you serve?”

There was no answer.

“I say again... do you serve?”

Adriel still didn’t answer, but simply cocked his head on one side and blinked again.

“Adriel... I won’t ask again.”

Adriel lowered his head and opened his wings. “I serve.”

Lucifer beamed... but then his smile became a frown. Adriel was smiling... and his eyes were bleeding; staining his face not red, but black. His wings, too, were changing. Fading; the colour leaching out of them until they were first grey, then white. And Adriel knelt before Lucifer and laughed at him, shaking out his wings and looking up at him with brown eyes.

“You can force me to serve. You cannot force me to surrender.”

“Who is it?” Lucifer grabbed him by the throat, hauling him to his feet. “Who?”

“You cannot take the office by force, Lucifer. You of all people should know that. It must be earned. It can be passed on, but never taken.

“You abdicated, and so have I. You can’t have it back.”

“Who?” Lucifer’s angelic face twisted, and for a moment it seemed that he had too many teeth; that his cheeks were too long and too hollow... and that his mouth should not open quite as wide as it did.

“You’ll find out soon enough,” said Adriel. “And in the meantime, I serve.” He pulled free from Lucifer’s grasp and swept into a low, mocking bow.

THEY STUMBLED OUT into the street. There were angels flooding out of the warehouse, and smoke curling from its windows. “We’re not going to be popular when Michael catches up with us,” Mallory said through gritted