Swallowing past the lump in her throat, Katia nodded and took her father’s hand. “Time to go,” she whispered.
Chapter Thirty-One
It was all coming together as planned. Satan smiled as he sat at his desk, watching Katia creep through his castle. A massive enchanted rose-quartz stone sat in front of him, reflecting the image of anyone he wished to spy on within the walls of his fortress. It was almost time. If only Lucifer would move his ass and get here. It was inevitable that he would try and be the conquering hero, sweeping in to rescue his lady love from the clutches of evil. Satan snorted. Love, what a foolish emotion. It was unbelievable how quickly Lucifer had gone from competent servant to complete moron all for the love of a woman. It was going to be fun putting him down. Reaching for the small remote on his desk, Satan turned up the volume on the music. “Backstreet’s Back” blasted through his office. Boy bands were so much better than the crap from the old days. There were only so many Gregorian chants you could handle before driving a sharp object into your ear canal. Death metal may have seemed more fitting for the source of all-evil, but he’d always been a sucker for the cheesy stuff. In a way, the music was his anyhow. Someone must have sold their soul for some of this shit to make money.
Satan passed his hand in front of the stone and the image shifted showing one hallway after another, the ultimate security camera. He bounced his leg in anticipation as excitement bubbled up. One empty hallway after another flipped by then suddenly there he was —Lucifer. He was walking slowly down a hallway hugging closely to one of the stone walls, a pistol in his hand. Satan peered more closely at the image. Something was off. Why did Lucifer look so afraid? Satan reached out and touched the stone with his thumb and index finger. Slowly he spread his fingers apart and the image magnified, bringing Lucifer into sharper focus. Satan’s smile grew larger. He was human. The faint glow that had surrounded him was gone. The stupid angel had given up his powers. This was going to be so much fun…no healing, more bleeding, more pain.
Satan ran a finger over the surface of the stone and the image of Lucifer wavered and disappeared, the stone returning to its natural state. Whistling to himself happily and bobbing to the music, he rose and sauntered over to a large cabinet. Throwing open the doors he revealed a wide array of knives, swords, and other blades he’d collected from the human and demonic realms throughout history. He ran his hand lovingly over the serrated blade of one of his knives. Seeing as there was no need to bring charmed weapons to this party he was free to use whatever tickled his fancy. Images of what he’d do to Lucifer flickered through his mind like torture porn.
Suddenly, a strange sensation overcame him. Satan dropped the weapons and stepped back in confusion. Someone was here that shouldn’t be. The castle was an extension of him, and he felt a presence that he had never felt before. What in Sheol’s circles was it?
The air beside him rippled, and two demons materialized in the room, staring at Satan with wide, terrified eyes. He had never seen fear in the eyes of his tiny minions. They were predators, childlike in appearance, and always got the drop on their victims with their feigned innocence.
“Explain yourselves,” Satan demanded, his voice steely.
The demons shuddered in fear, replying in unison, “Forgive us, master, but something is amiss.”
Raising a questioning brow, Satan motioned for them to continue. “Angels, master. Angels have been appearing all over the castle. They’re with the woman. She killed our brother, master.” The demons shivered yet again and grasped each other’s hands.
Satan brushed aside the death of their brother. What was one dead minion when he had so many under his power? But angels…had the rest of the fallen arrived to fight for Katia? Satan felt his anger rise. They would pay for their defection in blood and pain.
“Capture the fallen who have come to aid the woman, and bring the human male roaming the corridors near the dungeons to me,” Satan bit out angrily.
“They are not the fallen, master. They are angels of the light.”
A darkness and malevolence like Satan had never felt rushed through him. Blackness oozed out of his pores misting the air around him as the room electrified with his anger. The demons cowered in fear. Satan felt the burn of his eyes turning red. Electric sparks danced along his skin flashing brightly as his anger radiated outward. The furniture in the room vibrated with the force of the energy he gave off. Priceless antique figurines exploded, shards of porcelain flew through the air in all directions.
“What the fuck are angels doing in my domain?” Satan shouted, spraying spittle over the demons cowering before him. As his anger mounted, Satan's fingernails elongate into claws and he tasted blood as fangs punched into his lower lip. How could this have happened? The balance precluded angels from entering Sheol.
“FUCK!” Satan shouted as realization hit him. His thoughts reeled with the implications as he caught up to his own reality. The balance no longer applied. The rules had ceased to apply as soon as he’d lured Katia into Halja. That strange feeling he hadn’t been able to place was the presence of honest to goodness angels fucking up the energy of the place. The question now was how to turn this development to his advantage. Considering his options, Satan decided for a direct approach. Battle with
