I took the phone with shaking hands. If Death had been released, Kassiel had to have been there. They needed his blood—and he wouldn’t have gone willingly. So how much blood had they spilled? Was he still alive?
The screen blurred and I could barely read the list of contacts. Lucifer took the phone back and tapped it a couple of times before handing it to me. As it rang, I drew a shaky breath, and when Kassiel answered, I blew it all back out in a hurry.
“Kassiel?”
“Mom?”
The sound of his voice filled me with relief. "Are you okay? Where are you?”
“I'm fine. We're still in hiding. Why, Mom? What’s happened?”
“He’s okay,” I said to Lucifer, and my husband closed his eyes, his jaw visibly relaxing. I hit a button so Lucifer could hear too as I asked Kassiel, “Are you safe where you are? Are the others with you?"
“Yes, they're all here. What’s going on?”
“They’ve released Death," Lucifer said. "And he took your sister."
"What?" Kassiel yelled from the other side of the phone. "Where?"
"To Hell." Lucifer tensed again, his hands curling into fists, his knuckles going white. "Death wants us to find him there."
"Then I'm coming with you," Kassiel said. "We all are."
I tensed at the thought of putting another of my children in danger, but we would need his help. We would need everyone's help to face what we were up against. "We'll let you know when we have a plan. Stay safe."
We told Kassiel we loved him and then hung up. As soon as I did, Lucifer spun away from me, a cry of rage tearing from him as he conjured a shadow blade from nowhere and smashed it against the fireplace. Then the dining table. And the sofa.
He raised the weapon again and I yelled, "Stop! Destroying our house won't get her back!"
Lucifer looked at me, his gaze a burning mix of fury and grief. In his eyes, I saw the same desperate pain resonating within me, and knew he would burn the entire world down if that's what it would take to get Aurora back. I'd let him do it too. I’d throw on the gasoline and strike the matches. With Lucifer at my side, I'd become the villain, the terrifying goddess of hunger and misery, the bringer of the apocalypse. All to save our child.
"We'll find her." I held out my hands to Lucifer, and his blade disappeared before he walked over to me. He slid his fingers into mine, and we stared back at each other with resolve. A new strength straightened my spine as power rippled along my skin, moving back and forth between me and Lucifer. Ancient power. Godly power. "We're Lucifer and Hannah. Demon King and Queen. War and Famine. No one can stop us, not when we're together."
Lucifer nodded slowly, his rage shifting to determination, his hands squeezing mine. “We've fought together for all of time, and we won't let anyone take what's ours. I'll make the calls and rally the troops. If Death wants us to meet him in Hell, we're bringing an army with us."
Our horses appeared just outside the open sliding glass doors, their eyes glowing like ours were as they angrily stomped their hooves and shook their heads. They were ready for battle too.
We were Horsemen, and it was time for the apocalypse to begin. Our apocalypse.
31
Hannah
We were back in Egypt, but this time Aurora wasn’t giggling happily from her usual position on Lucifer’s chest, and my heart ached at the loss of her. The Great Sphinx loomed over us under a moonless night that cloaked us in darkness, and just as well, because Lucifer and I had gathered all of our allies here at the Giza Pyramids.
We had an army.
With Lucifer at my side, we made the rounds to make sure everyone was ready and knew what to do before we opened the portal to Hell. Once on the other side, everything would happen fast, and it would all be chaos. As we walked across ancient sand-beaten stones, I shivered, but not from the cold. Death truly did linger around this crumbling monument, even here on Earth.
Samael hovered nearby, staring at his phone like he was still considering the logistics and organization of the mission—always one step ahead and completely reliable under every circumstance. It made me sad seeing him without his assistant Einial, which only increased my resolve to avenge her death. She'd been good to me while Lucifer was in Heaven, and it was a damn shame she'd been another of Pestilence's casualties.
"Everything is ready," Samael said, when he finally noticed us approaching. "We only await your command."
There was a touch of sadness in his eyes I hadn't seen before. I stepped forward and gave him a hug, realizing he was also worried for a loved one. "I'm sure Lilith is with them."
"I hope you're right." Samael blew out a breath. "She went with them willingly, so perhaps they haven't harmed her. Baal got the full story from their daughter, Lena. Fenrir kidnapped them both, and Lilith agreed to use the key to open the portal to Hell only after Lena was released and her safety assured."
"I can't fault her for doing that to save her daughter," I said with a sigh. Not when I stood here with an entire army to rescue Aurora. Mothers moved mountains. We always would.
Baal and Gabriel stood a short distance away among a few other vampires and angels, all donning their weapons and armor. Baal wore black and red armor with spikes, befitting a vampire lord, while Gabriel wore gleaming golden armor perfect for an Archangel. Together, they looked particularly formidable as they prepared to go into battle to rescue the woman they loved. As Gabriel raised his spear, I’d never seen the Archangel look so foreboding, and I had a sudden flash of what he’d be like if he’d become Fallen
