Seducing the Succubus (29 page)

She couldn’t explain it, but she also couldn’t let it happen.

Urgency gripped her with sharp talons. Everything depended on the rules being followed to the letter. She and her sisters had sacrificed too much to fail now.

“Michael, no!” She stood, stepping into the path of the already descending sword, and then closed her eyes as she waited for pain and oblivion.

A hard, unexpected blow from the side made her stumble, and as the gravel from the road bit into her knees and shins she heard Raphael’s soft curse just above her.

She opened her eyes and looked up to see the Archangel hunched over her protectively, the shining silver tip of the sword of Michael protruding from his chest and pain etched across Raphael’s handsome face.

She scrambled out of the way as his legs buckled and he fell to his knees.

Deafening silence descended around her as if the world had taken a collective horrified gasp.

“No!”

“Raphael!”

She couldn’t tell who the shouts came from and she didn’t care. Denial slowly curled through her and an overwhelming urge to make everything right swept over her like a tidal wave. “No! No more.”

She stood and shoved Michael back away from Raphael before she grabbed the hilt of the large silver sword with both hands. The pommel was so large, she had a sudden insight into how children must feel when handling adult-sized tools.

“Hold, daughter of Lilith.” Michael’s voice held a hard warning as the scene froze around them, just as it had when Raphael had appeared to her and Noah back in Tucson. “If you remove the sword before Raphael is dead, you will negate the sacrifice he made to save you from punishment for treason. You interfered with my execution of Semiazas, and for that you gained his fate.”

Jezebeth didn’t hesitate. Using all her strength, she pulled the sword free and dropped it to the ground.

Even if she hadn’t owed the angel for finding Noah and healing her, she knew she would’ve gladly taken his place. She couldn’t watch him suffer. He’d helped both her and Noah and then rushed forward here to save her again.

She sent one final glance toward Noah, who was frozen midstep. Longing and regrets spilled through her. She’d wasted so much time . . . she wondered if she had it to do over again if she would be smart enough to change her actions. Too late to find out now.

She sighed and turned to face Michael, her fingers clenched into tight fists. “I’m ready to take the consequences for my actions.”

“Why?” Michael’s expression seemed almost amused.

Jez frowned. She’d expected a quick death, not a quiz. “Why what?”

“Why did you try to save Semiazas?”

Jezebeth opened her mouth to answer and then stopped. She remembered the sudden knowledge that Semiazas must not die at the hands of Michael . . . it would break the rules, and the rules
must
be followed.

It was imperative.

After all, she and her sisters had given their word . . .

Her head began to throb and she rubbed at her temples with her fingers. “What rules, damn it? I think I’m losing my mind.”

Michael smiled, the contrast between his mocha skin, white teeth, and amused green eyes making him even more striking. “A creature of honor. Apparently, we’ve chosen well.”

The knowledge of everything Michael meant stayed just outside her reach, tickling along the edges of her consciousness but refusing to sharpen into focus. “I don’t understand.”

“Which is part of the agreement, I assure you. And yet, even without the details, you followed your inner knowledge of what needed to be. Most creatures much more powerful than you wouldn’t have had such insight, little one. I would venture to say I’m proud, but I fear it would make me sound condescending.”

Jezebeth shook her head as she gave up trying to pull all the details together. “You make it sound as if I’ve passed some type of test.”

“You have. But only the first and easiest of many to come, I fear.” He reached out and laid a gentle hand on her arm and knowledge and memories came rushing back, crashing over her in crippling waves.

She found herself inside Lucifer’s lair, a gilded room full of opulence and self-importance—totally unlike the caricature of Hell she’d expected to find.

Power prickled against her skin, stealing her breath until she braced against it and forced herself to suck in a full breath and blow it out slowly.

“Welcome, ladies.”

Jez started at the respectful greeting and glanced to the side as her hands were clasped from both sides in a silent show of comfort and support.

She squeezed each hand lightly recognizing the familiar presence of her sisters. Galina stood on her right and Reba on her left. Amalya stood just on the other side of Reba.

Jez swallowed back the fear of an audience before Lucifer and said a silent thanks that she was here with her sisters, and not by herself. She wasn’t sure if she’d have the strength on her own to do this.

“That is something we’ll soon find out, Jezebeth.”

She started as Lucifer’s gaze met hers sending an icy chill of foreboding through her.

He smiled as if he enjoyed making her uncomfortable. “Yes, within my lair, I can pick up strong thoughts from others.” He motioned off to his side. “Michael, join us.”

Jez barely had time to be shocked that Lucifer had read her mind before the name he’d spoken registered.

Michael? As in
Archangel
Michael?

Holy shit!

Jez’s mouth went dry and she gripped her sisters’ hands tighter. What had they gotten themselves into?

A large Archangel with a muscular, sleek build, mocha skin, and piercing green eyes joined Lucifer. Standing side by side, their eyes were identical, even though the rest of their features were very different. They were a study in dark and light, but while Lucifer’s power bit at her, making her resist the urge to shudder and cringe away, Michael’s power flowed over her in a seductive, enticing warmth. With power like that, someone would willingly walk off a cliff for just the privilege of basking in its warm embrace.

“Greetings, followers of Lilith.” Michael’s deep voice washed over Jez, calming her and chasing back her fears. When her sisters’ grips on her hands loosened, she knew they were experiencing the same thing.

Jezebeth steeled herself against her reaction to the Archangel and clenched her jaw before she cleared her throat and gathered her courage around her like a cloak. “We have come to ask—”

“We already know why you’re here.” Michael’s voice was kind, but Jez refused to succumb to the supernatural calming effect of his words. She needed all her wits about her for this meeting.

Lucifer paced a slow path back and forth in front of them giving the impression of languid, slow movement, while still seeming impatient. He moved like liquid sin, and Jez was sure succubi and incubi everywhere wished they could move half as well. But the eerie energy pouring off him was enough to remind Jez that for all his beauty, there was something evil lurking beneath that handsome exterior. “Ladies, we are well aware of Semiazas’s activities, and they will be curtailed . . . for now.” He stopped in midstride and met each of their gazes in turn.

Jez swallowed hard. If there was ever a time for them to be diplomatic and not piss someone off, now was the time. But with the volatile and vastly different personalities of her sisters—including herself—Jezebeth wasn’t so sure she could bank on such a thing happening. “Why only for now?” she ventured.

Lucifer cast her an impatient look, and the edges of Michael’s lips quirked as if he were trying to hide a smile.

“Semiazas will be imprisoned for his crimes, but there are more powerful forces at work here, ladies.” Lucifer raised one eyebrow at her as if making sure she wasn’t going to interrupt again.

Jez clamped her lips closed, resisting the urge to do just that.

“Prophesy,” Lucifer said slowly. “Armageddon prophesy to be exact.”

“Fuck.”

Jez snapped her head toward the sound of Reba’s quick curse, but since she agreed with the sentiment, she didn’t bother to shush her, not that shushing Reba ever did any good.

Lucifer laughed. “Very eloquently put, Reba. From the expressions on your sisters’ faces, I’d say they agree with your very astute assessment.”

Reba scowled, and Jez sighed. She needed to move things along before one or more of them said something to set off the powerful demon or Archangel in the room, which meant all of them would end up dead. “Do you think we could move past the dramatic theatrics and get on with why exactly we’re here, since I don’t think it’s for the reason you agreed to meet with us?”

Lucifer’s green eyes narrowed, and this time it was Michael who laughed, the warm sound echoing through the large room like a sudden wave of spring. “Calm yourself, brother. They have every right to know what they are agreeing to.”

Lucifer didn’t look like he would agree, but finally he nodded. “All right, ladies. Here’s the situation. Armageddon could be at hand.”

“Could be?” Amalya’s voice held an icy slap that made Jez wince, since pissing off the Prince of Darkness and God’s right-hand warrior wasn’t exactly a good idea under any circumstances.

Michael smiled. “Yes,
could
be. If it comes to pass is up to you four.” He held up a hand to stop Lucifer from speaking, and once Lucifer gave a small nod, Michael continued. “The four horsemen have been imprisoned in Atlantis at the bottom of the Aegean Sea since before the beginning of your recorded time. If they are released, then Armageddon begins, and the outcome is decided at the expense of untold human suffering.”

“The horsemen?” The words scraped out of Jez’s throat as she tried to make sense of Michael’s words. “As in Pestilence, Death, War, and Famine?
Those
horsemen?”

“Exactly.” He nodded as if she were a prized student.

“Excuse me, my lord,” Galina interrupted politely—the only one of them so far to remember the respectful address. “But what do Armageddon and the horsemen have to do with us? We only came to warn you of Semiazas’s activities before he kills off the entire human race on earth.”

Lucifer snorted. “No one wants Armageddon to come about, not me, not Michael, and certainly not our Father. This world is a playground for those of us who rebelled and a grand naïve experiment for those who didn’t.”

Michael cast Lucifer a long-suffering look, but remained silent. This seemed like a familiar argument between them.

“Don’t you see?” Lucifer continued. “Rather than flip the switch and risk the entire thing, we want to exercise the loophole and use a test group, as it were, to prove the world is worth saving.”

“And
we’re
the test group?” Jez’s last word ended on a squeak.

Michael held up a hand. “You have to willingly take on this responsibility, and the contest would be between you four and Semiazas. He will be imprisoned for his crimes and as soon as he is free, he will hunt the four of you down to seek revenge, which is the beginning of the Armageddon prophesies.”

Jez swallowed hard. “What happens then?”

Michael exchanged a glance with Lucifer before continuing. “We will separate the four of you to protect you the best we can until the prophesy begins, then only our Father, Lucifer, and I will know of the contest. The four of you will have to make your way to safety, find each other, and prevent Semiazas from releasing the horsemen, however you can.”

Reba snorted. “Yeah, that sounds like a walk in the park. Can’t we just do something easy like turn the world inside out or get Lucifer to make up with Daddy?”

Jez’s gaze snapped toward Lucifer as she waited for all four of them to be killed where they stood, so she wasn’t sure how to react when he laughed and slowly clapped his hands. “Bravo. That’s just the kind of spunk and fire all four of you will need to win.” His heavy gaze settled on Reba, and he raked a sensual gaze over her from head to toe. “Perhaps when this is decided, little one, you’ll come back and pay me a visit.”

“Not likely,” she bit out, making Jez cringe.

Lucifer only smiled and exchanged a look with Michael that told Jez there was much more they weren’t being told. “There is always a way to win, ladies, but . . .” He held up a finger. “There is a catch that I think you missed.”

Silence descended, and Jez gritted her teeth, waiting for another comment from her sisters that thankfully never came.

Finally Lucifer smiled, making him resemble a hungry predator looking at his next meal. “None of you will know about this test. You might find clues along the way, but your choices must come from free will and selfless actions. Any allies you make along the way can help you, but neither Michael nor I can directly interfere other than to enforce the rules.”

“Rules?” Jezebeth found herself asking.

Michael nodded. “If any of the four of you fail—Armageddon begins. Any of the four of you can kill Semiazas if you can, but not before all four of you have stopped the horsemen. And Semiazas can not die at the hand of anyone else. Otherwise—”

“Armageddon begins . . .” Jezebeth didn’t realize she’d spoken until she heard the words. “And you said we have to willingly sign on for this. What if we don’t? What if we refuse?”

Lucifer spread his hands wide. “Armageddon begins.”

Jez snorted. “So we have no choice.” She exchanged a glance with her sisters, seeing the same frustration she felt mirrored in their expressions.

“There is always a choice,” Michael said softly. “You may not like the options, but there is always a choice.”

A wrench of vertigo pulled Jezebeth nearly in two and she sucked in a breath to keep from throwing up as she realized she was back standing in front of Michael where he’d frozen the fight scene with Semiazas.

“Crap. I think I liked it better before I remembered any of that.”

Michael smiled, but the expression was sad. “Your memories will fade again, little one, at least most of them. Anything you’ve learned on your own will remain with you. You have much left to do, and your sisters must pass their own trials before this is done.”