The Third Throne: Angel of Darkness (33 page)

“What did you do?” she wasn’t afraid of this new power.  It didn’t feel evil, but more like a benign current humming through her veins.  She suddenly felt more connected to her surroundings.

“As rulers of Hell, Hades and I can grant power to the Fallen, or allow them to use an ability that they already have.  We limit most of their powers, lest we deal with their temper tantrums.  I am granting you the ability to take care of yourself.  You will have this power as long as we are still in charge of Hell.  You can create things at will, or make things disappear.  You will be able to command Hell Fire, which will burn only what you command it to.  You will have command over all the souls in Hell.  This power is different from your own, it comes from me, and so it will be able easier to control than your own power.  Think about what you desire, and it will be yours.  You can use this gift as you see fit,” Lucifer loved this woman enough to give her this honor.  He wanted her to know that he trusted her. 

“So you’re giving me the ability to rule Hell, even though I haven’t accepted the title and responsibilities?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.  She was going to have to teach him about boundaries and unwanted gifts.

“Yes,” he shrugged matter-of-factly.

“Can I give it back?” she grimaced.

“No.  Now, I think you should rest.  You’ve had a long day and I have a few things I need to do,” Lucifer quickly ushered over to her bed so that she wouldn’t ask him to remove his power from her.  He meant what he said.  He wanted her safe.  Granting her power over his domain was one way of doing that.

“You just don’t want me to see you bitch slapping the Fallen for disobeying your orders,” she snickered as she was forced to hop up on the bed.

Lucifer chuckled darkly.  “I hope you never have to see that.”

“If I’m going to stay with you, you can’t keep me locked away,” she took his hand and kissed his palm.

“One step at a time.  You have to remember that this is all new to me too.  I’ve never had someone by my side that I care so much about.  It will take time to let go of my selfish ways,” he ran his hand down her cheek and sighed.  “As much as I hate to leave you, I must do so.  If I stay, there is little chance of you resting, especially when your dress has been ripped in all the best places.  Take this opportunity to use the power bestowed upon you to fix your dress.  Picture what you want to do in your mind and bend the power to your will,” Lucifer watched with anticipation to see if she could conjure an outfit.  Temptation needed to be out of his reach, if was going to force himself out the door to punish the Fallen.

Anjali nodded nervously.  She knew it was a test.  She did as Lucifer told her and pictured what she wanted in her mind.  She felt around for the power he had pushed into her.  Closing her eyes, she focused on bending the new power to her will.

She opened her eyes when she felt something brush against her skin.  Looking down, she saw that the familiar black dress was repaired and back in place.  She laughed when she saw what she had done.

Lucifer was beaming with pride at her accomplishment.  He leaned over and kissed her forehead.  “I will return to wake you.  Now, rest and know that I will protect you while you sleep.”

Anjali kissed Lucifer and watched him walk out of the room, sad to see him leave.

∞

Putting his glass down on the table, he turned when he heard footsteps.  Wishing that he had something larger than his dagger, he turned to see whom he needed to kill.

A flash of bright red stayed his hand.  Unfortunately, the bitch was back, which meant that a lynch mob might be along shortly.

He was going to need another brandy to deal with her, depending on her reason for darkening the doorstep of his own personal hell.

“I thought I told you if I ever saw you again, I would turn you over to Michael personally.  Believe it or not, he hates you more than he hates me, which is saying a lot.  Of course, I didn’t fall off the grid, at least, not in that way.  I still do my job,” he was pissed at her intrusion.  She was undoubtedly here to cause him more problems.

The crazed redhead entered his hovel and teetered over to him in her expensive high-heeled shoes.  “Yes, I saw your last job, gruesome, even for you.  You’ve gotten worse since our last tryst,” she battled her pale green cat-shaped eyes at him and pushed her plentiful breasts toward him.  While it had been a while since he’d been with a woman, he would rather cut off his own balls and save the time and effort of having her do it.

“Really?  I thought I was doing better,” he waved his arm as he threw himself into his black leather reclining chair.

“They are having trouble identifying the body, darling.  I’m pretty sure I saw them using a strainer and a magnifying glass,” she was working her tight button-down yellow sundress, which accented all her luscious and dangerous curves.  He could never understand her affinity for bright colors given that the inside of her was blacker than coal and just as unyielding.

“Yet you’re stupid enough to enter my domain without an invitation.  Brave or suicidal, I’m not sure, but we can easily find out,” he knew deranged was the answer, but thought better of saying it aloud until he knew what she was up to.

“I want to make a deal with you, my dearest Alazar,” he knew from her sassy tone and the glimmer in her eye that she wouldn’t give up easily.  She was insane on her best day.

His skin crawled at the thought of helping her.  He hated it when she tried to bring him into her schemes.  There was nothing more in this world that he wanted than to be left alone.  He had made that very clear on multiple occasions, yet she kept coming back like a plague.  No, plagues he liked, he respected their power to kill on a large scale.  She was a flesh-eating rat worthy of the Realm of Teeth.

“I take it you need someone killed, Maraquette,” it was usually one of the two reasons she dared to seek him out.  He took a shot and assumed she wasn’t there for a good time, despite the fact that her dress was thin enough to reveal all that she had to offer and that she wasn’t wearing any panties.

“Well, that is your specialty, almighty Angel of Death, unless you’ve changed professions without telling me.  I somehow don’t think you’ve turned into the Angel of Interior Design.  This place is ghastly, even for you,” she flicked away a spider that was crawling down the web in front of her.

“And you’re the same vengeful bitch that has kicked me in the balls on more than one occasion.  Why should I let you live?” he knew the reason he kept her alive and he tried to think of that reason as he watched her wet her red lips.  Even though he detested her, she was amazing in bed, if you could get past the pain.

“You’ve deserved every single kick to the ass, Alazar.  Don’t play innocent, you suck at it, dear brother,” she flipped her long shimmering red hair and let the fragile strap of her dress slide off her shoulder reminding him of what was at stake.

“Flattery, an interesting tactic.  Oh, and don’t bother letting the rest of the dress fall, I’m well aware of what’s under it and I’m not interested.  I have better things to do than your dirty work, so shove off and go bother someone who gives a shit, and is hard up,” Alazar was done playing.  She was about to bear her teeth or her breasts, and either of them would land him up to his neck in misery.

“You know, for someone who wanted out of Hell so badly, you certainly picked a cheery spot to vacation in.  One might think you were pining for your old zip code.  The lack of sunlight alone screams volumes.  Sitting in that chair with the candlelight playing across your face, you almost remind me of Lucifer in his throne, minus the long hair and deranged look.  I know very well that you have been camped out in this abysmal dungeon for a long time.  You’re hiding from her, yet you sit in a carbon copy of the very place that your Master should be taking possession of you.  You’re a therapist’s wet dream,” she paused as she ran her finger through the dust on the edge of the wall.  “We both know it’s only a matter of time until she finds you,” she smirked at him and watched him squirm.

“Why do you care so much about my current situation?” Alazar growled.  He didn’t like where the conversation was headed.  For all he knew Maraquette was crazy enough to bring his biggest nightmare right to his front door.  He leaned forward, and gave her a look of warning.  Depending on the next words out of her mouth, he was very willing to end this game, permanently.

“I don’t care about you, but you do know who I care about.  You and I have the same dilemma; we both want the girl dead.  Well, technically, we both want her to suffer and then die, excruciatingly, but either way, we want her dead,” Maraquette carefully sashayed across the broken floor of the dungeon making sure she had his full attention.

“I’m listening,” Alazar liked this unexpected turn, as long as she wasn’t trying to deceive him.  He needed to be convinced that she wasn’t trying to seduce him into a guillotine.

“I suggest an alliance.  I will do the heavy lifting and kill the little bitch, and then we both get what we want.  You will be free and Lucifer will be mine again.  I just need you to do what you do best,” Maraquette dropped the other strap and let the top of her sundress fall, revealing her perfectly rounded breasts.

Alazar hardly noticed her body as he thought about killing the one person in the entire world that haunted him.

“Do we get code names?  How about I call you, Selfish Bitch Who Will Stab Me in the Back and Watch Me Bleed for Laughs?  Wait, is that too long?  How about SBWWSMBWMBL?  Perhaps Dances with Missing Head would be more apt?” as much as Alazar wanted to form an alliance, he knew Maraquette was not the best of choices, but he was running out of time.

“Laugh all you want Alazar, but your Master is coming for you.  Lucifer has her and it’s only a matter of time until she hunts you down, shackles your ass, and forces you to do her will.  I don’t think you’ll be so smug when that happens, and it will happen, unless we do something about it.  You can’t escape being a Predznak,” Maraquette stepped forward and leaned back, causing her breasts to be perfectly displayed, even in the dim light.

Alazar watched Maraquette cup her breasts with her hands and move them enticingly.  Alazar was hard as he watched her, but he wasn’t hard because of her beauty, he was hard at the thought of finally being free.  His Master would be dead and he could stop hiding.  He would no longer have to look over his should every second of every day.

“That will never happen.  I refuse to bow to anyone.  I will never submit to a Master,” Alazar was out of his chair and standing over her, staring her down.

“I will kill her for you and in return, you will kill someone for me,” the words rushed out of Maraquette quickly as she averted her eyes from his icy gaze.

Though he held power over someone when he took control of their eyes, he had no power over a Forgotten who had turned their back on Father.  As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t tempt her to take her own life.  She obviously feared him more than she let on.

“Who do you need killed?” he whispered.  The thought of killing slithered through his mind.  He looked down at her flawless skin, finally acknowledging its appeal.  The urge to kill was upon him and that made him dangerous, but it also made him feel.  Looking down at her hard nipples, he wanted to feel more.

“Michael,” she said quickly.

Alazar was immediately pulled from his lust-filled haze.  “You’re more demented than I thought.  I’m not the insane one; you’ll need the Angel of Illness for that.  Go talk to Solren if you want deranged.  No one goes against the Sword of God and lives,” he brushed past her and kicked the small end table, crushing it.  He was angry that he was so close to getting what he wanted.  He should have known better than to get his hopes up.  Only Maraquette would ask for something worse than what she was offering.

“Do you want your Master problem taken care of, or not?  I have Michael and his Celestial Warriors breathing down my neck, trying to kill me, and you have a woman who will put a yoke on you and use you to help her destroy the world.  We are both in deep shit, only I’m willing to do something about it,” Maraquette pulled her dress up to cover herself and replaced her dress straps, having admitted defeat.

Alazar considered her proposal.  Killing Michael would be difficult, but not impossible, it could even be fun.  He didn’t care for the poser anyway.  What he needed was his Master dead, but he wasn’t sure if he was able to do it, not that he wasn’t willing to do it, but he wasn’t sure it would work.  The master/servant bond was tricky.  He might need Maraquette’s help after all.

He faced her and considered his options.  Currently, she was the best offer on the table.  He begrudgingly nodded to her.

“Then we have a deal?” Maraquette asked, the seductive tone gone from her voice.  The woman was suddenly all business.

“Yeah.  I’ll kill Michael for you, once my Master is dead.  There is zero room for negotiation.  My part will be a hell of a lot easier than yours; besides, you benefit from it as well.  Lucifer’s little obsession will be taken care of, which will leave room for you to take possession of his heart once again.  Oh, and now that the deal has been made, if you back out of it, they will need a microscope to identify your remains,” Alazar was deadly as he spoke.  Maraquette was visibly concerned.

“Very well.  Once your Master is dead, then you will deal with Father’s peacekeeper.  I promise you, your Master doesn’t stand a chance,” Maraquette purred as she shook hands with Alazar, sealing their agreement.