I’d never seen her so human and emotional. Normally she was a statue or an asshole, never a grieving mother and wife. It was weird to see my captor nanny like this. A lightbulb went off in my head in that instant, and I nearly fell over with the anxiety of it all.

“You know, I could get your son healed for free by a Celestial,” I offered.

Her eyes snapped in my direction. “Impossible.”

Quickly, I stood. “No, it’s not. You send her a letter and tell her to go to Fallen Academy. Ask for Noah. If she tells him I sent her, he’ll do it. No questions asked.”

Her face clouded over. “You think I can just write her any old letter I want? All of our communications are monitored. I can’t reveal that you’re alive.”

My short-lived euphoria at my amazing idea vanished. “Oh, well she could still try. Noah wouldn’t turn away an innocent boy.”

Raksha rolled her eyes. “My wife is a Necromancer. She can’t just hop on a bus to Angel City. She’d need a permit, and they would surely turn away the boy of a Dark Mage and Necromancer.”

I shook my head. “No. Noah would never turn a child away. I’m telling you, if she can get your son to Fallen Academy, Noah will heal him.”

Even saying the words made my chest ache to be with my friends again. One of Noah’s cheesy winks would make my day. Even Lincoln yelling at me would be welcome right this moment.

Raksha looked fierce. “I don’t like hope. It only leads to disappointment.”

She spun on her heel then, and unlocked my door. “Come on. Training will be a bit different today.”

I sighed, following her out of the room. Half the time when I asked her a question, she didn’t answer, so I didn’t expect any change today. Still I asked. “How will it be different?”

Raksha took a side glance at me. “We’re going up top. A little field trip is in order.”

Up top? As in the surface?

I scrambled after her as we made our way past our usual spot, and kept walking, winding up and up around the underground castle. My stomach tightened as nerves clawed at my gut, leaving a hollow feeling there.

I was going outside. Could I escape? But I could never leave Sera.

‘Nonsense. If there’s a way, you get the hell out of here. No pun intended,’ Sera informed me.

I tried to hide my grin. ‘You have the best personality of any knife I’ve ever known.’

‘Know many talking knives, do you?’

That time I did grin and Raksha noticed. “Try not to be so obvious about the fact that you can talk to your infinity weapon, or he’ll drug you again,” she ordered.

My mouth popped open a little, and I nearly tripped over my feet at her declaration. “Umm… I….” I didn’t know what to say.

She waved her hand. “Only I can see it, because I’m the one who encased the dagger’s magic. Keep it harmless, and I won’t tell anyone.”

There, in that moment, I had proof that she was actively on my side, trying to keep me alive, and do what was best for me.

I simply nodded. “Can you hear us?”

Oh God, please say no.

She smirked. “No. I can see the magical lines that link you both. They became active again just after I weaned you off the meds.”

Whoa. Crazy.

“So, you’re the one who encased Sera’s magic?”

She shot me a side glare. “Enough talking.”

As she sped up her pace, I found myself wondering a couple things. Just how powerful was Raksha, and would she help me get out if I made it worth her while?

Before I could get too lost in my thoughts, we’d reached the top of our little underground lair. I peered out the familiar windows, the ones I saw every morning on my walk to the red door with Raksha. Only, this time there was a crowd gathered outside, and more smoke than usual billowed on the horizon.

We walked past the red door for the first time in forever, and moved toward two giant steel exit doors instead.

Oh my God. I was going outside after weeks down here. Maybe months—I’d lost track.

The second the warm smoke-filled breeze hit my skin, I took in a deep breath. It may have been sulfuric and smoky, but it was fresh air. Well, as fresh as air got in Hell.

“Ah, we’re all here,” Lucifer cooed.

The Devil was standing out in the dusty courtyard, wings extended, hands clasped before him, and grinning wide. The training crew flanked him, a mixture of about a hundred demons and demon gifted.

The Prince of Darkness paced the ground. “If you are not the best of the best, you do not deserve a spot beside me in the times to come.”

His little freak horde screamed their excitement, while Raksha and I stayed mute.

“Today will test your rank, and I will dispose of the weak, allowing room for the truly great to come in,” he finished. Everyone was silent by that point.

I leaned in to Raksha. “What is this, like a culling?” I whispered.

Lucifer must’ve heard me because he replied. “Yes, it is.”

Everyone tensed in that moment. I did a quick scan of those around me to see the others all had weapons. Except for me.

“To be fair, I’ll go first,” Lucifer trilled. “And I pick Brielle as my opponent.”

Rat bastard.

I fisted my hands, and without more than a thought, my wings popped out of my body. They were black as night but for the very tips, which were an ashy white. Each time I used my light magic in training, they grew whiter again, albeit marginally.

“No weapon for her?” Raksha mused. Her tone implied that she was impressed, but I could see the concern in her eyes.

“I don’t think she needs one” came his curt answer.

I was about to inform him that I did, in fact, need a weapon when, out of nowhere, he threw a black magic lasso, wrapping it around my neck. I yelped as it cinched tightly, cutting off my air supply.

‘White whip!’ Sera screamed urgently, as I was dragged forward on my tiptoes, wings flapping furiously behind me.

I hadn’t tried to conjure a whip yet while here for fear it would either be a dark magical one, or a full-on Celestial orb that would knock me out for a day in a sleep coma. But with my oxygen supply running low and those black eyes gleaming in sadistic satisfaction, I had no choice but to try.

My Celestial magic flared to life inside of me, and I decided right then and there that I would bring Lucifer to his knees without calling on my dark magic. Each time I brought my light magic to the forefront, I felt that dark rage slowly shrink. I wished it would just die, because I wanted nothing to do with it anymore. It was my only link to him, the evil man before me.

With a strangled grunt I thrust my palms out, and flung two buttery shimmering cords from my hands that wrapped around the Dark Prince’s black lasso rope. The golden cords twisted around the inky black whip, relieving some of the pressure from my neck.

The people around me gasped, but Lucy was grinning. That sick bastard liked seeing me all riled up and fighting. I pulled tighter on my magic and the Dark Prince jerked forward a little. Reaching out, he touched one of my golden cords, and it started to turn a murky brown.

“Raphael’s magic. I remember it well.”

Hearing him speak that name in such an ungrateful tone killed me. How dare he casually refer to my dearest mentor and friend like that? Then the shock set in that I was using Raphael’s magic. I still couldn’t tell the difference except for maybe the color.

‘Kick him in the balls!’ Sera chimed in, and I grinned.

With a scream, I flapped my wings and lunged forward. The black ropes around my neck suddenly fell away, and I gasped for a full breath, my throat burning with the effort. I barely had time to get one in, when a dark blob sailed across the space and slapped against my stomach out of nowhere. My breath flew from my throat as the wind was knocked out of me, pain clutching at my abdomen.

Asshole!

Lucifer was smiling, flying backward with ease to get away from my frantic and angry attack.

It was then that Lincoln’s training washed over me. Almost two years of coaching me to be a badass, and here I was failing miserably.

Not anymore.

I spun midair, and started to fly away from the prince, toward the open sky. As I did, I placed my hands onto my stomach, and let my healing light work on whatever that dark blob had been.

“Where do you think you’re going!” he roared, and I grinned at the unhinged anger in his voice.

He thought I was fleeing.

If I knew where the hell I was and how to get out of here, I might. If I knew he wouldn’t hurt Shea or Lincoln if I left, then I really might. Instead, I took a calming breath and let the magic within me bubble to the surface. I had the powers of four archangels running through my veins—four. In times like this, I needed to remember that.

When I heard his wings flap behind me, I spun, thrusting outward with everything I had. Blue light shot from my mouth and palms, wrapping around the Dark Prince’s face. He’d been caught completely unaware. A scream of shock left his lips, but it was muffled by the light. Not letting up, I flung myself at him and my boot connected with his throat, sending him tumbling to the ground.

He hit the hard-packed dirt with a thud, and everyone gasped in shock. The blue glowing energy was still wrapped around his face, and I was pretty sure he couldn’t breathe. Did he need oxygen to stay alive? Was he a living being? I had no freaking idea.

I was flying toward him, ready to inflict more damage, when his arms came up and he thrust his palms outward, stopping me in midair. My body jolted to a stop as an unseen force held me there suspended.

‘I hate his stupid puppet thing!’ Sera groaned.

I flapped madly in the air, pumping my wings, but couldn’t move.

‘You and me both,’ I informed my blade.

‘Throw light magic at it. See what happens.’

The blue stuff I’d thrown at his face was dissolving. I needed to act quickly, or risk losing the fight, and face his wrath.

In all honesty, I wanted to kill him. Right here and now.

The electric buzzing feeling I had when I reached for my magic started up, and I flowed with it, pulling it gently into my limbs, up through my torso, and out my arms. With a grunt, I threw a kaleidoscope of magic straight forward at the invisible wall holding me.

Then something shattered, followed by a snapping sound ringing throughout the space, and there were more gasps. I felt whatever was holding me fall away and suddenly my body was plummeting, directly on top of the Devil himself.

Two pumps of my wings slowed my descent.

Never give up. Don’t even blink, just act fast. Lincoln’s words of training rang true now.

The blue magic had faded, and I was face-to-face with a livid Prince of Darkness. I didn’t think, I just reacted. White light exploded out of me as I landed on Lucifer. Straddling him and pinning him to the ground with my legs, I wrapped my hands tightly around his throat, my chest heaving as the hatred boiled inside of me.