Entanglement

“So we still have no options.” Lawson sighed and ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

It had been nearly a week since Azlynn and the others had returned from Hell. They had explained the current situation to the rest of the team, who now met in Azlynn’s building instead of the safe house. Despite having removed Charlotte’s tracking device, they wanted to take no chances. Azlynn had been wearing an extremely powerful glamour when around the other angels, hoping they didn’t see through it. The Archangels would know soon enough what she had done; she saw no reason to let them know any sooner than that.

“Can’t we ask the angels for help?” Agent Greenberg asked, shooting a look Azlynn’s way.

“I’ve already warned Gabe about it to the best of my ability,” Azlynn replied. “I told him what we learned, I just didn’t tell him where or how we learned it.”

“Why not?” Charlotte asked eyeing her curiously.

“It’s complicated.”

“Uh, guys? You might want to come see this.” They rose from their chairs and filed into the living room, where Dante was sitting on the couch, eyes glued to the television screen, where a news anchor was talking animatedly.

“We recently received a statement from the Director of Homeland Security himself that he and his team obtained a real, live angel. She came willingly to their testing facility and has undergone a series of tests. They have found that she is, in fact, a unique hybrid of angel and demon. Nothing like her has ever been seen before. Director Walden claims that the hybrid turned on the scientists as they were conducting their tests; destroying the lab and killing a number of people. They now think that she may be working with whoever is behind all the strange attacks of the last few months. They’re taking every precaution they can, and are trying to find her now-”

Azlynn slammed her fist through the TV. The screen went blank and the grim-faced anchor disappeared. The room was thick with silence for a few moments.

“That lying bastard,” Dante seethed. “That smarmy, pig sucking, mother fucking, dickless, cock sucker!”

“It’s damage control and saving face,” Drew said, his eyes hard. “He can’t possibly tell them the truth; that he took Azlynn by force and ran tests on her without any real consent from her.”

“How did they find out that you’re half demon?” Charlotte asked.

“They took some of my blood,” Azlynn replied dully. “Before they even got me to the labs.”

Dante uttered another string of curse words.

“This is exactly what I never wanted to happen.” Azlynn squeezed her eyes shut; she felt like the world was spinning around her, trying to throw off her balance and send her crashing blindly into dark nothingness. “My identity was never supposed to be known by anyone other than the Archangels, and God. No lesser angel, no demon, no human, no nothing was ever supposed to know about me. And now? Everyone will know. Every angel, every earth creature, and every demon.”

“What does that mean?” Lawson asked her.

“It means, Chief, that absolutely everyone is going to want to find me; use me for some purpose. They’ll either want me on their side, or they’ll want me dead. We’ve already seen proof of that with Walden. He wanted to test me, study me, poke and probe at me like I was a specimen in a jar. And Leviathan; he wants me to join him, and when I’ve refused him enough times, he’ll try to kill me.” She paused, staring out the window and not meeting the eyes of anyone in the room.

Finally Lawson cleared his throat, shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other. “So, back to the earlier topic,” he said. “I notice there’s one idea no one has brought up yet. And it seems like an effective plan to me.”

“What are you thinking, Will?” Drew asked.

“Why don’t we ask Lucifer himself for help?” Lawson suggested. Azlynn felt like she had just been sucker punched in the gut.

“He has every reason to want to destroy both Leviathan and Ted,” Lawson went on. “Wouldn’t he make a valuable ally-”

“No!” Azlynn said, the walls shaking slightly with the powerful firmness in her voice. “Are you really that stupid? Do you really think that Lucifer would ever be an ally to anyone other than himself? Yes, he would have plenty of motivation for wanting to kill both Leviathan and Tedantrios. But he has every reason to want to kill the angels and enslave Earth. If anyone wants to start a war with Heaven, it’s Lucifer. He lost the last one, and he’s been trapped down in Hell ever since. He would leap at the chance to get out of the Pit, but he won’t willingly go back in. Didn’t you ever study the Bible, or angel lore, or anything?” Azlynn snapped. “Enlisting Lucifer’s help would mean bringing him back to Earth. I absolutely cannot allow that to happen. That would make our situation about a thousand times worse. No, we’ll just have to find another way. Lucifer cannot go free again. Ever.”

“All right, all right,” Lawson muttered. “I get the point. What exactly do you suggest then?”

“I’ve already warned the angels,” Azlynn said. “They’re already rallying to take on Tedantrios. He doesn’t have the element of surprise; there’s no way he could take over Heaven, regardless of what a powerful Dark Mage he is.”

“So that solves one problem,” Drew said. “But what about Leviathan, and the True Form Society?”

“And Walden,” Charlotte added. “Our list of enemies keeps getting longer, and the list of people we can rely on is practically non-existent.”

“Leviathan is the one we need to worry about,” Azlynn said. “He’s the leader. The puppeteer behind the whole thing. If we can take him out, then we stand a chance of demolishing the True Form Society.”

“That’s great and all, but how are we going to defeat one of the greatest demons ever created?” Charlotte asked. “He’s not just going to bend over and let us kill him.”

Azlynn took a deep breath. “I have to do it,” she said. “I have to face him; I have to fight him. I stand the greatest chance of destroying him.”

“And just how are you going to do that?” Lawson said skeptically. “If you challenge him outright, he’ll be more than ready for a fight. You’re powerful, Azlynn, but he’s millennia older than you. He knows way more; has more tricks up his sleeve.”

“I know. But that makes him arrogant; he thinks no one will ever be able to defeat him. He won’t even expect anyone to challenge him. Especially there.” A part of her cringed at even the thought.

“Even where?” Dante demanded.

“The Feast of Souls,” Azlynn said softly.

“The what?” Drew and Lawson asked in unison.

“It’s the ultimate act of debauchery. It’s held deep in the Pit. Souls are pitted against one another to try and win a chance at freedom. The demons control the conditions; the demons make the rules. The Feast is full of torture, rape, bloodshed. Sometimes, demons challenge one another. It’s the only way to move up in rank in Hell. If your opponent is more powerful than you, and you kill them, you take over their position. You take their powers. There’s no disputing it if it’s done at the Feast. Leviathan has only ever been challenged once.”

“And what happened?” Charlotte asked, a slight look of horror flickering in her eyes.

“Leviathan tore the flesh from the demon’s body. Then he burned him until he was almost dead, then he would restore his strength to him and do it all over again. He tortured the demon for three days, before finally tearing out his heart and eating it.”

“You’re not going,” Dante said fiercely. “Absolutely not.”

“It’s the only chance we have,” Azlynn said. There was no argument in her tone; she wasn’t arguing.

“I can’t lose you Azlynn.” There was a pleasing look in his gray eyes.

“There’s no debating on this,” Azlynn told him gently. “We have no other choice. I have to go.”

Azlynn had been raised as a Guardian. It was her sworn duty to do what was right and necessary to save the innocent.

She had to venture into the deeper circles of Hell. She had to attend the Feast of Souls. She had to challenge her father to a fight to the death.

And she absolutely had to win.