dragon the size of a mountain. And there was the ledge with the cavern, where we’d been living like outcasts…
I dropped to the ledge and lowered the body to the ground. There was so little time before Satan woke, and while I was free, I had too many things to do and not enough time to achieve them all.
I strode into the cavern, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness.
It was shallow, barely a shelter against the endlessly falling ash, and a small figure huddled in the farthest corner.
We’d found an ancient body in the cavern, one of Azazel’s long-missing Reapers. The black robes had been wrapped around a skeleton that had nearly turned to powder when I touched it, but Vyra kept them tightly wrapped around herself now, more of a security blanket than a real shield.
The Reaper’s scythe was buried in the wall point-first, and she had curled up behind the long handle hanging in midair, like it might afford her some protection. The skeletal remains were on her other side, half a skull and reaching arms all that were left of the unfortunate Grigori.
Her pale face peered out from under the Reaper’s hood, rosy eyes gleaming hard and cold in a way I’d never seen from her before.
Vyra set her lips, staring at me warily.
For a second, I frantically searched my memories. I hadn’t hurt her, had I? I hadn’t… done anything else?
But no. No memories of brutalizing Vyra surfaced. I’d tossed her into the cavern- roughly, it was true- but I hadn’t beaten her, cut her, or violated her.
I knelt down in front of her. If I got a boot to the face, well… I probably deserved it. “Vyra, it’s me.”
She gave me a narrow-eyed look. “Obviously. You’re all I’ve seen for-” Then she stopped, her mouth dropping open before she snapped it shut. “Lucifer?”
There was so much hope and disbelief in that whisper, it broke my heart.
“I don’t have much time.” I searched around for the supplies I knew we kept in there and pressed a skin of water in Vyra’s hands. She fumbled the lid open; her lips were chapped, and there were already hollows under her cheekbones. We hadn’t been feeding her enough. While in Satan’s grip, I doubted I cared all that much.
She chugged the water and handed me the bottle, tucking her hands back inside the robes. “Can’t you run now?” she asked, still whispering as though Satan might hear. “Go while you’re free.”
“I’m not leaving you here. And even if I did, I wouldn’t get far. The soul-bond would just call me back.” I looked into her face. It was my fault she was here. She deserved to lay all the blame at my feet. “But Vyra, if you have the chance to go, take it.”
She let out a soft snort. “Lucifer, when you’re acting on his orders, it’s like you’ve got eyes in the back of your head. I already tried to escape.”
Ah, there was the memory. Dragging Vyra back into the cavern while she screamed at me, railing against me uselessly with her fists.
The tear stains from her frustration were still written on her cheeks.
“I’m sorry.” The words were useless, but there was nothing I could do. She would die if she stayed, but she’d never been a strong flier. If I pushed her out into the sky now, she’d make it maybe a few miles before needing to stop… and in the vast stretch of the Irkallan wilderness, there would be no cover or shelter for her. Something would hunt her down.
She shook her head. “I just keep telling myself it could be worse.”
It was amazing she could hold onto any optimism at all right now. It was as bad as it was going to get for her.
Because Satan wasn’t going to be satisfied with the mangled body I’d brought for him. He’d eventually demand a new one, a whole, fresh, still-living one… and the odds that his grip on the soul-bond would be loosened when I found that new body were minuscule. One of these days he’d get his hands on an intact body to possess, and he’d be able to do every depraved thing he could dream of to Vyra.
It might be more merciful to kill her now.
I briefly contemplated how fast I could make it happen. All I had to do was reach out and twist her head around, and it’d be over. Nothing could hurt her anymore.