eyes lifting from the ground to meet Morax’s amused stare. “It was a signal,” I say to him, wanting to confirm it. “When he dropped the goblet, he was signaling to you that we weren’t under your control.”
Morax grins. “Very good, Sable.”
“What did you do to them?” Delta demands, her voice hollow and her attention still on her mates and Medley.
“Well, when it became clear you’d broken through my compulsion, I knew I needed an insurance policy. Luckily for me, Medley here was able to be put back under coercion. Though, I will say, it did take some time to wear her down.”
My stomach twists into knots at what he could’ve done to her to wear her down without us knowing.
“She was kind enough to go and retrieve your mates for me. Isn’t that right, Medley?” he says, and our sister nods numbly.
“Now, my Gatekeeper is nearly done, and all the pieces that I have been lining up for centuries are finally exactly where I need them to be.”
My eyes go back to Toreon, my heart screaming to go to him, but I’m stopped again when Morax tuts. “Uh, uh, Annulus. As I said, the Gatekeeper is almost done.”
But I ignore him and move toward Toreon anyway.
“One more step, and a randomly chosen mate of your sisters isn’t going to take another breath,” Morax calls out, the words leaving his mouth casually as though the polite tone somehow masks the threat.
My feet freeze in their steps. “He’s dying!” I argue, my soul in worried agony as I watch Toreon continue to unleash power against his will while it sucks him dry.
“He is,” Morax agrees with a nod. “He has just enough juice for the portal, and then I suspect he’ll keel right over.”
My panic spikes, and I whip my head to look at Morax, but I know he’s not lying. He has no reason to. I can feel the truth. Toreon is dying. Tears prick behind my eyes. “Please, please, let me heal him. Let me give him my blood,” I plead, not caring that my throat is clogging with a sob. “You don’t want your only Gatekeeper to die! You need him!”
“Needed,” Morax replies. “Past tense. As soon as he’s finished with the portal, which I suspect will be in the next few minutes, his usefulness will be sapped. The only thing I need from him once he’s done with this, is to die so that no one can ever try to undo what I’ve done. Remember, I play the long game, Sable. I plan for everything.”
A giant ball of sorrowful rage fills me, and suddenly, I remember Ire. With a jolt, I scream at him in my head. “Ire? Ire! IRE!”
But nothing happens. I cry his name over and over again in my mind, but he doesn’t answer, he doesn’t appear. I don’t know if it’s this place that’s blocking him or if I’m not beaconing him correctly, since I’ve never tried to do it on purpose. Either way, it isn’t working, and a crushing feeling of failure falls onto my shoulders. I’m out of options.
Delta lets out a vicious growl. “What the fuck do you want from us?”
“So glad you asked,” he says conversationally as he keeps one eye on Toreon and the portal.
He’s always watching, always planning. He was always two steps ahead of us, even when we thought we’d won. He beat the Sins, he even beat the King of Hell himself. How could we ever think we stood a chance against him?
“Do you know why we’re here, Little One?” he asks as he trails a sharp nail over the Origin Stone.
“Because you’re fucking dramatic and felt the need for a creepy backdrop for your little villain showdown?” Delta deadpans.
Morax sends her an unimpressed growl before he smooths his features again. “Wrong. But I’m not surprised. All three of you are completely ignorant. You can blame your mother for that,” he says, and then he reaches down and yanks the gag out of Lucifer’s mouth, leaving him with stripes of red around his mouth and cheeks where the fabric was touching him, like the cloth burns on contact. I don’t even want to know what the inside of his mouth looks like.
“Would you care to take a guess, Morningstar?” Morax asks mockingly.
Lucifer just watches him like he’s envisioning a hundred ways to kill him.
“The Origin Stone,” Morax continues, as if he just loves to hear himself talk, though I suspect it also has to do