August's, asking him if Lyra really watched her mother take her own life.
He dipped his chin to me in answer. "Evangeline used the death prayer to set herself free before Dolion could cut off her wings," August's response made my stomach roll.
I remember finding my mother murdered a few months ago. I couldn't even begin to imagine what it would've been like to watch it all happen. I couldn't bear the thought of all hope being so lost that I’d have to watch her take her own life.
For the first time, I felt true sorrow for my stepsister.
"She also made Lyra promise to keep her wings clean for them to be reunited," August added. "It was by Evangeline's wings lighting the sky in her death that we found Lyra."
Flabbergasted, I knew my face showed how baffled his revelation made me. No wonder Armoni locked her away. He wanted to help her maintain that promise while keeping her safe.
"Why do you hate Lyra so much then?" I asked the culprit that was just sawing into Lyra's back like she was a cow in the butcher shop.
"Sing. Singing was for the Canary. The Little Canary took my Kitty. My Kitty didn't get the mouse in our house. No, the Canary killed my Kitty."
Confused again, I had to seek out Augustine to fill in the blanks.
"Lyra will kill me if you learned that secret from my lips." Knowing his loyalty to her was too strong, I gritted my teeth.
My hands fisted into the front of Dolion's jumpsuit. I growled in a way that told him he had better tell me the truth. Dolion's eyes were already mad, but I saw a flash of grief before his own anger greeted me.
"What do you mean the Canary killed your Kitty?"
"Caine, don't," August tried to warn me away from knowing the truth I had been starved of. The truth that sat before me like a mirage in the desert. I was seeing an oasis after thirsting for years.
Dolion only smirked, seeing the need within my own eyes. "The truth rests in the colored one among her feathers. You already know what she did, don't you? You just want me to confirm your little princess isn't the perfection she's painted out to be."
I didn't know how to respond to that. My mind went to the one thing I could never see Lyra doing. Could she be the cold-hearted killer Dolion was trying to tell me she was?
Part of me longed to know, but something more important needed to happen. I never knew the woman my mother replaced. Though, everyone only spoke highly of the archangel at Armoni's side.
I did know that to succumb to using the death prayer, she knew her end was near. It was because of this man before me that she felt the need to leave behind her daughter.
"Even better?" Dolion leered at me. He must've been talking with August as I zoned out. My chest ached for the first time in years over something I couldn't change. "Barcel offered her up on a silver platter. He even promised to get me out of here after I finished her off."
My gut plummeted. Barcel had this whole place rigged. Half the PD was probably on his payroll.
"Too bad Barcel isn't here now, Dolion." Without even thinking, my fist swung at the man's chest. Using the strength of the dark one, August and I heard the crunch of bone before my hand broken through the flesh barrier, meeting his heart.
From the slam, his heart slowed after the painful blow. Before his breathing stopped, I put my face in his. I watched his eyes go round as the hounds of hell came to retrieve his scorned soul.
Their howls echoed in the hallway. Both Augustine and I could hear them because we belonged to the first fallen. No one else would unless they prayed to the dark one.
Dolion could see the beast that came to collect his sinful soul. He'd live in eternal torment for what he had done to Lucifer's brothers and sisters.
He might be fallen. He might rule the kingdom below, but he cared for his family. That’s why Lucifer had always been my path.
"Do you know what I love most about this moment, Dolion?"
He couldn't reply from the damage I did.
"You had your sick way with my siblings for a few days each. Their brother is going to make you suffer that same torture for eternity."
Dropping him like a sack of potatoes, we watched the