Chapter Nineteen

I’m positive I passed out.

I waited for Michael to appear and tell me what happened, tell me why he let me get hurt like that, but he never showed up. I was bathed in blackness after I fell unconscious, but it didn’t last long. Long enough for the others to find me and move me to Asmodeus’ bed, though, because when I woke up, I wasn’t lying on the stone cold floor of the hallway to freedom.

I was back in my little prison, but this time, I didn’t have Asmodeus beating me or tormenting me. In fact, my heavy eyelids fluttered open to see Asmodeus soaking a blue cloth in a nearby bowl of water that made me realize how cotton dry my mouth was. I moved my lips, but no sound came out.
Asmodeus glanced at me out the corner of his eye, then back at the bowl before he lifted the cloth out and squeezed the excessive water from it.

“I can’t tell if you’re stupid or intelligent.” He muttered flatly as he brought the cloth to my forehead, dabbing at it before he moved the cloth to my back, which felt numb and prickly, like your legs when they fell asleep. I tried to speak again, but I only manage to wheeze and cough. Asmodeus sighed and called something in Latin over his shoulder before he turned back to me.

From this angle, I realized I was lying on my stomach still. I tried to move, but Asmodeus touched my shoulder firmly enough to let me know that turning over would be bad, so I flopped back on my stomach, but not before I saw something white flash out of the corner of my eye. I scrunched my nose up in confusion, cocking my head to try and look before me, but Asmodeus turned my face back to his.

“What happened?” I managed to say at last, my voice hoarse and small. I grimaced and Asmodeus frowned, then looked up as Beelzebub came in with a glass of water. Beelzebub cast me a long stare before he turned away with a nod to his brother and disappeared from the room in silence. I felt confused, watching him vanish, before Asmodeus took my chin and lifted my head enough so that I could gulp down every last bit of water in the cup. I sighed in relief, resting my head against the sofa silk pillow under my head, closing my eyes.

“Michael just likes making my life more complicated, that’s what happened, little lamb.” Asmodeus spoke at last, his tone bitter and crisp. I frowned, peeking my eyes open to look at him, puzzled.

“What’d you mean?” I asked tiredly, shifting a little so my hands were on the pillow on either side of my head. Asmodeus didn’t speak for a while, just soaked the cloth, then dabbed at my back. Everywhere he touched stung and I flinched away at first, before relaxing as the cold softness of the cloth became soothing.

“You’ve gained something very important, little lamb. Something that I could kill you for.” He muttered dryly.

“A sense of humor?” I asked hoarsely before coughing. Asmodeus snorted, then reached out and pinched my back. I yelped out loud in pain, clenching my fists and trying to pull myself up into a sitting position, but my back suddenly felt sharp pangs and aches, so I settled for propping myself up on my elbows.

I looked at Asmodeus, confused, before looking at my back, then froze.

My blood turned to ice in my veins, freezing me to the core as I stared at a pair of large white wings jutting out of my back where the skin was obviously stitched and healing. I stuttered, but nothing came out in actual words as I gaped at the white feathered wings that reminded me of Michael’s. Pure white, save for the spatters of pink from blood smearing on them.

I trembled and snapped my head to look at Asmodeus, who was on his feet now, his eyes narrowed down at me.

“However, Michael also overestimated you. As an untrained angelus, you know nothing of their use. They’re merely a burden to you now. This changes nothing. You will participate in the ritual and you will obey Lucifer’s command. You will become his power source and you will be easily discarded like the rest of us, so don’t go getting a big head, little lamb. It’s almost time for the slaughter.” He announced, his tone cold. I opened my mouth to speak, but Asmodeus turned his back on me and went for the exit.

“W-Wait! Wait, Asmodeus! How do they go away?!” I cried out desperately, but he slammed the door shut behind him, plunging me into silence. I was relieved, however, to see that he’d gotten the bulbs fixed so at least I wasn’t alone in the dark. I struggled to sit up on my knees, gritting my teeth against the pains and aches. The weight wasn’t ridiculously heavy, but noticeably enough so that I had to force myself to sit with my shoulders brought back.

I took big deep breathes, squeezing my eyes shut and facing the ceiling, my hands clasped together tightly in my lap.

I couldn’t believe this.

It happened to me.

Me, of all people. Why did Michael do this to me?

“I can give you a gift that will be vital to you later on, but it takes time to grow, so you must be patient.”

That’s what he said, but he never said it would be agonizingly painful. That would’ve been a nice little detail. Oh yea, and the fact that I had a giant pair of white pigeon wings sticking out of my back! That would’ve been nice to mention too!

But Asmodeus was right…

I didn’t know how to use these. Was it even possible with how painful it was to move right now? It was like he said. They were useless to me if I didn’t know how to use them. They seemed to just twitch and flutter on their own without my help. It was like they had a mind of their own and the thought made me shudder, squeezing my eyes shut tighter.

As if trying to stop them from raising Lucifer and saving my friends wasn’t hard enough, now I had to worry about these stupid chicken wings too.

Thanks a lot, Michael! You could’ve given me something more useful, like that spear of yours or a sword! Damn!

I cringed and lowered my head, reaching behind me only to have my hand bump into one of the wings that was brought forward on its own. I grimaced, watching the thing twitch. The white feathers seemed firmly placed into the bone and skin of the wing. I reached out carefully and touched it, blinking in surprise at how smooth and velvety the feathers felt against my fingers. I stroked it for a while, then sighed, dropping my hand as the wing pulled back, as if sensing my distress.

I glared at the headboard of the bed for a while, trying to think of something.

Escape plan failed, of course. I wasn’t too surprised by it, and shockingly, not disgruntled by it either. I had to think of another way. I had to stop the ritual from happening, with or without the help of my wings or Michael.

“Thirteen people, thirteen bowls of blood, thirteen candles, thirteen incense sticks of rose.”

They needed thirteen people to complete the ritual as well as their blood in thirteen bowls, which meant one of the other members had to disappear. Whether it meant death or… Well, actually, death would be the most immediate way of doing things. I nibbled my lower lip.

But if I killed someone, they could easily just take his blood and say there were thirteen people. Lucifer wouldn’t notice. He was only going to pop out of Hell and devour me, then move onto Earth. No one else really mattered to him.

So… Rip someone’s head off and hope they don’t bleed. Yeah, that’ll go over well.

I groaned, pressing the heels of my palms against my eyes in frustration.

I wanted to talk to Zeke. He’d know…

Wait!

Wait, hold up.

Zeke.

He was a vampire. If I could talk him into killing one of the other members, he’d suck all their blood out so they couldn’t use the corpse!

I just had to get out of here and find Zeke, go somewhere safe and secluded so I could tell him about the plan. Eagerly, I started to pull myself up and out of bed, but my back protested painfully and my wings fell limp on the bed, as if they didn’t want to do anything, but rest. I cursed them and took a deep breath, clenching my fists. I willed the damn things to move, but they only twitched and fluttered on the bed.

“You could’ve given me an instructional manual!” I barked at the ceiling, hoping Michael heard me as I cursed him before stalking toward the door. I hissed and cursed in pain as my wings just dragged behind me like a pair of dead weights. I glared at them and tried to lift them again, but they were too heavy and stubborn to move.

I finally made it to the door, but I was breathing hard as sweat trickled down the sides of my face and down my naked chest. I ground my teeth together and went to slam my fist on the door, but it creaked and I took a step back, then cried out in pain as I stepped on one of my wings that shuddered under my weight. I barked a curse, then looked up to see Beelzebub standing there, an eyebrow raised.

“How amusing. Naked, bloody, and winged. I have a feeling you’re trying to seduce me, angelus.” He drawled, folding his arms over his chest as he stood in the doorway, blocking my exit. I hissed past clenched teeth for a moment before shaking my head quickly, feeling my face flush with embarrassment.

“No! I just… I want to talk to Zeke.” I said at last. Beelzebub frowned, studying my face and I became paranoid with the look he was giving me, so I thought of anything else, but what I planned to tell Zeke.

I thought about my wings and how much they hurt, how I wanted to learn to use them, how I wanted Zeke to comfort me, kiss me… touch me…

“Mmm,” Beelzebub mused, glancing me up down and down, making me glare at him as I covered myself, “Of course you would. Despite everything the little bloodsucker has done to you, you still seek out his touch, don’t you, angelus?”

“I don’t have to tell you that.” I mumbled, cursing myself as heat rose to the tips of my ears, making Beelzebub smirk. He stooped over, taking my chin on his finger, reminding me of how Stephen used to do that all the time. He studied my eyes, his nose brushing mine and giving me chills. His swirling silver eyes were omnipotent, oracular. I almost thought he was probing my mind until he rose to his feet, smiling faintly at me.

“No. I can see plenty of it going on in that crazy little head of yours. The day he kissed you in the chapel after Asmodeus frightened you by defacing Jesus’ statue. The day Zeke kissed you in the bathroom and pinned you against the wall. When he let you suck his cock and he came on your face. Yes, I can see all of it.” He responded casually. I gasped, embarrassed.

“H-How--”

“I see everything. I told you before. A glutton for knowledge. If you want to see your precious leech, you’ll have to wait until he arrives from his final class of the day as it’s dangerously close to your two week break for Halloween.”

“Halloween? It’s October?!” I asked in dismay. Beelzebub smiled.

“Sic, angelus. Fear not, though, the school day is coming to an end and the lamia will be arriving shortly. For now, you must behave like a good little lamb, otherwise, my brother will be back to punish you for your attempted escape. You’re lucky your wings came in when they did. If they had not, Asmodeus would have beat you to within an inch of your life.” He explained smoothly. I glared at him.

“I don’t think Lucifer will be very happy to see that you abused his power source.” I returned sharply. Beelzebub blinked, looking surprised at the bite in my voice before a smirk curled the corner of his lip.

“Yes… Yes, I suppose that is true. You’re getting smarter. Good.” He replied, then turned away from me and left the bedroom door open. I cringed at being revealed so much after being clothed by the cloak, so I forced myself to drag my carcass-- and those damned wings-- all the way back to the bed where I flopped on my side, letting my wings fan out across the bed, taking up Asmodeus’ place.

I just lay there and glared at the wall, counting to a hundred over and over again as I waited for Zeke to show up.

The pain in my back was slowly easing to only a dull throb and every so often when I stretched my arm out, my wings would spread as if to greet me. Weirdly enough, it hardly felt lonely anymore with my wings there. It was like they were a completely different person.

The thought sort of creeped me out, but at the same time, I felt less alone, so I just sighed and buried my face in my pillow, trying to think of how I would explain this Zeke so he’d understand.
I knew he wanted to get out of this mess as much as I did.

I just needed to assure him that’d work, and I knew just who I wanted to destroy in this sadistic psychotic Satanist cult. I easily pictured Stephen’s face in my mind and sat up confidently just as I heard the main chamber door open, voices carrying into Asmodeus’ room. I recognized Cain’s boisterous shouts about a soccer game while Dustin congratulated him and Jason whooped about their two week vacation.

Once upon a time, I would’ve been whooping along with them and cheering about two weeks worth of being lazy and pretending I didn’t care that my family didn’t want to see me.

The voices continued at a high octave before vanishing into what I assumed was the café. I started to get up, my back aching.

“Don’t get up.” I looked up to see Zeke peering into the room, his uniform worn loosely and carelessly as usual, a messenger bag slung over his shoulder and resting on his hip. I smiled in relief.

“Zeke!” I exclaimed. He gave me a weary smile, but approached the bed cautiously like he was afraid Asmodeus would pop in and break him into pieces for visiting me, which I doubted. Asmodeus didn’t seem to hate Zeke as much as the other Fallen Ones.

Zeke walked around the bed slowly, studying my wings like they were the greatest of specimens. I hesitated, glancing at my wings before gritting my teeth, trying to move one of them to cover me. It twitched and fluttered at first before dropping along my side and I breathed a heavy sigh. Zeke smiled faintly.

“They’re beautiful. I’m jealous.” He admitted. I blinked.

“Don’t you have wings too? Beelzebub said you did.” I added when he gave me a strange look before he grimaced. He reached for the wing draped across me, then hesitated, but I nodded my okay and he slowly, carefully ran his fingertips across the white, velvety feathers. He shivered, withdrawing his hand quickly to grip the strap of his bag, looking away.

“My wings are useless, nor as beautiful as yours. Not anymore anyway,” He muttered, making me tilt my head and open my mouth to question, but he cut me off by shaking his head, “Doesn’t matter. Beelzebub said you wanted to see me?” I shifted a bit uncomfortably, then peered out the door, then at Zeke. I nudged my head for him to come closer and he obeyed, leaning on the bed as I brought my lips to his ear.

“I know how to get out.” I whispered. Zeke froze, the muscles in his body growing taut for a split second before he snapped his head to look at the door, then back at me before he got on the bed, dropping his bag on the floor. He knelt beside me, inching his finger for me to come closer. I frowned and leaned in, only to have him lean in and kiss me hungrily. I gasped, caught off guard as he kissed me, his tongue diving between my lips, curling and stealing my breath.

I panted, trying to wedge my arms between us, but he wouldn’t let me. Zeke moved his lips from mine after making them swollen before kissing a line to my ear.

“Tell me, but keep kissing me.” He murmured hotly. I shuddered.

“That’s kind of hard with your hand…” My voice trailed into a moan as Zeke cupped me between the legs, my breath hitching as he licked the shell of my ear before sucking on my earlobe. The entire time, his hand worked on my cock, stroking and tugging.

“I-I can’t!” I protested. How was I supposed to concentrate with him touching me like that? All I could think about was coming, long and hard. His hand was smooth against my erection, his thumb brushing the tip. I moaned as he kissed my ear.

“If they see us talking, they’re going to assume it’s about your escape plan. So try, Matty.” He breathed against my ear. I bit my lip, sucking in a deep breath before I tilted my ear, kissing his ear.

“Thirteen. You need thirteen, right?” I panted, my hands wandering the front of his uniform, shoving his blazer off so it fell in a crumple on the floor. My fingers worked his buttons, trembling as he stroked me.

“Yes, and?” Zeke moaned, nibbling the shell of my ear. I started to respond, but I couldn’t take it anymore and whimpered as I came, my hands grabbing at his shoulders as I bucked my hips into his hand, panting desperately. Zeke sighed delightfully against my ear, before pulling back to suck on his fingers, licking my essence away. I made a face at him, but he only smirked and kissed my lips before moving his attention to my ear again.

“And?” He pressed, his hips touching mine as he slid his hand around my back. I hissed in pain as his fingers touched the place where my wings emerged. He hushed me, stroking very gently until the pain disappeared. In fact, the pain faded into pure ecstasy.

“Kill one of them. Kill Stephen. Kill him and drink his blood.” I managed at last, my voice shaking. Zeke stopped for a moment, then continued to press his hips against mine slowly, his hand drifting into the space between my wings.

“Matty, I--”

“Please, Zeke,” I breathed against his ear, peeking past him at the door to make sure the coast was clear, “If I killed him, it wouldn’t matter. You’d still be able to use his blood. If you kill him and drain him of his blood, they won’t have thirteen anymore. It buys me time. It buys us time.”

“Why… Stephen?” Zeke managed at last. I scowled, pulling back to look into his face, my eyes narrowed as he grimaced.

“I hate him.”

“Now you see why I kept telling you to stay away from him,” Zeke murmured, touching his forehead against mine, his icy blue eyes piercing straight through me, “Stephen can’t be killed that easily, Matty. He’ll know as soon as I go in for the kill what my intention is, and even though he knows he can’t kill me for it, he’ll pulverize me, or worse… The person who planned it all.”

“It’s worth it,” I seethed past clenched teeth, putting my arms around Zeke’s torso to pull him close to me, watching something flicker in his blue eyes, “We need to try. If Stephen dies, not only are we out an extra player, but we have a big obstacle out of the way. Stephen is pretty much your leader.”

“I don’t like the sound of that leader part,” Zeke snorted, but I just smirked and bumped my nose against his, making him smile crookedly, “But… If you’re willing to risk it. We need to plan more. Say Stephen gets away. Say he doesn’t die. We need a Plan B.”

“Cain.” I answered simply. Zeke nodded, kissing me on the lips a couple times and brushing his thumb over my nipple before he spoke.

“All right… But how? I can’t just wait until Stephen turns his back to bite him, then move onto Cain if Stephen doesn’t hold still.” He murmured, nipping my lower lip and making me moan. I tilted my head to the side, letting him kiss down my throat as I peered at the door again, but there was no sign of an eavesdropper, so I closed my eyes in bliss.

“Mmm… Uh, we could--”

“And just what the hell do you two think you’re doing?” A voice asked sternly, making my eyes fly open. Zeke immediately tore away from me, sliding off the bed and facing the door as I gasped, grabbing at the sheets to hide myself as I caught sight of Asmodeus standing in the doorway, his arms folded over his chest.

Shit, did he hear anything? He wasn’t there a second ago when I checked. He moved fast, I noted with a grimace.

“I thought I told you he’s to remain pure until Lucifer gets his hands on him.” Asmodeus stated flatly, narrowing his eyes at Zeke, who frowned.

“I wasn’t going to go that far, Asmodeus.”

“That’s Lord Asmodeus to you, lamia. Leave. I want alone time with my gift.” Asmodeus ordered, walking into the room and gesturing for Zeke to leave. I looked at Zeke helplessly, wishing we had more time to plan and the stare he gave me told me he wished the same. However, he didn’t say a word as he stooped to pick up his bag, walking out of the room silently, his head held high as if he couldn’t give a shit what Asmodeus thought of him. It made me smirk, but it melted as Asmodeus pulled the door shut behind him, turning to face me. I stiffened on the bed, cringing as my wings twitched at the attention.

“Obviously your plan failed.” He deadpanned. I felt cold inside. He heard?

“What plan?” I asked dumbly. Asmodeus smirked, walking across the room as if he was king of the world already. I felt my muscles grow taut as he reached out and grabbed my elbows, jerking me so I was sitting in front of him on my knees. He held my elbow tightly, making me wince.

“Don’t play dumb, even though it really suits you. The only person to deflower you will be Lucifer.” He mused, blowing the hair back from my face, making me shiver. He stroked his thumbs along my arms before he pulled me up against him, making my breath hitch. For a second, I thought he was going to crush me before I felt his hands on my wings, making me tense.

His fingers stroked the soft white feathers gently, his eyes locked on them when I peeked up to look at him, confused.

Apparently he misunderstood my actions with Zeke, but I wasn’t about to correct him and quickly changed my thoughts out of paranoia to the fact that he was petting my wings like they were fragile puppies or something, which I suppose they could be. I felt fragile in general.

My back ached and throbbed now that Zeke wasn’t here to distract me from the pains, but it was mildly soothed by Asmodeus’ gentle touches.

“Were yours black?” I blurted, then grimaced as a dark cloud cast over Asmodeus face for a moment before he stepped away from me, letting me settle back on the bed, grabbing the sheets to hide myself-- although, it was rather useless. Asmodeus had seen enough of me so he didn’t care anymore. At least, I hoped he didn’t.

“Yes.” He answered at last. I bit my lower lip, feeling even sorrier for Asmodeus for losing his wings. He hadn’t even done anything to really deserve it, did he? He just fell in love and it was mistaken for lust.

“They were probably pretty cool looking too.” I said hesitantly.

“Yes. I’d like to think so.”

“Did it hurt when they came in?” I asked. Asmodeus looked reluctant to have a conversation. I had a feeling his private time was just sucking me off or playing with me again, but it was turning into a talk time that I’m sure he’d rather not have. And yet, he finally plopped down on the bed, running a hand through his dark hair before resting his arms on his knees.

“Yes, but mine came in earlier than yours. Mine tore through my back around the time I was thirteen. I didn’t have anyone around to tend to me either, so you ought to be grateful.” He added, glancing at me pointedly. I nodded quickly.

“Yeah, don’t get me wrong. I hate you guys with a passion, but thanks for… not letting me bleed to death or anything, even though you probably only did it so you could offer me up to Lucifer on a silver platter.” I muttered, unable to resist the venom in my tone. Asmodeus heard it, he nodded, turned away and frowned.

“Yes. It’s about time you took that role more seriously, by the way,” He added darkly, turning to face me, making me back up a couple inches, “Trying to get a good fuck in before Lucifer realizes you aren’t pure is a very, very stupid thing to do. He could easily drag your soul back to Hell with him without any remorse. Lucifer may not be the evil devil everyone claims him to be, but he’s stern when it comes to things he wants badly enough.”

“Not the evil devil everyone claims him to be? He requires the blood of a virgin. Oh yeah, he’s so not evil.” I grunted in irritation. Asmodeus smirked, rising to his feet slowly, sensually enough to give me goose bumps as he folded his arms over his chest.

“Nothing goes without sacrifice. God asks for sacrifice as well, just a bit less bloody. Lucifer likes it old school and pagan. Like I was saying before, stop trying to seduce the bloodsucker. Any of them for that matter, they know better than to touch you intimately. That’s Lucifer’s job. If you try any more sneaky plots, I’ll just tie you up, wings and all.” He explained calmly, shrugging nonchalantly in a way that made me grit my teeth. I didn’t say anything in response to him as he milled about the room now, changing the color of the sheets just by saying the color aloud in Latin.

By the time he was finished, the red had turned to a deep, royal purple and it felt even silkier against my skin and wings. Asmodeus would stop to stare at me for a while, making me shift uncomfortably, but not too much. My wings throbbed whenever I tried to actually roll over, so I had to move slowly.

“Isn’t there a way to tuck these away? Zeke has wings, right? Beelzebub too? How come they don’t have to walk around with them?” I asked in pain, propping myself up on my hands and knees, glaring at the pillow as my wings fluttered for a second, then sank down on the bed.

I gasped when I felt Asmodeus’ large cold hand sliding up my back between my wings to the back of my neck. I went still as he leaned over top of me, making me hiss past clenched teeth at the weight of him on my wings.

“You can tuck them away. It’s less painful as well. Just close your eyes.” He commanded gently. I hesitated. I didn’t like him so close to me, pressing up against me so his groin was grinding against my ass, making me shudder. I eventually obeyed, keeping in mind that he couldn’t take me knowing what I was going to be used for. He stroked my wings for a while before he continued his lesson.

“Now… Concentrate everything to your back, to your wings. Will them to disappear, to shatter into glitter and only return when you order them to. Your wings are under your command. They’re just like your hands and feet. You tell them what to do.” He murmured in my ear, his tongue flicking out to lick my lobe. I held my breath, but forced myself to concentrate. I did as he said and focused on my back.

Go away.

Go away.

Disappear, vanish.

I felt my back tremble, my wings shuddering as they folded up and Asmodeus eased off my back as they tucked behind me. I hissed past clenched teeth at the weight of them, then relaxed as they began to waver a while longer. I felt something sprinkling onto my face and back and peeked my eyes open to see silver dust landing on the bed. I blinked in awe and whirled around, my wings completely gone.

“It worked!” I exclaimed in relief, seeing Asmodeus kneeling in front of me, nodding his head.

“Of course it did. I’ve been alive since Adam and Eve screwed the human race, since Cain killed Abel. If I didn’t know how to work wings, I wouldn’t deserve to call myself a demon.” He smirked, confidently. I actually felt myself smile at that and quickly made it go away as I looked in the other direction, running a hand through my hair as Asmodeus studied me.

“Of course, my advice isn’t for free, so I require payment.” He deadpanned. I blinked and stared at him incredulously before glaring as I went to gather to sheets to myself, but Asmodeus tore them so hard out of my grip that I fell forward on my  stomach, gasping in surprise. He swung himself around on top of me so fast, he was a blur. Next thing I knew, he was twisting my arms behind my back, making me yelp in pain.

“I can’t fuck you, although, it’s awfully tempting, but I can torment you and teach you just what to expect from Lucifer… I will admit, though, he’s far more gentler than I am. I love seeing the red against your skin. Porcelain dipped in red paint. If I were into it, I’d dress you up, just like a doll.” Asmodeus mocked, twisting my arms up further, making me cry out in pain. I dug my feet into the bed, trying to push and wriggle myself away from him, but it only made the pain worse, so I finally slumped on the bed in defeat, my head tilted to the side as I panted hard.

“Relax, little lamb. I won’t harm you… Much. I just want to see how much you can take.” He murmured, leaning down to nuzzle my hair, inhaling deeply like just the smell of me was turning him on. I ground my teeth together, but said nothing as he let go of my arms, letting me swing one around to try and hit him, but he caught my wrist and forced me onto my back. I seethed in pain as the sheets pressed against my wounded back.

“Quit struggling, angelus. Just relax.” Asmodeus crooned. I jerked at his grip, writhing and squirming, but he kept cooing at me and my muscles began to relax against my will. Before I knew it, I was limp on the bed, panting quietly as Asmodeus smirked down at me, leaning down to brush his nose against mine.

“Mmm. You’re adorable. Glittered in silver wing residue to go with those pretty blue eyes of yours…”

His voice trailed as he said that I watched his expression melt into pain. He immediately let go of me and sat back on his knees over me, staring at me. I still felt dizzy from his seducing, but I blinked a few times.

“I’m not Michael.” I managed at last. Asmodeus glared at me.

“I thought I told you I didn’t want to hear his name.”

“Stop taking your hatred out on me, Asmodeus,” I continued, keeping my voice as calm as I could with the death glare he was giving me, “Stop trying to make everyone else suffer for what Michael did. Michael made a mistake and he just needs a talking to and the only person who can do that is you.”

“Talking is what got my wings ripped off like a five-year-old finding a firefly.” Asmodeus sneered, reaching out to grab a handful of my hair, making me wince as he slammed my head against the bed. It didn’t hurt seeing as the bed was so soft, but the fact that he was ripping my hair out made my head ache. I didn’t give up, though.

“Don’t let him hurt you.”

“He’s an archangel and I’m a demon. There’s a huge gap--”

“Are you seriously admitting defeat to Michael?” I challenged. Asmodeus blinked, then glared at me hatefully as he jerked me up by my hair, making me gasp. He grabbed my back and I couldn’t bite back a cry of pain as he dug his nails into the slits where my wings had previous jutted from.

“You’re trying to bait me, little lamb, but there’s a reason why you are merely an angel, not an archangel like your bastard father… You’re weak. With purity comes weakness and you’re the purest we’ve found in quite some time.” He seethed, wiggling his fingers past the stitches on my back. I cried out and dug my nails into his arms, whimpering in pain as he shoved a fingernail into my back. I writhed, my toes curling and tears threatening to spill down my face.

“I’m not Michael!” I repeated stupidly. Asmodeus gritted his teeth and dug his fingers in further for a moment, glaring at me intently as I chanted the same thing over and over again. Suddenly, Asmodeus tore his fingers away from me and let me flop on the bed, the warm smack of blood under me following. I panted hard, tilting my head back in pain as I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment, then parted them to see Asmodeus getting off the bed.

“You’re highly talented at turning someone off.” He grunted, tossing the sheets over my head. I managed to roll onto my stomach, my vision blurring and tilting all over the place as Asmodeus departed from the room in a storm of fury.

It was the last thing I saw before I slumped to the bed, slipping into a world of darkness.