*Logan

Logan's daemonium raged and exalted. He had been freed at last to kill. After months of taking brutal torture, unending pain. After weeks of listening to Chiara holding in her tears in the darkness of night, barely breathing.

He wanted to scream in victory. Instead, he caged the part of his daemonium that had set the Pit afire in black flames. Now that there were no chains holding either him or Chiara back, he had to draw her in, make her trust him.

"That was fun, wasn't it?" Logan quipped.

Chiara moved away warily, her wings dimming to a soft, barely visible glow. Obviously, she wasn't sure if he was an enemy or not.

Blinking, his eyes adjusted easily to the dimness. "Are you hurt?"

"I understand what's going on. I won't let it continue," she said.

"We are getting the fuck out of here—that's what's going on."

"No. This—I've been here before. Almost free. I know he won't ever let me go. What did he promise you? Or is this another dream I'll wake up from?"

Zeigfel, that bastard. Logan's euphoria went up in a whiff of smoke. She was moving further away. She couldn't see the truth—Zeigfel had nothing to do with their escape.

"Zeigfel promised me nothing." Logan padded towards her, open hand extended.

"Then why are you pretending to help me? What are your job perks, demon? That you get to cut off my wings when I least expect it? Are you going to suggest that you help me get to topside? How naïve do you think I am?"

He had to admit, reason was on her side. "Lucius would have betrayed me and Zeigfel is my enemy. I had no choice but to trick Lucius. You see, I can get the both of us out of here, but we have to work together."

"Go with you willingly? After having killed how many angels in battle? You say that Zeigfel is your enemy, but I know what kind of demon he is, so my question remains, what did he offer you for your obedience?"

"Nothing I would ever accept. He's next on my list to kill, don't worry. But we have to get out first."

"That's the tricky part, though. We aren't doing anything together. I know who you are, Dark Flame."

"You need my help to get out of Hell."

She hesitated, wings pulsing with each breath she took.

This was his trap. He wanted her to warm his bed—it was the only prize he could take from this place that made his choices worth it. He would have her for his own, to enjoy again and again through long nights.

"How?" she asked, breaking the silence.

He had to smother a smile of triumph. She was close to walking into his snare. "Through the Seven Halls of Deadly Sin. It's the only path you can take."

She scoffed and started to pace. "You would have to kill dozens or more demons that way. I hope that's your favorite pastime."

"It's the kind of hobby that comes in handy in Hell, though. Don't you agree?"

"You didn't notice my wings are a dead give-away that I'm an angel?"

"Not if you darken them. Verbreken have wings like the night sky, or so the stories go."

"Verbreken are myths," she said, swiping her hand in finality.

"Zeigfel's own daughter is a Verbreken, created with an angel he kept captive for centuries." He paused when Chiara shuddered. That would have been her fate. "Demons know they are real. Many would be afraid of you—Verbrekens sow chaos and loss of control. If we move fast, and keep ahead of the active guards, we can make it out of the Halls and into the Midlands before we have to fight anyone."

"And what's in it for you? You could sneak out of here in a matter of hours alone," she asked.

"The second I put a foot down in the Midlands, I'll be hunted. That's where you come in. We will make a pact, I get you out of here, and you get me through the angel guardians that dwell among the humans until I can meet up with the other outcasts in one of the enclaves."

"A pact? Not in blood."

"Agreed," he said. "I wouldn't give you such a gift."

"And not a kiss, either," she hissed. "Unless you want this blade in your belly."

"Not my heart? A kiss doesn't sound so bad, in that case."

She clenched her jaw, nostrils flared.

He gave in. "Not a kiss, then."

Too bad. With her cheeks flushed from the battle and the wildness around her eyes, he could have gone for a deep kiss. And a soft bed. Or the rock wall. He wasn't picky. "Cross your blade with mine. They tried to break us, but we fought together and have made it this far. I don't know of any others who have ever escaped those rooms."

She held out her knife, darkened with blood.

He crossed his ax to it, the flat of the large blade on her finer one. "I swear my existence to your safety, and to lead you through all the levels of Hell to freedom in the outside world in return for your pledge of protection on the human's Earth."

"I pledge to protect you from angelic kind, to defend your freedom in the outside world until you reach the haven of your choosing, but I will not kill my own."

He sighed. Was it good enough? She must have had the same thoughts. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"I swear it upon these blades," he said.

She nodded curtly. "I pledge upon these blades. A truce until we are both free."

"Seal it with a kiss?" he asked.

With a huff of disgust, she shoved his ax with her knife. "How do we go about sneaking through the Halls? I imagine you will be recognized as Zeigfel's prisoner if you show your face."

"You'd be surprised at how large Hell really is. No one knows anyone."

"If you say so. And my wings?"

"We cover them with soot. There's plenty of that down here, you aren't the only one with wings in this place."

"Well, there's our first major problem. You probably didn't notice it, but my wings shed all filth and glow around evil," she said, voice heavy with sarcasm.

"Maybe you could ask them to not do that? No? Another option is for me to break them, like Lucius did when he brought you here."

She crouched instantly, knife coming up. "Touch my wings ever again, and I will roast your eyes on a stick over an open fire."

He chuckled at the thought. "All right, it was a bad suggestion, don't forget our pact. But think. How can we hide the white?"

She gasped in surprise.

He whipped around, looking for an enemy. They were alone. Chiara seemed to have shrunk. Her head dipped lower.

"I think, I might know a way," she whispered so low, he wasn't sure he heard. "Sin will dampen the brightness of my wings."

"Sin? One of the seven deadly or something petty like thievery, or..."

"About the kiss you mentioned," she said.

"You have my attention."

Backing away, she whispered, "A little sin, just one kiss."

*** Will it be just one kiss - a little sin? So, they've made a pact to work together to get out, but Logan has some plans of his own once they get out of Hell. If they get out of Hell, that is.... Thank you for reading and hit the star if you enjoyed! ***