Infernal God

19

I'd been reborn hundreds of times, my soul strengthening every time, and each life had given me a tiny bit more power. Enough power to defeat even an Elder God.

I forced Famine into a small space inside me, squeezing her tighter and tighter, draining her of strength and will until she faded away into nothing. The intense hunger and longing vanished, along with her presence. The only thing that remained was her power, coursing through my body like crackling electricity, now mine to control. Famine was gone, and I remained.

No, that wasn't right.

I was Famine now.

An Elder God. A Horseman of the Apocalypse. A being powerful enough to stop War.

A black horse appeared out of the night and rode toward me, and I held out my hand to her nose. She breathed over me with warmth and recognition as she nudged against my fingers. I knew this horse, and it knew me. Misery , something inside me supplied. That was her name.

As I pondered this strange bond with this horse I'd just met, my sons rushed over to me. "What was that?” Belial’s knuckles were white around the hilt of Morningstar, which was glowing with both white and black light.

“Are you okay?” Kassiel asked.

Damien peered at me. "Is Famine in there?"

“I am Famine.” I stroked the horse’s flank, then turned to face them with wonder. "But I'm also still me."

Belial arched an eyebrow. "You defeated her?"

Kassiel grinned. "Of course she did."

"How?" Damien asked.

"I used my love for my family to give me strength," I said, rubbing my bump as I smiled at my sons.

"That's corny as f**k," Belial said, rolling his eyes.

"Maybe, but it worked, didn't it?" I gave each of them a warm hug, so relieved to still be myself, but now with added hope. If I could defeat Famine, then surely Lucifer could defeat War too. He just needed me to guide him and help him remember who he was.

I glanced around the area, and most of the shifters and imps had either fled or been killed. Most of my people were still standing, except for Callan and Zel. They were on the ground under a dead tree, and I rushed over to them.

"How is she?" I asked.

Callan looked up at me with a pained expression. "She needs a healer right away."

While Damien called for Mirabella to open the portal to Earth, I kneeled beside my best friend and placed my hand on her cheek. She was weak, and I felt her life force in a way I never had before. A little voice told me it would be so easy to drain her of what was left—the lingering remnant of Famine's essence, perhaps. Something I would have to learn to live with and control.

But if I could take energy and life, could I give it too? I was able to do it with plants, why not people?

I rested my hands over the huge, bloody gash in Zel's stomach, which I'd avoided looking at because it was too horrifying to consider. While angelic healers like Marcus used their connection to the light to heal, I was different, and my power came from nature. Just like Famine did before, I drew upon the life force of the plants around us, making the grass turn brown again. The tree over us withered and died, its leaves falling upon us like rain. I gathered all of it inside me, and then I funneled it into Zel.

The magic kicked her own immortal healing into overdrive, and she gasped as her eyes popped open. Her stomach knit back together and color returned to her face, while she stared at me with shock.

"What...?" she asked.

"I'll explain everything later." I stroked her cheek with tears of relief in my eyes. "But if you could stop almost dying on me, that would be great."

She shrugged a little, though it made her wince. "I make no promises."

"My queen, the portal is ready," Mirabella said, from behind me.

"Thank you." I ordered everyone to go through it, while I did my best to repair the area. The spot where I'd healed Zel would never recover though, I feared. It would remain lifeless, a grim memorial to her neath death.

Callan carried her through the portal, and then there were only a few of us left. I glanced back at the tomb and the statue towering over it one last time, feeling a strange mix of affinity and hatred for the place, no doubt from this new part of me that had been trapped there for thousands of years.

Mirabella lightly touched my elbow. "Before you go, I wish to thank you for saving me and Eira from Famine."

I blinked at her. "Eira?"

"Fenrir's daughter, the ice wolf. She's half-fae from the Winter Court. Her mother died when she was a baby, so she was raised by Fenrir among shifters. She was a messenger for the demons like me, and a good friend, at least until Fenrir turned against Lucifer." Her voice trailed off with a hint of sadness. It was a good reminder that this civil war had torn apart our people, and Lucifer and I would have to do a lot of work to heal it, even once we stopped Fenrir. At least Nemesis was gone now.

"I do everything I can to protect my people," I said to Mirabella.

She bowed low, and I turned toward the portal. It was time to get back to Earth to face Lucifer.

To face War.

12

Lucifer

A

fter realizing the woman and my child were gone, I'd destroyed the penthouse in a rage. I barely remembered any of it, and only came out of my berserker frenzy when Samael and some angels rushed in to try to stop me. How foolish they were, thinking they could stand against me. A touch of my power turned them into mindless warriors craving blood, and now Samael served me once more. As for the angels that were with him, they were chained up in the basement of The Celestial. We'd use them as prisoners of war, or possibly bait, if needed.