Page 116 of Legendary

“Heaven’s Gate did quite a number on him. And to think the two of you could have been so happy here together, side by side, darkness to darkness. I could use muscles like his, but it seems like you went and fixed that as well, for now, because you and I both know once something like that leaks into your mind it never truly leaves.” She circled around the chair, one step at a time. Her finger traced over my shoulders, over the back of the chair and glided over my other shoulder.

I scoffed. “You did this to yourself, you know. You put yourself in this prison when you killed that baby and caused that huge war. You have no one else to blame!” I clawed at the arms of the chair, its wooden texture waning under my hold. I looked over to Isabel. “Your mother died because of her. She told Dimitri that I could be the one to kill you if I chose her. She doesn’t care about you. She doesn’t care about anyone!” I felt the chair rattle underneath me as my body shook with anger.

Lilith settled in front of me again. She brought her fingers to her mouth and gave me a thoughtful look. “Ah, that baby. I knew letting everyone mingle like it was normal was a bad thing, but Lucifer didn’t think anything of it, so he let it happen. Hybrid children weren’t unheard of, but they weren’t something you aspired to have, but of course, when entities love each other, they just have to show it in a physical way and out pops a baby that should have never been born.” She raised her head to the ceiling, her long hair cascading down her back. “I took matters into my own hands, like a good leader does and I got rid of it before it could get rid of me and tried to take over everything. People were over the realms for that silly baby, but you really think that Isaac Zuriel was thrilled to know that it could one day destroy him, his son and everyone else.”

“It was just a baby!” I yelled.

“You cut things off at the root, Dani. You don’t wait until it becomes a threat, because then it’s too late. You no longer have the upper hand.” She closed her eyes and smoothed her hands down the side of her dress. “I didn’t expect everyone to lose their fucking minds over it, but it was quite a sight to see. Angels acting less angelic than usual, Enchanters harboring their powers and losing faith in their leader. Chaos that I didn’t actually mean to cause but they did it all to themselves. It just goes to show that everything isn’t always what it seems, and it just takes one small shift for blood and fury to take precedence. I’m learning that’s the way to make anything happen nowadays.”

I rubbed my lips together, realizing how dry and chapped they were. “Your plan for Heaven’s Gate and a way out of here didn’t work, so what is it that you want with me now? Why am I still so important to you?”

“You are going to be what you’ve always been. One of the most feared creatures they’ve ever known.”

“You have your voided demons for that. Your toxic hellhounds. What am I compared to them?” I flashed the darkness in my eyes at her.

“Oh, my love, you are so much more. You should really learn to stop making so many friends, Dani. That traitorous necromancer and his wife, that cute little pink haired demon and oh, that adorable hellhound. You areonly making this harder on yourself.”

“I asked you to leave them out of this.”

She pointed her finger at me. “And I asked you to come to me days ago and you chose to disobey me and fight me at every turn, so I’m done giving you and your companions a chance. Luckily for you, I won’t be the one to make them suffer.” Her eyes glittered with maniacal wonder. She couldn’t be serious.

“And we all get a front row seat to the show.” I turned my head over my shoulder to see Dimitri sitting in one of the pews. He had come in so quietly that I didn’t even know when he had gotten into the room in the first place. He unbuttoned his suit jacket and turned his face, so I could see the burn mark that Nick’s light magic had left. “Isn’t that right, hmm?” He said to the woman at his side. One of the sharp toothed twins, Rae, smiled at him, tucking a piece of her dark hair behind her ear. I took note of her nails, they were filed down to sharp points. My neck tensed at the memory of her digging them into my skin.

“You said you wanted Lilith gone just as much as the next demon,” I said, confused as to what she was doing here.

“I did, but she wants to get out of Purgatory, go roam and take over a new space, infiltrate Heaven’s Gate or some other realm. You are her ticket to doing that, so the quicker she has you and you submit, the faster she explores someplace new. Dimitri can have an even better Leviathan.” She traced her knuckles down his cheek, and he winked at her. “You clearly came here for the good of your friends, so just bow down like a good little bitch.”

I flung my head away from her, nearly biting down on my own tongue. “No.”

“Summon your dagger.” Lilith commanded.

I furrowed my eyebrows and shook my head. Isabel huffed. “Do it!”

“Fuck you!” I yelled.

Lilith came up to me and leaned down, placing her hands on the chair's armrests. “Summon. Your. Dagger.” Each word was announced on its own, one by one. Her eyes flashed a menacing red and I felt a pain in my head, like she was digging into it. It felt like Elise’s venom, but instead of paralyzing me, it made me compliant. It was like her voice was the only thing I heard, echoing into my mind. I tried to say no, no, no over again and then it was there.

My dagger, with my name etched in the center, was at my feet.

Lilith gave me a smile that showed all her teeth. “Still such a good girl, aren’t you?”

I nearly vomited since that kind of endearment made me think of beinghappily naked with my angel. Now she’d done what she was good at and tainted something. She bent down to grab it, but I moved on instinct and kicked it away from her. I sent it flying towards the wall behind her as I grasped onto that connection I had with it, giving it instructions.

Find him and don’t come back to me.

It vanished, like the good obeying weapon it was. Lilith watched as smoke puffed from nowhere and took the dagger with it. I watched her body tense as she faced away from me. She slowly turned toward me. “Get it back.”

“No. I would say get it yourself, but we both know you can’t.”

She narrowed her eyes, the dark irises flaming red for only a moment.

“Where did it go?” Dimitri asked, curiously.

I didn’t answer him, but it seemed that I didn’t need to. Lilith chuckled as she continued to stare at me. “Oh, Dani. Of course, you would.” She said it like everything clicked into place, like all the answers to the realms had come to her at this very moment.

“What are you talking about?” Rae asked, sounding dumbfounded, which didn’t surprise me in the slightest.

Lilith smoothed down her hair and took a few steps back over to me. “You think just because I gave you that dagger as a gift, that I bestowed it upon you and no one else, that I don’t know what you did with it. Just because I can’t summon it myself doesn’t mean I’m so naive.” She wrapped her fingers around my chin. “You trust that boy too much.”

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