Page 202 of Wicked Believer
“Later,” I say, shooting a tense look at him.
He and several of his demonic army have drawn so close to Lilith now, they could reach out and touch.
And I can feel Azrael’s chilling presence looming behind me.
“Time to get out of here, little siren,” he whispers into my ear.
But Lilith and I are both an equal distance away from Jax, and the Holy Lance still lies at my feet.
I shake my head.
I can’t leave without her.
“Your prophecy was wrong,” I say to Lilith. “I won’t allow you or anyone else to control me.”
Lilith’s lips quirk. The smirk she gives me is so reminiscent of Lucifer, I can’t seem to breathe.
What have I gotten myself into?
But then Lucifer appears just behind Lilith’s shoulder. “Now, Charlotte.”
Chaos erupts inside the sanctuary.
I lunge for the blade, intending to use it against Lilith, just as Lilith throws herself at Jax, narrowly escaping Lucifer’s grip.
Lilith and Jax vanish in a flash, the chair Jax was still tied to taken with them.
There and gone in a blink.
A sudden incapacitating fear takes over me. Like there’s not enough oxygen in the room.
“No. No, no, no, no, no.”
I can’t lose another friend.
Can’t allow anyone else todiebecause of me.
Lucifer is crouched at my side seconds later. “Take her,” he orders, and I realize from where he’s looking overtop my head that he isn’t speaking to me.
Azrael.
The cold brush of Death’s grip circles my wrist, just as I realize—
The blade.
I missed it, my hand knocking it askew by several feet.
It lies on the floor on the other side of the stage, where Michael now stands unbound, at the ready. He bends down and picks it up, chuckling.
“Go!” Lucifer shouts, and this time, I know better than to disobey him.
I’m wrenched backward, my body being sucked or dragged in a way that’s a thousand times worse than traveling through the ether. The next thing I know, I’m lying on the floor in Lucifer’s office, someone else’s blood—Ian’s, my brain identifies—completely coating me.
Once again, the dress I’m wearing is ruined, and considering this one was on loan from Xzander’s latest contribution to the Fashion Institute, this seriously can’t become a habit.
I sit up, swaying slightly as the full gravity of what just happened settles into me.
“Jax.”
