Page 181 of Crimson Promises
Lucifer's voice echoed from a great distance, murmuring, "Observe, Aurora, the truth that lies hidden within Bennett's past."
Then, with a jolt that felt like the sudden plummeting of a roller coaster, the world around us seemed to restructure itself. The regal setting of Lucifer's atrium, with its ebony throne dissolved into something else entirely.
* * *
A bright, hazy sky painted with the soft palette of dawn met my eyes. The heady scent of flowers hung thick in the air. There was the intoxicating sweetness of jasmine. Underneath that, the deeper, velvety fragrance of roses wafted through, rich and regal.
As the memory began to solidify, I could see myself. I was wearing the same clothes I had on the night Aurora had been attacked by the man who had stolen her necklace. I never foresaw how that instant would set off a string of events that led me to this moment.
The brand that had faded into a tattoo on my inner left wrist had burned mere hours after Aurora had made it back safely into her condo. One moment, I had been mid-flight. The next, the burning had intensified until I barely had the energy to flap my wings. The three lines normally slashed in black on my wrist now glowed a blood red.
I had been summoned to Hell, to these gardens, where I finally met the being I had professed my loyalty to centuries earlier, in the flesh. The scene continued to play out to the middle of our conversation, pulling everyone present deeper into the events that once transpired.
“Libertati vel mortis. To freedom or death.” Lucifer snickered and raised his hands, his fingers splayed out wide. “Does it look like I am free, Bennett? This is God’s version of a gilded cage. Instead of one adorned with gold pretty things, mine is full of half-witted demons. While you have at least had the luxury of the last millennia to enjoy the earth, its pleasures, and spoils, I, Lucifer Morningstar, have been forced to serve my sentence here.”
“Luxury?” I choked on my words. “Being banished from Heaven and having everything stripped from me has not been a luxury. It has been Hell.”
“At least I wasn’t the only one suffering. I’ve done my research on you, you know. The reason you joined my forces, the lofty ideas you had to change the world. The desire for change was part of why I defected all those years ago. I couldn’t watch those entitled bastards loom over God’s dominion. He was an absentee ruler. He wasn’t seeing what was happening to his people right before Him.”
I watched him with a wary gaze.
“Lucky for you, the forever optimist," he commented sarcastically. "You will once again have the chance to depose those who have caused you so much pain in life again.”
“What do you mean?”
“We are neither free nor dead, Bennett Caelum.”
The tattoo flamed red once again.
“It is referred to as Crimson Promises for a reason, Bennett. It is a vow you make in blood, and while you are still alive, I own you.”
My mouth fell open. I reasoned, “No. That isn’t true. I agreed to be a part of your forces long ago. Not agree to a lifetime of servitude.”
“Tsk, tsk. Didn’t anyone teach you to read the fine print on the contracts you sign?”
With a snap of his fingers, a gold scroll with ivory writing appeared. I was too far away to make out the contents but scrawled in my thick block penmanship was my name.
I sagged to my knees. I heard another snap; the scroll was probably gone, but I couldn’t take my eyes off Lucifer. I’d never felt this broken before. Parts of my soul were strewn across the floor, ripped out by a vow I thought was fulfilled long ago.
“You have no choice but to do my bidding, and I suspect if you want to continue to protect that girl, you will keep me updated with her whereabouts. You will not share the details of our conversations with anybody,” his eyes glinted knowingly. “She is the key to everything, Ben.”
“Don’t call me that,” I rasped.
“I’ll call you whatever I want. Aurora will be mine, no matter the cost. Alas, you will be compensated for your contributions no matter how reluctant you are to comply because, unlike the Originals, I am fair. Once I have what I need, I will grant you the power you seek,” he promised.
“You cannot grant me the power I need."
"Do not mistake my imprisonment for lack of power, Bennett. I assure you, while I am many things, I always maintain my word."
"I refuse to do anything to hurt her.”
“Oh, Bennett, I’m not interested in hurting her. I require her whole and magic intact. Magic I have been waiting on for centuries. Over the next several weeks, I will send some of my best men to test her powers. I need to know what she is capable of. You can interfere with these attacks as you see fit. You need to gain her trust to stay close. She must see you defending her.”
“I’m not going to do this to her. To gain her trust, to get you what you want. She doesn’t belong to you or anyone else.”
“You are going to do exactly this,” Lucifer snapped as I was forced to the ground. “I’m not going to tell you again, Bennett. I. Own. You. And as such, you will be doing exactly as I say. Is this woman more important than seeking revenge for your slain best friend? At the end of this, we will both have exactly what we want.”
I tried to shake my head in defiance. But an intense flash of pain began to radiate from behind my eyes and spread until my entire body was paralyzed.
