Page 12 of Deliver Us from Evil

"Correct," he said matter-of-factly. "It's either that or feed you to the lost souls of Hell."

When he put it that way, what other choice did I have? What was the alternative, play along until I found a way to escape? I was in Hell, there was no escape for me. Even though he wasn't promising my freedom, a consideration was better than nothing. Plus, maybe I'd learn more about the connection between Deimos and my ancestors. There had to have been something there if he was teaching the women in my family magic since probably the sixteen hundreds. Maybe longer.

"Fine," I reluctantly obliged. "I'll learn magic."

Deimos leaned back and smiled like a cat who caught the canary. "Excellent. Your destiny awaits, and I look forward to seeing what you'll become once the magic begins to flow through your veins."

Chapter6

Helios

"They've sure been in there for a while," Apollyon commented while we waited outside of Lord Deimos' chamber. He and I stood in place while Abaddon sat with his back to the wall, whistling like he had no care in the world. Unlike Xaphan, who was pacing back and forth with agitation.

"No doubt our lord is giving the girl the rundown on what she'll be doing," I said.

"Do you really think it was a good idea to bring her down here? She's still human after all," Abaddon said,

"Of course not," Xaphan snarled through gritted teeth. "What could the master be thinking of bringing a living human into the court? This could pose as a problem if any of the princes or, Hell forbid, Satan finds out about her. We should kill her and get it over with before Master gets himself into trouble."

I rolled my eyes at his open threat. As if I'd allow him to do anything to Antonia. Even without the need for her to pass through the rune spells, I could tell from her scent that she was, in fact, a witch. How she went her entire life without experiencing any signs of magic was a mystery, one I hoped would be uncovered. What surprised and intrigued me, was how unafraid she was of me when we first met. Sure, she was confused and frightened with her current situation, but none of it was directed at me. Not even when I was close to her face, did she squirm away. Something about her called to me. A chain that linked me to Antonia.

What was so special about this woman?

"She may prove useful to him," I said. "She hasn't learned to harness her magic, but she has it. It's strong too."

Abaddon whistled in surprise. "If you're able to sense it, then she has to be sitting on untouched potential. Why do you think the H.I.M. wanted her dead so badly?"

"That part I don't know," I said. "It could be the simple fact that they're worried about her powers corrupting the minds of all the people of Salem, or it could be something we don't know about yet."

"As long as they believe she died in that fire, it shouldn't matter." Apollyon crossed his arms and frowned. "But if she is as powerful as you perceive her to be, Helios, then it's even more imperative that we keep her identity a secret from anyone outside of the Court of Wrath."

Abaddon scoffed. "It's not like we visit the other princes. You know they all keep to themselves, never bothering to acknowledge one another unless Satan calls on them. Our only real concern is if Orpheus shows up unannounced, which we know he will at some point."

Yes, that was a problem we needed to consider. Being Deimos' brother, Orpheus had a habit of showing up simply to provoke Lord Deimos enough to rage a war against him. He wasn't happy about losing the title of Prince of Wrath to Deimos and has since then tried to prove to Deimos and the civilians here that he's the rightful heir to the throne. So far, Orpheus has failed every attempt to take the title away from Deimos. Not only was he brash, but overconfident in his ability. But something like this could tip the scale in his favor.

"We’ll probably need to assign scouts to watch for any signs of Orpheus, and plan for it accordingly. We can't keep her contained in a room, especially if Deimos will want her to be trained in magic, so we'll need to keep our eyes and ears open," I said.

"If only we could kill Orpheus and get it over with," Xaphan said, still pacing back and forth.

Abaddon snorted. "Yeah, you go ahead and do that. We'll see how long you last."

Xaphan paused his steps to face Abaddon, his teeth bare and his eyes blazing with hellfire. "Are you saying I can't take him out?"

Abaddon arched up a brow, not in the least bit intimidated by Xaphan's temper. "I'm saying none of us are. Orpheus is on a completely different level from us."

"Abaddon's correct," I chimed in to quell the tension before another fight broke out. "I know how you feel about wanting to protect Lord Deimos, Xaphan, but recklessly putting your life in danger by taking on the master's younger brother would do nothing but cause chaos. Not to mention, it would make Orpheus even more suspicious."

I could tell Xaphan wanted to protest, but he wisely kept his mouth shut. He was hot headed and prideful, but he was no fool. There was nobody in this court who didn't suspect something going on between our lord and his favorite little pet. Lord Deimos was the only one Xaphan felt comfortable being around, since he struggled to fit in anywhere else. No amount of me trying to offer my support to him had ever sank in. Perhaps I should've done it sooner, rather than watch the then newly turned hellhound struggle to find his place amongst the rest of us. It's turned him angry and resentful, but he felt relaxed under our Lord's watchful gaze.

Lord Deimos was a ruthless king when he needed to be, but he respected his subjects. That was why Satan himself deemed Deimos his heir rather than Orpheus. I'd served under Lord Deimos for centuries, even I held admiration for him. Not only because he valued my leadership and hard work when it came to my legion, but because he'd always made sure we were well taken care of. Even teaching us the dark arts of magic. In many ways, we all shared a love for our lord and Prince of Wrath, but Xaphan's love ran deeper.

"He's going to get himself killed one of these days," Apollyon muttered under his breath as soon as Xaphan continued his pacing.

I relaxed now that I was no longer worried about breaking another fight between him and Abaddon. Abaddon loved provoking Xaphan since he was so easily riled up, which often led to them trying to rip each other to shreds. And with me being their leader, I had to be the one who separate them. They were like a couple of pups.

"He's only worried for the Lord's safety," I said.

"You're able to sense her magic, correct? Even though she’s never learned to wield it?"

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