Page 52 of Wrath's Call

But no spell protected against pure pride. Why would it when the essence had been banned from the Earth for so very long?

Before the commotion could begin again, shadows appeared through the blackness, and Aeryn disappeared.

The Prince had claimed his prize.

Chapter Twenty-Two - Hericous Venom

Marik

“We can’t stay here.” Felix said as his black shoes, still lightly dusted with dirt from yesterday’s tunnel excursion, clacked on the tile floor, hands running through his auburn tresses.

I didn’t bother replying, I just clutched my Little Thief closer to my chest. I had teleported us straight back to my rooms after the poignant burst of pride had swelled across the gala, knocking half the humans off their feet while simultaneously dazing the others. Pride was not an essence anyone in that room had ever experienced, save myself and Felix on the rare occasions Lucifer had been so inclined to see us.

And let’s just say none of those experiences have ever been pleasant. Lucifer hadn’t spared the human plain from pride just as a punishment. No, he was sparing all those who existed here from the sheer fortitude of its unleashed strength.

Pride could be the strongest of all emotions - the perfect counterbalance to humility with one glaring difference. Humility was designed to keep one pure, whereas pride was designed to make one powerful. To be humble always had limitations – something Archangel Vitus himself had always lamented. One who was humble would always curb their power, but one full of pride would almost always seek more. While humility kept one realistic, pride could give another false grandiose. A dangerous prospect that had pulled many astray, including Lucifer’s once prized heir. It is why they are the perfect opposition for the Cardinal Tiers: even if humility was not as strong as pride, humble ones often had better control and awareness of their limitations.

Such strength this woman in my arms contained. What she could mean to demon kind - it was hard even to reconcile the possibilities. It wasn’t even something I had permitted myself to dream of. We were always meant to exist on this plain without equal to the angels.

But in some way, somehow, we had earned back the right to be equal.

That is, if she survived. This pure gift in my arms was barely there, her chest only faintly rising and falling with her shallow breaths. Only her eyes told me that she still actively lived as they flickered madly behind her eyelids in erratic sweeps and twitches. Logic told me this was a good sign, that she was still in there. But the feelings of a small boy who was forced to inhale humility made me choke back the hope that lingered in that logic.

Could I dare hope? Until minutes ago, I wouldn’t have. But now…by all the sins below I craved hope. And I couldn’t lose that craving.

If I failed, her when would Lucifer next allow such a gift?

“What’s wrong with her?” I asked, my voice without inflection. I had to keep calm; I couldn’t allow my emotions to carry. Felix needed a clear head and pain from my ardor was the last thing he needed.

“I don’t know,” Felix replied, stopping in his pace long enough to look down at her. “I don’t sense any poisons; her only injury is her dislocated shoulder. There’s nothing physically keeping her down.”

Her shoulder still lay at an odd angle, her arm unnaturally clutched over her belly. When this was over, whatever the outcome, I would ensure every single injury to her body was mirrored on the Boralis bastard. But I wouldn’t stop there - no. I would allow my healers to fix him repeatedly, just in time for the shoulder to be ripped from the socket once again.

Sanctuarium had many special playrooms for the worst kind of people. If I had it my way, he’d wouldn’t leave one until I was finally ready to allow his soul to escape the mangled husk of his remaining flesh, just to be trapped again in the pits of hell. Lucifer would likely plan a special afterlife for one who injured his chosen emissary.

“She’s dying,” I clenched my teeth. I could feel her soul slipping away further and further away by the moment.

“I know.”

“So do something.”

“Do what exactly?” Felix seethed; his jovial demeanor completely lost to the stress. “I’m not an actual healer, your highness. Gluttony is a secondary talent of mine, if you remember, and I’ve done little over the years but fix injuries. I’m not some master of cures, and that’s not why you brought me with you in the first place.”

I pulled her closer to me, an emotion bordering on helplessness tugging at every inch of me. I hadn’t felt this way since my childhood when Vitus had tied me to a spike and forced me to inhale Humility. Even then I knew I could save myself. But now… Gods.

Come on Little Thief.

I had only begged once before in my life - the day my father tossed me into a portal to Earth. I had begged him not to send me away; to allow me to stay in Sanctuary with him and my mother. But my begging had gone nowhere. I had still been tossed uselessly to this plain of existence, far from everything I had ever known. Far too young to lead, but too old to play ignorant of my responsibilities. I promised myself that I would never beg again. And I wouldn’t - not yet.

“Thoughts on where to go?” I asked, the noise in the hallways outside our rooms reminding me of the hunt for my Thief. No one could have seen me take her, giving us the advantage. But it wouldn’t take long for the sisters and the Sentori to put two and two together as to who might have taken her - we were the only other guild who had issued continued interest in her besides the pretty boy from Xynin, who’s loose tongue and casual touches made my demon rise.

“Tiras has apartments all over Calgary,” Felix mused, referring to my regional commander of northwestern North America.

I shook my head.

“You’re right, too conspicuous.” Felix knew me well enough to know my thoughts on this. “The last thing we want is for anyone to know about her yet. If it became known we found the Emissary of Pride and lost her…all of demon kind would mutiny on us.”

“And when she lives, it may embolden Vitus to attack before she could fully come into her powers. The last thing the leader of the Archangelic council would want is for us to be one step closer to equal ground.” I replied.

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