But I couldn’t stay away. The Chain had brought me here for a reason, and I was no coward. I didn’t need the Sword.
This time I resisted the Chain, fighting to go downwards and tugging on the golden chain with all my strength. It tightened around me, but let me go, giving off a sense of exasperation as I did so.
Sorry, but I didn’t come this far for nothing, I thought to it. Lucifer was here, and if he was alive and well, then maybe Vyra was, too…
I touched down on solid ground, my feet sinking right through a thick carpet of ash. I left no footsteps as I followed the golden line, keeping it looped around my wrist so I wouldn’t lose my way.
It led down a narrow ledge cut into the side of a mountain and onto a flat expanse that overlooked the Dragon’s sleeping form. I shuddered as Satan’s enormous back rose and fell with even breaths, his scales catching the light and glinting like he was painted in fresh blood.
There was a cavern, the mouth wide and sharp, and all the ash had been disturbed. It was built up in piles to the side, leaving a clear walkway for whoever lived here.
My golden chain stretched into that cavern, and my heart thumped unevenly as it grew warmer in my hands.
Lucifer walked out, his eyes on the sky, tattoos still shining crimson like a pagan warrior of Heresy. I gripped the chain so tightly my palms ached, even if they weren’t real, and took a step forward.
He walked right by me, out to the ledge. His wings were so dark that they seemed to soak up all the light around him, dim as it was.
I glanced into the darkness of the cave, but there was no sign of anyone else. My stomach flipped at the thought of Vyra being gone, but I had no idea how long the Chain would let me linger here.
I had at least one of them in my sights, and I meant to do what I could before it pulled me back to my body.
I tugged myself forward hand over hand, fighting the Chain’s insistence, and the fact that the closer I got to Lucifer, the harder it was to move. It was like the air had solidified, stopping me from going any further.
I gritted my teeth and pulled harder. The smaller chain bit into my hands, but I ignored the pain, taking dragging breaths against the solidity of the air.
The golden chain was warm now. I was so close, so fucking close, I could almost reach out and touch him.
Lucifer looked down at his father, his expression unreadable. Even from the side, I could tell he had none of his usual warmth in his features; this was completely the other one, the Lucifer whose soul was owned by Satan.
I wouldn’t let that thing take him from me.
I threw myself forward the last foot, gasping from the struggle, and my fingertips just brushed his shoulder. His skin was burning hot, like touching a coal fresh from the fire.
His head snapped around, mouth downturned in a frown.
“Lucifer!” I gasped, gripping the chain between us with everything I had.
Lucifer’s brows tightened, his eyes narrowed and turned to distant liquid mercury. He took a step forward, tipping his head to the side as he studied what must have looked like empty air to him.
And the Chain had finally had enough. It ripped me backwards, yanking the golden chain out of my hands and jerking me into the sky overhead.
Everything spun around me, blurring with the shriek of wind. Through blackness, through fire, through ice, the world turned upside down-
I plunged through obsidian and slammed back into my body, all the weight of a real live body hitting me at once. My heart hammered in my throat so hard I tasted blood, my lungs spasming to draw breath.
I was laying on my back, supported by dozens of hands, and looking up into the eyes of rapturous Chainlings.
“What did you see, my Lady?” one asked.
I blinked. My hands ached like I’d held them in a fire.
“Lucifer,” I whispered.
12
Melisande
I sat up slowly in the midst of the Chainlings, my head spinning from the sensation of being plunged back into the physical world and from the thick smell of incense.
My mouth had gone dry as dust. I felt like I’d walked through some sort of dream; only moments ago everything had seemed completely clear, but now my memories of what the Chain had showed me were going fuzzy at the edges.
I’d heard a name… a name that had seemed so familiar at the time, but now I couldn’t recall it at all. Had it started with an R? Or maybe it’d been an S… either way, the visions of Earth in the past were already dissipating. Those memories had belonged to another mind in another time, and weren’t mine to keep.
But everything after the vision of my rise from death was completely clear.
I sucked in a deep breath, wishing I had water. I’d traveled through a darkened abyss and come out on the other side to a blasted mountain range, where Lucifer was hiding with Satan.
“Lucifer,” I whispered again, my hand automatically rising to clutch at my chest. I yanked the front of my dress down an inch, exposing enough skin to reveal the mate mark of an inverted cross that was still inked pitch-black on my skin.
It glimmered, and I squinted hard, trying to pick out the light again- and there it was. A slight chain, no thicker than a spider’s web, just barely shining golden enough to see it.
I flipped my hand over. Belial’s spiraling mark had glints of red in its depths, and the circle of Tascius had taken on the faintest hint of moonlight.
“Do you see this?” I demanded, my heart hammering. I held up my hand, showing my marks to the Chainlings. “The other chains?”
The one who’d brought me down here was still crouched in front of me, as rapturous as the others. “No, my Lady. What the Chain shows is for your eyes only.” He stood up, gently sweeping dust off his knees as he rose, and held up his arms. “The Chain has finally communed! Our Lady of Wrath has been blessed by its links and all-knowing wisdom!”
They didn’t cheer, but some of them were quivering in a way that made me think they were repressing it. I hadn’t really understood their religious fervor until I’d been ripped through time and space for myself.
Who wouldn’t pay worship to something that powerful? I kept thinking of the glistening web I’d seen that had linked everything. Nothing was untouched by its strands, from the pinnacle of Heaven to the depths of Hell.
Everything was connected. And now that I’d finally touched it for myself, I would be able to find the ones I loved.
I stood up shakily and managed to bow in return to the Chainlings without falling over. “Thank you. I appreciate everything you’ve shown me.”
The leader led me back through the temple, parting the crowds for me. I was trying to keep my breathing steady, not to jump out through my skin at the news. Fortunately, the Chainling didn’t try to hold me up or coddle me. I needed to walk on my own; now that my path was clear, it was time to finish healing and prepare to go out into Hell. I couldn’t afford to rely on anyone else.
For the entire duration of the upwards climb into the arena, I kept playing the visions in my head over and over, committing every last detail to memory. The drifts of ash, the jagged peaks, the endless chasms.
And the look of complete emptiness on Lucifer’s face. I hoped he was fighting it, but his tattoos had been so viciously red, wrapped around his body like a prison.
As soon as I climbed the uppermost step into the familiar halls overhead, I gave the Chainling my goodbyes and managed to walk to the end of the corridor. But the moment I hit the end, I broke into a run, uncaring of the slight ache in my wing and wounded shoulder.