Through Flame and Blade

Ch. 15 Just One Kiss

*Logan

Logan's daemonium raged and exalted. He had been freed at last to kill. After months of taking brutal torture, unending pain. After weeks of listening to Chiara holding in her tears in the darkness of night, barely breathing.

He wanted to scream in victory. Instead, he caged the part of his daemonium that had set the Pit afire in black flames. Now that there were no chains holding either him or Chiara back, he had to draw her in, make her trust him.

"That was fun, wasn't it?" Logan quipped.

Chiara moved away warily, her wings dimming to a soft, barely visible glow. Obviously, she wasn't sure if he was an enemy or not.

Blinking, his eyes adjusted easily to the dimness. "Are you hurt?"

"I understand what's going on. I won't let it continue," she said.

"We are getting the fuck out of here—that's what's going on."

"No. This—I've been here before. Almost free. I know he won't ever let me go. What did he promise you? Or is this another dream I'll wake up from?"

Zeigfel, that bastard. Logan's euphoria went up in a whiff of smoke. She was moving further away. She couldn't see the truth—Zeigfel had nothing to do with their escape.

"Zeigfel promised me nothing." Logan padded towards her, open hand extended.

"Then why are you pretending to help me? What are your job perks, demon? That you get to cut off my wings when I least expect it? Are you going to suggest that you help me get to topside? How naïve do you think I am?"

He had to admit, reason was on her side. "Lucius would have betrayed me and Zeigfel is my enemy. I had no choice but to trick Lucius. You see, I can get the both of us out of here, but we have to work together."

"Go with you willingly? After having killed how many angels in battle? You say that Zeigfel is your enemy, but I know what kind of demon he is, so my question remains, what did he offer you for your obedience?"

"Nothing I would ever accept. He's next on my list to kill, don't worry. But we have to get out first."

"That's the tricky part, though. We aren't doing anything together. I know who you are, Dark Flame."

"You need my help to get out of Hell."

She hesitated, wings pulsing with each breath she took.

This was his trap. He wanted her to warm his bed—it was the only prize he could take from this place that made his choices worth it. He would have her for his own, to enjoy again and again through long nights.

"How?" she asked, breaking the silence.

He had to smother a smile of triumph. She was close to walking into his snare. "Through the Seven Halls of Deadly Sin. It's the only path you can take."

She scoffed and started to pace. "You would have to kill dozens or more demons that way. I hope that's your favorite pastime."

"It's the kind of hobby that comes in handy in Hell, though. Don't you agree?"

"You didn't notice my wings are a dead give-away that I'm an angel?"

"Not if you darken them. Verbreken have wings like the night sky, or so the stories go."

"Verbreken are myths," she said, swiping her hand in finality.

"Zeigfel's own daughter is a Verbreken, created with an angel he kept captive for centuries." He paused when Chiara shuddered. That would have been her fate. "Demons know they are real. Many would be afraid of you—Verbrekens sow chaos and loss of control. If we move fast, and keep ahead of the active guards, we can make it out of the Halls and into the Midlands before we have to fight anyone."