The Bound Angel (Sacrilege Rising: Book 1)

Chapter One

Liliana moved through the shadows. She was a spider inching closer to the center of her web, and the meal waiting there. When she moved this way, time and space did not matter. A step or a mile, it was all the same. She flittered through reality like a tiger in the jungle, disappearing into the brush and reappearing behind its prey.

Eventually, when her destination shone in her mind, Liliana stepped out of the darkness. The warehouse looked the same as the last time she was there… and yet different.

Back then, she saw through the eyes of a pompous angel, declaring her righteous fury for Michael’s benefit. The illusion had required a measure of power that worried her at the time, but now seemed insignificant. As the boy sank deeper into his desires, her strength grew until she was swollen with it. She’d never held so much power before. Her prey had simply never survived long enough. In contrast, Michael was a bottomless well. The shadows had always obeyed her, answering her call like loyal hounds and wrapping her in dark might. But now when she beckoned, they charged into her like a freight train.

And yet, she held back. She did not go charging in, declaring her intentions and demanding that all fall to their knees. Liliana had done that once before, when she arrived in the city and yoked Silas to her cause. But it was not the way she preferred to operate.

Three of her brutish kin waited by the front door of the warehouse. Muscles bulged with infernal strength, wrapped in black armor, wielding blades of immense size. They were undetectable by mortal senses, but unmistakable to her. And that was their purpose. The obvious safety measures designed to draw an intruder’s attention. Wrapping the shadows around her like a cloak, Liliana slipped into the warehouse without a sound.

The building opened up before her; a vast expanse full of equipment and materials. But the true defenders of this place remained hidden. She slipped back into the shadows and resumed her hunt. After a time, she felt the first presence she was looking for. She looked up, scanning the rafters.

There.

A moment later, she reappeared on a catwalk fifty feet in the air. A figure sat motionless before her. Unlike the simple brutes far below, this was the real danger. A snake in the grass, waiting for prey to creep closer. Its wings rested loosely by its sides and dark horns curled back over its head. At its hip was a long, gleaming blade. Dangerous, but not its true weapon. That was in the bulbous sack on its throat. This demon was here to call for reinforcements. It thought the darkness was its ally, stalking up here in the silent rafters, but the shadows belonged to Liliana. She smiled, then creeped forward.

Her taloned fist punched through its back at the same time the claws on her other hand ripped through the sack on its throat, quieting its gurgling surprise. She caught the body before it could fall and quietly lowered it to the catwalk. One down, the darkness swallowed her again.

She dispatched two more silent stalkers in the same way, undetected until it was too late. Then she turned her attention to her real target.

A dimly lit room opened up around her. There was a desk and a filing cabinet. In the corner, tucked up against the ceiling, was a television monitor. The screen was divided into quadrants, each showing a different entrance into the warehouse. Armed brutes stood sentinel at every one.

The figure sitting behind the desk jumped to its feet when Liliana appeared. “By the gates of the Abyss…” he hissed.

Liliana calmly sat down in the chair opposite him, crossing her legs with a satisfied smile. “Hello, Blake.” The demon wore the flesh of a fat, middle-aged male. Liliana raised an eyebrow. “New outfit?”

“Oh,” the demon muttered. “It’s you.” He looked himself over, then turned his studying gaze on her. “Yes, well, we can’t all blend in so easily.” The chair behind the desk creaked when he sat back down. “The humans tend to get squeamish.”

“Mmm,” Liliana answered noncommittally.

Blake eyed her again, more closely this time. “You look… different. I can’t put my finger on it.”

She changed the topic. “Let us get down to business, shall we?”

It was Blake’s turn to grunt with indifference. “Ah yes, the mysterious reason for this appointment. Fine with me.” He sat back in his chair with the easy confidence of someone who thought they held the best hand at a poker table, while Liliana considered her approach. Flattery was likely a good place to begin. “You know why I am in this city, Blake. And yet, you have not moved against me. You are wiser than your peers.”

The other demon shrugged. “We’re getting squeezed on both sides. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but an angel of the Host came to visit us the other day. And with your lot absorbing territory, we’re bunkering down for a while. Until things settle down.”

Liliana smirked to herself, but kept her face calm. “I have heard rumors.”

Blake grunted. “That doesn’t surprise me. Your reputation precedes you.”

Her smirk turned into a genuine smile. “Sometimes that can have its perks.” She raised an eyebrow. “An angel you say?”

“Like you don’t already know. Funniest thing though, she came with a mortal.” Blake shook his head. “Still don’t understand that part.” Then he sighed. “But who really does understand the Host these days, eh?”

“As you know,” Liliana teased, “He works in mysterious ways.”

That earned her a snort. Pleasantries out of the way, the conversation paused. Blake’s eyes raked her up and down, unconcerned with being caught staring. In his defense, servants of the Abyss did not have much in the way of self-awareness. When he was finished, he cleared his throat. “What is it I can do for you?”

She smiled politely. “You have your ear to the ground. You know my lord wants this city. And what he wants, he gets.” She eyed him, making sure he understood her meaning. “To you, your forces may seem great,” her gaze flicked to the monitor showing the armored demons. “But to him, tous, they are nothing. Thanks to me, your remaining allies are few. You do not have the strength to stand in our way.”

To his credit, Blake kept up his poker face. He shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not.”

“I am here to bargain. Though we could erase you from this realm, it would take time. There would be casualties. And in the great game, every little bit matters.”

Blake stared at her for a long moment. “And what, exactly, do you propose?”

She leaned in. “Join us. Forge a new alliance with my lord. Differences from a former age will be forgotten. Or simply leave. Take your followers to a new city and ply your trade there. I leave the decision to you.” She hardened her gaze so he did not mistake her friendly tone. “But this city is ours.”

Blake rubbed his chin, mulling it over. “Throw in with your lot? You know the boss won’t take that laying down.”

“We will protect you.”

The other demon snorted. “Yeah, until the second things get dicey. We’ll be the first you throw overboard if this doesn’t go your way.”

Liliana shrugged. “That is the way of the Abyss. You know it as well as I.”

“You’re serious?”

“I am.” She cleared her throat. “One other thing.”

Blake raised an eyebrow.

“A short time ago I tasked one of my associates with… redecorating this very warehouse. When you took it from him, it disrupted my plans. I need it back. Now.”

Blake stared at her. Hard. Behind the veil, she felt his strength grow. It was a pressure on her infernal senses, like a sandblaster set to maximum power. He was searching for a crack in her façade. Leaving his stronghold was a risk, one he was wise to consider from all angles.

A few mere months ago, Liliana would have strained to keep her composure under such an assault. But in that time, Michael’s appetites had fed her with such power that Blake’s was a meager thing. She stared into his onslaught without blinking.

A bead of sweat appeared on his forehead. She examined her fingernails. His left eye twitched and more sweat appeared. She frowned at a spec of dirt. Finally, the pressure eased.

Blake took a slow breath. “How do I know you’re not lying?”

“To what end?”

“How should I know? You always did have a dozen balls in the air at once.”

Liliana felt the corner of her lip twitch. “You have my word.”

That earned her another snort.

“You can say no. But we both know how that will end for you.”

The other demon waited for a long moment. Then his eyes started to wander again. They drifted to her mouth, her throat, her chest, then flicked back up to her face. “What’s in it for me?”

Liliana shrugged. “What would you like?”

Blake’s leer turned into an oily smile. “You. For a little while.”

She was about to agree. In the Abyss, it was common enough for demons to barter with one another. While their masters warred, the underlings were forced to live in a reality where too many enemies made for a quick death. Connections were swapped and expertise traded without word reaching the highest levels. While they might put on airs of allegiance and pound the drums for their masters’ ambitions, the truth was every demon was on his own.

In her case, Liliana could offer an experience like no other. Simple temptresses were highly sought after for that very reason. A night with a full-fledged succubus was worth its weight in souls.

But as she opened her mouth to speak, something stuck in the back of her mind like a splinter, making her pause. Her bond with Michael flared to life, and she was forced to consider how he would feel about such an arrangement. It made her… uncomfortable. Blake’s request was suddenly not viable. She was caught on the wrong foot. “I…” When another option didn’t quickly come to mind, she faltered.

Blake immediately sensed her discomfort, and the sandblaster pressure was turned back on to full power. “Is something wrong?”

The hell-forsaken bond. She needed to be free of it for a hundred reasons. “Unfortunately, that is not something I can offer just now. Master’s orders, you understand. Is there some other arrangement we can come to?”

“Master’s orders? Since when has he ever been stingy with his servants?”

“Times change. My master is not who he once was.”

Outwardly, Blake shrugged. “A throne can do that.” But behind his eyes, he was a shark with the scent of blood.

Liliana was having trouble concentrating. She needed to make this bargain. By itself, the pressure emitting from Blake was manageable. But when combined with the sudden discomfort radiating from her bond with Michael, it was making things difficult. She sat in the chair, outwardly calm while inwardly fighting a war on two fronts. Blake was watching her closely. If he was going to back down, he would have agreed already. Eventually, she sighed and muttered, “Fine.”

The Dark Lady stood.

Her chair flew back into the wall like it was shot out of a cannon. The shadows in the room exploded, blanketing them in pure darkness. Her talons came out.

In the same instant, she heard the sound of shattering glass as Blake threw himself through the window of the second-story office.

The Dark Lady followed, moving through the shadows and into the open warehouse directly behind a red-skinned brute wielding an enormous hammer. It was one of the guards she’d avoided on her way in. Before it could react, she gripped its head in both hands and twisted until its neck shattered like snapping twigs. The body was a corpse before it hit the ground. She took down two more guards before they’d reacted to the death of the first. Then chaos reigned.

Cloven hooves and booted feat made the ground tremble and signaled reinforcements. Liliana ducked under a blade, coming up in a blur and punching her talons beneath the chin of a purple-skinned demon. She dodged a clumsy punch, twisted around an arcing axe, and clawed out another demon’s throat. A sword whistled through the air. She caught the wrist in her hand, but this demon was big. Its flabby yellow skin oozed puss from open sores and its sunken eyes were covered in milky cataracts. It was stronger than she expected, and she was forced down to one knee, bringing her other hand up to keep the sword from reaching her.

The enormous demon leaned forward, adding its bulk to the strain in her arms. The move made Liliana smile. Her tail lashed out, delivering three spear-tip strikes to its throat in the span of a heartbeat. White puss sprayed from the wound, and in moments it was lying on the floor in a puddle of its own fluids. Just like that, the group was dispatched. Satisfied, Liliana looked up.

More than a dozen demons were looking back at her. Straining red muscles bulged under black armor. Tricksters in blue flesh seemed to flicker in and out of reality. Purple-tinted incubi, her much more common counterparts, smiled with perfect teeth that gleamed as bright as their curved blades. Flabby, disease-ridden beasts shambled forward, coughing up clouds of flies and leaving trails of glistening puss on the ground.

This was not the plan. She’d wanted to bring this rabble into the fold quietly, adding to her former master’s forces without attracting attention. And she really did need the warehouse. For as powerful as the Dark Lady was, she preferred to work from the shadows.

When she came here before, under the illusion of the angel, she knew Michael would heal her should she take any wounds. Now, however, that was much less certain. She did not know how long it would be before he gave in to his desires again. And even then, would he dip his toes in the water to merely hold off the worst of it? Would he ever dive in headfirst again?

For a moment, the Dark Lady closed her eyes, reveling in the newfound power at her command. Even if it was temporary, it surged through her veins, heightening her senses until she could hear every breath; every creak of armor; every confused murmur as the demons considered their new foe.

“Impressive.” Blake’s voice made her open her eyes. He was looking at the bodies around her feet. “You certainly live up to your reputation. Six of my best in mere seconds. But how many can you defeat before even you are overwhelmed? Ten? Twenty? More?”

At his words, another dozen demons stepped into the light. Swords and axes gleamed. Fangs appeared as lips were pulled back in rictus snarls. Wings unfurled and barbed tails lashed from side to side.

Blake’s smile was that of a predator. “You should reconsider my offer. You do not have to die here.”

The Dark Lady rolled her neck to loosen it. “I think not.”

His smile deepened. “These are just the beginning. You don’t know the avalanche of shit you’re bringing down.” He nodded to the brutes at his sides. “You think these few will be a problem?” He chuckled. Then his smile became a leer. “On your knees, Lady.” The title was said with mocking deference, underscored by his finger pointing at his feet. “Crawl to me. Beg for my mercy. I want to hear you scream my name. Then, if you live up to your… reputation, we can revisit our negotiations.”

The Dark Lady looked around the warehouse, making eye contact with each demon. One by one, they shrank back from her gaze. “You think too highly of yourself, Blake. I would rather lie with a mortal.”

To the Abyss, mortals were akin to stinking animals. They were sheep, meant to be steered into temptation. Fuel for the fire. She’d meant the barb as an insult, but once the words were out of her mouth, Liliana recognized a kernel of truth to them.

Blake recoiled as if she’d slapped him. The sneering smirk was wiped from his face. “Fine,” he growled. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He threw his head back and looked up to the rafters. A series of guttural grunts came from his throat, like a gorilla issuing a cry for help from across the jungle.

In a delicious twist of irony, the very first demon Liliana had slain that night fell to the floor at Blake’s feet, right where he’d been pointing. There was a hole in its chest, and the sack on its throat was a bloody mess. Comprehension dawned on his face. Then it blanched, white as paper. Negotiations were no longer an option. So be it. The Dark Lady smiled and stepped into the shadows.

Some time later, she straightened from her crouch, a bloody, gory mess. Her talons dripped. Chunks of meat were splattered all over her body. The floor was blanketed with corpses. Some were mostly intact, save for torn out throats and fist-sized puncture wounds. Others were… less so. Blake’s head was at her feet, staring up with a glassy, unblinking gaze. The rest of him was… she looked around… somewhere else.

When she stood, her body ached and burned from a dozen wounds. She would just have to convince Michael to indulge. Once he gave in to his desires, she would heal quickly. To her surprise, even now, lost in a vivid, provocative dream, his fantasies were knitting her wounds closed. He had such stamina. And since he was both her master and her prey, his hunger proved to be an unending source of strength.

As she was taking stock of her condition, a door creaked open. A trio of figures in black robes stepped into the warehouse. They froze as they took in the scene.

“Clean this up,” Liliana ordered, turning away from the mortals. “And then find Silas. He is free to continue with his preparations.” When they didn’t move, she looked back over her shoulder and snarled, “Do not make me wait.”

Even in her condition, she could feel their eyes on her rolling hips as she left the warehouse. Her next marks were three mortal women. Pretty little things. Michael had good taste.

Finally, she considered the true reason for wanting the warehouse. Things with Michael were going to be interesting and, well, she needed the room.