Page 2 of Burn in Bliss

I used my heavy wings, along with my hands, to shield my eyes as scalding heat and raw sunlight invaded the cell.

A strong arm ripped away one of my wings, breaking a few feathers, followed by my arms, forcing me to look into the sun-speckled face of a demigod.

“Orion,” I ground out as my eyes watered.

He didn’t wait for my vision to adjust to the light he’d purposefully beamed into our cell.

“Samael,” he said in return, then hauled me to my feet. “You’re coming with me.”

“Hey! Lightbulb! Are you already bored with me?” Azrael croaked, having somehow stood to his full height. His legs shook from the effort, but he proudly held out his wings and his characteristic smirk was deftly in place. His pupils looked like pinpricks, and the light washed out the purple in his eyes until they almost looked white. He might have looked intimidating had the magicked collar not formed blisters around his neck. “I thought I was your favorite.”

Orion simply grunted at him, using one hand to push him out of the way.

The demigod had grown in strength, while we had been weakened, leaving Azrael’s body to slam against the wall until it cracked.

He locked his knees and refused to crumple, though. And for that, a flare of pride surged in my chest.

My brother might be an asshole, but he was trying to take the heat for me.

“Get some sleep, Azra,” I told him. “And don’t stop breathing again.”

Because I wouldn’t be here to wake him up if he did.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but Orion ripped me from the room by my neck chain before he had a chance.

ORION

I didn’t want to do this.

The angel twins were supposed to have converted weeks ago, but the stubborn dickwads didn’t know how to listen. Not even the stupid collars had done their jobs. Lucifer had all sorts of supernaturals, magic, and even the power of almighty fucking Calamity, and he still couldn’t do shit about Azrael’s mouth or Samael’s damn sense of justice.

It was time to change tactics.

“This isn’t the way to the torture chamber,” Samael helpfully informed me. That way was even farther down, not up.

“No shit,” I growled, yanking the chain around his neck so hard that it made him fall.

I paused, pretending to give him a moment to stand back up when, in reality, I was surprised that little tug had knocked him down.

I’d been around angels for a while. They were stronger than this and the collars were supposed to make them more compliant, not drain them. He wasn’t some mortal that required food or water, although that helped. He should have been pissed off more than weakened.

His body was rejecting the collar, as was his twin’s. Blisters ran around the metal that scraped against his otherwise perfect skin.

It was a device meant to make him more amenable. Instead, it seemed to be doing the opposite. He glared at me from behind the curtain of his dark hair, which had grown longer over the dragging weeks.

Damn it, Samael.

Why are you and your brother so fucking stubborn?

They fought every attempt to bring them around, leaving me with no fucking choice.

I snarled my frustration, only earning a raised brow from the angel. A red glow washed over his face as I took us up a few more steps.

Now that we were closer to the surface, the fires from outside allowed natural light to filter in. Rambunctious, recently turned supernaturals howled out on the grounds with Lucifer on a throne, surveying the chaos. He tilted his head in approval, his bat-like wings folded behind him as he leaned back in apparent ease. Firelight glinted on his horns, as well as his eyes, revealing little flickers of shadow that betrayed the true source of his power.

Calamity.

He thought he could control it, but it was obvious, at least to me, that he was too easily swayed by power. It manipulated him, making it easy to have him do exactly what it wanted.