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Sacrifice
Callie knew there was no calming Nicholas down so she leaned back against her chair and asked, "How much do you know?"
"Enough. My dad told me you’d been lying all this time about who you were and that you used me." He leaned forward, inches from the barrier, and demanded, "Why did you do any of it?"Aubrey looked conflicted, her brown eyes moving between Callie and Nicholas. She tugged at the ends of her lavender hair. She beseeched, "We just want to know the truth, Callie."Callie shook her head. "It’s not a nice story."Nicholas scoffed, "Nice stories don’t end with somebody going to prison and people dying. Give us the truth and no more lies. I’ll know.""The details don’t matter," she retorted. "Your father was right. I lied, I stole, and I killed so I could get revenge on my own father. I sent him to Hell. And I used you because you were easy to manipulate."He should hate her. It was what he needed so she was givingRelated chapters
Simmer Repentance
It was impossible to outrun a Hellhound for long let alone a whole pack of them but Callie was going to try. There weren’t any buildings nearby, just red sand stretching for miles. Her best bet was the Forest of Torment as she had a chance of hiding from the Hounds there. She looked over her shoulder and saw four horsemen riding down a sandy hill. The Lords of Hell had come for her. Mammon on his red horse charged forward past the Hounds. She started running faster, kicking sand out of her way. Her lungs ached even as she tried to push forward. She could hear horse hooves on the sand getting closer and she refused to give up. She could see the forest and the distinct wails from inside. She pushed her legs to move faster, the adrenaline keeping her going despite the ache in her abdomen and her thighs. She just had to get to the forest. It was the only shot she had of surviving. Her feet were inches from the dark earth of the forest before a golden net knocked
Simmer Absolution
Callie had been thrown from one prison to another. While she had been in a windowless cell in the mortal realm, she had books and sweets from Oliveira to keep her occupied. The Lords of Hell only cared that she was breathing and kept her fed and locked up in her bedroom. She wondered if it was even possible to die of boredom.She couldn’t leave her room without the Hounds stalking her and making sure she didn’t try to make a run for it. There were minor demons around the castle who seemed excited about the breaking of the seals and Lucifer’s upcoming return. Word had spread through all the circles of Hell that the Great War was upon them. The Lords were busy with the remaining seals and making sure the castle was presentable for the King of Hell.She was just relieved not to have the Lords around and talking to her about conception and her damned purpose in the cosmos. Beelzebub relished in making her uncomfortable the most. She had nothing else to do but
Simmer Wilderness
Callie had never flown before and her landing was less than grateful. She stumbled onto the forest floor. Transforming back to her human force was an odd experience. She felt herself grow, her torso lengthening and expanding, her feathers disappearing into skin, her wings into arms. Her bones became denser and her hair grew back as a cloud of pale blonde around her head. She reacquainted herself with her old limbs before sitting up. She stared up into the canopy of trees above her and tried to map out where in the forest she was. The Forest of Torment was given its name for it gave illusions to those miserable enough to get lost inside. The forest could see deep into someone’s soul and find their worst fears and torture them with it until they either died or went insane. Most demons didn’t like to be in the forest for too long. The last time Callie had been in there she had been rushing to get to the gate and chose the forest as the best place to hide Lucifer
Simmer Tribulation
Beelzebub’s children flew above them like a cloud of darkness and their combined buzzing made it feel like the sky was vibrating. Callie stopped as Beelzebub flew down and landed in front of her. He smiled at her mockingly as he pulled out a knife from his boot. She stepped back as he moved closer, twirling his knife playfully.She kept walking backwards until she collided with somebody. She turned and saw it was Nicholas. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and glared at Beelzebub, his other hand gripping a spear. She hadn’t given much notice to the weapon earlier as she’d been too surprised at seeing him and the others."Did you invite all your friends here, princess?" Beelzebub questioned. "You could’ve just told us you were lonely. We could’ve arranged a play date.""I doubt that," she returned.He didn’t correct her and his smile dropped when he saw the spear Nicholas was holding. He demanded, "Where did you get that?"
Simmer Omnipotent
Callie explained to her friends about the forest and how it caused hallucinations. Everybody agreed they needed to get to the Tree of Ignorance and get out of there quickly. Callie tried her best to guide them to the Tree. The Forest of Torment did like to play tricks on people and could make them run around in circles for days if it wanted.It didn’t get its name for nothing.Nicholas walked with Callie at the front of the group, keeping the Holy Lance in hand. Beelzebub’s blood had stained the wood black and she tried to ignore it. She didn’t know how the Horseman’s blood would affect the spear. Would it twist it from being divine to damned?Or was the Messiah’s blood still more powerful? She didn’t know and it bothered her. Until they could get to Lucifer’s Grace, it was their best weapon against any demon they might come across. "Why are you so important?" Nicholas asked."What do you mean?""Beelzebub said
Simmer Disciple
They were quiet after they left Beelzebub sitting by the Tree of Ignorance. They held him down and forced the fruit into his mouth, his teeth biting into the red skin of the apple. He stopped fighting after the first bite. He ate the rest on his own and he stared unseeingly up at the sky as they walked away.Nicholas broke the silence by asking Callie, "How many are there like him?""There are four Lords of Hell," Callie explained. "As for demons, there are too many to count.""And these Lords are what exactly?""The Lords are Lucifer’s most favored. They have the most power in Hell and it’s six territories."Matthias questioned, "How big is Hell exactly?""About the size of a continent," Callie answered. "We’re at the western territory which was previously under Lilith’s control."Now that Lilith was dead, the whole western territory belonged to the Lords. Callie never was allowed to leave and see the other territories. All
Simmer Rapture
Matthias was contrite and chagrined after Callie woke him up from the sleeping spell. None of them wanted to talk about the illusion the forest created to mess with them so they continued walking until they finally made their way out. Callie was surprised to find two dune buggies waiting for them. “Where did you get these?” she asked as she got into the buggy with Nicholas and Finnegan curled up on her lap. Matthias slid into the backseat with Bishop and replied, “My dad knows a guy.”She stared at him in disbelief. Nicholas turned on the engine and began driving them away. Aubrey was driving the other buggy with Enoch and Nadia. They sped through the sand and would make it the gate in half the time on foot.Nicholas seemed to be a competent in driving the buggy. When she remarked on it, he explained, “Family vacation last summer. Aubrey and I went dunes racing.”Callie shook her head and turned away to hide her smile. S
Simmer Leviathan
Even the eternal optimist Aubrey could admit their chances looked grim. They were being chased by a colossal desert snake and they only had one dune buggy. They couldn’t hope to outrun the Leviathan but standing still and letting it devour them was not an option either. Callie tried to think of anything she’d heard about the Leviathan from Lilith and the other demons."That is terrifying," Nadia pointed out, her brown eyes wide with fear. "How are we going to take that on?"Matthias asked, "It has to have a weak spot, right?"Callie replied, "Not really.""It’s still a demon," Nicholas pointed out. "And demons have weaknesses.""Even if you could hit it with the spear, you would need to get close enough first and it could easily crush you or swallow you. Its venom would kill you in minutes."She went to Nadia and handed her Lucifer’s Grace. "You stay here with the familiars. I’m driving the dune buggy."Aubrey proteste
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