Free The Demon and the Succubus by Cassie Ryan Page B

will be imprisoned for his crimes, but there are bigger things at work here, ladies.” Lucifer raised one eyebrow as if making sure he wouldn’t be interrupted again.
    Amalya clamped her lips closed, resisting the urge to do just that.
    “Prophecy,” Lucifer said slowly. “Armageddon prophecy to be exact.”
    “Fuck.”
    Amalya snapped her head toward the sound of Reba’s quick curse, but since she agreed with the sentiment, she didn’t bother to shush her, not that shushing Reba ever did any good.
    Lucifer laughed. “Very eloquently put, Reba. From the expressions on your sisters’ faces, I’d say they agree with your very astute assessment.”
    Reba scowled and Amalya tightened her grip on her sister’s hand. Things needed to move along before one or more of them said something to set off the powerful demon or Archangel in the room, which meant all of them would end up dead.
    Jez took a deep breath and let it out slowly before she spoke. “Do you think we could move past the dramatic theatrics and get on with why exactly we’re here, since I don’t think it’s for the reason you agreed to meet with us?”
    Amalya stiffened as she waited for the reaction to her sister’s strong words.
    Lucifer’s green eyes narrowed and this time it was Michael who laughed, the warm sound echoing through the large room like a sudden wave of spring. “Calm yourself, brother. They have every right to know what they are agreeing to.”
    Lucifer didn’t look like he would agree, but finally he nodded. “All right, ladies. Here’s the situation. Armageddon could be at hand.”
    “Could be?” Amalya didn’t realize she’d spoken until she heard her own voice and all her sisters turned to look at her.
    Michael smiled. “Yes, could be. If it comes to pass is up to you four.” He held up a hand to stop Lucifer from speaking, and once Lucifer gave a small nod, Michael continued. “The four horsemen have been imprisoned in Atlantis at the bottom of the Aegean Sea since before the beginning of your recorded time. If they are released, then Armageddon begins, and the outcome is decided at the expense of untold human suffering.”
    “The horsemen?” Jez’s voice was laced with just as much disbelief as flowed through Amalya as she tried to make sense of Michael’s words. “As in Pestilence, Death, War, and Famine? Those horsemen?”
    “Exactly.” He nodded as if Jez were a prized student.
    “Excuse me, my lord,” Galina interrupted politely—the only one of them so far to remember the respectful address. “But what do Armageddon and the horsemen have to do with us? We only came to warn you of Semiazas’s activities before he kills off the entire human race on earth.”
    And us , Amalya added to herself.
    Lucifer snorted and Amalya bit her lip as she remembered he could pick up her thoughts. “No one wants Armageddon to come about—not me, not Michael, and certainly not our Father. This world is a playground for those of us who rebelled and a grand naïve experiment for those who didn’t.”
    Michael cast Lucifer a long-suffering look, but remained silent. This seemed like a familiar argument between them.
    “Don’t you see?” Lucifer continued. “Rather than flip the switch and risk the entire thing, we want to exercise the loophole and use a test group, as it were, to prove the world is worth saving.”
    “And we’re the test group?” Jez’s last word ended on a squeak.
    Michael held up a hand. “You have to willingly take on this responsibility and the contest will be between you four and Semiazas. He will be imprisoned for his crimes and as soon as he is free, he will hunt the four of you down to seek revenge, which is the beginning of the Armageddon prophecies.”
    Jez swallowed hard. “What happens then?”
    Michael exchanged a glance with Lucifer before continuing. “We will separate the four of you to protect you the best we can until the prophecy begins, and then only our Father, Lucifer, and I