Free Sword's Blessing by Kaitlin R. Branch Page A

me.” He smirked. “I do not come at your call.”
    She bit back a cry. The Damned standing before her was small in stature, but she could feel the press of souls around him like a shroud. Every inch of him was compressed greed, ambition, selfishness, the rope of his soul winding for age upon age, tied back to the beginning, back to the fallen star, and it shook her to the core. “Lucifer.”
    “ The Lucifer.” The man tossed the fire up and into a lamp above her head. Giselle couldn’t help herself, she ducked and flinched. He rolled his eyes. “Come on. If I’d wanted you dead, you’d be dead. Honestly, show a little backbone.”
    “Why am I here?” she whispered. She’d been kidnapped by the Lucifer. Of all the beings. “What do you want with me?”
    “Right down to business. Much better.” The Lucifer nodded and began a slow walk around in the cramped space. “I’ll have you know it wasn’t my intention to kidnap you at first. It just became necessary.”
    Lips set in a grim line, Giselle braced herself as he made his way around her shoulder.
    “You see, I have a problem, and her name is Cyrene. She’s been rather volatile the last few months, and has ceased communication with us.” With a curious air, he stroked her wings for a moment.
    “So?” Giselle worked hard. Don’t twitch, don’t twitch … “Take care of her.”
    “Normally we would. Normally, she doesn’t go four weeks over twenty-five thousand souls before leaking.”
    “You mean you know about that?”
    “Of course we do. Your files only note it because way back in the seventeen hundreds she killed a big one and went mad for a bit. The Angels wanted to kill her. Huge hunt, the whole nine yards. She escaped because of the leak. You couldn’t find her. First you were looking for a fifty thousand, then a forty-five, then a…ah, you get the idea.” He chuckled. “I wasn’t there, but it was apparently pretty funny.”
    “Why does it happen?” she asked. “A safety measure?”
    The Lucifer shrugged. “Maybe one Lucifer made way back when she was Damned, maybe a curse from her original damning. The point is for some reason, the leak isn’t happening this time. It’s been six months and the souls I gave her are still quite attached. I was fine when she was jacking up Angels and Mortals and going after troublesome Inbetweeners, but she’s started going after my kind. I decided I should lend a hand in her capture.”
    “How generous.”
    “I like to think of it as practical.” He studied his nails. “Anyway, I contacted your Messiah to talk about taking her down. He said it was being looked into, and I should talk to your Fore, as you were most recently assigned to Cyrene. When I asked your Fore, he refused to illuminate why you weren’t around but finally–most grudgingly–admitted you had gone rogue, and if we could get you back, it would make him most accommodating.” He smiled blandly. “Essentially, you’ve been kidnapped by the Lucifer at the behest of your former Fore.”
    Giselle stared, breathless. “To do what? I won’t go back to the fold until Armand is with me.”
    “A boy? Really?” The Lucifer chuckled. A chair appeared, and then slid silently across the floor.   He sat down across from her, leaning forward with burning eyes. “Your Fore seemed to think you’d gone mad. Let’s hear your real reason for desertion. It’s incredibly rare, you know. The Damned, not as rare–once every twenty-five, thirty years? But Angels? Desertion without Damnation is notable.”
    “We are bound.” Giselle replied stubbornly. What did she care if she told Lucifer something he should not hear? Her own kind had betrayed her more thoroughly than she ever could have betrayed them! “Our wings were blessed in the same moment, and they tricked us into a trap in order to kill him and break our bond.”
    The Lucifer raised his eyebrows, then pulled his lips to the side, looking about to burst out laughing. “Damn,