Dark Temptations

Prologue

I knew Raphael wasn't going to be happy about how easily Isaac had slipped from our fingers. We'd sent a few angels over to the battlefield to retrieve his soul after he'd been successfully killed. We needed to retrieve Isaac's soul after the Goddesses had planned his untimely death before anyone else, Lucifer in particular.

Killing him wasn't easy either. He was created by the Lunar Goddesses: Selene, Hecate, and Artemis themselves. Selene was the Moon Goddess and had used the power of the moon, Hecate was the goddess of magic, witchcraft, ghosts, and the night, while Artemis was the goddess of wilderness, the hunt, and wild animals.

However, it was already too late. Lucifer's demons had defeated the angels we'd sent in and now in his possession was Isaac's soul. Lucifer was now one step closer to breaking out of Hell and we were screwed.

I continued to walk down the white corridor, thinking about the best way to reveal the newfound information to my brother. He was going to be furious, we'd sacrificed too much already to exile Lucifer to Hell in the first place.

Once I reached the large silver double doors, I took in a deep breath, inhaling the smell of jasmine flowers that flooded the palace before pushing open the heavy doors. Raphael was a few feet away from me, sitting down at the long polished mahogany table in deep conversation with the others. No doubt they were talking about their next step in making sure Lucifer stayed in Hell.

I cleared my throat before speaking up, not bothering to hide the urgency in my tone.

"Brother, we need to talk."

"Not now, Gabriel. We're discussing how we should take extra measures to keep Lucifer in Hell permanently," he responded sternly and waved me off as he continued his conversation with the small group of angels.

"Raphael... it's too late; he made the deal," I spoke in defeat, interrupting him again.

The whole room was filled with silence.

They all glanced up for a moment, clearly hoping it wasn't what we all feared, but it had happened and there was no avoiding it.

From the undeniable look of defeat on my face, I had unintentionally confirmed their suspicions.

Raphael narrowed his dark, steel-gray eyes knowingly at me, fury burning behind them. The vein at the side of his head was slightly bulging and I quickly averted my eyes to the crystal chandelier hanging above his head, avoiding his angry gaze.

If looks could kill I'd be six feet under right now.

I felt like a child who was about to get scolded by their parents. Even though it wasn't my fault, we all still held the guilt and shame on our shoulders. However, Raphael being the short-tempered man he was, he'd blame everybody else.

Raphael silently raised his hand, dismissing the angels from the table who left without another word. It wouldn't be long before they spread the word to others about our grave situation. We all knew what this meant. It meant Lucifer had most likely brought Isaac back to life by inserting a part of his soul into him. Isaac was the only being in existence powerful enough to be his vessel on Earth. The Lunar Goddesses were to blame for that. They may have had good intentions, but it was working in his favor and against the rest of us.

Now, Lucifer would use Isaac's body with his soul like a metal detector to find the girl. The piece of his soul would call out to her. It would also tether him to Earth, making it easier for him to break out of Hell.

"Wasn't it our job to make sure that this didn't happen?" He said, irritably getting up from his seat. It screeched as it scraped against the floor. His deep baritone voice shook as it echoed throughout the room. His eyes were blazing when he turned to look at me.