Grey

Chapter 39

"You're lying," I whispered in hopeful defiance. I wanted to believe that Riel wouldn't betray me like that, but in my heart, I knew it was true. Standing here in front of me was the beautiful angel I thought I knew, minus the optimistic twinkle in his eyes. Oh no, that was long gone. It had been replaced by a sinister glare, one full of hatred and fury, one that wanted to see my soul burn in Hell.

Riel- or I guess Lucifer- smirked and his eyes ran over me. "Even when faced with the truth, you want to believe a lie. Interesting. Humans. Never cease to bore me with your ignorance, I mean truly, you all are a disgrace to your original purpose. I suppose it'll also be a shock to you that I killed Allison," he replied nonchalantly.

"You?" I felt my breath escape my body, everything turning numb.

"When you left, I had no idea where you were, and I was growing impatient. So I had to get you back to where I had a hold on you," he scoffed. "I needed to make sure I could recruit your soul for Hell, and I wasn't willing to wait any longer."

"Why would you- Grey was supposed to represent Hell in trying to retrieve my soul, why would you find it necessary to be here?" I retorted, taking a step back from him. There was so much anguish and betrayal in my heart, it was almost crippling. I had trusted him. I had believed him when he told me I could. He'd responded by kidnapping Grey and killing my best friend.

"Once I found out how important your soul was, I couldn't let some Fallen take care of my duties anymore. I had to make sure your Pledge was retrieved. And now it will be. Sorry love, you can't outwit me, I created 'outwitting'," he replied with a roll of his eyes.

"I thought the deal was that both Heaven and Hell had to send someone to convince my soul to Pledge," I raised an eyebrow.

"Mmm. Yes, I'm afraid that was the case. Until I killed the Heaven-sent and took on his identity," he chuckled lowly, his eyes flicking to Grey and back to me. "Archangels are so easy to fool. You tell them something, and they believe it. It's why your friend over here believed me when I told him I was Heaven-sent. He'd never met Riel, only knew his name. Lucky me," he motioned to Grey. Grey clenched his jaw angrily, his eyes flicking to me.

Grey was an Archangel? He was one of the highest ranks of Angels before he fell? Why didn't he tell me? Didn't he trust me?

"Grey, you-" I began, furrowing my brows in confusion and hurt. Did he think that I would judge him? Did he think that somehow, his position as an Angel would have some influence on how I felt about him?

"I wanted to tell you, Greene. I never intended for it to come out this way," he shot a deadly glare at Lucifer, who rolled his eyes.

"I'm not interested in your lovers quarrel, I'm afraid we have business to attend to," Lucifer's eyes flicked to me and he cocked his head to the side slightly. "You will Pledge your soul to Hell. Tonight."

Did he really think that telling me to do something would go over well? He'd spent months pretending to get to know me, you'd think he'd have learned by now. I'm stubborn as hell. Especially when I'm being forced to do something I don't want to do.

"My soul hasn't even Matured yet, and it won't until it knows I can make the right decision," I scowled. "You can't force my soul into Maturation."

Lucifer smirked, turning his back on Grey and I and walking away from us for a few yards. "Actually, I can. See, there's a little something called Hellfire, something that I happen to be in control of, actually. Not only will it kill you, but your death will force your soul to Mature. I've spent the last few months perfecting my technique, as a matter of fact. I've already thought this all out, love. Stop trying to find a flaw. You won't find one. And frankly, it's quite annoying," he frowned slightly. Those brilliant white wings on his back seemed like a betrayal. How is it that he got to keep those, whereas Grey's wings were dark?