28. Twenty-Eight

Michael looks stunned that Lucifer’s hands are aflame. 

Chloe has to lean to the side and crane her neck so that she can see him around Lucifer, who is standing in front of her like an angelic shield, but there’s no mistaking the shock on Michael’s face even from this distance. 

Chloe feels a flash of pride. Michael keeps underestimating them, and he keeps being wrong, and now Lucifer is going to make him pay for it. 

Michael recovers quickly from his shock. “Well would you look at that,” he sneers. “The prodigal son figured out how to actualize himself into Dad’s favorite form. Wonder why he’d do that?”

“This has nothing to do with Dad,” Lucifer spits.

Michael laughs. “Of course it does. Come on, Samael. You’re all about desire and honesty. So let’s be honest about your desires, hm? You want your little human, and you’ll do whatever it takes to keep her. And what better way to do that than to take Father’s place when he retires? After all, you can’t be barred from the Silver City if you rule it.”

Lucifer shakes his head. “I don’t want that throne. I’ve no interest in ruling Hell or Heaven or anything in between.”

“Clever,” Michael says, wagging his finger. “You don’t lie, but you don’t tell the whole truth, either. You don’t want to rule. That’s true. But you do want her. You want her so much that you’ll destroy everything. You’ll claim the throne if that’s what it takes.”

“I’ve no patience for your psychotic idiocy,” Lucifer growls. “You’re going to free her from these chains and fix this bloody mess with Dream, and you’re going to do it right fucking now, or I’m going to send you home with some new scars. Like my middle finger seared straight into your face.”

Michael laughs. “You’ll have to get to me first.”

He lifts his hand the way Lucifer does when he’s adjusting his cufflinks, but he’s not wearing cufflinks. Instead, he reveals a thick black band encasing his wrist. It’s studded with purple gemstones, which appear to be glowing. 

Michael presses his fingers to the stones, and they glow even brighter. “Send me a dozen,” he murmurs. 

A split second later, a dozen people materialize between Michael and Lucifer. Chloe blinks at them in shock. Even after watching Constantine do it, she still hasn’t wrapped her mind around the fact that people can appear and disappear into thin air. 

She’s not sure these are people, though. They look human, but the glinting hatred in their eyes and the snarls on their lips make her want to get as far away from them as possible. They’re dressed in identical black and brown clothes that appear to be made of leather, and they’re wearing shoulder pads that are metallic. All of them are holding weapons. 

It’s the weapons that clue her in. They look just like the ones Maze prefers. 

Demons, Chloe realizes. 

“You should see the look on your face,” Michael says to Lucifer with a laugh. “I should have brought a camera.”

Chloe can’t see Lucifer’s face, but she can tell by the way he’s standing that he’s both confused and wary. He shakes his head. “You can’t—”

“Oh but I can,” Michael cuts him off. “You’re not the only one who knows sorcerers, brother. Circe sends her regards, by the way. You know, you really should stop making such powerful enemies. I didn’t even have to try to convince her to lend a hand. Or, in this case, several.”

Lucifer straightens his shoulders and takes a step forward. “Heinrik,” he booms, his voice layered with all the authority of a king. “Explain yourself.” 

A man in the front of the group goes rigid, his eyes wide as he stares at Lucifer. Chloe’s guessing that’s Heinrik, and she’s guessing based on the way his eyes dart between Lucifer and Michael that he’s suddenly wondering which of the twins he’s supposed to obey.

“Heinrik,” Michael says, his voice matching Lucifer’s eerily well. “Do not give in to the Imposter. You know the truth. And you know what was promised to you for your loyalty.”

Heinrik’s expression hardens. He narrows his eyes at Lucifer. “Imposter,” he growls. 

“How dare you,” Lucifer snarls. “He lies to you and you believe him? I’ll flay you alive for this. You’ll meet the same end as Dromos.”

Heinrik shakes his head. “Lord Morningstar doesn’t lie.”

“I’m Lord Morningstar,” Lucifer thunders. 

The group hisses words like liar and traitor and imposter, but a few of them suddenly look a little unsure. 

The light and flames encasing Lucifer’s fists extinguish. Chloe watches as he transforms into the Devil, his shirt ripping to shreds. He shoves the scraps of cloth off his body and they flutter down to the cement floor. She remembers when he did the same thing months ago, and wonders if these are the same demons. A few of them seem unnerved by his transformation. They step backward, their faces frozen in shock and fear as they glance at each other or back toward Michael, who looks suddenly furious.

“Bow to your king,” Lucifer bellows, his voice deep and harsh. 

A few of the demons start to kneel, but Michael’s voice rings out before they can. 

“They know you’re not their king, brother. They know that your current form is just an illusion created by your sorcerer friends. They’ve seen proof of it.”

Lucifer’s hands curl into fists. “Bow! ” he roars, and even Chloe, who loves him far too much to fear him, feels herself tense at the unbridled fury in his voice.

“Bow and die!” Michael shouts back. “Stand and your loyalty will be rewarded when I bring Hell to earth.”

Tension hovers in the air, thick and suffocating. A few of the demons flinch or avert their eyes, but none of them move. Not one of them bows. 

Fear wraps around Chloe’s chest and squeezes the breath from her lungs. If Michael has these demons fooled, he probably has the rest fooled too. And whoever Circe is, she’s apparently powerful enough to bring them up from Hell. How many are down there, waiting to be sent up? Thousands? Millions? Even a hundred is too many, because the only thing standing between them and the rest of the world is Lucifer. 

Amenadiel, she prays, desperate to help Lucifer in some way even though she’s chained to a pole. She shakes her head and reaches higher. John. God. Please. We need you. 

Michael laughs, loud and brash, and it bounces off the cement walls and floors and comes back sounding distorted. “Checkmate, brother.” 

Lucifer transforms back into himself. He takes a step back, and Chloe knows it’s because he’s trying to make sure that she’s completely shielded from the demons. 

“So this is what you want?” he asks. “You want to rule Hell?” 

“Now who’s thinking too small?” Michael sneers. “I don’t want Hell. I want it all. And you’re the one who’s going to give it to me.”

“How the bloody hell am I going to do that?” 

Michael shrugs. “Exactly like I said you would. When she dies, you’ll incite a war. You’ll destroy the natural order for her. And Dad will see you for who you are.”

Lucifer shakes his head. “If you kill her, you damn yourself. Father won’t turn over the throne to someone who murdered one of his humans. You know it's forbidden.”

Michael grins. “Father won’t know. It’s my word against yours, and the scales are tipped in my favor. I mean, the story practically writes itself. Dream casts a spell to punish you, and when it doesn’t work the way he wants, he kidnaps and kills your human. Then, in a fit of rage, you summon your demons to earth to get your revenge. Circe will send Dream here as soon as the Detective is dead. And war between Hell and the Endless will start the moment they attack him.”

“I won’t allow that.”

“They won’t even bow to you. What makes you think you have the power to control who they attack? Dad will have to step in.”

“Do you hear him?” Lucifer says to the demons. “If my father steps in, all of you are dust. Your fake king plans to betray you.”

“You’re wasting your breath,” Michael says, still grinning. “They know we’re playing the long game. They’ll pretend you’re Lucifer when they need to. But their loyalties lie with me. And when the Silver City is mine, they’ll have their reward.”

Michael’s eyes are bright with greed, and there’s a hiss in his voice that sends a shiver drilling down Chloe’s spine. She doesn’t know what their reward will be, but she has a feeling it won’t be peace on earth.

“First things first, though,” Michael says. “Time for the miracle to serve her purpose.”

Lucifer’s hands burst into flames. “I won’t start a war, brother,” he says, taking another step backward toward Chloe. “But I will finish what you start. And it won’t end well for you.”

A slow, evil smile spreads over Michael’s lips. “Kill her.”

The demons charge forward with a chorus of yells. Lucifer plants his feet, lifts his hands, and light beams burst from his palms. He takes out four demons in rapid succession. Based on the way they scream in agony and collapse with steaming black holes in the center of their chests, Lucifer isn’t controlling the heat of his light. He’s aiming to kill, and he’s succeeding. 

A demon on the left sprints forward and throws a knife at Chloe as he runs. Chloe sucks in a breath, her muscles tensing with the urge to duck and cover, but she can’t. She’s chained to a pole. All she can do is stare as the blade turns end over end, headed straight for her heart. 

Lucifer lunges to the side and darts his hand out, catches the knife, and flings it back in one smooth motion. The blade buries itself in the demon’s chest. He looks down at the handle protruding from his body in surprise, and then his eyes roll back and he falls. 

Another demon appears in front of Lucifer. She’s got a pike lifted high above her head and a triumphant glint in her eye. Lucifer grabs her forearm before she can bring the pike down, and then wraps his other hand around her throat. Chloe watches in shock as Lucifer’s fingers start to smoke. The air fills with the stench of burning flesh and then a piercing scream. Lucifer pulls his hand away, and Chloe catches a glimpse of finger marks seared into the demon’s skin just before Lucifer shoves her dead body aside. 

Two other demons have taken advantage of Lucifer’s distraction and split up. They’re giving him a wide berth, running in a pincer maneuver and headed straight for Chloe. She opens her mouth to warn Lucifer, but she doesn’t need to. 

He shoots his hands out and ropes of light burst from his palms. The ropes wrap around the demons’ throats, and then Lucifer tugs. Their bodies fly through the air and the ropes of light dissolve a second before their necks smack into Lucifer’s palms, one in each hand. He squeezes the life out of them with a snarl, and then takes a knee and slams them both down onto the floor. They don’t get up. 

Lucifer does. He turns his gaze toward his brother, and he looks murderous. 

“Is that the best you can do?” he roars, holding out his hands. “I’ve ruled them for millennia, brother. I’ve ended a thousand rebellions. They’re no match for me.”

“Send more,” Michael commands, his fingers on the bracelet again. “Now!”

Lucifer laughs. “Oh yes, please do.” 

He smoothly dodges a demon who is swinging a sword through the air, and then puts his hands on either side of the demon’s head and snaps his neck with brutal ease. He plucks the sword out of the demon’s hand as he falls and then grins at his brother. 

“I could use the practice.”

Another group of demons materialize. Lucifer snarls and the sword in his hand bursts into flame. He twists and turns through a knot of them, dodging stabs and punches, slicing and slashing with his blade of fire. They fall, one after the other, no match for the king whose body is glowing with light. 

Lucifer has just decapitated a demon with a mace when another demon darts toward him from behind. 

“Lucifer, look out!” Chloe shouts. 

She’s too late. The demon plunges a dagger into Lucifer’s back just above his shoulder blades. Lucifer roars in pain, his back arching, and Chloe sucks in a horrified gasp. 

Lucifer whips around to face the demon. He reaches behind him and yanks the blade out of his body, sending a spray of blood splattering across the cement floor, and then straightens. 

The demon cowers. Lucifer flips the blade in his hand the way Chloe has seen Maze do, and then plunges it straight into the demon’s heart. 

The remaining demons, who were hanging back in front of Michael like bodyguards, charge toward Lucifer after a command from Michael. Lucifer snarls at them, drops the dagger and the sword, and raises both hands. Light explodes out of his palms. It races across the floor like a golden wave, toppling them easily, and Michael barely manages to unfurl his wings and leap into the air before it takes him out too. 

Michael hovers in mid-air, his eyes wide with fear. Lucifer strides across the warehouse, his hands aflame as he steps over the dead bodies of his demons. 

“More,” Michael screams, clutching the black band around his wrist. His wings flap awkwardly as he tries to fly backward and away from Lucifer. “Send more!” 

“Face me!” Lucifer shouts. “Stop hiding and face me!”

He lifts his hands but a wall of demons materializes between them. Chloe sucks in a breath—there are at least fifty of them, and they’re armed to the teeth—and Lucifer pauses. For a second, no one moves. 

“Kill the human!” Michael bellows. 

The demons surge forward. Lucifer holds out his hand, and another flaming rope of light bursts from his palm. The end of the rope wraps around the forklift sitting nearby. Lucifer yanks, and the machine careens across the floor and smashes into the crowd of demons like a bowling ball hitting pins. Demons fly through the air, and Lucifer sends bursts of light toward them like a hunter shooting at a flock of birds. 

He’s so focused on hitting his targets that he doesn’t notice three demons who make a break toward his left and beeline for Chloe. 

“Lucifer!” she shouts. 

He whips around at the sound of her voice. His eyes flare red, and then his entire body flames and he shoots forward like a fireball. He smashes into the three demons. Chloe expects them to go flying through the air like before, but they incinerate into ash instead. She gasps, her mouth falling open in shock.

Lucifer keeps going, a fiery blur that tears through the crowd of demons mercilessly. The warehouse is filled with their screams as they dissolve into ash or collapse to the ground, clutching parts of their bodies that are crackling with fire. 

Lucifer veers in Michael’s direction. Michael takes off, flying toward the ceiling, and Lucifer follows, transforming from a ball of light back into himself in mid-air. Chloe tips her head back to watch as they dive and twist through the warehouse. Most of the demons stop to watch too, apparently awestruck by the sight. 

But not all of them. 

Chloe doesn’t see the demon until he’s only a few feet away. He’s got a dagger in his hand that’s almost identical to the one Michael recently held to her throat, and the glint in his eyes is terrifying. 

He grins at her when their gazes meet. It looks more like the snarl of a rabid dog than a smile. “Hey pretty girl,” he sneers.

Chloe’s stomach drops. Lucifer, she prays. 

The demon lunges at her before she can finish. She lets the chain hold her weight against the pole and kicks out both her legs. She catches him square in the chest, and he stumbles backward with a growl. 

When he straightens again, his expression hardens. “Just for that, I won’t make this quick.” 

Two more demons appear at his flanks, and they stride forward in unison. Chloe bucks hard against the chain, desperate to get at least one of her arms free so she can defend herself, but it’s useless. She’s trapped, and they’re armed, and Lucifer is too focused on chasing after Michael to realize she’s in danger. 

The reality of the situation hits her hard. She’s going to die in this warehouse. She’s thousands of miles from home and chained to a pole and she’s going to get skewered by a bunch of demons so they can start a supernatural war. 

She’s never going to see Trixie again.

A black blur drops from the sky and lands in front of her. The demons pause, and Chloe’s eyes widen in shock. 

Maze, clad in tight black leather and holding a curved blade in each hand, straightens. 

“Sorry boys,” she says, a cocky smile tugging on her lips. “You’ll have to find another human. This one’s mine.”

The demon in the front snarls at her. “Traitor.”

Maze’s smile darkens. “Why don’t you come a little closer and say that to my face, Marbas?”

The trio of demons lunge forward, but they’re no match for Maze. She ducks and bobs and weaves, and Chloe watches in awe as her friend makes quick work of not only the three demons who were charging at her, but two others who attempted to come to their aid. Within seconds, they’re all dead at her feet.

Maze surveys her work, and then turns toward Chloe. “Hey Decker,” she greets, spinning her blades casually. She grins. “Miss me?”

“Maze,” Chloe breathes in relief. “You have no idea how glad I am to see you.”

“Considering you’d be dead without me, I think I’ve got an idea,” Maze snorts. She tucks her blades away and then strides forward. “Let’s get you out of those chains, huh?”

“They’re Hell-forged.”

That stops Maze in her tracks. She frowns, and then curls her lip in disgust. “What a dick.” 

Chloe can’t help but snort out a laugh. 

Maze shoots her a grin and then pulls a long blade out from behind her back. Chloe doesn’t want to know where she was keeping it. 

“I might be able to cut the lock with this,” she says, her eyebrows furrowed. “I mean, probably not, but it’s worth a try.”

She grabs the padlock hanging by Chloe’s hip and lifts the blade, but before she can start on the lock, Lucifer appears. His eyes are blazing red. He wraps his hand around Maze’s wrist to stop her from using the knife, and then yanks her around to face him and grabs her other wrist before she can reach for another blade. 

“Lucifer, wait,” Chloe blurts out, twisting beneath her chains. “She just saved my life.”

Lucifer doesn’t respond, and he doesn’t let Maze go. Maze glares up at him. He glares down at her. 

Chloe glances between them, past them to the dozens of demons who are sprinting in their direction, and sighs. “Yeah, maybe now’s not the best time for a staring contest?” 

Lucifer holds out one of his hands without taking his eyes off Maze. A wave of light bursts from his palm and takes out every demon in sight. They collapse to the ground, unmoving, and the warehouse goes eerily silent. 

Chloe does a quick scan, but she doesn’t see Michael anywhere. For the moment, at least, no one is trying to kill them. Judging by the look Lucifer is giving Maze, though, that doesn’t mean there won’t be more fighting. 

Maze arches an eyebrow at him. “Lightbringing is just like riding a bike, huh?”

Lucifer narrows his eyes at her. “Whose team are you on this time, Mazikeen? Because I’ll ride this bike straight over you if need be.”

Maze sighs and tugs out of his grasp. “I didn’t track you two idiots through farm country so your psychotic twin could kill her, okay? I’m on your side. I don’t want her dead anymore than you do.”

“You tracked us?” Chloe asks. 

“You helped him,” Lucifer snarls. 

Guilt shivers across Maze’s face, and suddenly Chloe understands how Michael was able to find them. 

“Oh Maze,” she sighs. 

Maze lifts her chin in defiance, though there’s still guilt in her eyes. “You were gone, Chloe. You disappeared, and Dan begged me to find you, and none of my sources knew anything. Amenadiel wouldn’t answer me or Linda. When Michael called, I figured I could use all the help I could get.”

“And what did you think he was going to do when he found us?” Lucifer demands.

“Not this!” Maze shoots back, throwing up her hands. “He said that as long as I let him have you, he’d make sure your dad didn’t punish Chloe for your bullshit. Sorry I’m not sorry I was trying to protect my friend from your crazy ass family.” 

“If you were trying to protect her, why’d you let him take her?”

“I didn’t let him do anything. He knocked me unconscious. Can you fight when you’re unconscious?”

Lucifer huffs at her.

Maze gives him an unimpressed once over. “And why are you half naked? Did he bust in on you guys going at it or something?”

Lucifer straightens as if he’s offended. “You know my Devil form and shirts don’t mix.”

Chloe expects Maze to say something sarcastic, but the demon blanches. “They’ve seen your Devil form and they didn’t bow?”

“It seems Michael is receiving assistance from Circe,” Lucifer replies. “I imagine she made it possible for him to appear in my Devil form long enough to gain their trust and tell them that I’d attempt to trick them. You know how convincing she can be.”

Maze blinks at him for a moment, and then she steps farther into his space and brandishes her finger at him. “I told you,” she says, prodding him in the chest. “I told you not to mess with that crazy bitch.”

Lucifer rolls his eyes.

Chloe frowns. “Who the hell is Circe?”

“Don’t roll your eyes at me,” Maze snaps at Lucifer, ignoring Chloe. “If you’d listened to me then maybe Decker wouldn’t be chained to a freaking pole right now. Trixie’s going to kill you when she finds out you let this happen.”

Lucifer frowns as if he’s genuinely concerned about Trixie being upset, but Chloe doesn’t dwell on how cute that is. The mention of her daughter makes her heart flip.

“How is she?” she asks Maze eagerly. “Is she okay?”

Maze shoots her a look. “No she’s not okay. She thinks her mom got kidnapped by the Devil. She cries herself to sleep every night.”

Grief and guilt storm through Chloe’s chest like a hurricane, and tears prick her eyes. She forces herself to focus on her breathing so she won’t lose control of her emotions. Now is not the time to cry. 

Lucifer grabs Maze by the arm. Maze looks down at his hand with an arched eyebrow, but doesn’t pull away.

“What about you?” Lucifer challenges. “What is it you think? Because you’re still under the influence of the dream. I can see it flickering in your eyes.”

That’s enough to snap Chloe out of her Trixie-focused thoughts. She leans forward and squints, and sure enough, there’s a flicker of blue in Maze’s eyes. 

“Wait,” she says. “If you’re still under the spell, then why haven’t you tried to hurt Lucifer?” 

“Because I need him to keep you alive,” Maze says incredulously. “Duh.”

Chloe frowns. So does Lucifer.

“Look, I still think you’re a selfish moron who isn’t good enough for her,” Maze says, yanking her arm out of Lucifer’s grasp. She gestures at the warehouse and the demon bodies scattered everywhere. “But obviously we’ve got bigger problems to deal with first. You’re protecting her, right?”

“Of course I am,” Lucifer says, clearly offended. 

“Well then I need you alive. Apparently you’re the only angel willing to stand between my humans and your evil twin taking over the world. So I guess for now, we’re on the same side. Okay?”

Lucifer studies her, his eyebrows furrowed. He glances at Chloe, and then back at Maze. “Okay,” he echoes.

Chloe smiles, but her relief at their temporary truce is short-lived when she catches a glimpse of Michael in the distance. He lands on the warehouse floor a hundred yards away, and he grins at her when their eyes meet.

“Guys,” Chloe warns. 

Dozens and dozens of demons materialize in front of Michael. There has to be at least a hundred of them, and Chloe feels like groaning in frustration. How the hell are they supposed to fight a seemingly endless supply of demons? She can’t even help because she’s chained to this damn pole. She’s powerless.

Maze and Lucifer snap to attention. Maze tosses aside the knife she was going to use to cut the padlock and reaches for her curved blades instead. Lucifer’s hands burst into flames. 

“They’re just going to keep coming unless you get to him,” Maze says to Lucifer. “Take out as many as you can on the way. I’ll keep the rest away from her until you’re done. But don’t take forever.”

Lucifer sends a glance over his shoulder toward Chloe. “All right, love?”

Chloe’s throat tightens as apprehension flickers to life in her chest. What if she never gets to hear him say that again? What if they die here?

“Yeah,” she says, forcing a smile. “Go give ‘em hell.” 

He gives her a brief smile, and then his entire body bursts into flames. He shoots forward into the mass of demons like a missile, zigzagging through the crowd and incinerating dozens.

A trio of demons slip out of the chaos unscathed and charge forward. Maze meets them in a clash of Hell-forged steel. Chloe watches, her heart in her throat, as Maze kills them, her blades flashing in the dimness of the warehouse. As soon as she’s done, five more break free from the crowd. 

“I hate family reunions,” Maze mutters before she steps forward to meet them.

Lucifer is still barrelling toward Michael, a ball of fire so bright that Chloe has to squint when she looks directly at him. For every group of demons he incinerates, another batch appears between him and Michael. It’s like demonic whack-a-mole. Lucifer is making headway, but it’s slow.  

Maze isn’t faring much better. She’s a blur of steel and snarls and violence. Chloe has never seen anyone but Lucifer fight so efficiently, but it’s just Maze against a seemingly endless line of demons. They keep coming, breaking against her like waves on the shore, and although none of them get past her, Chloe can’t help but notice that Maze is being pushed steadily backward and closer to her. 

The apprehension that’s been sitting on her chest like a weight transforms into icy fear that wraps it’s fingers around her throat. She wants to help and she can’t, so she does the only thing she can do and prays. She prays to Amenadiel, and then to Lucifer’s dad, and then to them both. 

In the distance, Lucifer transforms from a ball of light back into himself and steps into Michael’s space, but four demons leap onto his back before he can grab his brother. He snarls and throws them off, and then another three take their place. He bursts into flames again.  

A demon slashes his sword across Maze’s thigh, and a long gash appears in her leather pants. Blood splatters onto the floor. Maze growls in pain and then lunges. She kills the demon who wounded her, but she’s limping now and Chloe can see dark blood oozing from the wound. 

She starts to beg God to intervene. 

Please help us please help us please help us please—  

Maze’s fighting has gone from smooth and lethal to desperate. She leans backward, dodging a dagger that comes scarily close to her throat, and then catches a follow-up punch and buries her blade in the gut of a demon. She yanks it free and straightens, and then a massive, hulking demon with a sword in each hand appears out of nowhere behind her.

“Maze! ” Chloe screams.

It’s too late. The demon plunges both of his blades into Maze’s back, burying them to their hilts. Their pointed ends sprout through her chest, coated gruesomely with blood. 

Maze arches with a gasp, her eyes wide and her head tipped back. The demon yanks the swords free from her body. She stumbles and sways unsteadily on her feet, shell-shocked. He lifts the swords above her head, crossing the dripping blades in the air like he’s preparing to behead her. 

Chloe screams again. “No! ”

Lucifer appears. He catches the blades as they start to descend, and the moment they touch his skin they ignite. He shoves them aside with a snarl and then incinerates the demon into ash. 

Maze staggers. Her face is deathly pale. Blood pours from the wounds in her chest. Lucifer darts forward to catch her as her knees give out, and they collapse onto the floor with Lucifer cradling her body in his arms. 

Demons are sprinting at them from all directions. Lucifer snarls and whips his arm through the air, and a ring of fire encircles him and Maze and the pole Chloe is chained to. The flames are huge, at least a dozen feet tall, and they’re so hot Chloe can feel them even from several feet away. There’s no way anything or anyone could get through them without turning to ash. 

But it doesn’t matter. It’s too late. Lucifer is on the floor a few feet in front of her, and Maze is dying in his arms.

Chloe’s eyes burn with tears. A sob wells up in her chest and rips out of her throat, and Maze’s eyes flicker in her direction. 

Chloe pulls against the chain wrapped around her body, desperate to get to her friend and hold her, but there’s nothing she can do. She’s helpless.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I’m so sorry.”

Maze shakes her head. “Not your fault.” Her voice is a wheeze, like she’s struggling to breathe. “Don’t feel guilty.” 

She winces in pain and shifts in Lucifer’s arms. She opens her mouth as if to say something else, but blood spills from her lips instead of words. She chokes and leans sideways, coughing and spitting up blood. It splatters on the concrete, so dark it’s more black than red.

When she rolls back into Lucifer’s lap, he brushes her hair away from her face with a gentleness that makes Chloe sob again. 

“Take her to Trix,” Maze croaks, still wheezing. “Give your word.”

Lucifer shakes his head. “You don’t need it. You can deliver her to the urchin yourself. Just hang on, all right? I’ve got you.” 

His wings unfurl, and he plucks a feather from them. Chloe watches, confused, as he presses it to one of the wounds in Maze’s chest. It flares gold and then glows, bathing their circle of flame in celestial light. Maze arches, gasping, and then the light evaporates. Lucifer reaches for another feather, but before he can press it to Maze’s other wound, she covers his hand with hers. 

“Don’t waste it,” she whispers. 

Lucifer frowns. “Maze…”

Maze’s body goes slack. Her head drops to the side, and her hand falls away from Lucifer’s and smacks against the concrete floor. Her eyes stare blankly into the distance.

“No,” Lucifer whispers in horror. 

Chloe feels like someone has shoved a sword straight through her too. Tears pour from her eyes and her body shudders with a sob. 

How is she supposed to explain this to Trixie?

Lucifer shakes his head. “No.” He clenches his jaw in determination. “No.” 

He presses the feather into Maze’s wound, but this time it doesn’t glow. It just soaks up Maze’s blood, transforming from a blinding white to a dark crimson, and Maze doesn’t move.

“Mazikeen,” Lucifer calls, reaching up to cup her face with a bloodied hand. “Maze. Come back to me.”

He sounds desperate, broken, and Chloe is crying so hard she can barely see him through her tears. She watches as he leans forward, curling himself over Maze’s body, and when tears drop from his eyes onto Maze’s leather-clad chest, Chloe closes her eyes and hangs her head.

For a moment, there’s nothing but silence. And then the heat that’s been pushing oppressively into Chloe ever since Lucifer conjured up a ring of fire disappears. Cool air rushes over her skin. 

She lifts her head. The ring of fire is gone. Lucifer’s forehead is pressed against Maze’s chin as he cries over her dead body, and Chloe realizes that he’s so focused on his grief that he’s no longer concentrating on his flame. 

“Lucifer,” she breathes in fear. 

He picks his head up. Demons are materializing all around them—not just in front of Michael but everywhere, all throughout the warehouse. There are hundreds of them, each one armed to the teeth.

Lucifer clenches his jaw. He sets Maze gently on the floor and then gets to his feet, backing away from her until he’s only a foot or so in front of Chloe. She can smell his cologne, but it’s faint. The wound in his back from the dagger is still bleeding, and there are trails of crimson smeared across his skin. 

His hands burst into flame in preparation for a fight. It’s hundreds against one, and the world is hanging in the balance, and Chloe knows what she needs to do.

“Lucifer,” she calls. “I need you to leave me and go get Trixie. Hide somewhere safe until you can reach your dad.” 

His shoulders go rigid. He shakes his head but doesn’t turn around. “No.”

“Please, Lucifer. I need you to do this for me. I need to know she’s safe.”

He turns to look at her. There’s rage and agony in his eyes. “I’m not leaving you to die.”

“I love you,” she murmurs gently. 

He shakes his head, his eyes glassy, and she leans as far away from the pole and as close to him as the chain will allow. 

“I love you, Lucifer. And I know you love me too. I know, okay? But I need you to leave me. I need you to do this for me.”

“No.”

“Lucifer—”

“No.”

The demons are inching toward them. They’re running out of time. 

“Please,” Chloe begs. “Please, Lucifer.”

Lucifer opens his mouth but he doesn’t get a chance to reply.

“You can’t fight all of Hell, brother!” Michael calls gleefully. 

The horde of demons encircling Lucifer and Chloe seem to take that as a command. They surge forward.

Lucifer’s wings unfurl with a snap. “Watch me,” he growls.

He shoots into the air. Chloe tips her head back, watching him rocket toward the ceiling, and then he flips in mid-air and dives back toward the ground. 

He lands next to her with so much force that the cement cracks beneath his feet. Light explodes out of him like a bomb. A wave of fire shoots outward, taking out every demon in the warehouse. Chloe feels it hit her too, the force of it so strong it steals the breath out of her lungs, but she doesn’t burn up. It doesn’t hurt her. It never has. 

She opens her eyes. The hundreds of demons that were circling her are gone, apparently incinerated into nothingness. All that’s left of them is their weapons, scattered all over the floor, and Michael, hovering in the air, his eyes wide in shock and horror. 

Lucifer shoots into the air so fast Chloe doesn’t even see him. One second he’s in front of her, crouched on the newly cracked cement, and then the next he’s tackling his brother. 

They careen downward and slam into the floor, Lucifer landing on top. He tears the black band off Michael’s wrist and tosses it aside. Michael struggles but Lucifer pins him down, his wings still unfurled, his knees on either side of Michael’s torso and his hand wrapped around Michael’s throat. 

“I’m going to kill you,” Lucifer snarls, bending forward so that their faces are inches apart. “And I want you to know that I won’t feel guilty about it at all.”

Michael claws at Lucifer’s hand around his throat, his legs and wings flopping uselessly. 

Chloe watches, her eyes wide, as Lucifer chokes the life out of his brother. She wonders, briefly, if she’s supposed to try to stop him. But how can she, when she knows what Michael plans to do?

And then she feels cold, hard steel press against her throat. 

She can hear someone wheezing in her ear, their breath hot on her skin, and for a second all she can do is wonder how. Lucifer’s light went everywhere. It incinerated everyone except her, because she’s immune, and Michael, because he took to the air. How…?

Her cop brain registers two things at once. 

One: A demon who was directly behind her would have been shielded from the light thanks to her invulnerability. The very thing that was supposed to protect her could cost her everything.

Two: She’s going to die.

The blade is sharp against her skin. She winces, turning her head so it’s not pressed directly on the front of her throat, but that position isn’t much better. It hurts. She could pray to Lucifer, but she won’t. He needs to finish what he started and he won’t if he sees that she’s in danger. 

“Release the king or she dies!” the voice in her ear bellows. 

Lucifer immediately snaps his head in Chloe’s direction. She watches as fear and rage dawn in his eyes, and then he narrows his gaze. 

“If you kill her, your king dies too.”

The voice in Chloe’s ear laughs. “He resurrects. She does not.”

Lucifer’s face remains impassive, but Chloe knows him too well. She knows he’s realized he doesn’t have the upper hand. He loosens his grip on Michael’s neck just a little, but doesn’t let go.

Chloe shakes her head as much as the blade will allow. “Don’t, Lucifer.”

“Shut up,” the voice in her ear snaps. 

“You’re not really going to let her die, are you?” Michael says, his voice a rasping croak. 

Lucifer’s eyebrows furrow.

“Don’t,” Chloe repeats. “He’s going to kill me either way.”

The knife presses harder into her throat. “Shut your mouth.”

Lucifer keeps his hand around Michael’s throat, but raises the other. It bursts into flame, and his intentions are clear. It’s a threat. 

The knife against Chloe’s throat shifts, and she hears rustling. She knows, even without looking, that the demon has positioned himself even farther behind her. She’s his invulnerable shield, and Lucifer can’t get to him. 

Michael glances toward Chloe and then barks out a laugh when he seems to realize the same thing. “You don’t have a shot,” he says hoarsely. “No loopholes this time, brother. Make your choice.”

Lucifer clenches his jaw. His eyes meet Chloe’s.

You have to let me go, she prays to him. It’s the only way to stop him.

Lucifer shakes his head. “No.”

Tears prick Chloe’s eyes, but she refuses to let them fall. They sit in her eyes, blurring her vision.

Please, she pleads with him. I love you. But you can’t sacrifice the world for me. You have to let me go.

Lucifer shakes his head. “I can’t, love.” It’s the same way he sounded the night he told her he wouldn’t take his invulnerability back. “I can’t.”

“Please,” she begs, this time aloud. “Please.”

Lucifer gives her an apologetic, devastated look, and then releases Michael’s neck. He lowers his other hand too, and when his flames extinguish, Chloe closes her eyes against a sudden wave of tears. 

“That’s right,” the demon behind her snarls in her ear. “Let him up.”

Chloe opens her eyes and watches as Lucifer gets off of Michael and stands. He immediately turns to face her. 

“Release her,” he orders, his eyes blazing. 

“Don’t you dare,” Michael says, scrambling to his feet. 

Lucifer turns toward him, clenching his fists, but Michael lifts a hand. “Ah ah. Not so fast. Put a hand on me, and your human dies, remember?”

Lucifer goes still. He casts a look at Chloe, and the expression on his face makes her want to sob. 

Michael laughs. “You see what love does?” he sneers. “It makes you weak.”

Lucifer doesn’t take his eyes off Chloe. “Let her go, brother,” he murmurs. “I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll play the part you want me to play. Just let her go.”

“You know what I want?” Michael spits. “I want you to bow.”

Lucifer finally tears his eyes away from Chloe. He looks enraged at the suggestion, but he makes no attempt to go after his brother. He just stands, his wings unfurled but still, his hands hanging at his sides but devoid of flame. He could burn the whole warehouse to the ground if he wanted, but he won’t. Not with her life on the line. 

Another sob catches in her chest.

Michael strides across the floor to snatch the black band Lucifer threw aside and return it to his wrist. He grins, and then presses his fingers to the purple gems. 

“I think we need an audience for this.”

Demons blink into existence all throughout the warehouse. Ten, twenty, fifty. A hundred. There’s just as many as before, more even, and the fact that some of them are closer to her than Lucifer makes Chloe ache. 

The demons glance at each other as they appear. When they notice Chloe with a knife to her neck and Lucifer standing helplessly nearby, they hiss and jeer. 

“Now then, brother,” Michael says. “I think it’s time for you to bow before your king.”

Lucifer turns his gaze back to Chloe. 

She shakes her head. “No.”

The demon behind her presses the blade harder into her throat, and for the second time tonight she feels blood trickle down her neck. It doesn’t deter her. She can’t let Lucifer do this. She won’t. 

“You’re the Lightbringer,” she tells him, holding his gaze. “You don’t bow to darkness.”

Michael stalks toward Lucifer. “Bow and I’ll release her.” 

“He’s lying,” Chloe counters. “You know he’s lying.”

Michael bares his teeth at her. “Bow or you can watch her drown in her own blood.”

“Bow!” a nearby demon shouts. 

Another one joins him. “Bow!”

A chorus of chanting starts up. “Bow! Bow! Bow!”

Chloe watches as Michael leans forward and whispers something in Lucifer’s ear. She can’t hear it over the chanting. Lucifer drops his gaze briefly to the floor as he listens. When he lifts his gaze to meet hers again, his eyes flare red briefly. 

For a moment, the cacophony of shouting demons seems to fade, and it’s just the two of them. She feels a sudden, inexplicable wave of warmth wash over her. It’s like sliding into a heated pool, or drinking a glass of strong whiskey. It rushes through her blood, warms her all the way down to her bones, and the chill that’s been hanging in the air ever since the ring of fire disappeared seems to evaporate. 

The moment disappears just as quick as it came. The shouting comes roaring back, and they’re not alone anymore. They’re surrounded by demons and darkness and the promise of death. 

Lucifer takes a deep breath and lifts his chin with a determined look in his eyes, and Chloe knows what he’s going to do. 

“No,” she whispers. 

He doesn’t listen. 

She watches, tears blurring her vision, as the proudest man she’s ever known lowers himself to his knees. He doesn’t face Michael. He doesn’t bow before his brother. He bows to her, kneels for her, his wings spread magnificently behind him, and she can barely breathe around the grief and love warring in her chest. 

The warehouse erupts into a deafening roar. The demons shout taunts and obscenities, and Michael howls with laughter, but Lucifer doesn’t flinch. He doesn’t look away from Chloe. He smiles at her the same way he smiled at her a few hours ago when he first told her that he loved her, and she watches his mouth form the words even though she can’t hear them. 

I love you.

Tears stream down her face. “I love you too,” she chokes, but her voice is drowned out by all the shouting. 

Behind Lucifer, Michael bends and picks up a sword from the floor. He holds up his hand. The demons go immediately silent and eerily still. 

“You’re wasting your breath, brother,” Michael snarls. “Love can’t save you.”

He lifts the sword in the air, and Chloe screams.

“NO! ”

The sword flashes through the air and severs Lucifer’s wings from his body in one fell swoop. 

Lucifer screams in agony. Chloe feels it deep in her soul, like some part of her has been cut off too, and she struggles against the chain that’s binding her. 

Lucifer’s wings drop to the floor. The white feathers are splattered with crimson blood. His body collapses forward onto the cement. Chloe screams his name, but her voice is lost among another deafening cheer from the demons. 

Michael’s face is lit with vicious joy. He seems to be feeding off of the roar of the crowd. He steps forward, looming over Lucifer, and then pulls his foot back and delivers a brutal kick to Lucifer’s ribs. The demons cheer again. Lucifer curls in on himself, gasping, and Chloe catches a glimpse of the two gruesome wounds on his back where his wings used to be. They’re pouring blood, and the wound above them from the dagger is still bleeding too. 

Michael drops the sword and then kneels over Lucifer. He punches his brother again, and again, and then again. Chloe wails at him to stop, and Lucifer struggles but fails to fend off his brother’s blows, and the demons cheer through it all.

Michael straightens eventually. Lucifer lies crumpled before him, a bleeding and broken mess. Chloe can taste the salt of her tears. She leans into the chain, desperate to be free, desperate to do something, but she’s helpless. 

“This is the man who thought he could rule you?” Michael shouts to his demons, gesturing at Lucifer. “A man who bows for a human? ”

The demons howl in furious agreement, waving their weapons in the air and body slamming each other like football players after a touchdown. 

And just like that, rage flares to life in Chloe’s chest. She glares at Michael as he basks in the adoration of demons, and then glances down at the fallen angel at his feet. Her angel. Her Lightbringer.

It can’t end like this. She won’t let it end like this. 

Get up, Lucifer, she prays. You have to get up. 

He lifts his head slowly to look at her. His face is bloodied and swollen and it makes her ache, but she pushes her grief away and clenches her jaw.  

Get up, she commands. Light them all up.

He puts one hand on the floor, and then another, and he pushes the top half of his body up off the concrete. The demons fall silent. Michael turns around with a frown, confused as to why he’s no longer being cheered for.  

“I gave it to you,” Lucifer croaks at Chloe. “You have it.”

Chloe frowns, confused, because his invulnerability can’t help her now. Michael glares down at his brother, and then he pulls his leg back and delivers another kick to Lucifer’s ribs. Lucifer collapses onto the concrete again, gasping, and the demons start to cheer again. 

Rage burns hotter in Chloe’s veins.

Stand up, Lucifer, she prays, gritting her teeth. Stand up.

Lucifer tries again to obey her. He plants his hands on the floor and pushes up onto all fours. He puts a foot on the floor and tries to stand, but falls back to his knees. The crowd of demons scream obscenities at him. 

Lucifer glances up at her, a determined look in his eyes. “Like my—” he shouts, but she can’t hear the rest of what he says over the din. 

Lucifer must recognize she can’t hear him, because he starts to drag himself across the floor toward her. He’s leaving a trail of smeared blood in his wake, and it’s such a struggle for him to move that all the fury leaks out of Chloe. She feels like someone has put her heart in a vise and won’t stop cranking it tighter. 

“Look at him,” Michael shouts to the demons, gesturing at Lucifer. “Crawling toward her like a dog.”

The demons jeer. Lucifer’s face is pale, and sweat slicks his skin. His breathing is uneven, but he doesn’t stop. He keeps crawling across the floor toward her, and Chloe strains against the chain, desperate to meet him.  

“Think about me,” he shouts to her. “Think about us, Chloe. Let there be light.”

Chloe opens her mouth to shout at him that she doesn’t understand, but she stops when Michael bends forward to snatch a discarded dagger from the floor. He strides forward and grabs Lucifer by the hair, yanking his head back.

“Don’t touch him!” Chloe shouts.

Michael ignores her, plunges the dagger into Lucifer’s side beneath his ribs, and twists. 

Lucifer roars in pain. Chloe screams and struggles harder against the chain. Michael shoves Lucifer onto the floor and then stands over him, the bloodied dagger still grasped in his fist. It’s dripping with Lucifer’s blood.

Michael raises his hand, and the demons go silent.

“I’ve had enough of this,” he snarls into the quiet. “It’s pathetic. You shame yourself, brother. Time to put us all out of your misery.”

Michael lifts the dagger. 

Chloe struggles against the chain, twisting and screaming Lucifer’s name, desperate to save him. 

And then everything explodes. 

Chloe isn’t sure what happens. Suddenly there’s heat, and blinding light, and the chain that’s wrapped so tightly around her dissolves. Her body lunges forward of its own accord, leaping through the air, and then she’s on her knees next to Lucifer, her body draped over his to shield him.

She waits for the sharp pain of the dagger in her back, but it never comes. The warehouse is quiet and still. A beat passes.

Chloe leans back and glances down at Lucifer.

He smiles up at her. “You did it,” he whispers. He closes his eyes. “Knew you could.”

Chloe looks around, afraid that they’re about to be engulfed by a wave of demons, but the sudden silence isn’t a trick. Whatever just happened seems to have destroyed the demons. They’re all gone. Michael is lying nearby, still in one piece and seemingly unharmed, but he’s not moving. 

Chloe casts a look toward the pole, and notices that the chain that held her is gone too. 

What the hell happened?

She doesn’t care. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that she’s free. 

She turns back to Lucifer. There’s blood leaking from the wound in his side and a thick pool of it is forming beneath his back, probably from the gaping holes where his wings used to be. The crimson puddle is slowly creeping outward. She rips her leather jacket off and balls it up, and then presses it against the wound on his side to apply pressure and stem the bleeding. 

He groans in pain. She hesitates, unsure of how to apply pressure to the wounds on his back, and then realizes she can’t. She has two hands and he’s bleeding in four places. 

“Hang on, okay?” she says, glancing up at him. “You’re going to be fine.”

“Detective,” he whispers. 

Chloe scans the area around her and spots his mangled wings nearby. “Your feathers,” she says, looking down at him again. “They can heal you, right? Is that what you were trying to do for Maze?”

He shakes his head. “Won’t work.”

Panic claws at Chloe’s chest but she ignores it. “Okay,” she says. “That’s okay. We can just...do you have your phone? Is it in your pocket?”

She holds her leather jacket against his wound with one hand and uses the other to pat down the pockets of his pants in search of his phone. “We’ll call an ambulance, and we’ll get you to the hospital, yeah?”

“Detective,” he murmurs again. 

His pockets are empty. Where’s his phone? She doesn’t have hers. She didn’t grab it before she left with Michael. How’s she supposed to call an ambulance without a phone?

There has to be another way. 

“Take your invulnerability back,” she says, leaning over him. “Take it back so you can heal.”

He covers the hand that’s holding her jacket against his side with one of his. “Chloe,” he whispers. 

There’s a note of finality in his voice that hits her like a slap. Tears prick her eyes. “Take it back, Lucifer,” she whispers. “Please.”

“That’s not how it works, love.”

Chloe opens her mouth to plead with him to try, just try, but she can’t seem to get the words out. Tears spill from her eyes.

Lucifer lifts his hand to hold her face. There’s blood staining his skin. There’s blood seeping into the knees of her jeans, warm and sticky, and it’s smeared on her fingers too. It’s everywhere. There’s just...there’s so much blood. 

“It was always yours anyway,” Lucifer says, his thumb stroking over the swell of her cheek. He blinks drowsily, and then he smiles. “You’ve always lit me up.”

Chloe shakes her head. “I don’t understand.”

“I’m yours,” he whispers. “You have all of me.”

She doesn’t know what that means. She’s opening her mouth to ask him what he’s talking about, but his eyes flutter closed and his hand falls down to his chest. 

“Lucifer,” she calls in a panic, bending over him. “Lucifer, look at me. Look at me, babe.”

He opens his eyes slowly. 

She brushes a hand through his messy hair and thinks of a few hours ago, when he hovered above her in bed and she did the same thing. She didn’t have blood on her hands then. He wasn’t bleeding out then. 

“You can’t go, okay?” she whispers. “I’m not ready to say goodbye yet.”

He lifts his hand again, and his fingers tremble as he wraps them around the ring that’s dangling between them from the chain around her neck. 

“Time’s up, love,” he tells her quietly. A sad smile curves his lips. “I’m glad it’s me. The world needs you. The urchin needs you.”

Chloe’s eyes flood. A sob shivers in her chest and then bursts free, echoing through the warehouse, and she clings to him. Maybe if she holds him tight enough, maybe if she loves him hard enough, he won’t go. Maybe she can keep him just a little longer. 

“Don’t cry,” he murmurs, his eyebrows furrowing as he brushes his fingertips over her tear stained cheeks. “No more crying for the Devil.”

The word devil reminds her where he’s going, and what’s going to happen when he gets there, and fear opens its jaws and swallows her whole.

“You promised you’d come back,” she tells him. “You said you’d always come back, remember? So when you get down there, if you end up in a loop, you walk right back out. You hear me? Remember what’s real and walk out. Come back to me.”

He brushes his thumb along her jaw. “I love you.”

“Promise me, Lucifer,” she says, reaching up to curl her fingers around his wrist. “Promise me you’ll walk out of your loop. Give me your word.”

His breathing is getting labored. He swallows, his throat constricting. “Promise,” he whispers obediently.

He blinks heavily, and she knows he’s fading. She scoots closer to him. She can’t get close enough. This isn’t fair. They just found each other. They just got to a good place. None of this is fair. 

His hand drops from her face and lands on his chest. She tangles her fingers with his, and he squeezes her hand weakly. 

“I love you,” he breathes. He blinks up at her, and that awed look he’s given her so many times blossoms across his face. “First and last and everything in between. Heart and soul.”

She sucks in a breath, trying to swallow a sob, but she can’t. She leans forward and presses her forehead against his as tears roll down her cheeks. 

“I love you too,” she whispers. She kisses him gently. “Heart and soul.”

He exhales against her lips, a contented sigh, and then he goes still. 

Silence rings in Chloe’s ears. She lingers close to him, unmoving, praying for something different, something else, a reality where the love of her life didn’t just bleed out in her arms. Somewhere where he’s still breathing, still alive, still hers. 

When she leans back, though, she knows no one is going to answer her prayer. His eyes stare unblinkingly up at her. His hand is unmoving in hers. His chest isn’t rising with breath. 

He’s gone. 

She lost him.

It hits her suddenly, all at once, and she feels like she’s drowning. She sucks in a breath, and then another, but she can’t seem to get any air in her lungs. She can’t breathe. She can’t see through her tears. She sobs his name, broken and devastated and hollowed out and raw, and buries her head in his chest and cries. 

A pair of hands wrap around her shoulders. Chloe startles in surprise, but instead of twisting to see who it is she hangs on tighter to Lucifer, unwilling to let him go. 

She doesn’t have a choice, though. The hands tighten on her shoulders, wrapping around her arms, and her body is lifted suddenly into the air and flung across the warehouse like a rag doll.

She lands hard on the concrete floor. She doesn’t feel anything. Her body is just like the rest of her—numb with grief. 

She picks up her head. 

Michael stands between her and Lucifer. She doesn’t know how he survived what all the demons couldn’t, but it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters. Lucifer is gone. 

Michael stalks toward her, a predatory glint in his eye, and when he gets to her he grabs her by the ponytail. He yanks hard. Pain shoots through her scalp as her body jerks toward him, sliding a little across the floor. He tips her head back, and she’s forced to look up at him. 

“All hail the Queen of Hell,” he spits at her, bending forward to sneer in her face. “Too weak to save Mazikeen. Too weak to save Lucifer. How’s it feel to know they sacrificed themselves for you and you’re still going to die anyway?”

He lifts his arm and backhands her across her face. Pain explodes in her mouth. She tastes blood and she knows her bottom lip has split open. She doesn’t see him pulling his leg back to kick her until it’s too late. His foot connects with her stomach and she doubles over, gasping, as pain shoots through her ribs too. He shoves her, and she collapses onto the floor. 

She doesn’t try to get up. The concrete is cold against her cheek. She flexes her fingers against the floor and closes her eyes and struggles to breathe. She’s tired. Everything hurts and Lucifer is gone and she’s so tired.

She hears the sound of metal sliding on concrete, and she forces herself to pick up her head. 

Michael stands above her, holding the same sword he used to cut off Lucifer’s wings. The blade is still slick with blood. 

He twirls it carelessly in his hand. “Don’t worry, Detective,” he says, smirking at her. “I’ll be merciful and make it quick.” 

Lucifer, she prays in case it’s the last time she gets the chance. I love you. Remember what’s real. 

Michael raises the sword into the air. 

Chloe lifts her arms on a reflex, her forearms shielding her head as she curls forward in preparation for the death blow. She thinks of Trixie, and of the angel she loved with all her heart and soul, and a small familiar voice whispers in the back of her mind I don’t want to die. 

The blade hits Chloe’s arms.

She feels no pain.

A beat passes. Silence rings in her ears, and nothing hurts. 

Is she dead? 

She picks her head up, confused, but she’s still in the warehouse. She’s still alive. Michael is standing above her, still holding the handle of the sword, but the sword itself is gone. There’s no blade. There are thousands of tiny black pieces scattered on the floor between them. 

Her arms are on fire. 

Chloe shoots to her feet, scurrying backward as if she can get away from her own arms. She panics for a moment, terrified of the pain and the burning sensation that can’t be far off, but it never comes. Just like Lucifer’s light, the flames flicker over her skin but don’t burn her.

I gave it to you, Lucifer’s voice whispers in her mind. You have it.

“Lucifer,” she breathes.

Think about me, his voice whispers again. Think about us.  

She swallows around the tightness of her throat and closes her eyes. 

She sees him sitting on her couch, his face illuminated by a fire. You’re the only thing I believe in, Chloe. You made the Devil a believer.

She sees him in Vegas, his hand on her face and the skyline stretched behind him. It’s not Lux or Hell or the Silver City. It’s you, Chloe. You’re home. 

She sees him on a blanket in a field beneath the stars, awe and adoration etched into his expression. Everyone else sees darkness. But you see stars.

She sees him in a bar, leaning toward her over burgers and fries, his lips curved into a smile. I love you. I’m in love with you.

When she opens her eyes, it’s not just her forearms that are on fire. The flames are spreading down to her hands, licking over her palms and wrapping around her fingers. Her skin is glowing. She’s lighting up from the inside out. 

Let there be light. 

“Impossible,” Michael murmurs. 

Chloe shakes her head. “Incredible,” she whispers.

The rest of her body bursts suddenly into flame. She tips her head back and gasps, overwhelmed by the feeling of light and heat and indescribable power coursing through her, but it doesn’t hurt. It can’t hurt. It’s Lucifer’s. And Lucifer would never, ever hurt her.

She lowers her head and exhales a deep breath and studies her body. She looks just like Lucifer did outside the club the first time she ever saw him aflame. Her pulse is pounding a staccato beat in her ears. She turns her palms toward the ground, thinks about the way it feels to have Lucifer’s arms wrapped around her, and summons more heat.

Beams of light blast from her palms and slam into the floor with a hiss. Two identical, smoking craters appear in the concrete on either side of her boots.

Laser beam hands, Lucifer’s voice whispers in the back of her mind.

Chloe laughs. She turns her palms back toward her and watches the flames lick over her skin and she laughs. 

And then she remembers she’s not alone. 

She looks up. Michael is watching her in horror, his eyes wide and terrified, and a hatred like Chloe’s never known pulses suddenly through her blood. She curls her hands into fists.

Michael shakes his head and lifts a hand. “Detective...”

Chloe raises her hands. They’re on fire. All of her is on fire, and she’s never felt more powerful. 

She smiles. “All hail the Queen of Hell.”