Page 80 of Absolved In Death

Time stopped again. Everyone around Lucifer and I froze again.

“Did she seem…different on the stage?” he asked.

“Yeah, she’s angry, and rightfully so.” I said, a little surprised at how thick his comment sounded.

“Yes, I know. But she seemed…unhinged. Like her anger took over,” he said. “Her magic is always stronger when it’s fueled by big emotions, but eventually big emotions lead to big breakdowns. We need to catch her if she pushes herself off the cliff.”

Before I could assure him I’d do everything in my power to keep my daughter safe, everyone sprang into motion again. It was three hours earlier, and we were in our cells again. Ares hurled every type of magic under the sun at the cell doors, trying to break free again. Desmond paced as he wracked his brain on a way to free us. Azazel was reacting badly to the magic in the pit, deteriorating rapidly.

Our mindlinks were severed down here, so I leaned into Lucifer and whispered in his ear, “I don’t think they know…”

“They definitely don’t know,” he agreed.

“Know what?” Oisín said, ever the lurker. I swore this kid had bat ears, even for someone with sonic hearing. “Are you talking about where Quelier went? He was sitting right there a second ago, but now he’s gone.”

“Wait, what the fuck do you mean he’s gone?!” Ares raged in the cell next door. “I’ve been trying to free myself from this sardine tin for hours and he just waltzes out of here! Is he in on this? Did he help Red trap us?!”

“No,” I said, cutting that line of thought before it grew legs and ran. I knew for sure Q wouldn’t do that. “He had a Fae deal with Diana, remember?”

I heard Areshmpf, then grumble about how it wasn’t fair.

Ugh, life isn’t fair. Get used to it, you maniac.

“Quelier escaped because this wasn’t the first time we were here,” Lucifer calmly stated, his serious tone commanding everyone’s attention.

He recounted Red bragging about how he killed Diana during the battle, and how his soldiers tied her to the wooden pole. Then he described her reanimation—how she scared the entire opposition by harnessing her time hopping abilities to literally rewind time back a few hours.

“She didn’t time hop?” Mal rasped. He wasn’t holding up well in these conditions.

“No. She rewinded it in real time, like the entire world around us moved in reverse. I think Lucifer and I remember it because our magic is linked to hers as her fathers, or because we’re too powerful? I’m not sure, but thankfully we have an outside perspective that can hopefully make a difference,” I theorized.

“Or because you were meant to see it for some divine reason,” Azazel huffed. He reacted the worst to his confinement. His lack of grace didn’t protect him from the pit’s torturous magic.

I think I knew what Azazel was hinting at, but before we could dive into it, Diana ran down the stairs, a look of determination on her face.

“Look, we don’t have much time, so listen to me—” she said, before Lucifer cut her off.

“I already told them about your rewind festivities and how you handed Red his ass in front of all his soldiers. Good job, Di.”

“Thanks for saving us from being bowling pins,” Bash said. “That would have been so embarrassing.”

Diana rolled her eyes, then checked the sturdiness of the cell’s bars. They looked flimsy, but they were made of ancient stones from Hell’s deepest depths and designed by my partner during one of his benders, apparently. Totally a healthy coping mechanism.

“Think. Is there any way we can open these cell doors?” she said, more to herself than to any of us. “Where is Quelier? He built this shithole too.”

“He escaped during the rewind. I have no clue where he is,” I answered.

“I dropped him a mental alert, maybe he’ll get it and come back.” She peered into the cells around us. “Are there other prisoners?”

“Not in this section. But there are some below and above us, from what I can sense,” Desmond shared. His magic was barely affected, most likely because of his fire power.

Quelier faded next to Diana with an audiblecrack. He had a pleased smirk on his face, which boded well for us.

“Did you miss me?” he asked us all.

“No,” everyone but Diana and I said in unison. The glare I got from Lucifer could have set me on fire, but it was the leastof my worries. He could punish me all he wanted later, but I had a funny feeling Q was going to free us. I had confidence in him, despite the unsavory way he came into our lives.

“Fine, I’ll take my Escape From Pit 13 plan somewhere else,” he said, turning on his heels.

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