Sex, Drugs, and Oblivian

18/21

Lucifer recognized the lanes as they drew near the dungeon. This area was familiar. Seeing it cleared the haze from his memories. With each landmark they passed, it settled deeper into him how many times he'd walked these lanes seeking the relief lethe offered. Shame burned within him at how easily he'd been drawn in and manipulated. Now that he understood the lie in their friendship, anger stirred within him. Anger was the emotion he needed to hold onto now, to stoke. There wasn't time to indulge in a weakness like shame.

The memories of the last time he was here were vague but intense. Before ending up unsheltered through the wind, he remembered a presence. The shadow Lilim had enjoyed taking his control. Why hadn't he fought harder?

Lose yourself to me, give me everything you are.

The words echoed in his ear as though newly spoken. He'd surrendered to her.

There was a flask and he drank it, the sweetness of lethe lingered on his tongue. He remembered wanting the Lethe to take everything away; wanting it to strip him of everything he was. He ruined everything. He deserved to be destroyed.

"Lucifer?"

The carving of a creature with tusks adorned the entrance of a market dome. They were stopped in the alley, Maze gripping his arm.

"I was here, this is the way I came, the markings on that wall—" he looked down the alley. "No one was around. The wind was so high it was difficult to breathe."

He stumbled into the wall. Pain flared, lighting up his shoulder and hands. A carving of a creature with tusks filled his vision. Why was he alone? He wanted…

"Are you with me?" Maze asked.

He shook his head. That…that was real, but not now. He needed to focus. "I'm here. I'm fine."

"It's too soon. You're not ready." Maze's expression was pinched.

"I'm fine." Lucifer gripped the staff in his hand. "Let's get this done."

She stared at him, hard, shrugged and motioned him forward. He could do this. He needed to do this. Maze slowed to a cautious pace, checking around corners before moving from one lane to the next.

He'd stumbled through here, naked, confused, in pain. Flashes ran through his mind. He swallowed a sudden taste of bile. If he hadn't wandered out into the winds, he'd still be there, his mind destroyed. "She wanted to destroy me," he whispered.

Maze didn't look surprised.

He was the only one who'd had no idea how much danger he'd been in, wasn't he?

A rock thumped against his back. His wings threw up a cloud of ash as they whooshed into the physical plane. He spun, staff ready. Maze bared her teeth, knife in hand.

Fraq jumped down off the roof of the dome to their side. "You're alive." The little Lilim raced up to Lucifer and jumped at him, attaching herself to his torso with her arms and legs. He stumbled and nearly fell, but even that wasn't enough to dislodge the pest. He stood, arm supporting her back awkwardly, not sure how to pry her off.

Maze stepped in, pulled the clingy whelp off him and pushed her roughly away, sending Fraq sprawling in the street. Fraq stood, brushed off the ash, and lowered her head.

Maze wasn't done. She strode forward, grabbed the whelp by her arm and shook her. "Did you know?"

Fraq whimpered and licked her lips nervously. "I tried to help. I wanted to. But Lania's got Wen. She said if I interfered she'd wreck his mind."

"Wen? That's for his mentor to worry about, not you," Maze scolded.

Lucifer remembered Fraq telling him something about Wen. "When you told me Wen was lost, did you mean lost to lethe?"

"Yes. We were a pack. I don't want him ruined." She kicked at the ash. "Even if he'll just be good as a gatherer after this, he's one of mine."

The young Lilim trembled in Maze's grip, and Lucifer was about to step in, but Maze let Fraq go. "She's got your male?"

"I saw him," Lucifer spoke up. Maze and Fraq turned and stared at him. "At Lania's Den. He refused to acknowledge me."

Fraq nodded. "I didn't know what to do."

"You should have told me or Dromos or Squee, despite the threats. Collect your pack and wait for my return at my dome. Now."

Fraq ran.

Lucifer watched her go and then turned to Maze. "Lethe dealers are targeting the whelps?"

"You're not the only one to get caught in their manipulations," Maze grumbled.

Lucifer flicked his wings to clear them of the ash that settled. With renewed purpose, he strode at Maze's side.

The nondescript dome with the simple hunting scenes, was familiar. He knew this place even though his memories remained hazy. He tugged at the sleeves of his tunic, straightening imaginary wrinkles. Maze drew her blades. He gripped his staff harder. Maze sliced the ties on the door flap and flung it open. She darted inside and a female howled with rage. Lucifer entered slower. He extended his wings and channelled his divinity.

The resulting glow lit the chamber enough to make their opponents sqint. Maze was quick to use the distraction to her advantage, and narrowed in on one female in particular.

Lucifer barred the exit, swung his staff and knocked down the only Lilim foolish enough to make an attempt to attack Maze from behind.

Lania screeched in anger and dove forward at Maze. Maze made no sound at all, only grinning as she faced the leader of the lethe den. And then, surprisingly Maze lowered her sword arm and tossed the weapon toward Lucifer's feet, attacking with her fists rather than with the blade.

Maze and the female rolled around the floor, and Lucifer watched the brawl. Maze was stunning. She whooped, feral and triumphant, as she bit and clawed and.. toyed with the other female.

There were several others, one he'd knocked down, the others content to either watch their leader get beaten down without interfering or continue what they'd been doing as if nothing unusual was happening at all. Lucifer grabbed the male climbing back to his feet by the throat and pushed him against the wall. "You know who I am?"

"Thrall." The male hissed with disgust and bared his fangs and brought his clawed hands up to Lucifer's arm. He looked between Lucifer and the corner where Maze fought Lania. The claws dug into Lucifer's flesh, blood seeped from the puncture wounds, but Lucifer held the Lilim steady.

Thrall. Lucifer knew that word, it referred to the lethe users by the hearth. The ones whose whole existence revolved around getting more and more lethe.

The male choked as Lucifer tightened his hold. "You used me."

The fight went out of the male, he tried to smile instead. "You want more lethe? You want to feel good? Let me go, I can get it for you."

Yes. He wanted it. But that only proved everything Maze had been telling him was true. Imitating Maze's expression, Lucifer bared his teeth in a false smile. "Who did I spend time with here?"

"Everyone. We all wanted—" the male gulped, and Lucifer relaxed his hold just enough to allow the Lilim to speak. "So good, even those who refuse throwbacks made excuses to be with a beast like you." Lucifer shook him and snarled. The male trembled, and his words jumbled together in his haste to answer. His expression turned desperate. "Didn't we give you what you wanted?"

Lucifer leaned in close, his lips against the male's cheek. He did remember this one, he had fading scars on his chest matching the male's claws. "And the dame who took me? The one with Power?"

"A dame, here? No. That would never be allowed. Lania wouldn't dare go against the Spire like that."

Lucifer felt his eyes start to burn, the anger over-riding the pain of the transformation. The male fainted and Lucifer let him drop.

When he turned back to Maze, she had Lania subdued, face down and pinned with her arms wrenched behind her back. Lucifer crouched down. "Hello."

Lania spat. Or she tried to. Maze pulled her arms back tighter and Lania cried out in pain.

"Lucifer," Lania tried to smile as he looked into her yellow eyes. These were not the golden-eyes he continued seeing in his memories. More memories assailed him at the sight of her. Lania. Her hands were soothing as he came down from the sensations sweeping over him. Her fingers stroking him as she lay with him beside the hearth.

He stumbled back, wings flaring instinctively in response to maintain his balance.

Lucifer stood up and headed toward one of the rooms, and opened the door for Maze to drag the struggling former-dame in. There it was. The mat on the floor where he'd brought countless Lilim to the heights of pleasure.

Not just pleasure thought. This was where the shadow lilim had him.

Flashes of pain and want and the false sense of flying and despair. Forgetting called to him. Disgust with himself churned his stomach. He went to the shadow lilim willingly? No. She exploited the weakness already in him. He still wanted. He still wanted to forget. If Maze wasn't here the temptation to return to taking the lethe would be overwhelming.

But Maze was with him. He drew strength from her presence, and shook free of the call for more.

"You know what I'm going to ask." He let his wings glow brighter and he reached for his divinity. Lania squirmed under Maze's hold, but to no avail.

He let his glamour fade completely this time, the familiar feeling of fire licked his skin, and he looked at her with his true self. Saw the horror of it reflected in her eyes.

"I can't. She'll have me killed if I tell." Lania gasped.

"The truth. Now."

The fire within him flared into a towering inferno and he directed it at Lania. The former dame gasped and stilled in Maze's grip. Her expression went slack and she stared at him as if nothing else existed.

"She has power, don't make me name her. She'll have me killed."

Lucifer saw into Lania, all the way to the empty place a soul should be. She spoke the truth. Using his divinity to draw the truth from her left him empty and drained. He stumbled against the wall. "Anilith."

The memories descended on him like an avalanche. The power encroaching on his mind, the darkness and despair of the dungeon being brought forth, used against him. And she offered him lethe and he took it.

Maze spared him a glance and turned back to Lania. "Is this true?"

Lania lay defeated. "Yes."

"Lucifer, did Anilith couple with you?"

He nodded.

Whatever happened next got lost in the rush of noise in his own head as he struggled to stay on his feet. When his head cleared, Maze had Lania on the floor, her knee in the middle of Lania's back, hissing threats of the most vile tortures into Lania's ear. "Who else knows? We need proof," Maze asked.

"No one. If she ever suspected we knew she coupled with a beast, she'd assassinate us all." Lania gasped as Maze pressed on her harder.

"Why do this? Why would the Soverain risk exposure to lethe?" Maze asked, but no answers were given.

They were alone in this. His own memories of the event were dim. Anilith was beyond their reach, she could do whatever she wanted and they were powerless against her. But like Lania said, what would it do to Anilith's reputation if others knew she coupled with a beast? They could only fight her by turning the game around. Battle her on her own terms…

"Maze." He called from where he sat leaning against the wall. "Stop."

Maze looked over at him, her face twisted with rage. There would be no stopping her. If Lania died, there would be no proving who was behind this. No one here knew anything of value. The only solution would be to lure Anilith back in. And to do that… he needed to be back here.

"I need to come back here," he told Maze.

And her response was no less than what he'd expected. Maze leapt off of Lania and slammed into him. Her hands tangled in the collar of his tunic, pushed him against the wall, her face only a breath away from his. "Never. You will return home and stay there! Even if I have to tie you down."

Lucifer glanced at Lania to make sure she was watching. Of course she was. He made a show of averting his gaze from Maze, and licked his lips in the submissive fashion he'd seen in Fraq's males. He lowered his voice to barely a whisper, "I have a plan."

"You-you"—she shook him—"you will come with me." She dragged him out of the room and into the next one. "What is the meaning of this? Why am I not making her pay right now, Lucifer?"

"Killing her will solve nothing. It's Anilith."

"There's nothing I can do about that. Lania deserves all I plan to do to her and more."

"What if we can fight Anilith. What if we give her what she wants, draw her out?"

"We don't know what she wants."

"We know she wants me."

"You almost died, Lucifer!"

"Anilith can get away with whatever she wants. She can manipulate us, turn us against each other and there's nothing we can do to prevent that. I know what I am to the Lilim, Maze. Why must no one know Anilith has coupled with a beast?"

"Lilim blood must not be mixed with that of the lower creatures. It's taboo, punishable by death, for dames to produce sprog with beasts. If we had proof she coupled with you—"

"I didn't have you beside me. I'll return here, we can draw her out. "

"No. I won't let you do this. You're still recovering from the last time."

"Lania uses lethe, doesn't she? That's what you said. For how long? How has she survived all this time?"

"None of them have overused to the point of losing themselves. You have. You came so close to losing everything. Is it because you crave more?" She shook him. "I should have foreseen this."

"You know it's our best chance of finding who we want."

Maze released him and paced across the room. "It's a bad idea."

Lucifer grabbed Maze's arms and drew her in. "You have to be my handler for this to work."

She twisted in his grasp, but he held tight.

"You said an attack on me is equal to an attack on you. We can make this work. Rillam said there was coin to be had. A lot of coin. Tell them your anger was in being left out of the loop. Over letting me wander out into the winds. They think I'm no more than a beast. They call you my handler, Maze. We can use this to our advantage."

She pushed him off and he stumbled back several steps. He didn't expect her to be happy with the plan. "Maze—"

"No." She turned on him again, her jaw clenched tight. "How can you be okay with this? You hate when anyone refers to me as your handler."

"So do you."

"I won't watch you ruin yourself."

"You want to prove who was behind this? This is how. If we stop here, something like this will happen again."

"And you want to keep coming here and take the lethe that comes with it." She narrowed her eyes, walked slowly around him.

Lucifer kept his breath steady. He refused to respond.

She trailed her hand across his chest. "You're no more than a thrall to them." She drew him close, pressed her lips to his throat and dragged her teeth across his skin. "If that's what you want, I can do it for you better than any of these can. You want me to feed you lethe, keep you content even as I strip away everything you are?"

"Enough!"

She smiled predatorily, wrapped her arm around his back. "You said it yourself, Lucifer. I own you. I'm your handler. I can do what I want." And her arm crept up until her fingers caressed his feathers.

He snapped his wings as his eyes flared, and grabbed her wrist and forced her away from him.

Maze eyed him critically. "Are you doing this to get more lethe, Lucifer?"

"No." It was difficult to catch his breath, he couldn't get control, why couldn't he?

"Anilth needs to be stopped." Maze concluded.

Lucifer frowned and let her go. "What?"

"You're right. It's the best way to get our prey to fall into our—your—lap. I just needed to make sure what we're going to do to get there disturbs you as much as it does me."

The fire within him cooled. "That's what that was?"

"Are you going to be capable of playing your role in this?"

"Of course I am. It was my idea."

She laughed. "We'll see. You want me to play along, we'll do this as I say."

Lucifer's mouth felt dry. "How are you going to do that without scaring everyone off?"

She sighed and he felt a peculiar prickling sensation as the air around her shimmered and her face morphed, the boney side smoothing out as horns emerged from her temples, curling upward and back, and her mouth widened and her jaw protruded outwards, fangs growing up from her lower teeth. "You're not the only one with power." Even her voice sounded different.

"Yeah. I think that will do." Lucifer conceded.

Maze glared. "If anyone interferes with you, I'm getting you out of here. Deal?"

He nodded, stepped up close to her again. "Deal." He kissed the side of her mouth, avoiding the fangs. "We're going to trap her, and make her wish she never got between us."