Chapter 1 Princess and Her Shadow
Where am I?
Lilith bolted upright, silk sheets sliding off her body like water.
The bed was enormous, four posts of twisted black iron reaching toward an impossible ceiling, draped in fabric that shimmered between midnight blue and deep crimson. Gothic arches framed windows that looked out onto a sky the wrong color, purple, quite red, with three moons hanging in impossible positions.
This wasn’t her palace. This wasn’t Lilith’s world.
“Sera?” Her voice came out hoarse, cracking. “SERA!”
Panic clawed up her throat. She swung her legs out of bed, bare feet hitting cold marble. She wore a nightgown she’d never seen before, white silk that felt like water against her skin.
The door opened.
A man stood in the doorway, beautiful in a way that felt dangerous. Tall, with pale skin contrasting sharply against hair so black it seemed to drink the light.
But it was his eyes that stopped her heart.
Golden. Like molten metal, like nothing humans should possess.
He wore black leather and silk that looked both ancient and impossibly refined, with a cape that rippled like liquid shadow. When he moved into the room, reality seemed to bend slightly around him.
“You’re awake.” His voice was smooth as aged whiskey. “Good. Father was beginning to worry the transition might have been too much for your mortal-raised constitution.”
Lilith scrambled backwards until her spine hit the bedpost. “Who are you? Where am I? Where is Sera?”
His mouth lifted in something that wasn’t quite a smile. “I am Azrael. Second son of the Devil, Prince of Pride—”
“I don’t care about your titles!” Fear sharpened into anger. “Where. Is. Sera?”
“The maid came with you. Quite insistent.” His lips curved. “I’ll bring her once you’re presentable.”
“Presentable?” Lilith looked down at herself. “What did you do to me? Where are my parents? Take me home right now or—”
“You can’t go home.” His voice was calm, matter-of-fact. “This is home now. Until you fulfill your purpose.”
“My purpose?” The anger burned hotter. “I don’t know what you’re talking about! Last thing I remember was my birthday and some man appearing—” Her voice broke. “I want my mother. I want—”
“LILY!”
The door burst open and Sera exploded into the room like a furious hurricane. Her dark hair was disheveled, her grey servant’s uniform torn at the shoulder, eyes blazing with protective fury.
“Get away from her!” Sera positioned herself between them despite being half his size. “I don’t care if you’re a prince or the Devil himself!”
Relief flooded Lilith’s chest. “Sera—”
“Are you hurt?” Sera demanded, not taking her eyes off Azrael. “Did he touch you?”
“I’m fine.” Lilith grabbed her friend’s hand. The moment their fingers touched, some of the panic receded. “But I don’t understand what’s happening.”
“Her Highness requires answers,” Azrael said, something almost amused in his tone. “How refreshing.”
“I don’t have a fate!” Lilith shouted. “I have a life! I have parents who are waiting for me at home, I have—”
“A destiny you can no longer run from.”
A new voice spoke from the doorway, smooth, ancient, terrifyingly calm.
Malachi stepped into the room, dressed in light-absorbing black. Silver coin eyes fixed on her with something that might have been sympathy.
“You did this,” Lilith breathed. “You took me—”
“I collected what was promised,” Malachi corrected gently. “Nineteen years ago, your birth parents agreed. Before the angels slaughtered every last Seraph, they ensured their daughter would survive. Would fulfill the prophecy that could save countless lives.”
Lilith’s knees felt weak. “I don’t understand.”
“Then let me clarify.” Malachi moved to the window. “You are not human, child. You are Seraph, a divine being of immense power. They promised you to the Devil’s line to forge a peace that could prevent reality itself from unraveling.”
“That’s insane,” Sera said flatly.
“Am I?” Malachi turned back. “Tell me, Princess, how many mirrors have you broken with a thought? How many flowers have bloomed out of season in your wake?”
Lilith’s throat closed. All those strange moments, all those accidents that weren’t accidents—
“Your adoptive parents knew,” Malachi continued. “They found you as an infant, glowing with celestial light, a contract written in your own blood beside you. They chose to raise you. To hide you. To give you a normal childhood.” His expression softened. “They love you. But they always knew this day would come.”
“No.” Lilith shook her head violently. “This is a nightmare.”
“This is real,” Azrael said quietly. “And the sooner you accept it, the better.”
“Accept what exactly?” Sera demanded.
“A choice.” Malachi’s silver eyes returned to Lilith. “The Devil is dying. His children will go to war the moment his heart stops. Only you, bound to one of them, can prevent that war. Six months from now, you will choose which prince to marry. That union will stabilize the realms and prevent catastrophe.”
The room spun. Lilith sat down hard on the bed.
“So let me understand,” Sera said, voice deadly calm. “You kidnapped a nineteen-year-old girl, brought her to Hell, and now she has to marry one of seven strangers or the world ends?”
“Seven realms, actually,” Azrael murmured. “But yes.”
“And if she refuses?”
“Then millions die,” Malachi said simply. “Reality fractures. Everything ends.”
Lilith looked up, tears streaming down her face. “That’s not a choice. That’s a threat.”
“That’s necessity.” Malachi’s voice was almost kind. “I’m sorry, child. Truly. But destiny rarely asks permission.”
Sera pulled Lilith close, and they clung to each other the way they had since childhood.
“Get out,” Sera said quietly. “Both of you. She needs time.”
“Breakfast is in one hour,” Azrael said, moving toward the door. “She’ll meet my father and my siblings”.
“I said get out,” Sera snarled with such fury that even Azrael paused.
Something like respect flickered in his golden eyes. “One hour,” he repeated. Then he was gone.
Malachi lingered a moment longer. “For what it’s worth, your parents wanted better for you. But sometimes love means letting go.” He bowed slightly. “Welcome to the Vestibulum, Princess Lilith.”
Then he, too, was gone.
For a long moment, Lilith and Sera just sat there, holding each other.
“Lily,” Sera whispered finally. “What are we going to do?”
Lilith pulled back, wiping her eyes. Despite the tears, despite the fear, something hard and bright was forming in her chest.
“We’re going to survive,” she said quietly. “We’re going to figure this out. And we’re going to find a way home.”
“Together?”
“Always together.”
Outside, one of the three moons passed in front of another, casting strange shadows across the floor.
Somewhere in this impossible palace, six more princes were waiting to meet her.
And in a chamber, Lucifer lay dying.
But in this moment, two girls prepared to face the unknown.