Page 137 of All's Hell That Ends Well

He pulled me closer, and I nestled my face in his neck. His scent wrapped around me, comforting and strengthening. If I had to face death and destruction, if I had to become the force that would possibly kill someone I cared about, at least I would do so in the arms of the male I loved.

“When we release the power,” he muttered into my hair, “picture Ashtaroth, Baal, Samael, and the four demons standing to the side. Those are the generals of Ash and Baal and the two dead archdemons. It will be enough to kill only them—cut off the head of the snake and all that. The rest of their demons in here will kneel to us when we’re finished.”

“You make it sound so easy,” I croaked, anxiety rampaging through me.

“Aww, how lovely,” Ashtaroth’s saccharine voice interrupted us. She was sauntering closer again. “Look at you two having a sweet bonding moment before I chop off your heads.”

The crowd laughed, the sound making me jump and straighten. When I wanted to glance at Ashtaroth again, Azazel caught my chin and directed my gaze back to him.

“Eyes on me, my darling,” he murmured. “Gather your power.”

In the periphery of my vision, I saw Ashtaroth summon a sword. My heart stumbled into a thunderous gallop.

“Are you ready?” Ashtaroth roared at the crowd.

The assembled demons hollered in response, their cheering so loud it shook the floor.

“Focus,” Azazel whispered. “Everyone on this dais, except us and Lucifer.”

“Ashtaroth, Baal, Samael, the generals,” I rattled off the list.

And I kept repeating it, over and over, picturing their faces in my mind, imagining their life force snuffed out, and only theirs.

Shekinah’s words echoed in my mind.Belief shapes reality.

Inside me, the power of death swelled. Across the bond, more of that chilling energy writhed and churned, and the temperature around us dropped. Frost licked over the floor. My breath formed clouds in front of my face.

All those moments when Lucifer had taught me control over my powers, all those days I’d toiled and sweated to master my own strength, they all coalesced now in my mind. Every single instance of when I’d tamed another aspect of the enormous force that had been thrust upon me bled into one, and it infused me with confidence.

I could do this.I can do this.

“Together,” Azazel said and leaned his forehead against mine again.

“Together,” I repeated.

“Meet your death!” Ashtaroth yelled and swung her sword.

Azazel squeezed my hand. “Now.”

Faith, I repeated in my head.Belief shapes reality.

Holding my breath, straining to focus, I released the tight grip I’d held on the power, attempting to form it into a precise scythe. It rushed out of me, out of Azazel, with the howl of an icy winter storm. All lights went out in a hush, darkness seized the room. Next to us, a sword clanged to the floor, followed by rustling, and from farther on the dais came the thudding and clinking sounds of fabric and metal clashing with stone.

Our breaths echoed in the icy gloom, and for a moment, it felt as if we knelt in the tomb of the world, just us, the darkness, and the silence of death.

Then light filtered back in. Gasps arose near us. The sound of shuffling, shifting feet, moving bodies.

I met Azazel’s thundercloud eyes for a second, my heart beating so fast I saw white spots dancing before me, and then I looked.

Where Ashtaroth had stood, only her clothes and her sword remained. Baal, Samael, and the generals were gone, save for their weapons and garments.

And there, just a few feet from us, knelt Lucifer.Alive.

Beyond him, in front of the dais, the crowd of demons still filled the throne room, paralyzed with shock.

My breath left me on a sob. “We did it.”

All at once, the tension and anxiety in my body evaporated, the drop of adrenaline making me shake violently. Azazel grasped me, slung his bound wrists over my head, and hugged me tightly to him.

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