Page 2 of All's Hell That Ends Well

Holy shit.

I was ademon.

Of course, I’d known I’d become one as soon as I’d recovered my memories and realized that I’d have to fall and be claimed for Hell in order to be with Azazel again, but that had been a rational understanding.

It hadn’t really sunk in at the time.

It did now.

During all my time spent in Hell, I’d been this comparably weak creature, a human, always one step below demons, always aware of just how much power and strength I lacked. In my quieter moments, the ones woven through with a subtle kind of despair about facing an eternity of this, I’d sometimes fantasized about what it would be like to be able to become one of them. To have wings, to have power flowing through me with which I could hold my own.

And now, those fantasies that had seemed so impossible had actually come true. I was a full-blooded demon, even more powerful than a half-blood.

How absolutely mind-boggling.

Blinking, I took in my surroundings.

I was hanging over Haniel’s shoulder, swinging limply with his steps, my arms dangling down his back. My gaze snagged on the skin on my hands, all the scrapes and bruises from my crash now healed. My once broken bones had set themselves right, my face no longer feeling swollen. Between my shoulder blades, the spots where my wings had been didn’t quite burn anymore. They hurt, but this pain felt different. There was a healing quality to it, the promise of wholeness. And they fucking itched like crazy.

Because I was growing new wings.

I sucked in a breath, elation rushing through me.

Which was immediately dampened as I recognized the style of the hallways Haniel carried me through. The polished marble floor had lost some of its shine, the elaborate curtains framing the high windows hung in tatters, the statues once framingthe walls half destroyed, and yet I knew these corridors, remembered them from the last time I’d been here.

We were in Lucifer’s palace.

A full-body shiver took hold of me, fear icing my stomach.

“Let me down,” I said, my voice shaking.

“I’m not in the mood to chase you again.”

“I won’t run,” I bit out.

And I meant it, because what was the point? It was too late now anyway. I could feel not only the connection to this realm as a newly minted demon but also a faint tether binding me to this particular territory. Lucifer already had his claim on me, staked by proxy through Haniel.

And I knew how these things worked down here. Once a demon’s allegiance was set, there was no deserting, there was no free choice, no way to leave and pledge one’s loyalty to another without permission from the current liege.

A higher-ranking demon could conscript someone from a lower-ranking lord in his service and thereby change that demon’s direct allegiance, similar to what Azazel had done with Caleb when he’d pulled him out of the sub-territory of Caleb’s father. But that wouldn’t happen for me…because Lucifer was my direct liege, and no one outranked him.

Haniel dropped me on my feet, and I swayed for a moment, my legs shaking.

“What does he want with me?”

Haniel gave me a bored look. “How should I know? My orders were to fetch you, nothing more.” He turned to walk on. “Our king is not in the habit of explaining his reasons for anything he does.”

Following him, I let out a raspy breath, my fingers turning numb. “So he knew I’d be there? At that time? He knew when I’d fall?”

I could tell Haniel rolled his eyes even though he had his back turned to me. “Obviously. Not the precise moment, though. He had me staking out the place for a few days already.”

I almost stopped in my tracks. Naamah’s words echoed through my mind.I promised him. I owe him this much.

My thoughts all stumbled over themselves.

Oh, my God. She’d been talking aboutLucifer.

I’d thought she’d meant Azazel, even though it hadn’t made sense, and it hadfeltwrong, and now I knew why. I’d known deep in my heart that Azazel wouldn’t go over my head like this, that he wouldn’t disregard my request for more time to say goodbye to my mom.

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