Page 92 of All's Hell That Ends Well

The move startled me. I stared at him in utter bewilderment before my brain caught up. Through everything that had happened, all the strife and stress and the changes to the realms, I’d forgotten that Lilith had held the highest rank in Hell next to Lucifer. And despite the conspiracy to murder her, there’d been countless demons who’d respected and deferred to her. She’d been their queen for thousands of years.

Across the playground, Shemyaza studied the scene, then her eyes widened, and she, too, went down on one knee to pay her respects to the reincarnation of the highest lady of her realm.

Swallowing past the knot in my throat, I closed my eyes and inclined my head. Lilith had asked me not to bow to her, seeing as she’d considered me her friend, and I would honor her wishes even now.

“Liliana!” a woman shouted from behind me. “Come on, it’s time to go.”

I glanced at the little girl again, who came down the slide and was now running over to the woman who’d called out. She grabbed the drink her mom held out and took a long sip while they both turned to leave. The girl—Liliana—looked over her shoulder as they walked, her eyes once more tracking to the spotwhere Haniel and I stood. Her gaze didn’t focus on us, though; she couldn’t see us.

It was clear, however, that she sensed our presence.

Goosebumps rose on my arms, and I shivered.

“Shemyaza!” I shouted.

A second later, my guard landed next to me. “My lady?”

“Watch her,” I rasped with a nod at little Liliana. “Take another guard and follow her home. Make sure she’s safe. Station the guard with her, and then come to Hell and report to me at His Grace’s palace.” I rubbed over my breastbone, my chest pinging with a sharp ache. “I’m going to tell him.”

“Yes, my lady.” Shemyaza gave a sharp nod, then signaled to one of the low-flying guards above us.

Before she turned away, I grabbed her by the front of her tunic, my power rising in my veins. “Swear to me right here and now that you will not harm her, nor let any harm come to her.”

Shemyaza and the other guards were Azazel’s most trusted warriors, and their loyalty should not be in doubt. But Lilith and Lucifer had both trusted Destatur and Enaia, and it had cost Lilith her life and Lucifer his sanity. A spoken oath was unbreakable, the magic inherent in promises and vows the only kind of security that was foolproof.

To Shemyaza’s credit, she didn’t seem offended by my display of doubt. Inclining her head, she intoned, “I swear I will not harm the girl, nor let any harm come to her. You have my word that I will keep Her Grace’s reincarnation safe and require the same promise from those who would guard her.”

A prickle between us indicated the magic settling over the vow she’d just made. She was oath bound now.

“Thank you,” I muttered, releasing her tunic.

With a bow, she extended her wings and then launched into the air to join the other guard, flying low as they followed the little girl and her mother.

Blowing out a breath, I turned to Haniel. “Let’s go home. He needs to hear about this.”

“And Hell willing,” Haniel muttered as he unfurled his wings, “it will return His Grace to his former self.”

“Yeah,” I said softly, unable to voice the doubts in my mind.

Because a quietly nagging part of me had stopped believing that Lucifer would ever be the same as he’d been before Lilith’s death.

And an even quieter part of me thought that might not be the worst thing at all.

CHAPTER 28

Azazel

There were a couple of things I’d always deemed impossible. God coming out of his millennia-long isolation. A minute on Earth without one human murdering another. Pineapple on pizza tasting good.

And me on the throne dais in Lucifer’s palace, right next to my grandfather, not to be humiliated but to stand at his side and join in his governance.Per his request.

I would have honestly thought the other impossibilities might come true before the latter ever happened. For so long, there had been so much strife between Lucifer and me that any change in the way we saw each other had seemed utterly unthinkable.

And yet, for the past two weeks, I’d been at his side, assisting him in cleaning up his house—because he’d asked me to. Respectfully.

To be fair, I would have done it even if he’d treated me with the same contempt as before, purely because making sure that his reign and position were secure was of supreme importance toZoe’s safety. For her, I’d swallow my pride and grit my teeth and weather any scorn thrown my way.

Only, there’d been no scorn.

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