Page 99 of All's Hell That Ends Well

It wouldn’t be like it had been before, when I’d had to endure the sneering condescension and thinly veiled scorn from demons around me in response to my perceived “shortcut” to a higher rank. After all, since I’d entered Hell as a newly made demon, it had already been different. The only open contempt I’d encountered had come from Samael, and I’d quickly and successfully put him in his place with my new demon power and thereby confirmed my rank.

It would be okay. Closing my eyes, I breathed out a sigh of relief, my shoulders relaxing.

Gone was the dichotomy of being a lowly human of artificially elevated rank. Gone the constant feeling of not measuring up, of being a fraud, a liability. That old fear of mine, risen in response to Azazel’s promise back when I’d been human that he’d enforce my rank through war and bloodshed, that anxiety of perhaps losing him on his climb to the top to protect me, it all finally dissolved in a sigh.

“You will rule at my side,” Azazel said with gentle conviction, his hands cupping my face once more. “And when I say that you are mine, I mean it in the same way that I am yours. My heart, my soul, my body, all of it belongs to you. My every waking moment, every minute of rest, it is yours. My dreams, my hopes, my fears, I place them all in your hands. You will stand next to me, never beneath me. I will turn to you for counsel, for guidance in not losing myself in the ravages of time and power, because you are my better half. You are my lodestar.”

My throat closed up, and hot tears flooded my eyes. The deep, aching love that filled my chest was only partly my own—some of it was the echo of what he felt right now, floating over to me through our bond.

He placed a soft kiss on my lips. “So don’t ever doubt that what I want from you, what Irequireof you, is not obedience but truth spoken without fear.”

I swallowed past the lump in my throat and blinked away the wetness in my eyes. “With one exception,” I said quietly.

“Oh? What’s that?”

“A case where a rule does not apply, but that’s not important right now.” I waved that away, biting back my grin.

His smile was so genuine and brilliant that it lit up all the shadowy corners of my heart. “Zoe,” he said, his voice woven through with a laugh.

“Okay,” I said, playing with the collar of his tunic. “I’ll tell you of the exception where you most definitely want me to be an obedient,good girl”—I sent him a meaningful look from underneath my lashes—“but we really should be athomefor that part.”

He stared at me for only a second.

Then he grabbed me around the waist, hoisted me up over his shoulder, and carried me to the nearest exit in record time, my giggles and the clicking of Vengeance’s claws echoing along the hallways.

CHAPTER 30

When I’d saidhome, I’d actually meant Azazel’s mansion that I’d come to know during my time here in Hell as a human. No other place had carried that meaning in years, and it hadn’t occurred to me that he’d be living somewhere else now.

So to say it was a little jarring that he took me to a completely different estate was an understatement. Though, to be fair, that initial shock lasted for only a few moments, quickly replaced by awe at how much grander and even more luxurious everything was.

The palace—and yes, that word fit, as this building wasn’t even a mansion anymore but something more glorious and imposing and definitely befitting the station of archdemon—rose from the desolate landscape like a magnificent castle crafted from the darkest stone, the material polished to a shine and reflecting the purple lightning in the sky and the flickering orange from the fires of Hell.

Easily three times the size of Azazel’s previous home, it seemed like a city unto itself, much like Lucifer’s palace. Andgiven the number of demons living here as part of the court and the estate, it really could pass as a small metropolis.

Consequently, there was a lot of hustle and bustle in the halls, demons going about their day, fulfilling their tasks, or simply enjoying themselves. The moment we touched down in the receiving courtyard, the scout that had met us at the border and flown ahead to the palace announced the arrival of the estate’s lord…andlady, and the following genuflection by the demons flanking the walls of the courtyard had sent shivers up and down my spine.

It continued like this. Wherever we went in the palace, demons fell to their knees or bowed deeply, not just to Azazel, but to me as well. I was part of the package. Everybody greeted me with the utmost respect, and I even noticed a few demons whom I recognized from my time as a human in Azazel’s territory, and to my unending surprise, quite a few of them seemed genuinely glad to see me, some actually saying that it was “good to have me back.”

“You look dazed,” Azazel murmured as we made our way down the halls deeper into the palace.

“I just—” I shook my head to rearrange my thoughts. “It’s like they’re truly happy that I’m back.”

“Is that so hard to believe?”

I wrinkled my nose. “Yeah?”

He laughed under his breath. “Always selling yourself short. You did make an impression, you know.”

I nodded. “Ah, yes. Like when you sit on one of those microfiber couches, and then when you get up, there’s an unflattering imprint of your ass cheeks.”

The fact that Azazel actually missed a step and stumbled a bit from laughing filled me with bubbly happiness.

He caught himself right quick, though, turning to me and pulling me to him with his arm slung around my waist. “Thesecheeks”—he grabbed and squeezed the anatomy in question with both hands—“areneverunflattering.”

I melted into him just a little, partly from the way he pressed me to him, partly from the sensual promise in his eyes. “Smooth talker,” I whispered.

“For you? Always.”

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