Page 121 of All's Hell That Ends Well

“Did they just call youYour Grace?” I whispered as we walked on toward the palace proper.

Azazel frowned. “You heard that, too?”

I hummed in assent. “Maybe they got the title mixed up?”

He raised one dark brow. “They’re my own people. They’re part of the contingent I lent Lucifer to fill the holes in his ranks. They should know how to address me properly.”

“Perhaps they have a bit of hero worship going on?” I asked with a grin. Batting my lashes at him, I added, “Can’t say I blame them.”

Azazel laughed under his breath, and over the bond, a wave of affection rolled into me.

As we made our way through the palace, I noted once more the differences from when I’d first arrived here weeks ago. Before, Lucifer’s outburst after Lilith’s death—followed by years-long negligence—had thrown much of the building into disrepair, and there’d been this pervasive sense of despair and disorder.

Now, groups of demons worked on repairs of the palace, crews of merihem—directed by supervisors—were scrubbing the floors and cleaning the walls, and staff bustled to and fro again. Everybody seemed to have a job, a responsibility, and they were all going about their day completing those tasks.

I recognized a few demons from Azazel’s estate, not just as warriors who now acted as guards and security, but also those whose jobs were more on the administrative side. A palace needed a whole lot of management and organization to run smoothly, and Azazel had apparently reassigned some of his folks to take care of that in the absence of Lucifer’s own palace management.

And the demons we passed all sank to their knees when they spotted us, in a show of deference that was one step above what Azazel’s position as archdemon would demand.

“I detect a theme here,” I muttered.

Azazel remained silent, except for when he inquired from a staff member where the king was—we usually had to ask where Lucifer currently was inside the palace, with the whole place being so big.

The demon he’d asked did a double take, genuflected before Azazel, and then stammered in obvious confusion.

“Lucifer,” Azazel said and waved the demon up to standing again. “Where is he currently? We must see him about an urgent matter.”

The demon told us where to go, and we walked on.

When we reached the door to the room Lucifer was in, the two guards stationed in front greeted us similarly to everyone else, but before they could even get back to their feet, the door opened and Samael strode out.

His eyes widened for a second as he noticed us, then he sketched a smooth bow toward Azazel and inclined his head to me when he straightened—his greeting in line with our stations.

“Back again?” he asked with a raised brow, his dark red eyes on Azazel. “Are you here to stay longer? I can give word to prepare your suite if you wish.”

The hairs on my arms rose in visceral warning at his seemingly servile tone. Everything about him spoke of politeness, even obsequiousness, and yet I couldn’t shake the sense of some subterfuge that was going on.

“A suite won’t be necessary,” Azazel replied. “Though we have important matters to discuss with Lucifer and wish not to be interrupted.”

“Of course.” Samael inclined his head respectfully. “I will make sure you will not be disturbed for the next few hours.”

And with another bow, he glided off like some specter of evil tidings.

“There’s a promise he can’t keep,” I muttered as we turned back to the door.

Azazel shot me a sharp look. “How so?”

I shrugged. “I mean, with all the things going on inside my head, how can he make me not disturbed? That’s a tall order. Sure, I wouldn’t mind beingundisturbed for a change, but have you seen my thoughts?”

Azazel exhaled on a surprised laugh, and as always when I managed to amuse him, my heart soared.

“Not for a long while, no,” he answered what had been a rhetorical question, his voice tinged with sadness. His eyes gleamed when he met my gaze. “I do so miss catching those unruly thoughts of yours.”

My smile was wistful for the things we’d lost throughout all the changes over the past years, but I focused on all the benefits my transformations had afforded me. Smile turning wicked, I pursed my lips and whispered, “But now I can do this.”

And then I reached out with my power and made good on all those lessons where I’d practiced handling my energy with delicate precision—and caressed him on his most delicate parts.

Azazel twitched and hissed. “Fucking Hell, Zoe.”

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