Page 138 of All's Hell That Ends Well

“We did it,” he echoed my words, and potent relief caused his voice to waver. “It’s okay. It’s all right now. We won. It’s over.”

On and on, he spoke soothing reassurances in my ear, while I trembled in his hold, my eyes hot with tears, my breath shaking with the fear that was finally leaving my body. I clung to him for dear life, soaking up his warmth, his strength, his love.

So close. We’d come so close to losing each other. I could still see Ashtaroth’s blade glinting in the light of the chandeliers as it rushed for our necks, still felt that trembling in my soul. I breathed in his scent now, listened to the steady, fast beat of his heart, let the ebb and flow of his emotions across the bond ground me.

He was still here. I was still here. We’d made it.

And those we wanted to spare had made it as well.

“Hearken!” Lucifer’s bellow made me jolt, his voice reverberating in the massive room like a gong.

I glanced over at him. He’d risen to his feet, hands still bound in front of his body and the wounds on his back dripping blood onto the dais, but he held himself with unassailable authority, looking out over the crowd.

“Behold your king and queen,” he shouted, “endowed with the power of death! You have just witnessed the lethal magicthey possess, which not even chains can subdue. Their enemies fall not to their weapons, but to a single thought of theirs. They are the rightful rulers of Hell, now and forever! Their power puts them far above anyone else’s station, their strength unmatched among demons.” He paused for dramatic effect. “This force they carry, it has only one equal—God.”

Gasps and murmurs coursed through the crowd.

“Kneel to your king and queen!” Lucifer roared. “Show your fealty so you may be spared their wrath!”

As one, all demons who’d been standing sank to their knees and bowed their heads. Some even did an entire genuflection with their hands and foreheads touching the ground.

Lucifer, too, went down on one knee. His gaze on Azazel and me, he bowed his head.

My breath stalled.

All sounds hushed…until a shout broke the silence.

“Hail King Azazel and Queen Zoe!” a voice yelled from one of the front rows.

I peered out toward the assembled masses. The demon who’d shouted was from Azazel’s territory, one of his top warriors.

“Hail King Azazel and Queen Zoe!” the demons around him took up the acclamation, and soon, the entire throne room shook from the enthusiastic shouts.

My eyes still misty, I looked back at Azazel. Over the bond, a maelstrom of emotions flowed to me—surprise, relief, elation, and grim satisfaction. Leaning in, he kissed my forehead, a pulse of love wrapping me in a hug as much as his arms did.

Bathed in the cheers of the crowd, we held each other tight, and for the span of a few heartbeats, everything else faded away, and it was only Azazel and me, and the pulse of love that bound us together.

Then, still holding me, he pulled us to standing and unhooked his arms from my back in favor of grasping my handsand lifting them up. Gaze on the crowd, he shouted, “My people! You have fought valiantly, and your loyalty and resilience shall be rewarded.”

Cheers from the ranks of those who’d defended the palace.

“I will not punish the soldiers of the traitors,” Azazel continued, his voice projecting strong and resonant through the room, “for their duty to their archdemons forced them to follow their call to arms. But make no mistake—we will not suffer our enemies to live. Should individual demons display contempt of the crown, therewillbe punishment. Whisper a word of treasonous intent, and we will come down on you swiftly. Treat my queen with anything but the utmost respect, and I will personally rip you apart limb by limb.”

His power was a dark pulse in the air, a cold breeze that made the assembled demons shiver in the heat of Hell.

“Loyalty, however, will be rewarded.” He lifted his chin, authority and dominance pouring off him. “Prove your fealty, and you will be commended. This will be a new dawn for demonkind, though different from the vision Ashtaroth presented you. There will be changes to Hell, new opportunities to enrich your lives.” With a side glance at Lucifer, he added, “Use of modern technology will no longer be forbidden.”

The crowd erupted into applause and shouts of praise, while Lucifer raised a brow, one corner of his mouth tilting up in a wry smile.

“Other things willnotchange,” Azazel continued, his gaze steely as he surveyed the masses. “My queen and I hold to the truce with Heaven. There shall be no war on Earth or beyond, and any attempt at sabotage will be met with instant death.”

He let a sliver of that cold energy inside us slip out, to the point where the breaths of the demons in the first rows misted in the air. A chilling reminder of the dark power we’d just demonstrated earlier.

“Now,” Azazel called out, pulling the energy back, “let us clean up the mess left from the battle, take care of the wounded, and repair the damages. And tonight, we shall have a celebration in honor of this victory and the dawning of a new reign!”

The crowd broke into cheers again, and over the din of the masses, Azazel called over the warrior in the front row who’d spoken up earlier.

“Ramiel,” he said as the demon stepped up onto the dais. “Good to see you alive and well.”

---