Page 15 of All's Hell That Ends Well

Because while I was now back here in Hell, as a demon, with all the perfect conditions for a hellishly happy ever after withAzazel, I was still out of reach for him. Instead of enjoying my reunion with him, I was lying on the floor in Lucifer’s palace, bound in servitude to the Devil for the foreseeable future—a future that might not include Azazel.

There was no telling if I’d even be allowed to see him in my one week down here.

In general, relationships between demons of different territories were permitted unless their superior demons were at war with each other, but given Lucifer and Azazel’s contentious family dynamics, I could very well imagine that Lucifer would forbid me from seeing him.

He could do it, too. He absolutely had the authority to prohibit Azazel from visiting, and to keep me from leaving his palace while down here.

God, would I even see Azazel again?

I opened my eyes, my vision blurry from the tears that had sprung up, my chest almost too tight to draw breath.

I wondered what Azazel was doing right now, whether he was even aware that I’d already fallen, that he’d be too late to claim me for himself. Maybe he was still recovering from his torture, thinking he’d have time to regain his full strength down here before he’d receive word from Naamah that I was about to fall.

The thought made me vibrate with anger.

He’d trusted her, just like I had. She was hismother, his long-lost, barely-just-found-again mother, and while she’d helped him substantially with his mission to infiltrate Heaven and get close to me, she’d also angled for a double cross the entire time.

Because this had definitely been premeditated.

From all that I could tell after my conversation with Lucifer, he’d been planning this for years. The prospect of being able to find Lilith’s reincarnation was likely the only thing that had kept him from sliding right into full-blown depression and/orinsanity. He’d have set everything on making this happen, and given his vast life experience and the unrelenting patience that came with immortality, he’d have had no problem playing the long game and putting the pieces into the right places over years of careful planning.

He’d have found out that I was in Heaven, and he’d have likely—and rightly—figured that Azazel would try to get to me, which would have been Lucifer’s best chance to gain access to me. All he’d had to do was sit back and wait for Azazel to set everything up, and then make his move when the time was right.

With the help of Naamah.

She was Lucifer’s inside person in Heaven, and though he couldn’t communicate directly with her, given that he couldn’t set foot on Earth and she couldn’t enter Hell, I had no doubt that he’d found a way to exchange information with her that would be hidden from Heaven’s notice—and from Azazel.

All this time, Azazel had thought Naamah was acting inhisinterest, helping him get into Heaven and close to me in order to trigger my memory and convince me to fall from grace so he could claim me for his territory.

When, in reality, it had never been part of Naamah’s plan to let Azazel claim me.

She’d helped Azazel so far as his goals aligned with Lucifer’s interest, but when those two diverged, she’d sided with her father.

Deep within me, betrayal lacerated the softer parts of my being.

Back in Heaven, after I’d been arrested, I’d wondered why she’d fast-track my fall from grace, not understanding why she’d turn on me like that. And then I’d found out it was so that Lucifer could snatch me up instead of Azazel, but I’d puzzled over why.

I had my answer now. He wanted me to find Lilith for him, and apparently, Naamah had been working toward that goal—to get me to Lucifer—for years.

With each new revelation, that wound of betrayal within me only grew.

Had she ever been my friend? Or had I always simply been a means to an end for her?

When I’d told her that I needed time to find my mom, she’d smiled and agreed, letting me believe that she understood and would honor my request…when actually, she’d known perfectly well that in order to make sure Lucifer’s demon would be the one to grab me, I’d have to fall right away, while Azazel would not expect it yet.

Knowing she’d played me like that hurt so much I could barely breathe.

I just didn’t know why it had been that important for Lucifer to claim me for himself. Sure, he now had direct authority over me, but he was the supreme overlord of Hell—shouldn’t he have that authority no matter what? Couldn’t he have just as easily commandeered me into his service if Azazel had claimed me first?

Or—and here’s a thought—he could have justasked.

Instead of basically kidnapping me into indentured servitude, he could have allowed Azazel to claim me and then asked me to help him find Lilith, voluntarily and on my terms.

I would have very likely agreed!

But noooooo, he had to go full psycho and take away my choice.

Bastard.

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