Page 14 of All's Hell That Ends Well

He indicated a plaque next to the door, one just like there’d been in the rooms at Azazel’s house and which were used to summon the merihem or other servants.

I raised one brow. “Anything?”

Gilarion inclined his head. “We’ve been instructed to bring you whatever you wish for.”

I frowned. Instructed by whom? Certainly not Lucifer. He’d made it clear I was not to expect any kindness from him, considering I wasn’t even allowed to visit my loved ones on Earth.

Then again, I was here in this weirdly luxurious, if a bit neglected, suite in the private wing of the palace instead of a spartan room on a lower level.

“Did he say that?” I asked with narrowed eyes. “His Grace, I mean.”

“Yes, my lady.”

The muscles in my face twitched from twisting up in even more confusion. Then understanding smoothed out my features.

Ah, yes, but of course. The confusion was a feature, not a bug. He couldn’t be predictable, could he? If he stuck to one way of treating me, I’d have the comfort of getting used to that. Lucifer did like to play his fucking mind games, after all.

There, now that made sense.

“Thank you,” I said to Gilarion. “That’ll be all.”

He nodded, bowed, and left me alone in the freakishly large suite.

As soon as the door closed behind him, my shoulders slumped, tension drained out of me, and I simply sank to the floor and stayed there for what felt like hours, my face pressed to the tile.

The stone was cool under my cheek. With my eyes closed, I listened to my own heartbeat thump with unrelenting steadiness, my breath drawing in and out of my lungs. Felt my power flowing through me, with a new taste, a strange yet familiar note of darkness to it.

My energy now resembled Azazel’s, in a way—because it was demonic.

I still couldn’t grasp it.

I was ademon.

Just a few years ago, I’d been a regular human, living a regular human life, with no idea that beyond my dull human perception, there lurked creatures from worlds I didn’t know existed. If someone had told me the course my fate would take, I’d have laughed in their face and then suggested a good therapist.

And now I felt likeIneeded a therapist to process all the things that had happened to me over the past nine years.

When I’d lived with Azazel, all I’d wanted in those quiet, melancholy moments when my lack of power and the weight of the difference between me and everyone else pressed down on me, was to be a demon like them, to be strong and fast and wield the same kind of magic and be able to hold my own.

But I’d known it was impossible. Lucifer himself had once told me not even he could change me in that way. No human had ever become a demon, and even Lilith had not quite made it to the same level as a full-blooded demon, despite the power she’d somehow accumulated.

And yet, here I was, human turned demon, with an interlude as angel.

I’d achieved exactly what I’d dreamed of. This should be a happy moment…only the one variable that would make it so was missing.

Azazel wasn’t here.

I wasn’t with him.

That hadn’t been the plan. This was all so wrong. He should have claimed me; I should be part ofhisdomain, living with him inhismansion. At this very moment, I should be enjoying the reunion with the demon who held my heart, who’d plucked me from my regular human life and given me the deepest kind of love I’d ever known, who’dinfiltrated Heavenjust for the chance to see me again.

Who’d suffered excruciating torture as part of a reckless bid to bring me back into his life.

My eyes burned, my throat closing up. I wanted so desperately for him to be here. I wanted to hide away in his embrace, to feel his warmth, his power, breathe in his scent, yearned for him to pull me close and tell me everything would be all right.

But even more so, I wanted to wraphimin my arms, to tell him that his years of waiting were over, that he had me back, that all his scheming and hard work had paid off, and that I’d never, ever fucking leave him. I longed to assure him that he’d never have to face a single night alone again, that my love would always be his safe haven, and that I couldn’t wait to start the rest of my life with him.

He’d waited and planned and yearned for me for eight long years, and he’d been so close, so fucking close, only to have his chance at a future with me snatched away at the last second.

---