Page 5 of All's Hell That Ends Well

As Azmodea had explained it to me, it wasn’t that he didn’t care about any of his other kids at all, but they simply ranked a bit lower in his regard. Some, apparently, were even a bit estranged from him, and boy, could I understandthat.

Samael, though, held a high position on the list of relatives, and he’d been part of Lucifer’s inner court back when I’d had to prepare for the Fall Festival. I hadn’t seen him when I’d appeared before Lucifer, but he must have been among the crowd for him to have recognized me.

And now he was right in front of me, staring at me with the kind of unsettling attention of a bored kid who’d just spotted a bug to harass.

Still holding on to my wrist, his grip painful, he said, “I don’t take orders from you, Haniel.”

“That order isn’t mine,” Haniel retorted, “but your father’s.”

Samael’s eyes, their color an unnatural deep red, flicked from me to Haniel.

“His Grace has decreed that she is not to be touched,” Haniel said. “He has claimed her as his ward, and she is to be brought directly to him. If any harm comes to her, you will have to answer to him yourself.”

Samael’s gaze swung back to me, and his eyes narrowed. His power seared my skin, and for a moment, he tightened his grip until I thought my bones would snap. Then he released me and gave me a smile that was chillingly hollow.

“Run along, then, little mouse.” His wine-red eyes glittered. “Give my father my best.”

I glared at him as Haniel grabbed me by my upper arm and dragged me forward.

Oh, I could definitely see the relation between him and Lucifer. That apple didn’t fall far from the tree. In fact, it might still be stuck to it, rotting at the core and all.

“If you want to make it here,” Haniel hissed, pulling me around the next corner, “then you best keep your mouth shut and your head down. Especially aroundhim.”

I blinked at him. Genuine advice? From Mr.I’m just here to deliver you to Lucifer?

“Wouldn’t Lu—” I caught myself and corrected, “Wouldn’t His Grace’s decree of protection keep others from harming me?”

I remembered how Lilith bestowing her favor on me had been considered an almost fail-safe armor against any attacks.

Haniel clucked his tongue. “Would have. Once. Things aren’t…what they used to be. If I were you, I wouldn’t rely on that to keep my head on my shoulders.”

Dread curled in my stomach. I felt like I’d been thrown into raging waters with only a rickety raft to clutch on to.

Haniel escorted me further into the palace, and I recognized these particular hallways from the time Lilith had taken care of me and ordered me to straighten up her and Lucifer’s personal library. This was the more private wing of the residence, with Lucifer and Lilith’s chambers that were farther from the receiving rooms used for audiences.

My heart ached at the realization that Lilith wasn’t here anymore.

She’d been such a warm, kind, beautiful presence, a light in a sea of darkness. I felt her absence keenly as we walked through the wing that had once been her home, as if the walls and floors themselves grieved her passing. A real note of desolate sadness clung to the air, and it settled heavily on my chest with every breath I drew in.

With each turn we took, the hallway got progressively darker. Fewer and fewer candles were lit, gloom suffusing the corners and veiling the ceiling. Incongruously with the nature of Hell, cold seemed to crawl over the floor, like the chill whiff emanating from a tomb.

In fact, it felt like walking through a mausoleum.

“Should we light some more candles?” I whispered, not daring to raise my voice.

It wasn’t that I had trouble seeing, since my vision as a demon was near perfect even in the dark. But this gloom was creeping me out, and adding some more light might just help chase the chill from the back of my neck.

“I like my limbs all in place, thank you very much,” Haniel said. When I blinked at him in bewilderment, he added, “The last few folks who lit more of these candles have found themselves without hands for a couple of days.”

I shivered.

Finally, Haniel stopped in front of a door, knocked, and then opened it. Not going inside, he bowed deeply and said, “Your Grace. As you requested, I have claimed and fetched the new demon Zoe for you.”

And with that, he slapped his hand on my back and shoved me inside the room, closing the door behind me with a thwack that reminded me of the sound a lid might make when slamming down on a coffin.

It was even darker in here. And colder. So much colder. With my eyes able to see within the gloom, I could tell that my breath was frosting before me.

Frosting.

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