Page 63 of All's Hell That Ends Well

I jolted out of my inspection of his wings, unfurled my own, and followed him.

Lucifer flew so fast I had trouble not losing him. I just about made out how he arrowed down on the other side of the palace. Beating my wings harder, I hurried after him. Above me, shadows darkened the lightning-rent sky, and the roar of dragons rattled my bones.

Shit, right, weren’t those beasts a bit bitey?

Fear flooding my veins, I shot through the air at breakneck speed. Next to me, the flap of mighty wings whirled the air and disturbed my flight path a touch. I glanced to the side and almost had a heart attack.

A dragon flew to my right. Lightning illuminated the dark red scales covering its massive body, reflecting in its golden glowing eye that was fixed on me.

Before I could do an evasive maneuver, the beast let loose a staccato growl that was way too reminiscent of the T-rex inJurassic Parkand then dove away.

Leaving me flying on in peace and one step away from dying from cardiac arrest.

Fuck me sideways.

Heart still bruised from beating way too fast, I landed outside the enormous kennel building, tucked my wings away, and ran through the open doors.

This kennel here was so much larger than the one at Azazel’s mansion, massive like hangars at an airport. Still, it was easy to locate where Lucifer had gone—I just zeroed in on the commotion and the throng of demons gathered a bit farther back.

Crowding in front of a single enclosure, a group of demons looked on as Lucifer—towering over the others with his unparalleled height—spoke with Samael. Behind them, inthe cage, Vengeance chewed the bars of her enclosure and intermittently howled at the top of her lungs.

“Venny,” I gasped and broke into a run.

She was alive! We weren’t too late!

I elbowed my way through the crowd, shoving demons aside without care to make my way to the cage. The space between the bars was wide enough that I could squeeze through, so I did exactly that, and next thing I knew, three doggie heads were bathing me in saliva.

“Venny,” I sobbed and grabbed at her to aimlessly scratch and cuddle her wherever possible.

“So you believe her over me?”

Samael’s question rose over the noise Vengeance made as she celebrated seeing me again, and I disengaged myself from her ministrations enough to turn my attention to the scene in front of the enclosure.

Though Lucifer’s expression seemed mildly bored, there was a sharp note to his power, and every inch of him radiated authority, to the extent I had the sudden urge to sink to my knees and bow my head. This was the version of him that was used to enter a room and have every single demon in it kiss the floor in deference.

“I do not recall owing you an explanation for my decisions,” Lucifer said with the kind of deceptive calm that clearly held a threat. “The hound shall live. And whosoever dares to harm the beast will lose their head.”

He waved a hand, and the bars of Vengeance’s enclosure sank into the floor. The assembled demons shied back, making room for the hellhound to step out of her cage.

“Come along,” Lucifer said, his eyes on me, before he turned away and strode toward the kennel exit.

I jumped and hastened after him, Vengeance at my heels. Glancing over my shoulder, I spotted Samael standing with hisarms crossed and watching us leave, but instead of looking pissed and humiliated, he smirked.

Smirked.

As if he’d just made a particularly clever move in a game of invisible chess.

The hair rose on my arms and neck. That primal instinct inside me warning of impending danger—amplified now that I was a demon—gripped me hard, whispering that a looming threat was snapping ever closer at my heels.

I shuddered and focused on catching up to Lucifer.

CHAPTER 19

Lucifer was making his way over to the training fields for the hellhounds, located behind the kennel building. A few handlers were exercising their dogs there, and the mighty beasts ran with such force that the ground shook. I’d never been anywhere close to a stampede, but I’d seenThe Lion Kingin a home theater with an excellent surround system, so that counted, right? Anyway, the effect was impressive and intimidating.

“Leave,” Lucifer barked, his voice magically amplified and rolling over the training fields like thunder.

The handlers snapped to attention, went onto their knees in greeting, and then signaled their hounds to withdraw. A few seconds later, the enormous space was cleared, and we stood alone on dark brown earth stretching miles in every direction, the massive wall encircling the estate towering in the distance on one side, the outskirts of the palace with the kennel building in front on the other. Above us raged the ever-present storms of Hell, painting the sky in all the shades of red, orange, gray, and black. Picturesque, in an apocalyptic kind of way.

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