Page 81 of All's Hell That Ends Well

“He died knowing he’d helped you,” she said softly. “Let that be enough. At the very least, he’d cleared his conscience with regard to you.”

I paused and studied her, some of my anger abating. “How are you, with him not here anymore? You said once you were beyond caring now.”

She lifted one slender shoulder, her eyes following the flight path of a faraway angel who soared over Central Park. “To say it wasn’t a shock when I heard he’d died would be a lie. I guess I never thought there’d be a time when he wouldn’t justbe. Realizing that he’s gone forever did hurt me, despite my claims to be above it all. It’s not that I had the intention of talking to him or reconciling…” She shook her head. “I don’t think I could have forgiven him. I am not the type to give second chances. And yet, I didn’t wish him ill. I might have enjoyed seeing him bewildered and at a loss for words when chancing upon me in Heaven, but I didn’t want him dead.”

“At the end,” I muttered, “he said he wanted to apologize to you.”

“Well.” She blew out a breath. “It’s good to know he came to his senses. It wouldn’t have changed my stance, but it would have been nice to at least have him acknowledge the wrong he did. Sometimes, all you want is for the person who hurt you to truly understand and regret the pain they caused you. And so few of us ever get that.” Her candescent eyes met my own. “I can make peace with that knowledge.”

I nodded and let comforting silence hang between us for a moment before asking, “Who has replaced him as Angel of Death?”

Someone had to fill the role, and it was a particularly thankless job. Right after Azrael’s death, there’d been widespread chaos on Earth, with souls stuck in this sphere that should have been immediately ferried to Heaven, and other souls not being properly marked for Hell. Things had settled down now, so it stood to reason that Heaven had appointed another angel to do the task.

She regarded her nails, her brows rising. “Well,Isuggested Gabriel, but he didn’t like that idea very much. He became quite growly. In the end, they picked a seraph named Saureil. Apparently, she has some penance to bear, so she was assigned the position.”

One side of my mouth tipped up. “You really hold grudges for millennia, don’t you? Are you still wreaking havoc in Gabriel’s estate?”

Her eyes sparkled. “On a daily basis.”

I laughed softly and shook my head. Sobering after a moment, I broached the subject I’d been meaning to tackle. “Lucifer’s position is becoming more vulnerable. Ashtaroth is watching him like a hawk, assessing his weakness and waiting for the moment when it is most opportune to strike. Not much longer, and she’ll have convinced enough of the other archdemons to form an alliance against him.”

Naamah made a sound of grim displeasure.

I fully faced her, trying to convey the urgency through my voice. “You must talk some sense into him. You are the one he’ll most likely listen to. Daevi said he barely sees her anymore, and he’s pushed away those who would have given him good counsel. He doesn’t seem to realize how far his grip on power has slipped already. He put Zoe under a decree of personal protection, and yet she was ambushed by a group of demonsin his palace.”

My blood still boiled at that thought, at how close I’d come to losing her yet again, this time forever.

Naamah’s eyes were hard. “Who did that?”

I shook my head. “We don’t know. Vengeance ripped them all to shreds. There were no survivors to question.”

I gave her the rundown of what exactly had happened, including the conflict with Samael that had followed and Lucifer’s intervention in Vengeance’s execution.

“And he hasn’t seen fit to give her guards as a result of this,” I finished. “He thinks her innate power and the training he offered her will be enough to let her repel any other challenges, plus he apparently believes this attack to have been an aberration and that Zoe’s station and his favor for her should be sufficient protection.”

“When in reality,” Naamah chimed in, “there is obviously someone in his inner court who is actively working to undermine his authority, not shying away from violent means.”

“Exactly.”

She clucked her tongue. “I shall talk to him. Though I’m not sure how much my words can sway him. Sometimes he listens to me, and sometimes he doesn’t. That stubborn streak of his could well extend to him willfully choosing to remain blind with regard to how much his authority has suffered. That, and his pride.” She sighed. “It’s always been one of his greatest flaws.”

CHAPTER 24

Zoe

“You summoned me, Your Grace?”

I poked my head into Lucifer’s mausoleum lounge—as I’d come to call his chilled and darkened room—Vengeance pushing at my back with two of her heads. The third was snapping at her own tail.

He was sprawled across his armchair, that lone candle casting him in flickering light, with shadows battling for dominance. With his head lazily tipped back, his gaze on the ceiling, he motioned me inside with a wave.

I padded closer, and Vengeance trotted past me to plop down at Lucifer’s feet, licking his hand in the process.

“Sit,” Lucifer said, and since Venny had already plonked herself down, he apparently meant me.

I parked my butt on the sofa opposite his chair and looked at him expectantly. “What’s up?”

I’d been in the middle of packing a small bag with a change of clothes for my trip to Earth when I’d received his summons.

---