Page 88 of All's Hell That Ends Well

He narrowed his eyes, his energy becoming whip-sharp. “You dare?—”

“Yes, I do,” I snapped, the already thin thread of my patience for this subject tearing in two. “I dare tell you the truth right to your face, just as I dared send my soldiers here to protect Zoe because you sure as fuck wouldn’t!”

The air stilled. He didn’t seem to breathe. Vengeance sat up with a whine and tucked her tail.

“I don’t know who is left to give you counsel,” I said, my voice rising in the chill of the room, “whether you are now surrounded by nothing but spineless sycophants who’d eat your shit and tell you it’s the finest delicacy because they fear you too much to speak true?—”

Lucifer’s eyes widened the tiniest fraction.

“Or worse yet,” I continued, “by those who intend to encourage your negligence and use it for their own benefit and therefore will not tell you when you falter. What I know is that I will not hold my tongue when it comes to this.” I clenched my hands into fists, my chest heaving with my rapid breaths. “I will not mince my words, not for this. Because it is Zoe’s safety that is on the line, and she willalwayscome first.” I made a harsh cutting gesture to emphasize my point.

Lucifer’s stare could have incinerated a lesser demon. “I should take your head for this.”

“And incur your daughter’s wrath and loathing for the rest of eternity?” I bared my teeth and snarled at him. “No, you will not touch me. Naamah will never forgive you if you do. There are few things left you care about, but her love for you is one of them, and you will not risk it by harming her only son.”

He drew in a breath with a hiss, his eyes narrowing.

I’d hit him where it counted. I knew his soft spot, and I would take advantage of it for all it was worth.

It helped that I knew for a fact my mother would approve of this kind of manipulation. It was right up her alley.

“You will listen to me if not to anyone else,” I went on, emboldened by his silence. “You might have warded off others’ advice, preferring to stew in your ignorance, but youwillhear my words.” I pointed at him. “You don’t even notice how much your rule is crumbling around you. You still think your word is law, that the fear and respect you founded your empire on are strong enough to secure your reign. They’re not! Zoe has been attacked in direct violation of your decree of protection. Demons are out there flouting your ordinances in a way they wouldn’t have dared eight years ago. You relied on your word alone having the power to protect her and didn’t bother to provide her with a security detail because you are oblivious to the true extentof the disrespect and sabotage that has been thriving in your court.”

A low growl emanated from him, but I wasn’t deterred. I would speak my piece and make himlisten.

“I know you don’t care about her,” I said through gritted teeth, “that she is just a means to an end for you. But considering that she is theonlymeans to your end, I would have expected you to be more circumspect, to guard her with the vigilance befitting the treasure you seek to reclaim. Because if you lose Zoe, you lose Lilith.”

Ice crystals formed in the air, and my breath fogged in front of me.

“You think I don’t know that?” Lucifer whispered harshly.

“You sure don’t act like it!” I could feel frost creeping over my skin. “It was sheer dumb luck and Vengeance’s skill that saved Zoe. You almost lost her that day!”

The ground shook. Not from Lucifer’s power—but from mine. I had to take a calming breath to keep my energy from destroying what was left of this room.

“Yet you continue to pretend that wasn’t a sign of your weakening authority.How can you be so blind?”

His fingers twitched, black claws slicing out as if about to slash something.

“And speaking of Lilith.” My nostrils flared as I inhaled with my lips pressed into a line. “You want her back down here with you? You want to bring her to Hell, to live here once more as a human among demons? You need to clean up your house first. With the way things are, with your reputation in tatters and the vultures circling and observing your every step, Lilith will be dead within a week.”

A pulse of his power caused the air to tremble.

Vengeance whined again and slunk over to me to settle at my side.

“Zoe was attacked presumably because of her connection to you,” I went on, laying a soothing hand on one of Vengeance’s heads, “because she managed to draw you out of your isolation and pull you from your apathy. There are enough demons out there who don’t want to see that, who want to keep you withdrawn and disengaged from ruling, and they’ll regard Lilith the same as they do Zoe—as a threat to the status quo, which is your utter lack of interest in actually governing your realm. They will not hesitate to kill Lilith if it means it will hurl you into another spiral of depression and lethargy. If you want her safe, you need to secure your reign first.” I bared my teeth, my pulse beating a racing tattoo against my temples. “Get yourfuckingshit together, or you’ll lose her a second time as soon as she sets foot in Hell.”

Silence followed the end of my tirade, broken only by my shallow breaths and the clink of claws against stone as Vengeance shifted her weight next to me. The air was heavy with the kind of charge that preceded a storm, thickening with tension and impending violence that would soon erupt. I’d felt this a few times on Earth, with charcoal clouds darkening the horizon, right before lightning would split the sky and thunder would shake the world.

Down here in Hell, the air outside always held a charge, flashes and storms were ever present, but on Earth, a violent tempest was a different thing, a sudden force of nature that had justifiably caused humans to cower in fear of the divine power to whom they attributed the thunderstorm.

It felt like that now.

Still, I stood tall, unflinching, without a single regret over the lecture I’d just given the supreme ruler of Hell.

That didn’t mean, however, that I wasn’t apprehensive about possible consequences. The protection Naamah’s love gave me might only go so far, and with how unpredictable Lucifer hadbeen of late, there was no telling how much he would dare to test the limits of his daughter’s goodwill.

Flexing my muscles, I braced for everything—just not for hearing him laugh.

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