Page 97 of All's Hell That Ends Well

Power thick in the air, Lucifer pinned me with a gaze of abysmal darkness. “Tell me everything.”

So I did. Wringing my hands, I explained how I’d spotted Lilith’s reincarnation on that playground, I described the pull I felt toward her, her reaction to my invisible presence, and how I’d ordered her followed and then came here.

When I finished, silence pulsed heavily between us. Even Vengeance’s breaths had grown quiet, as if she, too, felt the weight of this revelation. Azazel’s power was a potent buzz near me, and through the bond, I felt his shock and the whir of anticipation. I’d bet he was already running a million scenarios through his mind and calculating all the implications of what this meant.

“Shemya—” I broke off and corrected myself. “Someone will be by and provide her exact location.”

With a wince, I realized I’d completely forgotten that Lucifer didn’t know about my entourage. I’d even mentioned that I’d had a demon follow the girl without stopping to think that this would imply it wasn’t Haniel. And that it would raise questions as to why I was in the company of other demons in addition to him.

“He knows,” Azazel murmured, leaning closer to me. At my questioning look, he added, “You don’t have to fret about hiding your guards from him. It’s not an issue.”

“Oh. Okay.” I sat up straighter. “Well, in that case… She has a small security detail with her right now, but I think we should beef up those numbers.”

I didn’t add my unruly thought ofWe don’t want a repeat of the last Lilith incident, but I didn’t really need to. It was an unspoken awareness, a given. Of course, Lucifer would do everything in his power to make sure the girl would be protected not only from earthly dangers but from supernatural threats as well. It wasn’t a stretch to assume that there were still rogue demons—and probably angels—around who would jump at the opportunity to strike at Lucifer by harming Lilith’s reincarnation.

I had no doubt that Lucifer would send his best people to guard her—and on the heels of that thought came another.

My brows drew together. “I know you’ve been cleaning up the mess here, but do you even have enough demons you trust to watch over her?”

“I can detail some of my warriors to the task,” Azazel said, his voice a deep rumble at my side. Catching my gaze, he explained, “I’ve been supplying a number of my people to replenish the thinned ranks here in the palace and the greater territory.”

I raised both brows. And Lucifer was just…fine with that? I still had trouble processing this tectonic shift in their relationship.

“Daevi will likely volunteer to send some of her soldiers as well,” Azazel continued. “I’d be surprised if she didn’t consider the task of guarding the girl her own responsibility, too. She was very close to Lilith, after all.”

I sat back with a sigh of relief. Knowing Lilith’s reincarnation would be well protected took a weight off me that I hadn’t been aware of carrying. “That’s great,” I said. “We should definitely?—”

“I release you from your bonds.”

Lucifer’s soft remark made me break off mid-sentence. Eyes wide, I turned to stare at him.

There it was again, that version of him that was an eldritch horror that had crawled here from some dark and creepy dimension. Gone was any warmth, any light, anything remotely appearing like the human-looking demon I’d come to know.

Oh, he still had the same form as before, he hadn’t corporeally shifted into anything else, but there was no mistaking the energetic shift that somehow changed the perception of his appearance as well.

The hairs on my arms rose with the tingling awareness that I was sitting in the presence of a power that wore the face and figure of a humanoid being—as one would wear a costume. An optical illusion, barely concealing the fact that something trulyotherhid behind this uncanny mask.

Next to me, Azazel’s power gathered like an impending storm, and over the bond, I felt his unease, the adrenaline pumping through his system. He, too, sensed the difference in Lucifer.

“What do you mean?” I whispered, my eyes fixed on the eerie goth version of the first fallen angel.

“I hereby transfer my claim over you to Azazel,” Lucifer said, his voice carrying the echo of deep, dark tombs. “You are forthwith part of his domain.”

A prickle of magic coursed over my skin, sank into my bones. The new bond settled between Azazel and me with a pulse of power, and I felt the shift of allegiance like a small tremor through my soul.

Heart slamming against my rib cage, I glanced at Azazel, whose face didn’t betray the shock that I felt in him through our connection. He was just as blindsided by this as I was. Neither of us had seen this coming.

Sure, Naamah had said that Lucifer had promised to release me once I’d found Lilith, but this soon? Not even five minutes had passed since I’d told him the news.

“Leave now.” Lucifer stood, and even that small movement was imbued with such swiftness and grace as was beyond even the most elegant demons and angels. “I would seek solitude.”

I opened my mouth, ready to argue with him that he most definitely shouldnotbe alone when in this mood, but a flick of his hand had both me and Azazel forcibly raised to our feet and gently shoved toward the door at our backs.

Azazel’s power sparked like a firecracker about to go off in response to the telekinetic manhandling, but to my surprise, he reined it in, and when I wanted to turn back and stay with Lucifer, he grasped me by my upper arm and steered me out the door instead. Vengeance trotted after us as we exited into the throne room.

A few staff members bustled about, but other than that, the great hall was empty while we strode away from the room.

I craned my neck to glance back. “Don’t you think we should?—”

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