Page 67 of Sinner's End

I remain silent. First, because I’m not sure any words are required from me. Second, because I don’t have a single fucking idea what I would say if called upon.

“Manashesh is willing to throw away the empire he has built. To return to our realm and his intended role, for you.”

He glares at me, assessing, as if trying to find what makes me so special.

“And then…” He sighs, his eyes returning to their previous color and his size deflating, his anger leaves him just as fast as it arrived. “I felt you.”

“What?” Disbelief coats my words.

He nods slowly. “When he left you here, sacrificing everything to make sure you would find your happiness, a bond snapped in place. A bond between yourself and I.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“No shit. But there it is.” He rubs a hand along his chin. “I felt your pain, anguish, your anger. But beneath all that was the pure love you hold not only for Manashesh but for the half-breed and the fallen angels as well.”

“Half-breed?” I ask, confused.

“Mmmmh. Kaleb, I believe his mother named him. Another of my spawn.”

“Shit,” I mumble, trying to get my thoughts in order. “Does Mana know?”

“He suspects.”

I stare at the demon, the prince of Hell sitting in my kitchen, lifting my cup and sipping from the coffee he made.

“Why are you telling me this?’ I ask the only question I really want the answer to.

He tilts his head to the side, studying me like an insectunder a microscope. My skin pebbles beneath his gaze and it takes every ounce of self-control not to squirm.

“I want you to return to Manashesh.”

“Mana doesn’t want me anymore. He rejected me, not the other way around.”

“He doesn’t have the final say. You do. I do.”

I let his words sink in, my heart aching at the thought.

“I don’t know if I want to be with him if he doesn’t feel the same.”

“Fucking humans,” Asmodeus curses loudly. “Did you not hear a single word I said? He loves you. He feels so deeply for you he will return to Hell to give you the chance at a life he wants you to have without him.”

Fuck. Hearing those words for the second time settles something inside me.

“And what do I have to give up?”

“Everything,” he replies with a dark grin. “You will bind your body, heart, and soul to Manashesh for eternity. You will rule Harken and the surrounding area by his side, corrupting souls and sending them to me when the time is right.”

“What about Kaleb and—”

He cuts me off with a wave of his hand. “Those are my spawn’s decisions. But know, if you choose to do this, there will be no going back. You can’t run away when things get difficult. You will be bound to him forever.”

“Forever?”

“The ceremony to bind you will also bind your life force. You will never die, never age, never be able to leave him.”

One would think this decision should be hard. That I would take hours to work through each of our interactions and everything that has happened. But it’s not. It’s the easiest decision I have ever made.

“Yes.”

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