Page 34 of Magic and Mayhem

I nod seriously. “Unless you have certain wards in place to block them out, yes. Lucifer stepped out of heaven to speak with them, and from there they corrupted him and told him that he held the power to rule. Some of the realms in Hell still allow them to walk their lands, but thankfully I grew up in Hades’ realm and was protected from them.”

“What happened to Lucifer?”

“He challenged God.” I begin stroking her hair again, having heard this story from my father countless times.

“It was quite pathetic, really. It lasted all of fifteen seconds. With a single bolt of energy, Lucifer was thrust out of heaven and began his fall. They say his wings wereshredded by darkness as he fell, and the power he once held was stripped away, replaced with fire and rage.”

“And now he’s the King of Hell. So in a way, the clowns weren’t wrong, they just tricked him into thinking he could rule Heaven instead of Hell.”

“Yes, they were right, but they did not warn him of the darkness he would set free. When Lucifer fell, the veil of black magic was torn open. It took a hundred and fifteen thousand sacrifices and a war to bind it together again.”

“So, are we safe now?”

I bend to place a kiss on her forehead.

“Not exactly. The potential for a rift between us and the dark will always be there. Many still seek to open it so that darkness can roam free. That is ultimately what the Corydons want.”

Evolet stretches in my hold before turning to snuggle into my chest.

“What a lovely bedtime story.”

I hold her tight as my body fills with happiness for the first time in my existence. “Sleep, Love.”

She wrinkles her nose even as she huddles her body close to mine. “You’re quite bossy, you know that?”

I chuckle to myself before our mating mark catches my attention.

“I don’t mean to be.”

Her hand reaches up, even with her eyes closed, and strokes one of my horns. “Yes, you do, and I like it. So don’t change.”

A thrum of energy crackles between us, pulsing in the air signifying that this moment means so much more than we have the capability to understand.

Evolet is the first human to ever fully appreciate my true form. In fact, she seems to prefer it over my humanone most of the time, and that makes me swell with pride.

“In that case, Love. Sleep.”

Her lips lift as she relaxes and my arms wrap around her. “I’ll keep you safe,” I whisper before planting a kiss on her hair and breathing her in.

“I trust you.”

???

She trusts me.Me.

A demon from Hell with all of the worst intentions when it comes to pretty much anyone but her. And shetrustsme.

As I lay there, with her in my arms sleeping soundly, I cannot help but think of what to do. If I claim her and ask her to do the same to me, she’ll be bound to us and this realm forever. It will change her entire life.

She’ll live as long as I do, which is asking a lot. Eternity can be boring, even though I have a feeling that with her it would be full of adventures and games.

With a heavy sigh, I know I must speak with Lilu about all of this. Kieres saw our mating mark, as did half of the demons here when I walked her around. I never would have expected her to stop the carousel, and the chaos of that drew Kieres in right away.

He looked at her like they were kindred spirits, and the way she touched his face was like she knew him. An idea is niggling at the back of my mind, but it can’t be that.

One of the biggest reasons I can’t tell her about the potential she has is because I don’t know the answer.

She has the power to affect this realm, even though she has never been here. There are very few that can do that.

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