Page 119 of The Road to Hell

“I barely reached you in time,” I admitted. “I thought I’d lost you. And after everything—after fighting so damn hard for so damn long—I couldn’t lose you too. I couldn’t let him take you from me.” I shuddered. “I lost my head. All I could think of was saving you. Getting you the hell out of, well, Hell. Keeping you away from your father. I—I didn’t handle any of this well.”

Her laugh surprised me. “No, no you did not.”

Lily closed her eyes. Inhaled. Held it.

For a moment, I thought she was bracing herself to finally swing. My muscles tensed instinctively, ready to take whatever blow she dealt. Ideservedit. Every ounce of her fury, every bit of pain I had put her through.

But then she exhaled, slow and steady. When she opened her eyes again, the fire was still there—still burning bright—but something else lurked beneath it. Something softer.

“I forgive you.”

The words hit harder than any punch ever could.

I stiffened, barely managing to keep my expression neutral. I had expected rage, a fresh wave of anger, some kind of reckoning. Butforgiveness?

Lily tilted her head, watching me carefully, like she could see every single thought colliding in my skull.

“I don’t deserve that,” I said after a beat, my voice quieter now, rough around the edges.

She sighed, but not with exasperation. If anything, it sounded like she had just unburdened herself of a weight she’d been carrying for too long. “Maybe not,” she admitted. “But I’m giving it to you anyway.”

I searched her gaze for any hesitation, any sign that she didn’t mean it, that she was saying it for my sake rather than her own. But there was nothing. No doubt. No resentment.

Just truth.

I didn’t know what to do with it.

Lily had every right to be furious. She had every right to make me suffer for what I’d done. But instead, she was choosing to let it go. Not forget it. Not excuse it. Just…let it go.

“I should be angry,” she continued, watching me closely. “I was angry. Hell, Iamangry. But you know what’s stronger than my anger?”

I shook my head slightly, unable to speak.

She squeezed my hand.

“Relief,” she whispered. “That I remember. That we’re alive. That we’re here. The thing about regaining my memories is I have a fresh perspective. If it weren’t for you, Lucifer would have killed me. And no matter how angry I am about the rest, I amhappyto be alive. To be here with you. We almost lost each other once. I refuse to waste any more time being mad about something we can’t change.”

A shaky breath left me as I reached up, brushing my knuckles along the edge of her jaw, just to feel that she was real. That this wasn’t some twisted dream my mind had conjured in a moment of weakness.

“You forgive me?” I asked hoarsely, as if saying it out loud would make it easier to comprehend.

Her lips curled slightly. “Yeah. I do.”

I didn’t deserve her. I knew that. But like she’d said, I refused to labor on it anymore. If she wanted to move on, I could do that. Iowedher that.

I kissed her then, slowly, tenderly, like I had all the time in the world. My lips moved over hers in deliberate, aching strokes, savoring the warmth and shape of her mouth, the way she melted against me despite everything we’d been through.

She sighed into me, a quiet, shuddering sound that sent heat rolling down my spine.

I slid my hands down her length, skimming the curve of her waist, memorizing the feel of her, the way she fit against me as if the last ten years had never happened. She washere, in my arms, real and whole. And by some grace of mercy, she had forgiven me.

That knowledge unraveled something deep inside me.

The slow, measured rhythm of our kiss changed. Quickened. Heated.

Lily scraped her nails down my back, dragging over the ridges of my old scars and fresh wounds alike. A shiver raked through me. Her damn touch set me aflame every time. No matter how much time passed between us. Every muscle tensed, every nerve came alive with sheer sensation.

I backed her up until her spine met the one remaining wall of the ruined parapet, trapping her between my body and the crumbling remains of our past. Her breath hitched as I pressed against her, pinning her there, my fingers sliding beneath the hem of her shirt to splay against the bare skin of her back.

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