Page 28 of The Road to Hell

But I couldn’t lie to myself. She belonged here, even if I didn’t want to admit it.

The prophecy had always been vague. It spoke of Lucifer’s reckoning, how a child of his blood would rise up and bring him down. Lily had learned of it not long before escaping the palace and joining the rebellion, but I’d never put much stock in it. Too many uncertainties, too many variables. Lucifer had sired many celestials over the years, all of them long dead. Lily was the only one left standing, but that didn’t mean she would always be. He would try again. He always did.

But then she’d opened the gate.

For millennia, the seals had held, shut tight by Heaven’s decree. No fallen, not even Lucifer himself, had managed to open one. And he’d tried. Repeatedly.

I shouldn’t have been able to open the gate. Yes, it’d nearly killed me to do it, but it shouldn’t have been possible. Lucifer was stronger than me. There was no logical reason I should succeed where he had failed.

At first, I’d wondered if Heaven’s power might be weakening. And perhaps there was some truth to that. But after thousands of years, why now?

It was simple.

Because of Lily.

She was still young compared to the rest of us—still coming into her power. But she wasn’t just another celestial. She was the child of an angel and a fallen. A mix of both light and dark. According to the prophecy, she was the only one who could restore balance to Hell, to return it to its rightful state. Perhaps the gates were bound to that prophecy as well. Perhaps they were never meant to stay sealed forever. Perhaps they’d simply been waiting—for her.

And now, as she grew, the seals weakened. Not enough to break entirely. But enough for someone strong and reckless—a description that fit both me and Lucifer—to finally force their way through. It was excruciating and dangerous, but no longer impossible.

After millennia of failing, we’d done it.

Lily, on the other hand, had passed through completely unharmed. She’d said it’d felt like the gate was calling to her, welcoming her home. And she’d strolled right through.

Because this was all about her.

She wasn’t simply a player in the prophecy—she was the catalyst. The essence of Hell.

And I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

I hadn’t joined the rebellion because of some ancient script. I’d fought for her,withher, because of who she was, not because of what some prophecy said she might become. And I certainly hadn’t wanted her to return here. Nor did I want her to face her father again. We’d already failed once, and the consequences had been catastrophic.

But now, after all I’d seen, I could no longer ignore the possibility. If the prophecy was true—if she truly was Lucifer’s reckoning—then this was where she belonged. Regardless of my personal feelings, of how much I wanted to keep her safe.

Sighing, I moved to the cave entrance and sat with my legs dangling over the edge. I barely felt Hell’s heat. In fact, I found it a relief after Earth’s biting cold.

Movement drew my attention, and my gaze shifted back to Lily. Her head tilted slightly, her brow furrowing as though her dreams had taken a darker turn. Then, with a soft exhale, her eyes fluttered open.

For a moment, she didn’t move. Her gaze held mine with quiet intensity. She didn’t look startled or groggy—just the kind of bone-deep exhaustion I recognized far too well.

Finally, she sat up and ran a hand through her tangled hair. Then she stood and walked toward me, her bare feet silent against the stone floor. She sat next to me at the cave’s edge, her shoulder lightly brushing my arm.

I shifted my gaze back to the fiery horizon. “You should be resting.”

She snorted. “Yeah, that’s not happening.”

I didn’t push. Sleep was never easy, especially in Hell.

For a while, we sat in silence, the heat pressing in. I catalogued the tension in her shoulders, the dark smudges beneath her eyes, and the way her lips pressed into a thin line.

“It’s this place,” she said finally, her tone quiet so not to disturb Eliza, Vol, or Purrgy. “I didn’t think I’d ever return. And now that I’m here, it’s like my brain won’t shut up. I don’t remember it feeling this way before. It’s like something is pulling at me, calling to me.”

Interesting choice of words. And perhaps more evidence strengthening the theory that she was the prophesied one.

“No rest for the wicked, huh?” she asked, her lips quirking in a grim smile.

I frowned. “You’re not wicked.”

She glanced at me and raised her brows. “Says the demonic vampire to Lucifer’s daughter. That’s rich.”

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