Page 53 of The Road to Hell

He gave an exaggerated sigh and pressed a hand to his heart. “Sweet Lily, you wound me. Truly. If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it the second you stepped out of that cave. But alas, I’m here to play nice.” His pale eyes glittered with mischief. “No nightmares from me, no fire from you, nobitingfrom you”—he gestured lazily at Rathiel—“and no whispering sweet nothings from you.” He glanced at Eliza, let his gaze dip a fraction too low, then winked. “Although, in your case, I might make an exception.”

I ignored his smarminess and said, “Then where are the others?”

“Oh, they’re around. Searching for you three, I presume. I just found you first. Lucky me.”

“And you just…want to talk?” I replied, my tone disbelieving.

“I understand your wariness,” he said, “since, as you pointed out, we were recently fighting to the death. But times change. People evolve.” He turned his gaze to Rathiel. “Even you, it seems.”

I considered his words, then shared a glance with Rathiel, who slowly nodded.

Fine.

Chatting it was.

I faced Calyx and studied him. He wasn’t the worst of my father’s fallen—Gremory held that title without contest—but I definitely feared him. And when I feared something, I hated it.

He didn’t just kill things—he unmade them. He slithered into their minds, peeled them apart layer by layer, turned every weakness, every terror, into a weapon. More than once, he’d used my father’s image against me, knowing Lucifer’s voice, his presence, his rage would break me faster than anything else. He never had to strike me in training. He would smile—much like he was now—step forward, and let the nightmares do all the work. I had to quickly learn how to block him out, and fight tooth and nail for every inch of my mind that he tried to take.

But back then, I’d been weaker.

Now?

If he so much as tried to penetrate my mind, I would show him what kind of nightmareIcould be. I would flay the flesh from his bones and set it aflame right in front of him. I would show him how it felt to have his own skeleton blacken and splinter, to feel his bones crack and char as the fire ate through him, slow and merciless. I would burn him from the inside out and make damn sure he was conscious for every second of it.

Calyx’s grin widened, his eerie, pale eyes gleaming with something that sent a cold chill slithering down my spine. He tilted his head, as if amused. As if the flames crawling up my arms and the shadows writhing at my feet were nothing but a childish tantrum.

He barely blinked, just lounged against the rock like this was a casual reunion. It was a performance. It always was with him. He calculated every word, every action. All designed to get under someone’s skin, to slip past their defenses and settle deep where he could inflict the real damage.

“Well?” he asked. “Shall we chat then?”

“And what exactly do you want to talk to me about?” I asked.

His smile was slow, deliberate. “Still self-absorbed. I never said I wanted to talk toyou, darling.” His gaze landed on Rathiel, and his smirk turned knowing. “I came to talk to him. Alone.”

Immediately, I stepped forward, cutting off his line of sight. “No.”

Calyx arched a brow, but I didn’t miss the way his lips twitched, like he was fighting back a laugh. “Protective, are we?” He tilted his head, studying me like I was some fascinating little creature. “I wonder, is that because you care, or because you don’t trust him?”

Rage burned through me so fast I almost let the hellfire loose. Almost.

But I held it. Barely.

“I trust Rathiel,” I said. “You, on the other hand? You’re a walking infestation. That you want to speak with him alone makes me want to set you on fire.”

Calyx sighed dramatically, rubbing his temple like I exhausted him. “You really are annoying, you know that?”

I took another step forward, my magic surging at the challenge. “Ditto.”

Rathiel moved then, stepping up beside me. “Whatever you have to say to me, you can do it here,” he said, his voice edged with steel.

Calyx turned his gaze to him fully, the amusement fading just a fraction. “Are you sure about that?”

Rathiel’s silence was his answer.

“Fine,” Calyx said with an exaggerated sigh. His focus landed on me. “But stay out of this conversation. It has nothing to do with you.”

The hell it didn’t, but arguing would only drag this out longer. And the last thing I wanted was to waste time standing out in the open, where anything could be watching. Retreating to the cave wasn’t an option either—not when it reeked of blood and was littered with corpses. No, we needed to keep moving. But if Rathiel was going to entertain this conversation, I wasn’t walking away.

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