Page 86 of The Road to Hell

He lifted his head, his bruised, exhausted gaze locking onto Korrak’s. “I am here for her,” he said. His voice was hoarse, but there was no hesitation. No doubt. “Only her.”

ChapterTwenty-One

LILY

The encampment was still buzzing with tension when I led Rathiel through it. Eyes followed us but I ignored them all. Let them whisper, let them wonder. They would learn soon enough that Rathiel wasn’t their enemy.

Gorr padded at my side, his ears flicking with restless energy, while Mephisar and Sable slithered close behind. It seemed my hellwyrms weren’t planning to leave Rathiel’s side anytime soon.

Good.

Rathiel walked beside me, steady but slow. Each step looked painful, but he didn’t complain. Because he never complained. In his hand—slung over his shoulder—was the tattered bag that had lay beside him in the dirt. I didn’t know what was in it, but it looked heavy.

Without a word, I reached out and took it from him.

He handed it over with nary an argument. Just let the strap slide from his shoulder and into my hand.

We reached my tent—the one decent space I had carved out for myself. I pushed open the flap and gestured him inside. He hesitated for a second, glancing over his shoulder, then ducked through. I quickly followed and closed the flap behind us, sealing us away from all the prying eyes.

Sighing, I crossed the space and dropped the bag on the floor. “Sit,” I said, pointing at my cot in the corner of the tent.

Rathiel immediately sat, his elbows braced against his knees and his head bowed.

“What happened to you?” I asked. “The last time I saw you, you were fine.”

He lifted his head, a wry smile touching his lips. “Your people caught me just outside the perimeter of your camp. They didn’t exactly ask questions first.”

Ah. My people did this. It shouldn’t have surprised me. Of course they’d attacked him. To them, Rathiel was nothing more than Lucifer’s most trusted. A fallen angel. An enemy to the rebellion. They had no idea who he really was or what he possibly meant to me—not that I, myself, knew the answer to that.

I pulled over a small stool and sat, studying his face. Tentatively, I reached out and brushed his hair back from his eyes. “You’re telling me a group of hellspawn got the jump on you?”

That wry smile broadened until he winced. “Well. I may have let them.”

I chuckled, though the sound came out a bit weak. Yeah, that sounded more accurate. Rathiel would never let a bunch of hellspawn jump him. But he’d likely known the only way to get to me was to bleed for it.

If he’d fought back, the entire camp would have turned on him. Rathiel might be a soldier, a warrior—Lucifer’s strongest—but even he couldn’t survive an all-out assault from an entire camp of hellspawn. They would have killed him eventually. But this way? They dragged him right to me. And all it’d cost him was some blood and a few feathers.

The questions I’d wondered earlier came roaring back to me. Especially if we needed to start preparing for an attack. But Rathiel didn’t look worried, nor was he interrupting me to warn me about an impending ambush. Which led me to think there wasn’t one.

So, instead, I gestured at the bag now resting next to his feet. “What’s in there?”

Rathiel followed my gaze, then reached for the bag and dragged it closer. His movements were stiff, but careful—as if the contents mattered. When he opened it, steel glinted at me.

I leaned forward and gasped.

All my weapons—Inferno’s Kiss, Shadow’s Embrace, Whisper, Hell’s Fang, and Oblivion’s Edge—sat inside.

Rathiel looked up at me. “I thought you might want these.”

“You—” I reached into the bag and touched my swords, reassuring myself they were actually here. “You brought them with you? How?”

“I went back for them,” he said quietly. “Before I left the palace. I couldn’t leave them behind. Not when I know how much they mean to you.”

Emotion clogged my throat. He didn’t say it like it was a big deal. But itwas. He’d brought me all the things that made me feel strong.

I met his gaze. “Thank you.”

His expression softened in a way I’d never seen before. “You’re very welcome.”

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