Page 88 of The Road to Hell

“You escaped. You joined the rebellion. You are a problem, and he saw an opportunity.” Rathiel let those words sit before he said, “He ordered me to infiltrate your ranks.”

The chill in my spine turned to ice. “So, he did send you here.”

“Yes.”

I put myself in my father’s shoes and tried to understand his motivations. Why would he send one of his fallen to me? I played out the scenario in my head, feeling around for the truth. “He freed you from the vow so you can gain my trust,” I said. “Because to be a part of a rebellion, you’d have to do some shady things. And for that, you’d need your free will.”

“Yes.”

“But why not just order you to do this? Why not command you to do whatever it takes to gain my trust? Why free you from your vow?”

“I think it’s a test,” Rathiel said. “I told him I was loyal, but this would be the ultimate way to find out the truth.”

“He believes you’ll go back to him. No matter what.”

“Maybe,” Rathiel said. “But Lily, I didn’t come because he ordered me to.”

“Then why did you come?” I asked, my voice quiet, not sure I’d like the answer.

“Like I said before, I’m here for you. Only you.” He paused, his gaze holding mine. “Fuck your father. I don’t care what he wants or what he expects. I’m loyal to you.”

My breath hitched, and my pulse drummed in my ears. Rathiel had bled for me, suffered for me, carried my damn swords across Hell just because he knew I’d want them. And now he was standing here, bruised and abused, offering me his loyalty.

Rathiel rose from the cot with a slow, measured exhale.

I stood too.

He took a step toward me, then another.

I didn’t move. I should have. But my feet stayed planted, my breath shallow, my pulse a traitorous drum in my ears.

He was too close now. Close enough that the firelight caught the bruises along his jaw, the shadows under his eyes, the cut of his mouth. I’d seen him fight, seen him bleed, seen him broken and defiant and unshakable. But I had never seen him like this. Never seen himlookat me like this.

“I need you to hear me, Lily,” he said quietly, his voice rough at the edges. “Because there is so much I have wanted to say to you for so long, but couldn’t. I finally have my freedom, and I refuse to give it back.”

A flurry of emotions fluttered in my stomach.

His hand lifted slightly, like he meant to reach for me, but then he hesitated, curling his fingers into a loose fist. “I know life hasn’t been easy for you,” he said, quieter now. “And I know that I am responsible for a huge part of that. I don’t expect you to forgive me for anything my brethren and I have done to you.”

I hardly breathed, afraid any movement might ruin this moment.

Because the man standing in front of me wasn’t the same one who had forced me through countless battles, who had trained me, pushed me, prepared me for a war I never wanted to fight. That Rathiel had been my father’s tool. But this Rathiel had broken free.

“I didn’t come here because he ordered me to,” Rathiel said, voice quiet but certain. “I came because I chose to. Because I see you,” he murmured. “I havealwaysseen you.”

My stomach tightened.

He stepped closer, and I couldn’t make myself retreat. His presence pressed in, crowding my space, suffocating me in ways that had nothing to do with fear.

“You are everything he hates. Light, beauty, freedom. But you’re everything I want,” Rathiel said. “And I won’t let him break you.”

My breath hitched and my pulse stuttered at the sound of his voice. I had spent years resenting him, cursing his name, telling myself he was nothing more than my father’s lackey. I had spent a lifetime resenting him. Except, everything had changed now.

I’d changed when he kissed me.

I’d never kissed anyone before. Not like that. Not at all. I still hadn’t processed the way his lips had burned against mine, the way his hands had gripped my waist, holding me like I was something he wanted to keep.

And I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it since it happened.

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