Page 63 of Replaced Mate

If I hadn’t been feeling Sariel’s unending horror, I might have agreed just to get us out of there. But he was genuinely afraid of even theideathat I would end up in Hell like there was a heavy shroud where he usually was on the other end of our bond, and I didn’t know how to make it better.

“Well, when they’re ready, they’ll let me know,” Lucifer said with a beaming smile, clapping his hands.

Barimuz appeared again, kneeling beside him with his head bowed, and Michael sighed at the display.

“Barimuz, show them to the guest suite, would you? They’ve decided to stay a while.”

With that, he spun on his heel and left us there. I was tempted to follow after him and try to argue, but Sariel’s grip on me might as well have been iron for all the give it had.

“I’ll work on him,” Cosette promised, grabbing Michael’s hand and trailing behind Lucifer with a screech of his name. “It was lovely to meet you two! Good luck out there!”

Michael didn’t even say anything, just letting his mate drag him along dutifully.

Barimuz stood to his full height, and my insides rolled with discomfort at his presence. To his credit, he didn’t exactly seem thrilled to be alone in a room with us, either.

I couldn’t look at him anymore.

“You both did well,” he finally said. “Your devotion to one another is admirable. Please follow me.”

Chasing after the demon when he ran off, I kept my fingers linked with Sariel’s. We were together now, so there was no way I was risking someone getting the jump on us and pulling us apart again.

The halls were mimicking a castle today, with red carpet and stone walls. There were even torches hanging from the ceiling and embedded into the stone, even though I was nearly positive that they weren’t actually giving off any light due to how bright everything already was.

Barimuz’s tail lashed in front of us like he was an agitated cat. I glared at his back, holding onto the hurt and anger that had made its home in my chest.

“I’m impressed with how much damage you managed to do to me, Aria,” the other said. It was conversational in tone, but Sariel’s grip tightened on me. “Though I do wonder how well you would have done if I had been fighting back.”

Badly, I thought, but I’d rather eat nails than admit that to him.

I’d been all rage and righteous fury, with no rhyme or reason to how I had been attacking him. If he had put any real effort into subduing me, I was positive he would have succeeded, and that certainty was infuriating all its own.

When we reached a large wooden door, he pushed it open without pause, stepping inside and waiting until we followed. After we did, he waved his hand to close it behind us, then straightened, hands folding behind his back as he stared at the two of us.

I wasn’t sure what the Hell was happening until he finally spoke.

“Iamsorry for my part in your pain. Shapeshifting is not my favorite tool, and while I’ve done things like this a thousand times before…” He cleared his throat, shrinking for a moment before snapping out of whatever thought had hit him. “It has occurred to me that I did not…wantto do this to you.”

That was unnerving to hear, considering how well he’d played his part and reveled in my pain when I’d found out. Maybe demons were just predisposed to insane mood swings or something. I’d never really interacted with one outside of the behemoth of a man standing in front of me now.

“So, what? That was all just youfollowing orders?” I bit out.

He shrugged, somehow looking both annoyed and contrite at the same time. He also shuffled a bit on his feet, accepting my disdain without argument, and that mademefeel bad whenhewas the one who’d done such heinous shit!

My angel agreed, still burning with anger, which made me realize I would need to work out howthathad happened as soon as possible. She’d slid in like a puzzle piece, her addition happening so smoothly I hadn’t even noticed there was anything different at all.

“Shapeshifting messes with the mind,” Sariel mumbled, sounding disgruntled by the demon's antics. “He’s got lingering feelings from pretending to be me, so he’s feeling guilty for hurting you.”

Barimuz glared at my mate, and I found myself stepping between them on instinct, snarling back at him.

That seemed to snap him out of it, and he looked away from us both. “Your…mate… is correct. Shapeshifting is not just us putting on a suit and walking around acting. Webecomethe person we are impersonating—all their hopes, dreams, and desires superseding ours—and lesser demons who attempt it usually end up losing themselves entirely. I hope it brings you some peace to know that I would never have hurt her.”

He met Sariel’s eye—I was appalled when the latter actuallynodded.

Never mind the fact Barimuz seemed to be overwhelmed and explaining himself as some kind of messed-up penance for manipulating me in the first place—the man had kissed me.Touchedme. Shared my bed, even if we didn’t do anything in it.

“I know you don’t care to hear it, Aria, but I wanted to say it anyway,” Barimuz ended his speech, looking at me.

I nodded, trying to be respectful since he was obviously dealing with some after-effects of this… insane scenario, as well. I still couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that he’d been pretending to be my mate for so long, and I hadn’t seen it, yet now that I was standing with therealSariel, it seemed so obvious, I could puke.

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