Chapter 99
“People incapable of guilt usually do have a good time.”
—RUST COHLE, TRUE DETECTIVE
A fter a hot shower and a thousand kisses, the light had returned to Lilith’s eyes.
I pulled one of the healers who had been tending to the wounded in the dining room away and had her mend the wounds in Lilith’s hands. Whatever those golden spikes had been made of had made it difficult for the healer to do her work, but happily, by the time she left, there were only two small pink scars left.
I opened her hands and kissed each palm reverently, stroking her new scars with my thumbs.
“I can’t believe you died,” she whispered from where I had her curled tightly under my arm on the bed. I gently kissed her forehead, greedily inhaling her scent.
“If you bleed, I bleed,” I murmured against her. “I’ll never forgive myself for not making it to you in time.”
“You made it in time, Ramel. They weren’t able to steal my magic.”
I pulled away, looking down at her in disbelief. “They crucified you on a cross, Lilith. Rafael raped you. I would hardly call that ‘ getting there in time.’”
She shrugged. “I rotted his dick off for what he did, and honestly, I would go through it all again if it ended with the same result. We’re together. We’re home. Shemhazai, you, me, and I guess now Gabe… We’re all okay.” Her gaze darkened. “I wish we could have Jezebel here too, but she would be happy we won. I know she would.”
“Of course she would,” I murmured, brushing a lock of butterscotch hair out of her little round face. “I still feel like I failed you,” I whispered, and she smiled up at me, the curve of her lips so devastatingly beautiful that I felt like she could stop the very world from turning.
“You didn’t fail me, Ramel.” She stroked the side of my face. “You promised me forever, and you kept your promise. You’re still here.”
“I’ll always fucking be here,” I vowed fiercely. Threading my fingers into her hair, I gripped her tightly. She gasped, and I could hear her heartbeat speed up. My gaze dropped to the pulse in her throat, and my mouth watered. She didn’t miss the way I licked my lips, and she smiled.
“Is my Nightmare thirsty?” she whispered. I glanced up at her, barely daring to breathe.
“You don’t mind that I now seem to crave your… blood?” I asked, unsure why I was surprised. She wiggled closer to me, the heat of her body sending a shiver of pleasure down my spine.
“It felt good when you bit me,” she admitted, her voice growing hoarse with the memory. I smiled at her. “Mmmm. Is that so?”
She nodded urgently, and I lowered my lips to her throat, shuddering at the feel of her pulse against my lips.
Fuck. It would feel so good to just…
The bedroom door slammed open, and Shemhazai strolled in. I jerked away from Lilith and glared at him for interrupting. He gave me a sly grin — the type of grin that I had come to learn meant he had an evil, disgusting idea, and I would likely enjoy whatever it was he was planning.
“Get up, both of you. Gabriel has made it clear that he is owed his pound of flesh, and he insists he will not wait another moment.”
Gabriel was behind him, glowering and angry, but he crossed his arms over his chest defiantly, still gripping the golden scepter in his right hand. His black wings were held tight to his back, his glossy feathers gleaming in the green light of the fire.
“You promised me. Don’t make it sound like I’m asking for more than what I’m owed.”
Lilith cocked her head to the side, confused. “What is it, exactly, that he’s owed?”
Shem grinned at her. “We promised if he helped us overthrow Yahweh, you would turn him into a demon, and he would sit on the Watcher’s Council.”
Lilith’s eyes widened briefly in surprise, but the look of shock quickly spread into a warm smile.
“Of course I’ll change you, Gabe. You didn’t need to make a deal with these two assholes for that. You only needed to ask.” She got out of bed, and I was unable to suppress the animalistic growl that erupted from my chest as she moved away from me. My canines throbbed with an unfamiliar pain. I had been so close to sinking my teeth into that beautiful throat filled with blood so good that my eyes rolled back into my head. I shot out of the bed after her, wrapping my arms around her waist and slamming her back into my hips.
“Don’t you walk away from me, deathtrap,” I growled against her ear, feeling my pupils dilate as she shuddered beneath me.
“I’m not walking away, I’m just going to change Gabe, and then we can pick up where we left off,” she assured me, and I ground against her from behind. The growl in my chest intensified despite her attempt at placating me.
Gabriel was staring at Lilith like he was trying to figure her out, and Hazai looked absolutely fiendish.
“A couple things first.” Hazai glanced back at Gabriel, a mischievous smirk on his lips. “It’s true; we owe him for helping us, but Hecate had given me a clue on how to find her, and because of his impatience, I have lost sight of my prey.”
Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Whatever, Shemhazai. Like you won’t be able to still track her down.”
Hazai snarled and wrapped his hand around Gabriel’s throat. His grip was so tight the angel’s face reddened.
“As much as I appreciate your confidence in my hunting skills, Hecate has proven to be… especially difficult to track. She is gone now until she deigns to give me another clue, and it is entirely your fault.”
Gabriel narrowed his eyes at the cat demon but said nothing. After another moment of intense eye contact, Hazai let go of the angel and turned back to Lilith.
“You will turn him, but he will be mine. For his punishment, he will serve me. He’s my pet. And you will change him into whatever I tell you. Is that clear?”
A rush of excitement rolled through me at Hazai’s tone. I pulled back from Lilith so I could see the look on her face. That was the first time he had used that tone with her since she had gotten her memories back. I was interested to see if she would make good on her threat to use her newfound powers to put a stop to our controlling ways.
She scoffed. “And what if I don’t?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest, mirroring Gabe’s stance. Hazai looked at me, the evil smile on his face widening before his gaze snapped back to Lilith’s.
“Have you forgotten, Lilith, that you are still owed a punishment as well?”
My cock twitched in my pants, and her eyes flashed with excitement at his words. Her mouth tilted up, and I knew then that this would end with her beneath one or both of us, begging for mercy.
‘What are you planning, Shemhazai?’ I whispered into Hazai’s mind, and he smirked at me.
‘I want to punish them together. For this to work, you will have to be willing to allow Gabe to touch her. Can you stomach that?’
I thought about it. ‘Fine. But only when we tell him he can. He is never to touch her without either of us here or without a direct order.’
‘Deal.’
Without warning, I grabbed Lilith’s wrists and held them behind her back. I felt her stiffen in surprise, but before she could react, I slammed my fangs into the crook of her neck, and she immediately went limp in my arms.
She moaned as I drank from her in great gulps, the taste of her blood making me so hard it took all my restraint not to release my grip on her wrists so I could stroke my own cock.
She whimpered and ground her hips back against me, the power of my bite clearly having the same effect on her.
“Ramel…” she gasped, arching into me and pressing her flesh deeper into my fangs. I forced myself to pull away, chuckling. Leaning in again, I whispered into her ear.
“How does that feel, deathtrap?” Gathering her wrists in one hand, I reached around her front, gripping her hardened nipple beneath her black silk nightdress and twisting firmly. She moaned and sank further into my embrace, suddenly soft and malleable. “Feels good, doesn’t it?” I asked her, and she ground back against me again, begging me with her body.
“Do you want more?” I whispered, glancing over her shoulder at Shem, who was watching me with a manic sort of glee. Gabriel was also watching us; however, he seemed to be growing increasingly pale. He already understood that he had lost. Lilith would do what we said if she wanted me to let her come. If he wanted to be a demon, he would be a demon on Shem’s terms.
“Please. Please, more,” Lilith begged, tilting her head to the side to give me access to her still-bleeding throat.
“Fuck, this biting thing is going to make everything so much more fun,” Hazai said, sliding closer to us curiously. He tilted her head up to look at him with one hand and reached between her legs with the other.
“Her pupils are dilated, and holy fucking shit… ” His eyes widened in surprise as he glanced at me over her shoulder. “She’s so fucking wet.”
I grinned at him, running my tongue over the puncture wounds on the side of her neck, making her quiver in ecstasy in my arms.
“I don’t know what it is, but the bite seems to be an aphrodisiac,” I murmured. Shem stepped back, and Lilith whimpered in protest as he removed his hand from between her legs. “And it boosts the shit out of my magic.” Lilith’s power was rippling through me. I was throbbing with it, and I was not immune to the hot beat of arousal that seemed to come with the bite. However, I needed to stay in control. If we could get Lilith to turn into a weeping puddle of need, she would be putty in our hands. My imagination was already running rampant with all the ways Hazai and I could use that to our advantage.
“If you want more, deathtrap, you’re going to have to earn it,” I said, licking the wound on her neck again, staring at Gabriel as I did it. I could see that he was hard now too, though he stood firm, his lips tight.
“Are you going to be a good girl and turn Gabriel for Shemhazai?” I asked, massaging her ear with my lips. I traced gentle circles over her abdomen with the hand that wasn’t restraining her wrists. She tilted her hips in an attempt to encourage my hand to move lower, and I chuckled.
“Yes. I’ll turn him.”
“Good girl, Lilith,” Hazai praised her, turning to Gabriel. “Hand me the scepter and go to her.”
Gabriel looked at Shem, his face full of apprehension. “What are you going to make her change me into?” he asked, his voice quiet.
Shem reached out and gently stroked the side of the angel’s face. “Something tasty.” He grinned, licking his lips.
Gabriel ran his tongue over his own lips and stared at Hazai for a long moment before nodding. “Fine,” he breathed and stepped forward.
“I’m going to let you go so you can change him, deathtrap. You’re not to touch yourself. If you want to come, you’ll do as we say.”
She nodded urgently as I kissed her gently over my bite mark. “I’ll be good,” she promised, and I smiled, letting go of her wrists. Due to her sweet blood running through my veins, I was considerably stronger than I had ever been before, but she was still the Goddess of Death and Decay. Her power was a gift to me, and I would always be dependent on her. She could overtake me if she wanted to. She could force all three of us to kneel at her feet and rot us into the ground if she chose to, but I knew she wouldn’t.
She was the Lilith I had come to know and love over the past twenty-two years, but she was also the Lilith who had taught me about death and pleasure. She was my queen and my lover, and I knew exactly what she needed and wanted.
She wanted me to have my way with her, and that was exactly what I was going to do.
I let her go, and Hazai gestured to Gabriel to step forward, a feline smirk painted across his lips.
“What do you want me to change him into?” Lilith asked. She reached out and gently brushed Gabe’s auburn hair out of his eyes. Shem ran his fingers lightly down the silken black feathers of one of his wings, and the angel closed his eyes, shivering with pleasure.
“What do cats eat?” Shem asked. His voice was dark, but his green eyes were bright as he continued to stroke the wing of his angel.
Lilith’s lip curled in understanding, and she nodded once.
“Are you ready, Gabe? ”
His citrine eyes flew open, and I had never seen him look so serious. “Yes. Fuck yes, I’m ready.”
Lilith gently cupped the side of his face and gave him a kind smile, much the same way she had when she had changed me. Shemhazai and I watched as rot bloomed over Gabe’s cheek. He screamed as the black mold consumed him. My heart rate accelerated as Lilith killed his angel and planted a new demon in his chest.
I waited for his wings to turn to rot, but to my surprise, they didn’t. When Lilith’s magic melted away, Gabriel stood as he had, with two pitch-black feathered wings. He spread them wide, frowning in confusion.
“I am the same, but the pain is gone…”
Hazai wrapped his arms around Gabriel’s waist and pulled him into his hips, kissing the side of his neck softly.
“You are not the same,” he purred, nipping at Gabe’s throat.
Lilith smiled. “Ravens see all and know all. They are the keepers of secrets and are spies for the dead.”
Shem ran his hands up Gabriel’s black shirt from behind. He hooked his fingers into the collar at his throat and pulled hard enough that a button snapped off.
“Are you going to keep our secrets, Gabe?” he purred, and Gabriel shuddered, nodding.
“Yes.”
“Good boy.” Hazai met my eyes over the raven demon’s shoulder. “Now strip. You’re going to make our queen come until she begs me to let you stop.”