Chapter 8
I knew that Kaito regretted taking off the training wheels. But, it was what our relationship needed to reach the next level.
Unfortunately, whatever rush of power I’d secured between Kaito and Logan had been eaten up either by Hell or by Balthazar.
Leaving me even more exhausted than I was before, but at least I was sexually satisfied—for the moment.
“This is bullshit,” I complained as I rested against his chest.
Kaito effortlessly carried me, leaving my wings tucked over his arms, as he silently traversed the hallway back to the bedrooms.
“I couldn’t agree more,” he said, his tone heavy. The velvety sounds of his voice were an interesting mixture of satisfaction paired with frustration.
Because sex wasn’t enough. Whatever power I generated with my mates was immediately taken, so that alone wasn’t going to help me regain my strength.
Kaito made his way into my bedroom, pausing for a moment to frown at the broken glass.
“Right, let’s stay in my room,” he said.
His mostly-unused room was just as I had left it. He rested me on his bed before heading into the bathroom. The sounds of water splashing into a tub made me sigh.
He had a similar setup to Logan, except I was pretty sure that Kaito’s setup was even bigger based on the size of the bedroom.
His wings had disappeared by the time he returned with a robe. He hadn’t bothered to put on any clothes, either. Given we were inside an Incubus’s mansion, it didn’t make much sense to be prudes.
“This’ll be my second bath of the day,” I chuckled as I rejected the robe. We were far beyond modesty.
Kaito gave me a wry smile, then nodded to the dark window. “Well, it’s probably around one in the morning. So technically it’s a new day.”
“Hmm,” I agreed.
I watched him as he pulled a meal from the mini freezer, then popped it into a microwave.
Seeing that made me laugh. “Did you learn that from Dante?”
Then my heart twisted, remembering where Dante was.
He gave me a knowing smile. “Yes. Dante does love his simple meals. I’ve been studying a lot, and we don’t have a cook in the kitchen.” He shrugged. “Logan usually does most of the cooking.”
That didn’t surprise me. What few times I had been around my wolf shifter, he had enjoyed cooking.
Kaito made the meal more suitable in appearance by putting it onto a plate and evening it out. He paired it with a glass of wine as if that might make it classy.
I chuckled and silently enjoyed the meal. Even though it had been frozen, it had all the nutritional bits with meat, vegetables, rice, and a tiny dessert brownie.
Kaito made himself one and we quietly ate together.
If he didn’t have horns, and I didn’t have wings, would this be considered “normal” among humans?
The thought gave me mixed feelings. I’d never know what “normal” was. Not just because I wasn’t human, but because even if I were, Earth would never be the same. Lucifer had made sure of that.
When we were done, Kaito cleared the plates onto a tray and he explained he’d take those to the kitchen later.
I then let him carry me into the bathroom and sighed when he dipped me into the warm water. I’d never experienced feeling quite this… sore.
Kaito frowned down at me before joining in the tub. He silently lathered me with soap, careful to avoid any scabs, before he started working on my hair.
“Oh, damn,” I said as my eyes rolled back. Kaito worked his fingers through my scalp, having retracted his claws, of course. “Where did you learn to do that?”
He chuckled. “It’s in my nature, I suppose. If you hadn’t guessed it by now, I’m a Fallen Angel. They’re known to be great masseuses.”
I shot up, sending water splashing everywhere. “What? You’re not a demon?”
He eased me back down and continued lathering as if a massage was going to quiet me.
Although, it did, honestly. He really was divine—and I realized that literally.
“I was, yes. A Fallen Angel, that is. Still am, in some ways. Remember how angelic powers work?”
I stared at him until I sighed, realizing he was going Professor Nakamura on me again. “Angelic power is based on belief-system magic.”
He beamed. “What a good student you are. Yes, and so since I believed I was a demon…”
“That’s what you became,” I finished for him, then blew out a breath. “Fuck, that’s wild.”
“Hmm,” he agreed, then took a silver goblet and poured the soap out of my hair. It sent spuds spiraling over the water and I watched it form intricate patterns.
“And I didn’t just become any demon,” he continued. He swept his hand over the bubbles, causing them to form a dark spiral with an image of a field of flowers in the center. “I’m the caretaker of Hell’s Heart. The Death Lotus is apparently my specialty. My… creation.”
My heart skipped a beat and I stared at him. “So Balthazar’s deal…”
He waved a hand, dismissing the scene. “It’s a legitimate deal, but I probably could have helped you find a Death Lotus once I finished unraveling my history. That’s why I was… reliving my time with Azra. I was hoping it would help.”
A blush crept over my cheeks. So he hadn’t just been jerking off for no reason. Everything he did seemed to be for the sole purpose of helping me.
I didn’t deserve Kaito. Seriously.
“Did it work?” I asked, daring to hope. Even if I had made a deal with Balthazar, he didn’t seem to be in a hurry to hold up his end of the bargain. I needed something to help me restore my power and I just knew that a Death Lotus would do it.
Kaito frowned and brushed his fingers through his hair, sending the strands unfurling over his horns. “Unfortunately, no. I don’t think I can recreate the power outburst I experienced without Azra’s… physical ingredients.”
I snorted. “You mean his cum.”
Kaito shrugged. “Yes.”
Angel go-go juice was apparently a hot commodity.
“So, where’s Azra? Let’s save him first.”
Kaito sighed and dipped a fresh towel into the water, then wrung it out. He began working on my wings, next. While I still had some feeling in them, I could barely sense when he worked through my delicate angel feathers.
“That’s what I’ve been trying to work out with Balthazar. He made a deal with Lucifer involving you…”
“Lucifer wants control over Calamity. Balthazar couldn’t promise that, but he could promise to help Lucifer figure out how to control it—starting with my power as a Champion,” I supplied, then shrugged at Kaito’s raised brow. “I had a talk with my father, earlier.”
His mouth formed a silent “O” before he continued. “Well, did your father tell you what Balthazar gets from his deal with Lucifer?”
I shook my head. “He didn’t know.”
Kaito nodded. “Good. He’s not supposed to.”
Silence stretched out between us as Kaito grabbed a new bottle and squeezed its contents into the towel. After lathering it, he began working it over my skin.
I sighed as the aches and pains throughout my muscles eased.
“This is a magical tonic that should help your wounds,” Kaito said. “As for the deal, Balthazar was open to me about it. ‘Demon-to-demon,’ he’d said.” He drew in a deep breath as if the next bit was hard to say. “He asked Lucifer for me.”
I raised a brow. “You?”
“Hmm,” Kaito confirmed. “Balthazar is obsessed with death and all things related to death. I’m the caretaker of the only place where Death Lotus grow and I originally created it.
Even if I’m not able to make them anymore, it makes me valuable to Balthazar’s plans.
And now that he’s linked Hell’s Heart with the Netherworld—”
I startled, the motion making my wings involuntarily flex and splash water over me like a wave. I sputtered and shook myself until Kaito offered me a dry towel to wipe over my face. “Did you say Hell’s Heart is linked to the Netherworld?”
Kaito gave me a weak smile. “I see you’ve made the link of what this could potentially mean.” He removed the towels and cupped my hands. “I don’t want to give you false hope, Koneko-chan.”
Fresh tears sprang to my eyes as I definitely fell into the pit of hope that I wasn’t sure I was going to survive.
“Dante and Hendrik must be there, Kaito. They have to be. If the link happened during the moment they died, then that must be what allowed Balthazar to come through in the first place.”
The death of two mates bonded to the Champion of Calamity would release an incredible amount of power.
It was all coming together now.
Balthazar had crossed realms—entire dimensions—through a one-way portal and he’d never found his way back.
But he’d placed that Death Lotus into my childhood home. He’d linked me to his fate before I was even born.
And with all the realms merging, the sacrifice of two of my mates was enough to help him come through.
With the power of our mate-bond, or perhaps destiny itself, they were still there.
And I could get them back.
But… they weren’t the only ones who needed saving. Cole might be in Hell’s Heart, too, and he’d found his way out once.
But could he do it again?
My heart split into separate directions as I debated which mates we needed to rescue first.
Orion, Azrael, and Samael were trapped by Lucifer.
Cole, Dante, and Hendrik were waiting for me in Hell’s Heart.
I fumbled with Kaito’s hands as indecision gripped me. “Kaito, how am I supposed to choose?”
Even without the mate-bond running at full capacity, Kaito seemed to be able to keep up with my thoughts.
“I believe I can make that decision for you, Koneko-chan. The reason the Death Lotus that Balthazar showed you disintegrated was because he’d already used its power to link your destiny to his.
If he wants a new one, he’s going to have to return to Hell’s Heart.
He’ll have to bring you with him in order to uphold his end of the bargain.
I doubt he could escape its clutches twice and is counting on you to get out a second time. ”
My heart jumped. “So I’m going to see Dante and Hendrik again?”
Oh, I was daring to hope.
I shouldn’t.
I should run from this as far as I could and recognize a fruitless journey when I saw one.
Instead, I felt giddy when Kaito agreed. “Yes, but only if you want to.”
“If I want to?” I repeated.
“You don’t have to go with Balthazar’s plan.
If you escaped this compound and returned to Hell, you should be able to regain your former strength.
Hell wouldn’t have to draw so much energy from you across realms. You could regroup, build an army with your allies—gods know the unicorns owe us one—and take our family back from Lucifer. ”
My heart grew three sizes when Kaito referred to Orion, Azra and Sam as our family.
But if we did what he suggested, I wouldn’t have Balthazar’s help. I’d be hiding from him so he couldn’t use me, meaning we’d have to find a way to Hell’s Heart on our own.
“We can’t get to Hell’s Heart without Balthazar, can we?” I asked, rubbing against my sternum. The thought pressed a cold weight against my chest.
Kaito frowned. “I can’t honestly answer that. With Azrael’s help, I can regain a sense of who I used to be. Perhaps I can help us find Hell’s Heart, but I can’t make any promises.”
“What about Cole?” I asked. “Could he help?”
Kaito shook his head. “I know what you’re thinking, but he only found his way out of Hell once because of the portal spell that Hendrik was working.
Hell’s Heart isn’t just a place, but also a series of fields.
Cole might not even be anywhere near Hendrik to be able to help him remember how to do that again. ”
A sigh puffed from my lips. “And if I went with Balthazar?” I pressed. “What then?”
He frowned. “You would be able to regain your strength. When you reunite with Dante and Hendrik, as well as Cole, we can free your mother, too. She must be there. And if she’s returned to her throne, you’ll be strong enough to finally fulfill your potential and face-off Lucifer.”
“And save Orion and the twins,” I finished for him.
He nodded. “That’s the plan, if we go that route.”
I laughed with a manic sense of joy. “Oh, Kaito. It’s the perfect plan.”
His lips were forced into a grin. I knew he didn’t want to rain on my parade, but I suspected there were more than a few holes in the “go with Balthazar” plan.
I liked it though. That plan saved everyone and we kicked Lucifer’s butt.
“So many things can go wrong, Koneko-chan,” he finally said as he pulled the plug on the drain. “If even one step isn’t completed, we could be stuck in Hell’s Heart forever, or doomed between dimensions. The twins could break before we can get to them, or maybe Orion will be too far lost.”
So, Azrael and Samael were, in fact, being tortured.
And Orion was still under Calamity’s influence.
I watched the waterline retreat down my body until Kaito wrapped me in a towel, still telling me everything that could go wrong.
This was our relationship now. I’d asked for this. He wasn’t going to hold back anymore.
Still, it didn’t mean I wanted to hear the hard realities right now.
I tuned him out as I found the strength to walk to the bed.
Kaito apologized as he continued. He didn’t want me to proceed without knowing the risks.
But what choice did we have? Run back home and abandon my mates while I protected myself?
No. Not an option.
We needed Balthazar to retrieve a Death Lotus and make sure no one was left behind.
Our chances of success might be slim to none, but I refused to be like my mother.
I refused to give up on any of my mates.
As Kaito helped me slip under the sheets, I grabbed his wrist. “We go with Balthazar,” I told him.
He stared at me for a long time. Blue flames licked around his horns, illuminating the dark room, until he finally nodded.
“As you wish.”