Chapter 7 Asta
Kai found her.
For the first time since Rome took her, everyone is back at the apartment. The only problem is we can't agree on what to do next.
“What the fuck do you mean he’s controlling her?” Talian asks the question I’m sure all of us are wondering. I didn’t ask because it doesn’t really matter much; either way, she won’t be staying with him.
Even if Rome found some way to control her.
Leave it to him to manipulate her mind; she could never love him without that. Not after whatever it was he did to her.
We might be demons, but he’s her worst nightmare.
“I don’t know what he did or how, but she didn’t remember me. All her memories are with him, building a life together.”
We’re all quiet as we let his words sink in.
“Building a life together?” Bast’s voice is gruff and clipped, not at all like his usual soft-spoken tone.
“Yeah, they're married, have been friends for years, living the dream together with a little coffee shop and a house to build a family in.” I hear the disgust in his voice, even though he manages to keep his face neutral.
Something neither Talian nor Bast manages. Talian looks as if he might puke, while Bast looks like he might very well burn the entire apartment to the ground.
Considering the fact that he and Talian already did that not long ago, I’d rather we don’t do it again.
“So fix it.” The icy rage in Bast’s tone seems to take Kai by surprise. It’s been a long time since Bast cared about anything like this; it’s easy to forget how he got such a high position.
“You think I didn’t try?” Kai snaps back, more than happy to meet his annoyance head-on. Kai gets off on being an asshole, no matter the situation.
“Wait, you couldn’t get through it?” I ask as his words finally register.
His lips pull down in a slight frown, and his brows pinch together as he shakes his head, annoyed that he’s admitting defeat.
I’ve never heard of a mind Kai couldn’t get into, let alone a mortal's.
Most mortal minds were easy pickings; they didn’t even realize they were in danger of mind reading and manipulation, so they had zero defense, not that anyone would care to see into their minds. Most humans were relatively easy to control without digging too deep.
Angels, on the other hand, were harder, as were some demons, but never had I heard of Kai being unable to do it. Sometimes it was harder than others, but the four of us were some of Satan’s highest-ranking generals, under only him and the princes.
“Did you really even fucking try?” Bast pushes to stand, the stool falling to the ground with his sudden movement, but nobody pays it any attention.
“It’s no secret you two didn’t get along,” Talian says with a sigh that makes Bast roll his eyes.
“They get along just fine,” Bast snaps, turning his narrowed gaze to Kai, who glares back. “Don’t you?”
I glance between them, knowing I’m missing something but unsure if I care to ask for the details. Clearly, it’s a sore subject, and it won’t do us any good with getting Aerilyn away from Rome, so is it even worth it?
“What am I missing?” Talian asks, seemingly just as confused as I am, and I feel a little better knowing I’m not the only one left out.
“It doesn’t matter.” All eyes turn to me. I can see Talian’s urge to continue to push for information, but I push forward before he can.
“Regardless of what you are or are not able to do, we need to get her out of there before Rome comes back. We can worry about the rest after; who knows when we’ll get another chance like this.”
Talian still looks like he wants to press Bast and Kai for answers, but he stays quiet, for now. Bast looks two seconds from losing his mind, and Kai looks annoyed, no doubt over being unable to break through Rome’s barriers.
I don’t like that either, if I’m being honest.
When did Rome become so powerful?
And why would he use so much power on her?
“Talian, go collect her.” Bast opens his mouth, no doubt ready to argue with me, but I cut him off before he can.
“You two need to look for a way to free her. We have no idea what he did or how, but we might be able to separate her from him; she needs to be free from his influence. Keeping her safe from him is already hard enough, clearly. We don’t need her continuing to harbor a fake love and pull to him.
” I struggle to keep my voice steady, despite my best efforts.
Everything about Rome pisses me off, but he’s never been a real issue, not like this.
Bast snaps his mouth shut before giving me a curt nod and promptly leaving the kitchen, without so much as glancing at Kai.
Fantastic.
I’m sure they’re going to get a lot done like this.
I shake the thought away to deal with later.
For now, I have someone I need to talk to.
It’s been a few years since I’ve been back, and it’s still just as gloomy and depressing down here as ever.
Not to mention the heat and howling souls of the damned.
“Asta,” Lucifer’s voice breaks through the howls, one of the few things that can quiet the unruly souls.
He’s in his demon form, considering we're in Hell, his domain, but not his full form.
I’ve only seen his full form once, and I’d be happy never to see it again.
Even still, in this form, he’s intimidating.
Unlike the rest of us, I’ve never seen him in an in-between state. He’s either hundreds of feet tall with molten lava for skin, horns bigger than I am, and wings that span across the planes of Hell, or a large human-ish man.
Lucifer stands at about seven feet tall.
His hair is pure black, darker than a starless night, cut short on the sides and shaggy on top, falling on his forehead but not quite reaching his eyes.
His eyes are red, but unlike humans, he lacks the white; instead, they're black. Though I have seen him with more human features once, he often doesn’t. Why would he?
He’s what most humans would describe as good-looking. I’ve been around them long enough to understand what they look for, and he checks all the boxes. Strong jaw, high cheekbones, messy hair, muscles carved into him.
But he’d also be their nightmares. His armor is built into him, and if he can make it go away, I’ve yet to see it.
Huge spikes protrude from his shoulders and elbows; dark chains wrap around his waist and into the material that covers him from the waist down.
I’m not sure what exactly it is—pants with a kind of cape woven into it—but it screams royalty.
His chest is bare, but his skin is hidden behind blood and shadows.
His left side is stained red, while the right is black.
He is far from divine, but he is still a god.
Rumor has it he carries a massive sword that’s covered in hellfire, but I’ve never seen it firsthand. I intend to keep it that way.
I can’t imagine what he would need with a weapon, not when he is the ultimate weapon, the very definition of death and destruction.
Or maybe he’s not intimidating at all, and I simply feel this way because I’ve seen his true form both before the fall and after. Having seen how easily he can consume the souls of hundreds of thousands and bring divine beings to their knees.
“What brings you back so soon? I thought it would be a few hundred years before I saw you again.” He’s right, and he knows it. The smug smile on his face is enough to make me itch to leave again.
When he’d finally approved us to go topside, I’d told him it would be a long time before I came back. He laughed and told me he’d see the others enough that he wouldn’t miss me too much.
He’d been right about that, too.
Kind of.
Talian had been back recently.
Kai almost got his ass sent back down here, too, but I’d already been annoyed about waiting for Talian to crawl his way back out.
“If I had it my way, I wouldn’t be, but this is outside of my control.”
The smile on his face falls slightly as I close the distance between us, meeting him at the steps of his castle
“What’s happened?”
I might not love my responsibilities here, but Lucifer is one of my oldest friends, from long before the fall. It’s not surprising that he can read me so easily.
“A lot.”
Without another word, he turns and heads into the castle, leaving me to follow him. I’ve been here hundreds, if not thousands, of times, mostly for work, but not always. We sometimes came here for dinner or because Lucifer summoned us.
Bast always said he was lonely here, and despite his efforts to hide it, I’m inclined to agree after all these years.
It doesn’t take long to fill him in, but it still would have been much faster if he hadn’t felt the need to interrupt me constantly with questions.
“Kai can’t break through it?”
See?
“He said he wasn’t able to when he stumbled upon her this afternoon.”
“Strange. I wasn’t aware that Rome had that kind of power.”
“Neither were we,” I tell him, glad to know we're at least on the same page.
“So what are you going to do? I’ve never heard of a demon having a mate, but I’ve also never known Bast to be wrong.”
That’s also something I’ve considered. Bast knows his stuff; that’s kind of his thing. He enjoys learning about both demons and mortals.
Just because we’ve never heard of a demon having a mate, does that make it the truth?
I’m not sure.
But if he has a chance to find his mate, I want to help him. Not to mention, Aerilyn doesn’t deserve to be stuck with Rome.
Nobody does.
“I don’t know yet. Right now, the goal is to get her away from him.”
Lucifer nods as he paces the length of the huge dining hall where we’re currently seated.
His castle sits in the center of Hell and is a sight to behold.
Every inch is dark stone with red accents, but it somehow still doesn’t feel as suffocating as one might think.
It’s somehow eerie and elegant at the same time, but the size is obnoxious.
The table could easily hold fifty people, and he’ll be the first to tell you he doesn't even like fifty people, let alone want them over for dinner.
Candles line the center of the table; fruits and flowers only found in Hell sit between the place settings. The high-back chairs give everything a regal feel that reminds me a lot of the stories the mortals tell of times with kings and queens.
Nothing like Heaven, where the only one to enjoy such luxuries was God himself.
The dim light from outside pours in through the huge stained glass window, and between that and the chandelier overhead, the whole room has a comforting feeling that shouldn’t be possible given its size.
A smile pulls at the corner of Lucifer’s lips, and he shakes his head.
“What?” I can’t help but ask, seeing his clear amusement where there really isn't a reason for it.
“Nothing,” he says, but I know that’s not the case. I remain quiet, and he comes to a stop at the chair across from me. “It’s just hard to believe that all four of you have taken an interest in the same woman, a mortal woman no less.”
“It’s not like that,” I tell him, but he ignores me.
“She must be something special.”
I don’t waste my breath because, while I might not be interested in her the way he seems to think I am, I can’t deny she might be special.
If she really is Bast’s mate, that could change everything.
Not to mention, she’d somehow caught Rome’s eye. I know he said her ancestors had made a deal, but something made him pick her.
“So what brings you here?” Lucifer asks, pulling me from my thoughts and back to our conversation now that it’s no longer one-sided.
I grit my teeth, hating what I’m about to say, despite our being friends.
“I need your help.”