Chapter 28 Ruin
The castle is huge, which I expected, but I didn’t expect it to be so beautiful.
Dark, and a little haunted maybe, but still a sight to behold. Too bad I can’t seem to focus on more than putting one foot in front of the other all the way down to the library.
It doesn’t take long, but neither of us says a word, our thoughts still on the woman we just left behind.
Bast stops before a formidable dark wooden door that might even rival the entrance doors. Instead of using his powers, Bast physically pushes the door open, and I wonder if that’s a choice or if something prevents him from using his powers on the door.
“The library is protected by imp magic that ensures only those who would not use the information against Lucifer and the realm may enter,” he says over his shoulder as if reading my mind.
For all I know, he can. Like their physical forms, their powers changed when they fell.
Kai can enter others' minds, manipulating what they see and remember, doing more than just erasing the existence of our kind from mortals who see things they shouldn’t.
If not for the contract, I’m sure he could have erased Rome from Aeri’s mind with ease. Rome shouldn’t even have the ability to do what he is with Aeri, but he’s always found a way to get what he wants.
Kai also has another form now, though the others could as well. I have no idea, since only Kai was willing to speak to me.
I hesitate outside the door for a moment as Bast’s words wash over me, and I feel his eyes.
This is a test.
I don’t blame them, honestly. The fact that Lucifer brought me here is risky. Keeping demons from Heaven and angels from Hell is one of the few things Lucifer and Father have ever agreed upon. Though I get the feeling it was out of necessity, not because they wanted to.
The anarchy that would come from crossing back and forth…it would be enough to end the world, I’m sure.
I walk through the doors knowing I have nothing to hide. The only reason I’m here is because this is where Aeri is. If she were still on Earth, I never would have had a reason to be here, not to mention Lucifer is the one who came and brought me here, not the other way around.
Magic rolls over me, and I get the same feeling I had when we passed over the River, telling me it’s Lucifer’s, but nothing happens, and I follow Bast deeper into the library.
It’s quiet and dim and very much somewhere I can imagine Kai holed up in all day, though I’m a little surprised Bast isn’t as well.
If this were a human library, he probably would be, although maybe not with Aeri, his other choice. There isn’t much I would choose over her.
”How the fuck did you get here?” Kai’s biting tone pulls me from my musing, and despite myself, I smile.
Kai is an asshole, always. The one thing that has never changed once in my very long life.
“Aw, I missed you too.”
I feel his eyes roll even though he doesn’t look up from the book he’s currently engrossed in.
“I see you finally caved. I would have loved to see you beg Lucifer to let you in.” He smirks as if the thought actually excites him, and honestly, I’m not surprised.
“Well, jokes on you because Luce came to me. I didn’t even have to say please.”
That gets his attention, and his eyes snap up from the book to look at me before he looks over to Bast, clearly not believing me.
Bast shrugs, making his way to the table that Kai has clearly been spending all his time at, his eyes roaming over the books, unable to help himself.
“Have you found anything useful?” Bast asks, flipping through papers that I assume are notes. I don’t miss the hope that shines in his eyes, but even before Kai answers, I know he’s going to squash it.
Kai might say he doesn’t like Aeri, but if he’d found something, he would have told them; he wouldn’t have them all still suffering at the hands of Rome.
“No.”
Bast's face falls, his gaze moving back to the books before he turns and disappears into the rows as if off to find his own answers.
“I’ve been over almost everything at this point, very little talk of mates.”
“Nothing in Heaven did either,” I say, shaking my head.
Mates have been around since the dawn of time; how is there not more information on them?
“It doesn’t make sense, though. How did she mate with Lucifer?” I ask the question I’d been unable to voice before. I’d been given so much information that it was as if my mind was overloaded, but now I’m slowly sifting through it.
“No idea. She hugged him, and boom.” He snaps the book in his hand shut for emphasis, and I flinch.
“She hugged him?” I say, pulling a face, because that sounds…silly.
“Yeah, sounds crazy, I know. But that’s all it was. She hugged him, and he hugged her back, and then they were mated.”
“Didn’t you…” I trail off, raising a brow at him because I’m almost positive he did, and I know for sure that Talian did.
“Yes, but I’m not her bonded, and Bast is against fucking her,” he shouts the last bit as if Bast can’t hear him.
“I’m not going to have sex with her when at any moment she could forget who I am,” Bast shouts back, making Kai scowl impossibly deeper.
He holds out a hand, gesturing toward where Bast’s voice came from as if to say, see.
I keep my mouth shut because I agree with Bast, but Kai doesn’t need to know that.
“Okay, so have you learned anything at all?” I ask, moving to the table and looking at the same papers that Bast did, and find a list.
Proximity.
Mate = less Rome, not gone.
Drawn to him is painful.
Cries a lot.
Somehow more annoying now.
I glare at Kai, but he’s already got his nose in a new book.
Always an ass.
Bast comes back with two books, and I push to stand, curious about what else he might have found. After all, he is the one I would turn to for information.
He sees me come and holds the books up.
How Not to Get Eaten by a Hellhound.
Dealing with the Devil.
Neither of those seems like they will help with our Rome issue, but I don’t think that’s the point.
“Figured she would appreciate something to do to pass the time.”
“She does love reading.” I smile at the thought of her curled up by the fireplace, reading about Dealing with the Devil and how Lucifer would take that.
“How do you know that?” Kai asks. Well, really, it’s more of a demand.
“Because I talk to her.” I cock my head at him when he huffs like that’s the dumbest thing he’s ever heard. “Maybe you should try it sometime.”
“I don’t need to talk to her. I knew she liked to read without that.” He waves me off and goes back to his book, but I get the feeling he’s not really reading anything. More than likely, he’s using the book as a way to escape conversation with us.
I intend to call him on it, but before I can, I’m struck silent.
It takes me a second; the sound isn’t as noticeable so deep in the library away from her, but when I see the panic on Bast’s face, I know.
Neither of us says a word; the two books in Bast’s hands hit the ground as we take off back toward the door.
Fuck.
We’re fast, but even with our speed, I’m kicking myself for not having access to my full power. I could have been there in a moment if we were on Earth, but then again, at least I’m not as slow as the mortals even here.
I’m only a step behind Bast, enough for him to lead the way as we race up the stairs; it’s not until we reach the top that I realize Kai isn’t with us.
Did he teleport, or did he not even care to check on her?
Bast turns the corner too sharply, and I hit one of the statues that line the hall. It knocks the wind from my lungs, but I keep going, the crash behind me letting me know it shattered when it hit the ground.
Hopefully, Luce didn’t love that sculpture too much.
Bast busts through her door, moving to her bed and gathering her up into his arms without pause, as if he’s done this a million times, and my stomach flips violently because he probably has.
Aeri has been under Rome’s control for months, and with the guys here in Hell for a few weeks now.
How many times has she woken like this?
How long will this last?
Will she ever be free of him?
Questions swirl around my head at an alarming rate, but I can’t focus on any of them as I watch the tiny girl in Bast’s arms fight to breathe through her panic.
“It’s okay. He’s not here. You're safe,” Bast tells her on repeat as he rubs soothing circles on her back.
She attempts to say something, but it comes out as a jumbled mess of stuttered breathing and sniffles.
“Shhh, breathe for a second and try again.” I move toward the bed, finally finding my voice. Her gaze snaps to me, eyes wide and afraid for a moment until she sees it's only me, and I see her shoulders visibly sag.
By the time she gets herself under control, we’re not the only ones here.
Lucifer stands where I’d been a few minutes ago, near the door, Talian stands at the end of the bed, and…
Kai sits in a chair near the fireplace. Though now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure he was here when we came in, though I can’t be sure.
I wasn’t really paying close attention, and I don’t feel like right now is the time to ask.
“He…he’s in my h-head.” Nobody says a word as we process what she just said. The room is so quiet; all I can hear is Aerilyn’s breathing and the rapid beat of her heart.
“What do you mean, Sunshine?” I finally ask when it becomes apparent nobody else will. He’s been in her head; he fucked up her memories and made her forget us, but I get the sinking feeling that’s not what she meant.
“He was there. I-in my dream.” She squeezes her eyes closed, her lip quivering, and it breaks my heart, but there’s nothing I can do.
I can’t stop Rome. I’m not strong enough, and even if I were, the contract still stands.
“He said he loves me.” Her voice is so quiet I almost miss it, even with how close I am and my heightened hearing.
“Rome wouldn’t know what love was if I shoved it down his throat and choked him with it.”
“That’s what you do with a cock, not love, Luce,” Talian says, earning a glare from Lucifer, but even Talian’s joke sounds flat.
“He couldn’t touch me though, he-he got so mad, and then he was sad.” I hear the confusion in her voice, and it makes sense. What does Rome have to be sad about?
“The mate bond…” Bast’s eyes flick to meet Lucifer’s, but he looks just as lost as I feel.
“What’s going on? Wh-where am I? Who are you?” Aeri pushes away from Bast, scrambling away up the bed, her eyes wide with panic as her breathing once again becomes labored.
“Fuck.” Lucifer’s mumbled curse is so full of emotions it’s almost startling.
The devil is supposed to be cold and uncaring, cruel and deranged.
So why does it feel like Rome has that down better than he ever could?
“Aeri, hey, everything's okay.” Bast moves slowly, holding his hands up in a show that he won’t harm her.
“Remember earlier, I told you what I thought when I first saw you. How I wasn’t good around women.
I was a stepping stone, a way for them to gain something, and they had no problem taking advantage of who I was.
But you’re different, Aeri. Everything about you is different in the best possible way, and I’d love to spend the rest of my impossibly long life with you if you’ll let me. ”
Aeri sits impossibly still as she looks at Bast as if seeing him for the first time, but instead of being afraid as she was before, she seems curious.
‘Luce, come here, I want to try something,’ Bast says in our minds. I get the feeling he told us so we know what’s happening, but didn’t say it aloud to keep Aeri from knowing.
Luce hesitates a moment before he walks toward the bed. Aeri’s eyes jump to him, but she remains where she is, watching, waiting.
“I’m going to help you remember, okay? Can I see your hand?” Bast puts his own hand out, palm up, waiting for her, allowing her to be in control of the situation.
It takes her a minute, and I get that. I can’t imagine what it must be like for her, a room full of people and not knowing a single one.
“Where is Rome?” I cringe at her question. Not two minutes ago, she woke screaming because of him, terrified of the control he has over her.
“He’s on a business trip, remember?” Lucifer’s voice is gentler than I’ve ever heard it before, and it doesn’t take a genius to see he cares for her.
His mate…
Eventually, Aeri nods before hesitantly placing her hand in Bast’s. Bast reaches out and grabs Lucifer’s hand, pulling him down so that his hand rests on top of Aeri’s.
Her heart gallops in her chest, but to her credit, she remains still, though I’m unsure if that’s a choice or in fear.
She blinks hard, once, twice, three times, and before our eyes, I see the change. It’s as if a fog lifts, and I know the second she’s herself again.
“Bast?” Her voice is hoarse, no doubt from her earlier screaming, but it’s her, and I let out a breath of relief.
How have they been able to deal with this? It’s breaking my heart to see her like this, at his mercy.
Seeing his effect on her is all Lucifer needs. Without fear of making her freak out, he scoops her up into his arms, holding her close. I watch as he breathes her in, sagging in relief, and I swallow down my jealousy.
Aeri is my charge, not my mate; she doesn’t belong to me…even if I wish she did.