Chapter 32
Kai and Asta have both called out to me, but I keep my mind closed. I don’t know what they want for sure, but I’ve got a pretty good idea, and honestly, I don’t want to talk about it.
It’s no secret I hate this place.
The Forbidden Library of Bibliotheca, my domain, the part of the realm I am responsible for.
When we’d first fallen with Lucifer, I’d been devastated.
We all had, but we built Hell together, and as such, Lucifer gave us ways to stay busy.
Places he deemed ours, and while they weren’t a reward exactly, I know they were his way of saying thank you for staying by his side, though I could think of no better place to be.
Lucifer is my friend, my brother, and despite him going against Father, I believe his questions were valid.
Hell isn’t like Heaven, though; we chose what we wanted. In Heaven, I was a scholar; knowledge was all I knew, and as such, I thought it was what I wanted.
I was wrong, and after a few centuries, I realized I loathed anything that reminded me of my time with divine power.
It was all a waste, a joke, and a scam.
I followed God blindly for centuries, but in a moment of confusion, he’d tossed me aside. I’d questioned Lucifer too, but he’d happily discussed with me, questioning anything Father said was forbidden.
Luce said I didn’t ever have to step foot in the library again if I didn’t want to, and for the past five hundred years, I haven’t. I’ve enjoyed everything but knowledge, in the form of both men and women, angel, demon, and mortal.
I’d never intended to set foot in here again; there was no reason worth it…until there was.
Aeri, she was worth it.
She was worth everything, and I already didn’t deserve her.
I’d deceived her, thinking I could fuck her out of my system like I’ve done with who even knows how many others over the years.
But the universe has a sick sense of humor because now I’ll never fuck another.
I know it, feel it deep in my bones and my sorry, shriveled soul.
Aeri is mine, though, and while I doubt she would ever want me, I need to fix this.
She deserves so much more than what life has given her: a sadistic angel stalker, a broken demon, the devil, and Bast. At least she has Bast. He loves her well enough for the rest of us and has since the day she walked into that apartment and changed everything.
No, it’s the rest of us who suck, which is wild because he’s supposed to be the one with an aversion to women!
Poor girl.
I slam the book closed with a curse when I find nothing of use, again.
Researching is hard; sitting here while so much energy and adrenaline pumps through me is damn near impossible. Every time I close my eyes, I see her, screaming, crying in bed, woken from yet another nightmare.
I’m seething, damn near panting, and I know I need to do something, find a way to expel this energy before I lose my shit.
But maybe losing my shit is exactly what I need to do.
The usual way is out of the question, but I might have something even better.
Pushing to stand, I take a moment to breathe in the extra strength that comes from being in Hell before I teleport back to the penthouse.
I stand for a moment in the too-quiet kitchen.
Muted scents fill the air; it’s been a while since we were here, and even longer since she was.
Despite that, I can’t seem to stop myself from moving down the hall to her room.
I feel like a creep; I probably am, but even still, that doesn’t stop me.
Standing in the middle of her room, I breathe in her barely there scent. It’s sweet and warm, and for the first time since Kai found her, not dripping in fear.
All demons can smell potent emotions, but unlike Bast and Asta, I get nothing from them, just a tight feeling in my chest that tells me to go back to Hell.
It catches me by surprise, taking me a moment to realize what it is I’m feeling.
I miss her.
Looks like I need to make this quick. After all, I have a notebook full of ideas on how to win her over that I’m dying to put to the test.
Rome isn’t hard to find, though I didn’t think he would be. He’s strong, and with that comes an ego that could crush mountains. I can’t kill him—well, probably not—and though I really want to try, that’s not the purpose of this little adventure.
No, right now my only goal is to cause havoc, which is something I’ve become quite good at over the years.
I reach out to him in his mind, and though it’s been years since I’ve done it, he’s easy enough to find.
“Come have a talk with me, brother.”
He doesn’t respond, but I feel him, and I know he hears me.
I feel him as his consciousness peeks into mine to see who has called on him, and then he’s here in front of me.
“Dantalian,” he sneers, not even trying to hide the disgust in his voice as he looks me over, as if I’m shit on the bottom of his shoe.
“Talian, now actually. Has been for the last, hm, I don’t know, thousand years now.” I plaster a smile on my face that isn’t even a little bit nice, but if he notices, he doesn’t comment.
“Have you come to bring my Aerilyn back?” he asks, and though he tries, he’s unable to hide his hope.
I laugh. I can’t help it, because he must have scrambled his brain on the trip over here.
As if I would ever give her to anyone else, least of all him.
“Oh.” I wipe a fake tear from my eye as I get control of myself again, or as much control as I can muster. “I’m sorry, were you being serious?”
He growls but doesn’t answer. He doesn’t need to, though; his anger is fueling me right now.
This is exactly what I needed.
“If you have nothing of use for me, I’ll be going. I’m busy trying to get the love of my life back where she belongs, with me.”
That does it.
Any laughter dies in my throat as his words hit me like a kick to the fucking nuts.
“You don’t love her, Rome. The only person you’ve ever loved is yourself,” I hiss, stalking toward him, unable to stop myself. “And she doesn’t belong to you, she’s a person, not a fucking car or collector card.”
Kai’s words ring in my ears, and I want to punch myself. It might have taken me having it pointed out to realize, but at least I had never actually attempted to own her.
He opens his mouth, ready to say something, before he quickly snaps it closed again. His brows furrow, and he looks at me as if I’ve just told him the world is square.
It takes him a second to collect himself again. “I do love her. She is the best thing to ever happen to me, and it is only a matter of time before she comes back to me. Just you wait and see, she knows where she belongs.” He’s confident in his words, so much so that he doesn’t even see the problem.
I’m starting to wonder if maybe he’s just stupid. No way does he hear himself.
“She doesn’t belong with or to you, Rome,” I tell him, rolling my eyes and shaking my head at how ridiculous this whole conversation is.
But my anger is much more manageable now, so at least there’s that. Now, just one last thing.
“She’s Lucifer’s mate, made perfect by the universe for him, not you.”
Rome’s already pale skin looks as if it takes on a greenish hue as he shakes his head, slowly at first, then faster as he stumbles back a step.
“No, you're lying,” he mutters before his eyes find mine, and I see the crazy that lurks inside of him, perfectly hidden unless you know what buttons to press. Or you're a pretty mortal girl whose family is a bunch of greedy assholes.
“She cannot be his, she’s mine!” he screams, jabbing his finger into his chest for emphasis, but all that does is make him look crazier.
“Am I?” I let the question linger between us, watching as his eyes jump around the room, trying to figure it out.
He wants me to be lying, and honestly, it’s something I would do, but I’m so damn happy I’m not that my cheeks ache from the smile that is currently plastered on my face.
“She said you couldn’t touch her, it’s almost as if she were…” I take a step back, wiggling my brows at him for effect. “Protected?”
Just like I thought, he fucking loses it.
Divine light blinds me as he lights up like a fucking disco ball. I decide this is probably a good time to take my leave.
I’ve poked the bear; let his anger dampen mine until it’s manageable. It won’t go away, not until she’s free from him, and maybe not even then, with all he’s done.
But to know he’s suffering, yeah, that’ll turn my frown upside down for sure.
Flicking my long hair over my shoulder, I pull the basilisk fang from my pocket and channel its magic to allow me to teleport back to Hell.
Hopefully, Kai doesn’t notice it was missing. He might not like Rome, but I doubt he will approve of me using his precious pet’s baby tooth for something like this.
It’s fucking gross if you ask me, but I was desperate, and honestly, worth it.
And if Rome’s mad now, he ain’t seen nothing yet.