Chapter 39 Bast
Leaving Aeri is harder than it should be, and as I walk the halls of the castle, I have to fight the urge to turn around and go right back to her.
How the fuck Lucifer is able to be away from her boggles my mind; I’m not even mated to her, and already I feel like this.
But Talian has plans, and they don’t include me. He wants to make up for his bullshit, and Aeri deserves the effort, even if she decides she doesn’t want anything more with him. Not that I can see that happening; I’ve seen the way she looks at him when he’s not paying attention.
The way she looks at all of them.
Fuck.
I adjust myself and will my cock to calm down. I’m looking for Lucifer, and the last thing I need is to have a boner when I find him.
It’s hard, though, literally, when it comes to Aeri. She’s everything I ever wanted and so much more. I just need to find a way to make our bond snap into place. I know it’s just a matter of time, but I’m tired of waiting.
“Where are you?” I reach out for Luce because I know he’s here; I feel him, but I can’t pinpoint his location.
The air is sucked from my lungs, and I’m pulled through time and space before appearing… on top of the castle?
I turn around in search of Luce from the top of the North tower and find him standing on the edge of the wall.
If he were mortal, it would be much more concerning to find him like this, but as it stands, he could fall from there and tumble all the way to the deepest pit of Hell and get up and walk away after.
“We need to talk,” I tell him as I jump down from the tower’s roof and onto the wall a few feet from him.
He doesn’t answer, doesn’t so much as glance my way, and it takes me a second to realize he’s deep in concentration.
What is he doing?
I feel his power as it moves through the air around me, doing what, I’m not sure, but it’s familiar. Hell is part of him, his domain, made from his pain and suffering like a tangible thing.
I remain quiet as I walk beside him, casting my eyes out over the fields of Hell where souls come to wait for judgment. The moans and groans are annoying but familiar, like a sibling you haven’t seen in a while.
Kind of like seeing Ruin again, if I’m being honest.
Luce’s magic shifts and swells, and I hear him huff a sigh before I turn toward him, cocking a brow.
I wonder what his problem is.
“I never should have let him in. Now she only misses him more,” he grumbles without so much as opening his eyes to glance at me.
Strange. I can’t think of much that would take this much focus and power for him to do. The wards are in place and stronger than ever, and he did that with little more than a snap of his fingers, so what is he doing now?
“I should find him and rip his wings out, doom him to be stuck here so he can’t run away anymore.”
“Yes, because that worked so well with you.” That gets his attention. His eyes snap open, and his head whips toward me.
If looks could kill, I’d be a goner with the way he’s glaring at me right now.
“I’m sorry, but I’m pretty sure you have been running from her the same way he did, though this is for a much better reason, if you ask me.”
His eyes narrow further, but he doesn’t toss me off the wall, so I’m going to keep going, keep pushing my luck for Aeri.
“He’s afraid that his feelings for her are going to get him a one-way ticket to be here permanently. Not to mention I’m pretty sure he’s a virgin, so seeing her naked probably sent him into a panic for a few other reasons as well.”
I’m not a virgin, so far from it it’s laughable, and seeing her naked had thrown me off so bad I almost lost control of my demon and fucked her right there.
“You’re just a coward.”
One second we’re on the wall, the next we’re breaking through the bricks of the North tower wall, Luce’s hand around my throat as he slams me backwards, his eyes a blazing inferno that perfectly match his domain.
“What did you say?” he growls, hardly words at all, with his beast so close to the surface because, make no mistake, that’s what our demons are… beasts.
“I said you’re a coward!” I spit, annoyed that it’s all I can manage. I might not need air to survive, but I sure as fuck need it to talk.
That’s okay; there are other ways.
“You found your mate, the one person in the whole universe who was made perfectly for you, and instead of cherishing her and being there for her, you ran away scared, the same as Ruin.”
His hand flexes around my throat, but he can’t stop me, seeing as I’m talking directly into his mind now.
It takes him a second to get himself under control enough to even attempt to speak, aloud or otherwise.
“I didn’t run from her. I ran for her!” My confusion must be clear on my face because he continues, but only after tossing me aside.
“Do you know what it means to be the King of Hell?” I stay quiet because I don’t, but I also don’t feel like he expects me to. “I can do so many things, have so much power, but somehow I can’t save my mate! Rome! Of all the little, no-good pieces of shit, it had to be him!”
He’s seething, so mad he’s shaking, and I feel it in the ground beneath my knees.
“He should be dead! I should have ripped him apart the moment I learned she was my mate, but he’s safe up in Heaven, hidden away.
He knows better than to answer my calls, but I’ll find a way.
Mark my words, Bast, he will die by my hand, and when his soul finally ends up in Hell, I will enjoy torturing him for all of eternity. ”
“So no, I’m not cuddled up with my mate, warm in a bed the way I want to be, but until he’s handled, I can’t stop. She deserves to be safe, and there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for her.”
I rub at the raw skin of my neck, only now realizing he’s fucking shredded it.
Well, that’s going to take a little while to heal; usually it would only be a matter of moments, but with him being the devil…
“She misses you.” I see him flinch before he turns to leave, once again heading out to stand on the wall, his eyes falling closed in concentration.
I’m slow to follow, unsure if I’m doing the right thing with pushing him the way I am. But something tells me I am, and I’m doing it for Aeri. If he wants to rip out my throat in a tantrum, then so be it.
“She misses Ruin, too.” His growl is the only sign I get that he heard me. I stand, leaning against the bricks, dripping blood, waiting for something as I feel the magic of the realm begin to mend the skin of my throat.
I blink, and he’s gone, and as I step out of the hole in the tower, it mends itself behind me.
Where the fuck did he go?
“I’ve requested an audience with Father. Until then, I can’t do much else, but I’ll bring Ruin back.” He doesn’t comment about being around more, but if he brings Ruin back, that might be enough to distract her for a few, so I’ll take it.
“There was no reason to rip my throat out, you know.” I have no idea if he can hear me, but that’s fine; he knows he’s an asshole, he doesn’t need me to tell him.
“Tell her I made it for her.”
It takes me a second before I realize what he’s talking about, but once I do, it’s impossible to miss.
Moonlight.