Chapter 36
Thirty-Six
The commanders whispered to themselves about the beginning of the end, prophecies made thousands and thousands of years ago about an Unholy Trinity, over and over again. I went to speak more, but I didn’t even want to waste my breath on commanders who didn’t want to hear a thing I was saying.
Someone banged on the door, and I rolled my eyes, sat back in my chair, and took a swig of the Vemon I had brought for this exact reason. Nothing got done with these lousy leaders. The knock came again. Whoever it was didn’t take the fucking hint to leave.
Dani stood from the table and walked over, her hips swinging from side to side. There were two guards at the door that whispered something to her. Her eyes widened, and all the blood drained from that pretty face of hers.
I sat up in my chair, never having seen Dani look so terrified since she had become commander, and watched her react to the guards.
She was shaking her head, her brows furrowed, muttering, “Are you sure?” repeatedly.
Eros followed after her, his arm curling around her waist. She said something to him that I couldn’t quite hear, and he clenched his jaw and looked at … me.
“Lucifer,” he said, nodding to the hallway.
Damn, it couldn’t be that bad. It was probably nothing, nothing at all. I dismissed all of the other commanders, who took all the damn time in the world to leave me in peace.
When they all disappeared into the hallway, I stood from my seat. “Is it that bad that you need me for it?”
Dani and Eros gazed at each other, and she frowned.
I could feel her pain, how hurt she felt …
and it hurt me too. I hadn’t felt this bad since I had been in Heaven with Raphaela when I first started sleeping with Eros, when I saw her perfect fucking face the morning after and she asked me how everything was with him.
“Lucifer,” Eros started, still hesitant on what to say.
Dani stared up at me with big hazel eyes. “Luci,” she whispered, “someone else has fallen.”
I furrowed my brows together. “Isn’t that a good thing? We’ll be prepared for the end.”
They shared an uncomfortable look with each other.
“It’s not just anyone …” She grasped Eros’s pinkie finger in her hand and squeezed.
I gazed at the interaction and shook my head. What was so damn hard for them to say?
After taking a deep breath, Dani squeezed her eyes and said, “It’s Raphaela.”
I stared at them for another moment, then sat back in my seat and let out a laugh. “Oh, come on. You’re going to have to do better than that to get a reaction out of me.” I knocked back the rest of my drink.
When they didn’t laugh along with me, when they stared back at me like I was the crazy one, I sat back up and shook my head. “You’re fucking with me, right? Raphaela isn’t in Hell. She can’t be. She would never fall.”
“She’s here, Lucifer,” Eros said quietly, as if he was preparing himself for something—maybe it was to be hurt. “In your kingdom.”
My heart stopped. They weren’t kidding with me. Raphaela was … she was in Hell? Why the heavens was she here? She wouldn’t fall from Heaven; she was the epitome of good. There was no way it was her. And if it was, then she must’ve been one of those who had fallen from Heaven and was dead.
“She’s by the portal.”
I didn’t know what to feel. I’d thought I had gotten rid of her. I’d thought I had destroyed her from my mind. I’d thought she’d never be back. But before I could stop myself, I hurried to my palace doors.
Raphaela terrified me. Not because I was afraid of what she could do …
not because she was an all-heavenly good …
but because I didn’t know how I would react when I saw her.
I had Dani and Eros now. We were rulers in Hell, the best of the fucking best. And now my ex-wife was back to … fuck this all up.
My guards immediately pulled the doors open, and I walked out into the snow and ice. Compact flakes were pounding down around me, hitting me like a fucking truck, yet all I could think about was why Raphaela was here.
After all these fucking years of torture … why had she decided to show up now? What was this all for? Was she scheming? I didn’t know, but I did know that my next thought scared me the most. Did she … did she want to get back together?
I stopped in the middle of the damn walkway, and Dani bumped into my back. No. Raphaela couldn’t. It had been thousands of years of hatred for me. She wouldn’t want me back now … and even if she did … I wouldn’t take her back. Not now. Not ever.
While it usually took me a good ten minutes to walk to the portal, it took me an entire hour.
Prides rushed down the stone walkways to catch sight of the fallen angel, but I didn’t rush.
Instead, I walked so damn slowly because I didn’t want to appear as if I cared.
I didn’t. I didn’t care about Raphaela, the one woman who had made my life an entire mess.
I was Lucifer. King of Pride. Commander in Hell. Strongest army, strongest mind, strongest damn everything. All Raphaela was … was a fucking joke.
Dani grasped my hand in hers. Her fingers slid in between mine, her body curling up around me.
Dani hadn’t been like this with me ever. I had seen her like this with Eros at the beginning of their relationship, but … it wasn’t in Dani’s nature to be this jealous.
When we made it near the portal, there was a group of demons standing by one of the few trees that hadn’t been dried out and dead from the temperature, constant wind, and the ice of Pride.
Without following the same path as everyone else, I stepped into the snow, and it melted around my feet, not even getting my shoes wet.
I took a deep breath, and my people parted the way for me to walk. Something about this was scaring the shit out of me. My stomach was in knots. My heart was pounding faster than it ever had. All my memories of Heaven were rushing through my mind … and I didn’t even know why.
Maybe it was that fucking woman staring down into Hell and thinking that Raphaela would change my mind about all of this and make me a better person so she could control me. I didn’t know, nor did I care. Raphaela could try … if this was even her.
But I doubted it was. I highly doubt—
The last group of people parted their way for me, and my eyes landed on a frail woman, lying under the tree, two scars on her back.
She looked over at me and smiled. “Lucifer.”