Epilogue
As soon as I send Lillien back to Zepharion and her mates, the tether of her presence snaps away. I barely have time to breathe before the air shifts—heavy, oppressive, laced with smoke and brimstone.
I turn. And there he is.
Lucifer. Hands in his pockets, smirk carved across his perfect face like he owns the fucking world. Because he thinks he does.
“What are you doing here, Raz?” he drawls. “I thought we agreed you’d stay gone.”
I grit my teeth. “I’m here to help my brother. Because you refused.”
His smirk widens. “You still have a soft heart. Just like your mother.”
Fire licks at my fingertips before I even realize it. Rage coils hot in my chest. “Watch your mouth.”
He only rolls his eyes, amused. My fire sputters like a child’s tantrum under his weight. “You risked coming all the way into Hell for this? To help your brother stumble after some girl?”
“I like him more than I like you,” I snap. “So yes. Now if there’s nothing else—”
“Oh, come now.” He steps closer, his shadow stretching, swallowing the space between us. “Don’t tell me you think love is worth all this trouble.”
I meet his gaze, unflinching. “Maybe it is. And maybe if anyone ever truly loved you, you wouldn’t be so godsdamned lonely.”
His eyes narrow, the smirk thinning into something sharp. “Na?ve,” he murmurs. “Soft. Just like your mother.”
The word burns. I flare, fire curling up my arms. “Do not talk about her. Not after what you did.”
“What I did?” His tone turns mocking.
“I was there,” I snarl. “You fucked around with anything that spread its legs, had bastard children with half the realms, and drove her away. You waited until she finally fell for someone else, and then you killed her.”
He tilts his head, studying me as if I’m some curious insect. “That’s not entirely true.”
My laugh is harsh, empty. “You’re a fucking liar.”
His voice cuts through the chamber, low and unyielding. “She isn’t dead, Raziel. She left. She left me. She left Deimos. She left you.”
I freeze.
He steps closer, every word a blade. “I told you she was dead because it was easier for you to believe. Easier than facing the truth.”
“Bullshit,” I snarl, fire roaring up my arms. “You killed her.”
Lucifer’s smile sharpens into something cruel. Shadows lash out like whips, striking against my flames. The seam between realms trembles as we collide, fire meeting smoke, sparks blooming in the void.
I lunge at him, fist wreathed in fire, and slam it into his jaw. He barely flinches before driving his knee into my gut and hurling me across the floor. Stone cracks under my spine, but I roll and throw a column of flame at him, heat searing the walls black.
He laughs. The bastard actually laughs as he walks through the fire, the edges of his coat smoldering. “You still think you can match me? You’re not even close.”
I roar and launch again, both hands igniting.
My fire strikes his chest—hard enough to scorch, hard enough to hurt—but he’s faster.
His shadows coil around my throat, dragging me down, slamming me back against the wall.
His strength is absolute, crushing, suffocating. My fire sputters under his grip.
“If I wanted her dead, Raziel,” he growls, voice in my ear like thunder, “she would be ash. But she isn’t. She’s alive. Living among the mortal world.”
The words freeze me harder than his hold.
He sees it. Smirks. Then hurls me to the ground as if I weigh nothing. I stagger up, chest heaving, rage and disbelief choking me.
“Go on,” he says softly, deadly calm now. “Find her. See for yourself. But hear me, boy—” His voice drops to a snarl, teeth bared. “Do not come back to Hell. Not ever again.”
And then he’s gone.
The silence burns louder than the fight. My hands tremble with fire I can’t contain. For the first time in centuries, I don’t know if I’m furious—or afraid.