Chapter Thirty-Four
Kara
It hadn’t even been half an hour since he touched me.
My body still remembered. The echo of need curled low in my stomach every time I glanced at him.
Luke hadn’t moved much after returning the room to normal.
Instead, he took up residence in his usual oversized chair, arms crossed, head tilted slightly back, eyes shut—like he could simply ignore everything.
I’d expected him to vanish. To disappear into whatever storm brewed behind his crimson gaze after our confrontation. But he lingered.
Silent. Still. Watching without watching.
The longer he stayed, the more my thoughts spiraled. I should’ve felt victorious confronting him and pulling the truth—or at least some of it—into the light. Instead, my chest felt heavy, like I’d pushed too far and still not far enough.
I didn’t need him to say the name aloud.
Shadow.
He was the same. I knew it in my soul. There was no denying it now. He might never confirm it—might burn the truth in front of me just to watch me flinch—but I believed it all the same.
Shadow would never let himself be exposed. Never allowed his presence to be caught in the open.
Luke?
He’d let the illusion shatter, then dared me to look deeper. All to make me doubt him—to make me hate him.
But I couldn’t.
Not then.
Maybe never.
And that terrified me more than anything else.
I pressed a hand to my chest, gripping the fabric of my shirt like it might hold me together. I’d tried for so long to understand him—both the man and the monster. I didn’t want to believe I was the only one feeling this…pull. But if I were?
He would be my ruin.
Not because he meant to destroy me—
But because I would let him.
Even when the world shattered, I would still run toward him.
Across the room, he still hadn’t moved. He looked carved from obsidian, some ancient god awaiting a last command. The faint glow of the crack across his chest pulsed slowly, like a second heart beating beneath all that power. The way he sat—arms folded, jaw tense—said everything he wouldn’t.
He was thinking. Or fighting something. Maybe both.
I lowered my eyes, whispering to the space between us, “I wish you wanted me more than you wanted to escape.”
Because the truth was: I knew how it felt to be trapped.
My family protected me fiercely—sometimes too fiercely. My father especially. But I still had choices. I had windows, doors, the sky. Even when they tried to keep me safe, I could move, could act, could leave.
Luke had no such freedom.
No matter what he became—king, devil, monster—Hell always called him back.
And still…here he was. Sitting in silence.
Not sending me away.
Not dragging me to some deeper pit of fire.
Just…existing in the same space as me.
Maybe that was something.
Or maybe it was the cruelest thing of all.
A sudden sadness crept over me like a weighted blanket. My shoulders felt heavy. The truth had always been there: my life would never be enough. A mate could never compare to having freedom—or ruling over a mad world.
So, I had to stop him.
My family suspected that the Devil and Harvest would become mortal as they neared the portal. It was probably a test—one last trial before a new reign. It made sense that they’d experience mortality if we were turning mortal ourselves.
Our lives depended on their weakening. If they stayed immortal while we weren’t…
We wouldn’t stand a chance.
Maybe it was never my fate to fall in love with my marked mate.
It made far more sense if I was the one destined to plunge a sword into his chest once he turned mortal.
I could never compete with what he waited for—for eternities. But that didn’t change the truth:
I was Luke’s weakness.
Harvest knew it.
The Devil knew it.
And so did I.
He wanted me until I faded away, and that would be his downfall.
I would be right by his side when he joined me in mortality. I’d kill him.
I was the only one who could, which would leave us to deal with Harvest last.
I glanced at Luke. He appeared to be sleeping in his chair. But the energy radiating from him was anything but restful.
His eyes might have been closed, but that didn’t fool me.
It felt like a lion was in the room with me, waiting for the moment to pounce.
Slowly, I stood and took a small step, trying to be quiet.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Luke’s voice boomed behind me.
A pure rush of heat licked up my stomach, hitting my core.
I’d been staring at him just seconds ago as I moved—and yet, somehow, he was already behind me.
In a blink.
I tucked my hands behind my back and spun around. “To see my family,” I lied.
But my family would manage without me.
I knew now what I needed to do—how my part in saving the world played out.
Staying here was my destiny.
Close to the Devil.
He wanted me to watch the world as I faded away. So, I would stay close and wait for the moment he became mortal.
Every step he took, I’d take with him.
Together as mates, we’d walk into our destined roles.
My vision blurred, so I looked down, not wanting him to see the tears I didn’t dare release.
“Since you hit your head, maybe that’s why you think you’re going.”
Gripping my chin, he tilted my face up.
Funny how normal his features were becoming. The horns looked more like handles I could cling to while grinding my pussy on his face.
The tail thrashing on the ground? Another pair of hands—meant to hold me up or keep me close.
And the chaos beneath his dark skin, winking in reds and oranges, wasn’t frightening anymore.
It was warmth—something to lay against, to fall asleep beside.
In another world, in another time, or place…
Maybe if he’d been a monster to begin with, instead of a fallen angel, he wouldn’t have the desperate need to escape this world.
He would have found me first—and loved me.
All the things I pictured, all the things I could feel myself yearning for—they would have been our reality.
Not this one.
Not a world where my father was created just to keep a balance, to ensure the Devil could never escape.
We wouldn’t be enemies in that other life.
Not even close.
He would have been my lover.
And he would have loved me for all the times he wouldn’t allow himself to in this one.
“Did you hear me?” he asked, brows furrowing.
No, I hadn’t heard a word he said—which, of course, pissed him off.
He growled. A normal person would’ve been frightened by the sound.
It only made me want to crawl into his soul, if I could.
“You almost died twice. You’re not going.”
I snorted, the burn in my throat intensifying.
“You’re going to let me fade away. What’s the difference?”
Bringing up the any-time-now future always made his attitude worse.
Veins protruded along his neck as his body stiffened.
Hope twisted through me, coiling tight around my heart. If I kept pressing—kept angering him—maybe, just maybe, I could squeeze something honest from him.
His chest finally deflated as the tension drained from his shoulders.
“Try to leave,” he said, voice low and firm, “and I’ll bind you with my tail. That’s not a warning—it’s a promise.”
I shook my head, even as my clit tingled.
“You’re never going to be honest with me, are you?”
“Me and you…we’re full of lies,” he said quietly. “You’ll do anything to protect your family. And I’ll do anything to get what I want.”
He dragged a claw down the front of my shirt before hooking a finger inside the waistband of my pants, teasing the skin at my hip.
“No, Luke. The only one lying is you.”
I reached out and caressed his jaw, felt it tighten beneath my touch.
“It doesn’t have to be this way.”
He closed his eyes and sighed.
“I hate how convincing you are.”
His hands were at my hips in an instant, and then I was over his shoulder.
My pussy clenched so tightly I already knew what I was thinking when I asked, “What are you doing?”
He didn’t answer.
Just strode to the bed—and tossed me onto it.
The ground rumbled beneath us, groaning like a wounded beast.
Tremors followed, and the bed rattled against the floor, the vibrations jarring every bone in my body. Cracks split along the stone walls.
What was Luke doing?
But when I looked at him, his eyes were wide—stance alert. He bent down and scooped me into his arms, cradling me to his chest.
He tucked my head beneath his chin and said, “Cover your head with your hands,” just before he broke into a run.
So, it wasn’t him.
Could Harvest have found a way to break into Hell?
Stones pummeled Luke as he ran.
I could feel the force of each one striking his shoulders and arms, the jolt vibrating through me. Some hit my legs—one cracked into my knee directly, and I hissed from the pain.
Luke growled low in his throat and tried to gather me even closer, hunching his body over mine as if to shield me completely.
“Can’t you just move us to another spot in Hell?” I asked.
I cringed at the loud thwacks as debris rained down on him. One massive chunk slammed into his back, jolting his entire frame. I felt the vibration through my fingertips, still splayed across his torso.
“No, Kitten,” he gritted out. “This is happening everywhere in Hell.”
My eyes widened. “Everywhere? Then port us out of Hell. You can withstand a few minutes outside, right?”
Hades, there was so much crashing down on him that he started to stumble. If something bigger fell, we wouldn’t be able to escape in time.
“Luke! We can’t stay in this!”
“I can’t…leave,” he ground out.
“Then I’ll fade us out,” I said.
“Fade yourself but know that I’ll come for you as soon as this is over.”
“No—you can go with me.”
Before he could protest, I tried to fade…and tensed. Nothing happened. Why couldn’t I fade? I still had my powers.
“I can’t go,” Luke said tightly. “Go. It’s not safe. Your powers—”
Just then, mine vanished. The growl that ripped from Luke’s chest was louder than the chaos crashing down around us.
“Fuck!” he barked, picking up speed. “Even Hell can’t crumble forever.”