Chapter 4
Heat rushed into my body when Sam pressed his lips against my neck, his resistance faltering as he joined Azra in worshipping me.
“Mmm,” Azra said, melting me from the inside out as he hummed against my throat, his hands roaming me as if he knew every inch of my body.
I supposed that he did.
He knew exactly how to stroke his wings against mine, his movements pleasantly grazing my sensitive feathers. It elicited a groan as I experienced the intimate sensation for the first time.
Or what felt like the first time, anyway.
This’ll take some getting used to.
I thought of my other Virtues as Azra and Sam worshipped me, kissed me, bathed me in their adoration while I drifted into the soft down of their feathers.
Logan. Dante. Hendrik. Orion. They were lost to Calamity, but they wouldn’t be lost forever.
I would find them. Save them. Just like I had Azra and Sam.
Cole. I would find a way to redeem him, to turn him away from the rage that caused so much strife.
Kaito. He hurt. I could feel his suffering through our bonds, but he was alive, safe. For now. I would face him again when he was ready.
“So many,” Azra complained as he palmed my breast. “Your thorns have grown sharper, sweet cheeks. You never thought of them while in Purgatory, when you were with us.”
I noted the soft reprimand of jealousy in his words, jealousy that overlaid fear that I wouldn’t remember him. That we would lose everything we had built.
Cupping his face, I pressed my lips to his, drawing out his golden energy, the succubus side of me delighting in this form of a ruthless feed.
Instinctually, I knew they would be able to handle it.
They could handle anything I threw their way—except perhaps the idea of multiple mates.
I sensed if that had been a topic in Purgatory, it wasn’t one I had pressed.
And what would have been the point? I was dead, unable to return to those I loved.
I would have sought solace with these angels, these mates of mine who would have understood my pain. They’d left lives behind, too.
“But I still found you,” I said, hoping to soothe Azra’s jealousy.
“Indeed you did,” Sam agreed, pulling my hip to him as he granted me much-needed friction, his body pressing against mine as he slid one thigh between my legs.
“And for that, we will worship you as long as you desire,” he said, a note of his brother’s mischievous promises on his mouth as he kissed me, the overpowering heat so different from Azra, so Samael.
It was so easy to lose myself with them, these twin angels who threatened to consume me right here on Hell’s broken layer.
Yet with each stroke, each caress, my body lightened. My soul felt complete in a way I hadn’t realized I needed. Something had been missing, weighing me down all this time, and now that I had found the missing pieces, I could be free.
Free to grow, to finish what was started and put Lucifer and Calamity in their place.
For the first time, a ray of hope glimmered above my head—literally. My Hell Crown sputtered as a halo took shape, making me blink.
“Very good,” Sam said, his tone approving. “It seems your body remembers us, little blossom.”
I made a sound of protest when he moved away, leaving me desolate and cold.
He glowered at his brother until Azra did the same, untangling his feathers from mine.
I rubbed my head, a buzzy feeling taking hold and making me waver.
“We can’t push you,” Sam warned, his bright violet eyes locked onto me with an intensity that shook me to my core. “You need to remember a piece at a time, little blossom.” He offered me a wan smile. “How do you feel?”
A sadness invaded me, making my heart twist in a way I didn’t understand.
My soul craved them, yet I knew he was right. We couldn’t very well rip open the Pandora’s box that was my body, soul, and mind, here in the middle of Lucifer’s territory.
I needed to return to the Academy with my Virtues and form a plan.
And then, perhaps, I could unlock more of my memories and save my mates all at the same time.
“I’m conflicted,” I said honestly.
Sam knelt to one knee and Azra followed suit. “We are yours, sweet blossom. Whatever you need from us, we’ll give it, we’ll do it, we’ll find it.”
The simple vow made my throat tighten with emotion. His words held so much acceptance, so much strength.
I almost didn’t know how to handle it.
“My other mates,” I said softly. “They’re in trouble. I have to help them and we can’t stay here if I’m going to do that.”
Azra’s jealousy flashed over his face, but his brother didn’t seem to share that insecurity. He bowed his head with affirmation. “Then we will do whatever it takes to help them, Lilith.”
“Hmm,” I replied, a noncommittal sound because I wasn’t used to my mates being so amenable, or obeying me in any capacity. They adored me, that much was clear.
It was almost as if they worshipped me.
Azra grinned, clearly having heard my thoughts.
“We do worship you, little thorn. I’m surprised you don’t remember that one yet.
” He winked, making my stomach do a flip.
“My prayer is best heard when I’m deep inside of you.
My tithe is a tenth of my flesh, though you own all of it.
And my worship is a hymn worked best through my tongue.
” He grinned when I blushed. “Hmm, perhaps you remember my prayers. If not, I’ve memorized them all by heart. ”
“Azra,” his brother warned.
The white-winged angel threw up his hands in surrender. “Sorry, Sam. I’ll be good.” He gazed up again. “Do you feel strong enough to fly?”
I wasn’t so sure about flying, not with my useless wings. While I felt lighter, there was no way I was going to lift-off anytime soon.
“Perhaps,” Sam confirmed, then glanced at me. “What do you think, Lilith?”
A bead of sweat trickled down my neck and I gathered my hair into a loose tail, twisting it together, then bringing it over my shoulder. “I think it’s damn hot.” And it seemed like it was getting worse.
My crown still sputtered, my demonic side suppressed after indulging so much of my foreign angelic heritage. I wondered if I would find a balance between the two.
Turning slowly, I scanned the area, pausing when I saw an entrance to what had to be more of the tunnels. If nothing else, we could get back to the other realms through there. But I’d look for another alternative first, almost any other alternative.
I shifted my stance, the landscape changing yet again and I went still, relief all but knocking me to my knees. There, in the distance, a soft, familiar red glow caught my eye.
“Yes,” I murmured. Instinctively, I tried once more to reach for my other mates, to feel them and when I felt nothing, a cry escaped me. Azra immediately wrapped an arm around my waist while Sam took my hand.
“Beloved,” Azra said. “What is it?”
Where did I even begin? Staring at the veil that protected the Enchanted Forest, I swallowed past the knot that had formed and struggled to find the words.
The protective barrier shimmered, then a single pulse rippled over its surface.
“Should it be doing that?” Sam asked softly.
I squinted, peering at something that popped out of the veil—on this side. Was that…
Nudging my two new mates aside, I took a few steps forward, hoping to better see the small thing that had emerged through the barrier. It was moving so fast, it was little more than a blur.
Joy exploded through me as I felt a soft tug in my chest—the bond I’d formed with a strange little creature from the Enchanted Forest. “Uni!”
She pumped her little legs, careening for us.
The angels stepped forward, bracketing me protectively on both sides just as Uni bounded into the small, rocky clearing.
The uni-hare froze at the sight of two unknown males, her nose wiggling frantically.
“It’s okay, baby,” I told her, smiling.
“How adorable,” Azra said, going to one knee in front of the creature.
Before I could tell him he was probably about to get his face bitten off, he’d scooped up the uni-hare. Uni hissed and struck, teeth sinking into the hand close to her face.
I cried out. “No, Uni!”
But her teeth bounced off as if Azra’s skin was made of titanium. Undeterred, she hissed again before I moved in and took her into my arms. “You’re lucky you’re not human,” I told Azra. “That would have taken your finger off.”
Azra didn’t look offended, still grinning as he looked at the uni-hare. “Aw, that tickled. You want to tussle, little guy?”
Uni hissed again, clearly not amused.
“Uni is a girl,” I told him.
“One of these days, Azra, you’re going to try to tussle with something that can take your finger—or a wing, or your damned foolish head off,” Sam said, his tone that of a brother who knew Azra all too well.
Azra responded, but I barely heard him, my attention focused on Uni’s little face as she stared at me.
The tug inside that I’d come to realize was the bond we’d formed hummed now, strong and secure, and I knew she was trying to tell me something.
We couldn’t speak in words—Uni was smart, but she was an animal, her world broken down to friend and not-friend, food and not-food, danger and not-danger.
The vague forms of my mates came to me through that bond. Logan’s was more in focus than the others, likely because she sensed the other part of him that was also as wild as she was even if she wasn’t particularly fond of the wolf.
“They’re safe, aren’t they?” I murmured. She nuzzled my cheek, images still channeling through the bond.
I saw Raze and his image was the clearest of them all, but there were other unicorn shifters, all of them gathered around my mates as glowing magic settled over them.
Then there was Raze again, kneeling down to stroke Uni, before speaking. The words were… odd, garbled almost, but I realized there was a way the animal could share words—if they were given to her, as a message, a memory.
“Let Lily know we’re watching them. They’re in a suspended sleep so Calamity cannot spread.”
“Clever girl,” I whispered to her, scratching her between her ears and around her horn the way she liked.
She nuzzled my hand before wiggling and looking to my wings. “Go ahead,” I told her.
She made one of those incredible blurring movements, one that betrayed how very much not a bunny she was, and settled into my feathers, disappearing from view.
“What…” Sam gaped at me, eyes transfixed on the place where I’d felt Uni right before her odd form of magic hid her. “Lily, you can’t fly with a furball in those beautiful wings of yours.”
“I can’t fly, anyway,” I said grimly. “My wings are too heavy for me. It’s only been a year.
I’m still rebuilding my strength.” Glancing at their magnificent wings, I added, “In Purgatory, I couldn’t even move either of you, your wings were so heavy.
Maybe you can use them now, but I couldn’t do anything. ”
“That’s because we were drained, beloved,” Azra told me.
It was strange how I could tell the two of them apart simply by their voices. I’d been studying the terrain between our position and the Enchanted Forest when I spoke, but now turned to look at Azra.
“Angels have their own unique magic—celestial magic, and it’s fueled by what we call purification power. When we aren’t drained, our celestial magic works to allow us flight by…” Azra frowned and looked at Sam. “What did you call it? Psychics?”
“Physics, Azra, Physics.” He shook his head and took over the explanation. “Celestial magic alters the laws of physics—it only works with angels, but our magic makes us lighter than a feather. But when our power is drained, our celestial magic doesn’t work.”
“Okay…” I looked toward the barrier between Hell and the Enchanted Forest once more, vaguely aware of a sense of danger pulsing in the back of my mind. We needed to move. Now. “So what we just did… it restored some of this purification power?”
Sam and Azra exchanged a look. Azra smiled. “Well, restoring angelic power is usually accomplished through worship. Singing, praying, and um, other, things.” He grinned. “It creates the Light that lives within us.”
I blinked at him a few times.
So, they literally worshipped me, and it sustained their immortality.
Kaito would find that fascinating.
“Can angels worship anyone?” I asked, genuinely curious.
“No,” Sam said, fluttering his wings. “It must be a deity.”
I gaped at him. “So does that make me…”
A noise from the cavernous mouth of the nearest tunnel had my heart stuttering in my chest. Spinning around, I stared, dread spilling through my veins and turning my blood to ice as a dark shadow emerged.