Chapter 40
My entire body erupts into metaphorical flames. What is actually happening right now?!
I swear I blink, and suddenly my back hits a soft mattress, black silk pooling around me in my peripherals.
Lucifer’s lips part as he turns his head, and as hard as I try to keep my own mouth closed, I can’t. It’s like I have no will of my own. I open for him, letting his tongue slide into my mouth—and oh… my Gods, it’s not even remotely Mundane.
Holy fucking Vendra.
It wraps around mine, metal brushing against several points as he sucks my tongue into his mouth. My head spins so fast I can’t stop the sound that spills out of me, and my eyes roll back.
My body screams at my brain, both of them locked in a tug-of-war between wanting this and knowing it’s wrong.
I shove my hands against his shoulders, but he presses his weight down on me. A tiny, helpless squeak escapes my throat as my feeble attempts to move him go completely ignored.
When he pulls away, it’s only by inches. He fills my space, though not physically—it’s his power. It swallows everything.
“For Kayn’s sake,” he murmurs, “please play along.”
He rises onto his knees, and dark pillows of smoke creep across my body. They slip beneath my clothes and shred them to pieces. I suck in a breath to scream, but those same tendrils of shadow slip into my open mouth. They slither to the back of my throat, and I nearly gag.
Fear surges, only to be drowned by a wave of raw, dizzying desire when he groans.
“Good girl,” he rasps. “Very convincing.”
I am a puddle. A godsdamn mess. Because what is happening?!
“Kayn?!”
Those same shadows coil around my wrists and slam my arms above my head. A loud knock at the door cuts through every sound in the room. All I can do is stare up at Lucifer and watch as his Demon horns unfurl from the top of his head.
“Go away,” he roars, his voice sharp and commanding despite his calm, collected posture.
Another knock. I can only hope whoever’s on the other side decides to respect his wishes, because it can’t be anyone good. The only person I want bursting through that door is Kayn, and right now, luck feels like a total bitch.
“I’m busy.”
His violet eyes drift down to my bare breasts, and I stop breathing just as his tongue drags slowly across his lips. It’s long and black, and I can confirm there are several piercings—two near the tip, and another a bit farther down.
“Far better than what I dreamed about.”
What…
Suddenly, the door blasts open, and Lucifer’s mouth crashes back onto mine. It’s for show because he pulls back almost immediately. But I don’t miss the growl of frustration coming from his throat. I see the hunger in the curl of his upper lip.
“I said leave me—”
“Son.”
I fall into a void of terror.
A high-pitched ringing explodes in one ear, then the other, ricocheting back and forth inside my skull. Needles prick beneath my skin, and the bed trembles under me as reality slams home.
This is real.
Not only is the son of the ruler of the Beyond on top of me—pinning me to his bed with his shadows—but that ruler is now stomping into the room.
With an irritated groan, Lucifer leans fully away from me. He doesn’t release the shadows holding me down, not even the ones pinning my wrists. The one that had been in my mouth is thankfully gone, but I’m too shocked to speak.
Too shocked to move.
I’m pretty sure it’s also numbed my brain because I can’t think straight.
“I’ve been attempting to summon you.” His voice is thunder inside a storm—add in the cries of the dead, and that’s how it reverberates through my bones. “Someone has entered my realm…”
Heat builds behind my eyes as I force myself to turn my head. Lucifer has moved to the side of the bed, resting on his hands with his head thrown back.
“You interrupted me for that piece of information, Father? I’m quite busy.”
I hate that it’s at those words Belial shifts his gaze to me. No introduction needed, he is exactly as the texts describe. Bulkier than the trucks we drove into Demour, possibly over ten feet tall, blood-red skin, and eyes so devoid of kindness he may as well be hatred given form.
He tilts his head, and the double set of horns crowning it makes the look he gives me so menacing I want to cry. I am defenseless here, and this Incubus has made me even more so by holding me naked and restrained on his bed.
“A mortal.” His gaze drags down my body, and I bite the inside of my cheek so hard I immediately taste blood. “Why do you hide her from me, son?”
I swallow hard, following his stare to where Lucifer’s shadows curl protectively across my skin, masking every intimate part of me.
“Because she’s in my bed,” Lucifer says, his voice low in warning. “Meaning she’s mine.”
Belial tuts and jerks his head to the side. “Everything of yours is mine. Remove them.”
“No.” There’s no hesitation. No softness. No implied suggestion. “This one’s mine.”
He states it as a fact—like I’ve got his name inked into my skin somewhere. Like he’s branded me.
Fucking Vayl above, the way Belial’s eyes brighten with malevolence makes me swear he’s seconds from striking not only his son, but me… despite me having done nothing.
“At least you weren’t stupid enough to bring the other one.” He huffs, the sound shaking dust from around the room. “Why is she here? A Witch. In my realm.”
“Because I wanted to bring her to me? What’s it to you? When have you ever cared about who I have in my bed?”
“You haven’t had anyone in your bed for what feels like eternity to be concerned over.”
“That’s dramatic. Oh, but you know, maybe—”
I’m suddenly yanked from the middle of the bed straight into Lucifer’s grasp. My hip collides with his back, and his fingers immediately trace a delicate line across my collarbone.
“It’s likely she’s the presence you felt come through my gates, Father.”
“It was—”
Lucifer cuts him off. “She’s also the Witch who helped me get the information you asked for. You know, the one that nearly got me killed in the Vayl?”
“Now who’s being dramatic.” I watch Belial pace the room. “There was more than one presence that entered. It appeared, disappeared, and then—”
“Please.” Lucifer cuts in, voice slick with irritation. “Can I have my meal, and then I’ll send her home? I wanted to thank her personally.”
He gathers a lock of my hair between his fingers—just like he did the day I met him—and twirls it slowly around his index.
“I haven’t feasted in so long…”
“It’s your own fault!” his father barks. The anger in his voice is so sharp it cracks the air. “You cause this fate for yourself, and for what? Feelings that do not belong to us.”
Lucifer’s hand tenses against my skin, but he covers it quickly. His palm slides to my neck, cradling it with deceptive gentleness. His thumb drags down the front of my throat, and I swallow instinctively.
He grumbles, “Fine. But do not send the Witch home. Meet me for dinner and bring her.”
“No, she’ll go home when—”
“Do as you are told, Lucifer. Bring the girl, or I will go and bring her fucking back!” He thunders out of the room, and the moment the door slams, I choke on a breath.
I can’t draw in enough air. Panic claws through me—tightening my chest, twisting my stomach, forcing tears to spring to my eyes. I yank hard against the restraints around my wrists, desperate for any freedom at all.
“Amarah, shh, it’s alright.”
My arms are freed, and the moment I can move, I snatch one of the blankets and throw it over myself. I scramble away from him so fast my back slams into the uneven headboard, sending a bolt of pain down my spine.
“Kayn!? Kayn—please, can you hear me?!” I shout through the bond, but I can’t feel him. There’s nothing. Just a void and the dread that crashes over me because of it makes me cover my face with both palms.
“No, no, no. Please hear me, Kayn. Where are you?!”
A gentle hand grazes my bare arm, and I whip around so fast that my palm cracks against Lucifer’s cheek. The slap echoes through the room. I’m already rearing back to strike him again when he catches my wrist.
“Dollface, please don’t hit me.” He shifts closer, still holding my arm firmly. “Bloody Beyond… this isn’t good.”
His free hand rises to my cheek, and the backs of his knuckles glide softly across my skin. When I finally meet his gaze, he says quietly, “It’s good to see you. I’m glad you’re alive, Amarah.”
I bite my bottom lip to keep from snapping something smart, because why does he sound so damn sincere?
“Where’s Kayn?”
He draws in a deep breath and shuts his eyes. “In the Phantasm. It’s where Familiars meet with their ruler and creator, Hex. He’s in the safest place in this realm.”
“And me?”
His hand shifts and continues its gentle sweep along my cheek. Gods, his hands are soft—too soft. Too safe. It shouldn’t feel like this. Not with him. Not with the devil’s son, himself.
“You’re safe with me. I won’t let anything happen to you, and I’ll get you, and Kayn, home.”
He drags his thumb along the bridge of my nose, right over the scar, then tilts my chin up with two fingers.
“All of this, in such a short period of time. You were—”
“Flawless before?” I bite out. I didn’t mean to be a bitch, but… it just came out.
Because are we kidding? An Incubus—Lucifer—who is said to be, and I can confirm, as perfect as they come. Why couldn’t he have been a gremlin-looking Demon?
And then there’s Kayn. Quite literally a God among mortals.
Uncertainty coils under my skin like a parasite.
Why would Kayn want me when he has… this?
“No, no.” Lucifer chuckles. “Still fierce, I see.”
When his touch brushes up to my forehead, I tense. “Nocthariel… You’re cracking—”
“It’s not permanent.” I shove his hand away. “Stop touching me, please.”
I tack on the please in hopes he’ll listen, but he doesn’t. His fingers simply migrate to my arm, tracing light lines across my pulse points.
“Unfortunately, I can’t do that…”
“Why?” I snap—but even as I say it, I don’t move away. Maybe because I know he’ll just reach again. Or maybe because part of me doesn’t want him to stop.