Chapter 47
We slept through the night. At least I assume so, because when I woke this morning, I was completely sandwiched between Kayn and Lucifer.
Safety was something my parents always wanted for me. They taught me their ways and made sure I had the ability to do for myself what most would never want the burden of. I’ve never looked to a man or woman for anything.
That doesn’t mean it isn’t nice to want to be protected and cared for.
That’s exactly how I feel now, sitting at the island counter while Lucifer puts together a plate of eggs and waffles for me—and earlier, when he carried me into the shower after we woke up.
He stared at me the entire time, never touching me other than to wash my hair.
We both wanted Kayn to join us, but he couldn’t. We weren’t just washing away the sex from last night, but trying to wash his scent from us, too.
It’s also why Kayn has begrudgingly positioned himself as far away from me as possible while still technically being in the same room.
Anyway, I’m no less independent than I was before everything went to shit in Sylverton. Kayn may carry me, and Lucifer may want to do… this for me, but I’m fully capable on my own.
It’s just wonderful knowing someone, multiple someone’s, want to do it for me.
“I still don’t like it.”
I tune back into their conversation now that my food is plated in my lap.
“Why is he so insistent on her staying?”
Lucifer sighs. “He’s using the death of one of his Grimhorn as an excuse.
I’m pretty sure it’s greed. He needs something from her.
There aren’t many” —he glances at me, and his expression turns weary— “Yldarwrights left alive. And the ones who are, are nearly impossible to find. Especially pureblooded. I can’t imagine he wouldn’t have sought you out at some point. ”
That is terrifying. Imagining it being Belial instead of Kayn who took me from that prison sends goosebumps rolling down my arms.
I do my best to just go back to eating, but the food does nothing to settle the ache building in my stomach.
“He can’t fucking have her. And I’m sorry, Lucifer, but if he tries anything, your Familiar likes me better and will bring me to her.”
“He cannot. I’ve made that very clear…” His voice trails off, and I know what he’s thinking without even asking. His father—Belial, King of the Beyond—takes what he wants.
I’m not afraid of him taking me. I’m afraid he’ll ask something of me I can’t, or won’t, give.
Vendra hinted at something brewing between Belial and the Gods. War? Conquest? I don’t know. But I won’t be a part of it. And whatever information Lucifer was gathering in the Vayl, I doubt it was a recipe for baking bread.
I think part of why I haven’t brought it up is because he hasn’t asked about the mirror, or why I needed it. Maybe he doesn’t understand its purpose…
“Dollface?”
My attention snaps to Lucifer. “Yes?”
“You aren’t eating. ” His smile is genuine, but shadowed with worry. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
I move the plate and rest it onto the counter beside me. “You didn’t, I promise… Can we just go? Get this over with?”
He takes a deep breath, and nods.
I glance at Kayn, who’s sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, Zuhara’s head resting in his lap as he pets her. Apparently she marched straight to Tulu—Belial’s Familiar, and a fucking lion—and told him that if his master didn’t watch himself, there’d be Beyond to pay.
It’s so fucking adorable how she protects Lucifer the way she does.
“Thank you,” I murmur, giving Kayn a wink. “I promise not to be away for three days.”
“Better not. I’m sorta obsessed, and need you with me at all times.”
Heat rises straight to my cheeks.
“Gods, not being able to kiss you goodbye—this is bullshit.” I’m pretty sure he huffs. “Hurry back.”
He waves his hand, and the moment I’m about to make a silly joke about patience, an arm is around my waist and hoisting me from the counter. Looking up at Lucifer, he leans forward and rests his forehead against mine.
“We’ll be back with him before you know it.”
I smile weakly, and before anything else is said, darkness envelops us.
“I’m sorry.” He is not at all how I expected the son of Belial to act.
We arrived hours ago, only to be turned away by one of the sentinels guarding Belial’s office. They told us to come back, and we did—four times now.
After being dismissed yet again, we retreated to Lucifer’s room… which quickly turned awkward. I kept looking at the bed, then at him, then at the bathroom, then back at him.
I didn’t want to stand in front of Belial’s office waiting like an unwelcome guest, and truthfully, I didn’t want to fall into bed with Lucifer alone either. It’s not that I don’t trust him, I do.
I really do. Especially after last night with how he allowed me all the control between us.
It’s just… he’s Kayn’s.
And I’m Kayn’s.
Lucifer and I? We’ll work on it. There’s no rush in my mind. I got to know Kayn, and I want to get to know the man who has quietly slipped his fingers between mine to hold my hand.
“Don’t be. It isn’t your fault.” I give him a smile as I lift my chin to meet his gaze. “I get to see the house you grew up… in…”
Gods, that sounded ridiculous.
He laughs, and I swear my heart flutters straight into my stomach, only to be attacked by butterflies.
Lucifer is seriously so good-looking. Perfectly constructed face that’s symmetrical, hair that always seems to be swooped back just right.
I mean honestly, everything from his laugh to the way he speaks gives me good tingles.
“Technically I did, just… a few thousand mortal years ago.”
“Do you mind if I ask how old you are? Not in mortal years.”
“About seventy, but I spent a bit of time in the mortal world, so I’m probably closer to one hundred and fifty. Give or take.”
I hum. “I still can’t quite comprehend the time differences between the mortal world and the Beyond.”
“It’s very complicated, but I’d say it’s about thirty-six mortal hours per one Beyond hour. No one has actually done the math. Until…” His voice turns somber. “I did, after leaving Kayn.”
Instinctively, I step closer to him, causing him to release my hand and wrap his arm around my shoulders.
“For Kayn, it was over four hundred years without you… What was it for you?”
“About twelve. Every one of them agonizing… except the moment I met you. I think for those fleeting minutes…” He pauses as we turn down another long hall.
We’ve explored the upper floors and now we’re on the base level.
Every corridor looks the same—onyx-painted walls, scattered paintings, red or deep-blue rugs, and narrow tables topped with vases of black flowers.
“…it gave me hope that maybe I could move on, if I found the right person.”
I chew my bottom lip, staying quiet as I rest my head into the crook of his arm.
“Instead, I obsessed over you and missed him. Fate had a weird way of telling me I’d been… an idiot.”
“No. Just telling you that you were wrong. You’re far from an idiot, Lucifer.”
He lets out a long breath, but when I look up at him, he’s smiling.
“Well… wrong I was. Bloody Beyond, how—”
A door opens to our right, and out come a few… Mundanes? I truly don’t know what they are, but they’re loud.
“Fuck, that was riveting!” a blonde girl shrieks as she clings to another woman with dark brown hair. “If only my body could take more of that high.”
“Ugh, yes please!” the other female says, sounding equally as inebriated as her friend.
Behind them steps a man taller than Kayn, holy Beyond. If I had to guess, maybe seven feet? There is no way he is shy of it. Whoever this male is, is monstrous, but stunning in his own way.
His skin is dark, comparable to gray, but nearly black with such a finish that he looks almost celestial.
When he tilts his head, his long silvery-white hair flows past his chest that’s bare.
Eyes so pale that at first I thought they lacked color, but there’s a very light hue of lavender.
They glow brighter as they lock first on Lucifer, and then on me.
I swallow roughly from the sheer intensity of him.
“Oh, my! Lucifer!” one of the girls screams, but something keeps me fixed on the male. “I’ve been looking for you—well, we have.”
Luce doesn’t respond to them. Instead, he yanks me behind him, forcing me out of the man’s line of sight.
“Azer.”
“Lucifer.” If a voice could drip mystery, it’s his. “Who’s your pet?”
The blonde girl darts to my side, pulling my attention away from the two men. She’s smiling, and it’s now I see the bite marks covering her neck, streaked with dried blood.
“The prince never has pets,” she coos, placing her hands on my cheeks. “And when he does, he chooses someone like—”
“Shut your mouth, Roman. Get your fucking sister and go.” Holy shit. Lucifer’s voice drops, deep and violent. So heavy the air itself feels strangled.
Roman tilts her head, her dark yellow eyes drilling right into me.
“Mortal slug.”
She spins away, her hair nearly brushing Lucifer’s arm. Something tells me if it had, she’d have lost more than just the strands that touched him.
“Rarely see you these days,” Azer says in a mocking tone.
Only after the women vanish down the hall, do I finally dare look at him again. “Father have you so busy you can’t ever make an appearance?”
Father?
Could he be…
No. He couldn’t be. What did Lucifer say? He owns everyone, which I guess would make Belial… everyone’s father.
In a sense.
Right?
I’m honestly surprised when Lucifer turns toward me, wraps an arm around my neck, and starts guiding me in the direction we were already headed. Unfortunately, whoever this white-haired male is, he clearly isn’t the type to just let us walk away.
Azer appears in front of us, one hand slipping into his pocket while the other runs the full length of his hair—from scalp to the ends that brush his chest. It’s then that I notice his ears are pointed at the tip.
“Don’t ignore me, Lucifer.”
“I’m busy.” His tone is sharp with a level of distaste I’ve never heard from him. “Now move.”