From Ashes and Embers (Ceasefire Series Book 3)

by Claire Marta

  Rubbing my cheek against the top of Juliana’s head, I lay the sleeping baby in her crib, tucking her blanket around her. Thick black eyelashes rest against her pink cheeks. Lips parted, she looks peaceful as she dreams. Unable to help myself I feather my fingertip along her downy cheek.

  “She is the sweetest thing, isn’t she?”

  The sound of Lucifer’s voice makes me jump. Turning sharply, I find him directly behind me. Intimidating, tall, black robes cloak his warrior frame. Unlike cloth, it moves with a life of its own, steeped in shadows that only he can control.

  “What do you want?” I ask, watching him warily. Hate barbs my words. After everything he’s done, I can’t forgive him. He took away the one thing I’ve wanted in the world. His actions have wrecked me. Raziel and I may be forced to live under his roof, but I will never trust him. Like a scorpion ready to strike he could so easily turn on us if it pleased him.

  One dark eyebrow raises at my rudeness, his green eyes boring into mine intently as if I have some secret he wants to pull apart. “You will accompany me to the throne room. I’m holding a household meeting.”

  He came personally to find me? Anxiety sends my pulse thumping. This is the first time I’ve been alone with him since his attack in Cease Fire. I haven’t forgotten how he tried to rape and kill me. The Devil usually sends minions so what’s his real reason for seeking me out? Has he changed his mind about allowing me to stay? Has something happened to Raziel?

  Collecting the baby monitor, I trail him, surprised even more when he waits politely for me to catch him up. Long legs matching my more sedate pace, we stroll down a drafty corridor. Outside the windows the snow is as thick as ever. It makes me wonder if we’ll ever be out of this endless winter.

  Risking a peek, I glance up into the cruel, handsome face of the King of Hell. “What’s the real reason you’ve kept me around and haven’t killed me?”

  “Venom pumps through my veins so do not make the mistake of thinking I have a heart. I only wish to maximize my forces. I want your great-grandfather’s domain as mine. Hades’ realm has potential, and I wish to expand my resources.”

  Politics. I’ve returned to being a piece of chattel. Instead of feeling angry, resignation takes its place. With Raziel at my side, I no longer care. I’ve let myself sink into the knowledge that I’ll never be free. That maybe the Devil is right. It’s all an illusion. Maybe it’s better that children aren’t brought into the mix. Innocence that could so easily be corrupted. The thought doesn’t stop my pang of misery.

  “If I were ever to achieve taking the throne, Raziel would be King not you,” I point out with smug satisfaction I’ve screwed up his plans. I’ve hesitated in reaching out to Hades. Frightened he might have found out about my guardians’ plans and decided to punish me in their stead. Take me from Raziel’s side. Another part of me is scared the rumors about him are true. That he’s ancient and mad. An old god gone insane.

  Lucifer’s lips twitch into a subtle smile. There’s not annoyance or calculation just a wolfish delight. “He would indeed.”

  Eyes widening, realization hits me swiftly. “Raziel is your blood.”

  The fire I saw Raz wield. His power. A Nephilim alone I know would not possess such strength as I’d witnessed. Such pure darkness. It’s the only thing that makes sense.

  Finally shifting in my direction, the Devil’s gaze falls on mine. “I would prefer if you don’t tell him. If you impart that knowledge to your new mate, I will take measures to have you regret it. I’d have no qualms in slitting your pretty throat to protect what’s mine.” The thinly veiled menace in his velvety pleasant tone is the only hint of emotion he shows. “He’d bleed himself dry for you. It would be such a pity for him to mourn you a second time, and I promise this time you would not be coming back.”

  He’s so cold.

  Movements slowing, I come to a stop not far from our destination. “I may hate you for what you did to me, but you should tell him he’s your biological son. He thinks he was abandoned.”

  Coiled danger in every tread, he crowds me until my spine meets the cool stone of the wall. Caging me in with his arms, he braces them either side of my head.

  “Not many females conceive when I fuck them. It’s a rare occurrence. All the mothers and offspring die during childbirth. Raziel was the first to ever survive. I had no idea he existed until I sensed his call. His mother was already a burning lump. Even if I had arrived in time, I would not have saved her from the fire. I felt his rage that night. Saw the hate bright in his young eyes. I would rather he remain in ignorance than experience his revulsion because I’m his father.”

  Clutching the baby monitor, I keep it between us. Searching his closed expression, I look for any nuance of feeling. Does he care for Raziel? Would he hurt if his son rejected him, or is this just another manipulation? Is what he saying truth or lies? Part of his game. It hasn’t taken me long to figure out we’re all being used by his twisted will. He exerts superiority and control with so much finesse it’s hard to discern reality from fiction.

  “He has a good heart.”

  Pushing off the wall, Lucifer slinks past me like a graceful jungle cat with a look of revulsion. “A heart and a conscience will get him killed. Even with his legacy he is still so very human. There’s no room for softness and kindness in my court.”

  “No. They will make him stronger.”

  Entering the throne room, I discover we’re the first to arrive. Gravitating to the fireplace the heat from the flames burning merrily in the mighty hearth chases the chill from my bones. Instead of taking his throne like I expect, Lucifer joins me.

  “You are part of this family now and under my protection. Hades does not know of your existence, and we shall keep it that way. Your guardians were right. It’s time for new blood to take the throne of the Underworld and herald in a new era. I will do what is necessary to keep you and my grandchildren safe to achieve it.” With that, he pointedly looks at my flat stomach.

  Pain wells up overwhelming me with despair. “You made certain I can’t…”

  I flinch when he plants his solid, confident palm over my abdomen all too aware of what had happened last time he’d touched me there.

  “Twin souls are laying in the haven of your womb, growing even now,” he tells me softly. “I can already sense them.”

  “That’s not possible. You made me infertile.” I can’t breathe. His words bounce around inside my skull. Is this a cruel joke? Does he enjoy seeing me suffer? Gloat at my pain?

  “Yes, I did. I had no intention of letting you breed,” he acknowledges, with no sign of remorse or regret. “But you were touched by a spark of something divine.”

  He’s so close I can see the flecks of darker green ringing his emerald irises. “I don’t understand.”

  “You had sex with Raziel in the tree of Knowledge, also known as the tree of life. Eden is nothing but a wasteland, but the tree wasn’t dead. It laid dormant, its powers slumbering and celestial. It brought new life to fruition in a moment of love before you burned it to nothing but carbon.” He chuckles darkly at the last part.

  I’m pregnant?

  The strength leaves my legs. Hand curling around my bicep, Lucifer catches me before I sink to the floor in a heap.

  “How do you know we…” I asked faintly.

  Teeth flashing, he gives me a wolfish grin filled with mischievous glee. “Fucked in a holy sanctuary? Not many are aware of just how far my power reaches. Do you really think I wouldn’t know of the playing board I’d dropped my knight onto when we started this game?”

  “Why are you tell me all this now?”

  His grip on my arm tightens, his stare boring through me as if he can see into the depths of my soul. “To assure you don’t do anything stupid. I sense your hatred. I told you at the start I will let nothing threaten this family, including those who are a part of it. Move against me and I will break your will. Shatter your mind and leave you a husk of who you are. What your guard
ians did to you will pale in comparison with what I am capable of.”

  I sense Lucifer’s will pressing against mine. Persuasive, powerful, seeking, and insistent.

  “I...” My head begins to swim, thoughts sliding into disarray. Around us, the room begins to close in, stilling my breath to sharp shallow pants.

  “From a tiny whisper to a roar, purpose drives us all one way or another.” His voice is hypnotic. “You now have yours; do not waste it.”

  “Jane? You’re so pale. Are you all right?”

  The Devil’s grin settles into wary amusement at the concern in his son’s voice, the odd atmosphere he’d invoked around us slipping away.

  “I just felt a little light headed,” I tell Raziel as he rushes from the doorway to hold me. Wings healed, and strength fully restored, my unholy warrior is a fearsome sight. His place as Lucifer’s right-hand man once more secured. Yet now I know it’s for much deeper reasons. Roots embedded in blood and heritage.

  Smothering me into his rock-hard chest, he sweeps me easily up into his brawny arms. “You should have had more than a piece of toast for breakfast especially with all the…exercise you’ve been getting.”

  Sex. We haven’t been able to keep our hands off each other for the last few days. Releasing a breath, I give him a reassuring smile. I need to be sure before I tell him. Lucifer’s word or not, I need to see the two blue lines on a pregnancy test before I tell Raz. Curling my fingers into my palms, I hold in the urge to touch my stomach. The hope that it might be real has me almost in tears.

  Babies.

  Our babies.

  Please don’t let this be a lie.

  I don’t care that the Devil is tying his dynasty to mine. That I’m damned sure this was designed and executed to tie our lineages. All I can think about is smooth downy skin and innocent brown eyes.

  “Hey.” The tip of Raziel’s nose brushes mine lovingly. “Did he say something to upset you?”

  With a quick look, I find Lucifer sitting on his throne of bones, his attractive expression transformed into harsh unfriendliness. Whatever motivated his confessions, it’s now over. Perhaps to ease my animosity toward him? Prevent upheaval in the balance of his unholy court? Or to assure I don’t turn Raziel against him.

  Giving Raz a peck on his firm lips, I snuggle into his warmth “No. I’m just a bit over emotional today.”

  “Would someone like to tell me what the fuck is going on?” Mavi announces, storming into the room dressed from head to toe in tight black leather, her ponytail swishing from side to side as she moves. “I don’t enjoy being summoned when I’m in the middle of a bloody assignment for Gabriel. Leo and Snatch are more than likely to get their heads blown off, and I’m itching to slice something up, so this better be important.” Palming the gun holstered at her hip, she gives the Devil a fearless expectant glare.

  Moody, sullen, Cassandra, her half-sister, follows in her wake. Head bowed, the length of her ebony mane obscures her features, but her blue eyes peek through the loose strands.

  Lucifer doesn’t say a word. Snapping his fingers, he gives a signal. As both women reach the steps leading up to his throne, two burly red skinned demon guards stomp into the room. Between them they drag a naked, beaten, mutilated form.

  Rosella.

  Horns shorn off, the stumps are caked in dried blood. Mane of auburn locks chopped, short, matted, and filthy, no longer sleek and shiny. The torture the Devil’s ex-mistress has been through is written in her flesh. Red stripes from the lash of a cruel whip mar her skin. Deep angry wounds from a knife. A brand mark disfigures one side of her face. Similar welts decorate her breasts and groin.

  Dumping her on the marble floor, the males stand to attention, their impassive gazes on their master. Behind them, a struggling good-looking man is hauled in by another set. I recognize him as her lover. The soul taker demon who’d teleported me to the club the day I’d incinerated the hookers and vampires out of fear and pain. Horns sheared off, the rest of him looks untouched.

  “Rosella? I thought she’d vanished.” Raziel frowns, letting me slide down his muscular frame to stand beside him, his arm looped around my waist protectively.

  Lucifer tuts. “Do you really think anywhere is out of my reach?”

  “How long have you had her?”

  “She was brought to the fortress the day I sent you to the stygian witches. I was very thorough when it came to her torture.” Rising malevolently, the Devil stalks from his seat to halt before the prisoners. The force of his attention is as sharp as a blade on his prey. “I clothed you Rosella. Fed you. Made you my concubine and this is how you repay me? What do you have to say for yourself?”

  Chin tipping up, her gaze is brimming with contempt as she remains kneeling. “Repay you?” Her laugh is bitter. “You took me and my sisters as tribute. Barely touched by womanhood, you had us trained and broken to satisfy your sexual desires. Sterilized us so we couldn’t bear your bastards. Not once did you consider what we wanted. You treated us like mindless pets. Your prized whores. If you think we were ever grateful for it, then you’re delusional. You’re nothing but a tyrant. A monster. The only thing I’ve ever felt for you is hate. Every time you fucked me, I fantasized about your downfall.”

  Robes twirling around his bare feet, Lucifer circles her ominously. The look on his face is truly terrifying, devoid of conscience, bereft of compassion. “Even after your torture, you’re still so defiant as if you have something or someone to live for.” Head turning, his focus shifts to her accomplice with predatory calculation. “Your anguish at watching her being punished, Tizguth, was delicious. Not once did you look away when my guards indulged in fucking her body over and over. Which hurt you more, her physical pain when I cut her or the pleasure she took from the cocks that were inside her?”

  Tizguth’s response is to spit at his King’s feet. “One day, you’ll be in my place. Helpless, imprisoned, while your beloved whore is abused and mutilated. You will topple from your seat of tyranny.”

  Lucifer snaps his fingers. Without a word, the guards move in restraining their hostage. Gripping his jaw, one of them forces it open. The other inserts the tip of a pair of tongs into the captive’s mouth. Tizguth fights them but doesn’t have the strength to resist. Tongue clamped between the metal it’s stretched out past his lips.

  “You should be cowering at my feet.” Hand extended a deadly jade hilted knife materializes in the Devil’s hand. “Rebellion. Vengeance. These are seeds I will not allow to take root in my Kingdom. I will cut them out before they can ever take a hold.” With a flick of his wrist, he severs Tizguth’s tongue. Blood spurts from the stump that’s left the demon’s scream muffled and strangled.

  “Tizguth, no!” Battling to get to him, Rosella is forced down by her jailers to powerlessly watch her lover choke.

  Mavi observes it all with a sick satisfaction lighting her youthful features. It’s clear she’s enjoying every second. Her savagery just as brutal as her mate’s.

  Cassandra remains frozen in place, arms wrapped around her slim body. The horror in her stare mirroring my own.

  I see the message in Lucifer’s motives.

  A warning.

  This little show of what could happen if I did ever turn against him. Dread creeps over me in an icy chill. Burrowing into Raziel’s embrace, I seek the safety his arms provide me. I won’t lose him or my children. The Devil has now assured my obedience. Any thoughts of rebellion are crushed in a wave of fear.

  With a calm that’s unsettling, Lucifer pads toward the hearth where the fire crackles merrily, bringing warmth to the hall. “He’s your weakness, Rosella, as you are his. It’s the reason I allowed him to witness your torture over the last few weeks. His anguish at your suffering provided his own source of torment without me even having to lay a finger on him.” Crouching, he leaves the dagger to reach for the handle of something laying idly within the flames. The branding iron glows white hot as he produces it from the blaze. “But my patience has ru
n dry, and you no longer amuse me.”

  “Mercy, Master. Spare him, please.” Tears slide down the demoness’s dirty cheeks. Trembling, naked, the insolence she’d held onto melts away.

  Rising with intent, the Devil carries the metal rod toward the bleeding male who’s been forced down to his knees. “That word has no meaning here.”

  A hiss fills the air as the iron meets Tizguth forehead. Shrieks of agony, unintelligible, he writhes pinned in place by his guards.

  The smell of burning flesh hits my nose, making me gag. Grasp squeezing, Raziel cradles my ridged form gently. It’s not the first time I’ve seen such cruelty. Torture was something my guardians excelled in. It’s the delight of those around me that bothers me the most. They’re used to it. No morals mean no restraint.

  Tizguth’s crimson smeared expression twists in misery. Blackened and scarred, the x brand on his forehead still sizzles and burns.

  Discarding the branding iron, Lucifer smirks evilly. “Finish him, my Flower. I know you’re eager to inflict violence, and I will not deny you your desire.”

  Mavi draws her gun from its shoulder holster. Finger caressing the length of the muzzle, her expression is one most women would reserve for a lover. Intimate. Excited. Tip of her tongue darting out, she wets her lips. Sauntering closer, she aims her weapon right between the demon’s red eyes.

  Tizguth’s gaze remains trained on Rosella. Longing sorrow, they pour from his countenance, thick with grief.

  Love.

  Even though his voice has been stolen, it’s strong and directed at his woman.

  The gunshot is so sudden it makes me jerk. Blood splattering from the rear of his skull, he’s propelled backward to hit the floor. Glassy stare wide with surprise even in death, it remains on his lover.

  Fingers curled taut in Raziel’s t-shirt, I cling to him. Compassion twinges in my heart. After everything she’d done, Rosella’s words of her treatment at this King’s hands still ring true. Revenge always comes with a price. She’d found love, but instead of grabbing it with both hands and running away, she’s lost it forever.