by L. Rose
“I know it’s impossible not to feel guilty because I feel it as well, but we just have to remember that they’re not lost to us. They will come back, and we’ll all feel whole again,” I told her. “It’s not bad to be happy, to enjoy us, and for me to enjoy you both, and the same for Asher.”
She nodded. “I know. I’ll feel better when they are home.”
“And they will be soon,” a new voice drifted over us. Paige let out a scream. Asher’s weight shifted as he flashed up and in front of us while I lay over Paige more, protecting her. Alma stood just inside the door. She rolled her eyes and waved her hand. “Oh, stop hissing at me, vampire. I come in peace.”
“Maybe, crazy lady, come at a time when we’re not fucking naked and in bed,” I suggested angrily.
“How did you get in here?” Asher demanded.
She lifted a key in her hand.
“How did you get that?” I clipped.
Paige let out a muffled noise.
Fuck! I pulled back so I wasn’t covering her face.
“Alma, what are you doing in here, and stop looking at my men like they’re candy!” she demanded. “Asher, get some clothes on,” she snapped.
Alma cackled, her hand covering her stomach while she kept laughing.
“Alma,” Paige bit out. Annoyance swept through me, which came from Paige, and I knew she’d been feeling my rage. She ran her hands up and down my back.
“Right, yes, as I was saying, you all better get dressed.”
“You didn’t say that at all,” I growled.
“Doesn’t matter. Lucifer is on his way. I’m sure you’ll want to greet him in the throne room.”
Paige went to sit up, but the towel had slipped down and her breasts were on display. Even though the crazy woman was old enough to be her grandmother, she wasn’t seeing Paige’s tits.
“Thank you, Alma. We’ll prepare,” Asher said.
In other words, get the fuck out.
Alma snorted, obviously reading the brush-off. “Toodaloo.” She waved and left.
“Wait,” Paige yelled, but the old woman didn’t return. Paige looked up at me. “What do you think she meant before?” Her eyes widened, and my heart stalled.
Both of us realized at the same time. While Asher chuckled at us, I bolted off the bed and ran to the bathroom, only to rush back and help Paige out of bed. I kissed her swiftly but hard and then said, “They’re coming back.” I reached out, sensed Asher close, and grabbed him, dragging him into our huddle.
She laughed cheerfully and shook us both. “They’re coming home.”
“They are, love. Let us prepare for them, and for Lucifer.”
Shit. Forgot about that fucker.
Dressed in the long black gown my sister picked out, I paced the staged area of the throne room. In a rush, we sent word to my people that the ceremony would be delayed due to Alma foreseeing the arrival of Lucifer, finally. Of course, mentioning his name put people in a nervous tizzy. No doubt the castle would be spick-and-span in an hour or so.
I probably should have been scared knowing the devil was on his way, but nothing could override the glee I felt knowing Alma had seen that Alex and Thorn were coming home too. They must have got a hold of Lucifer in Hell somehow, and he was bringing them back to me.
I glanced at the doors again and saw Felnick shake his head. He was on the lookout for them. He also had guards lining the walls in case something bad happened.
Again, no fear bombarded me even thinking that.
It was probably stupid, but I trusted Alma would have warned us in some cryptic way if Lucifer was coming here to harm us.
“My queen, are you sure you won’t wear the crown?” Gregory asked for the fifth time.
Rolling my eyes, I looked down at him where he stood below the steps of the stage. “No. No and no. I’m not a crown-wearing kind of woman.”
“But… it will show Lucifer—”
“Nothing. I promise I’ll wear it when it’s necessary, like… I don’t know, public meetings with royalty.”
“Lucifer is royalty,” he said, his voice high and anxious.
That was true. Damn.
I looked to the crown on a cushion in his hands. It gleamed with diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and other types of jewels. The thing was over the top and in the face.
“Fine,” I grumbled.
Gregory beamed. He raced up the steps, but Nate moved to my side, grabbed the crown from the cushion, and set it on top of my head with a smirk. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the time to junk punch him.
“Fucking hell, this shit is heavy.” If I wasn’t a ghoul, the weight of the crown could possibly break my neck.
“I’ve always found crown-wearing annoying myself,” a new voice said into the room.
We froze for a second, and then Asher had Gregory out of sight before he flashed back to stand in front of me. Nate was at my side, his arm out, curling around my stomach, holding me back. Guards rushed toward us, but in a blink, they froze.
“No need for that.”
I peeked around Asher to see a tall, dark-skinned man wearing a navy blue suit with a white shirt under it opened at the neck, dipping down his smooth mocha skin. It fit him to perfection. His piercing blue eyes crinkled at the corners, humor evident. His lips curved up in the corners. His black hair was shaved low, and for a second, I felt like I wanted to run my hand over it.
I shook my head. Grabbing Nate’s arm, I moved it from my body. He was hesitant until I looked at him and smiled with a nod. He grumbled under his breath but dropped his arm. I stepped around Asher and moved in front of him instead.
“Lucifer, I presume.” He was nothing like I’d imagined. Maybe what didn’t help was how I’d watched the show Lucifer on Netflix.
“And you would be correct, my dear.” His voice was made for sin. Smooth, rich, and something I could listen to all the time. Damn him.
“How did you get in here?” I asked, trying to seem unfazed. He stood there alone. I wanted to demand where my men were, where his people were, why had he shown without announcing himself? But I realized he would be all about games, and it would come down to how well I played them.
He chuckled. “I have my ways.” His eyes went behind me to Asher, then slowly slid to Nate. I wanted to punch him in the face for staring at them too long.
When they moved further to the side, and I heard a whimper, I called, “Thank you, Gregory, that will be all.” I heard a door slam, and then a grinning Lucifer was back looking at me. “Why wasn’t he frozen? And if you wouldn’t mind—” I swung my hand out toward my guards. “I promise they won’t attack.”
“So that man wasn’t a mate?”
“Gregory?” I laughed. Lucifer nodded once. “No. My guards?”
The room erupted in the noise of my guards rushing forward. “Stop,” I yelled. They did. “Please, go back to your positions.”
Lucifer, with a smile, watched as my guards went back to the walls around us. He met my gaze and said, “You’ll promise my people will be safe?”
“I promise, as long as none of your people harm mine in any way, yours will be safe.”
He chuckled. “Very good, Paige. Perfect wording.” His hand flung out and people appeared around him. Three women and six men—all dressed immaculately, except for a guy at Lucifer’s side. He was dressed in jeans and some band T-shirt. His messy black hair held a tinge of blue to it. His eyes, which looked like a black abyss, held mine, and I couldn’t seem to look away.
“Paige Alice, I would like you to meet….” I heard him sigh. “Is she listening to me?”
I licked my suddenly dry lips when the corner of rocker guy’s lips lifted. He stood in a casual posture, his hands down at the sides of his slim waist. I just knew he would be perfect, like my men were, under his clothes, and I wanted to know what his caramel skin tasted like.
“My queen,” Asher called.
Slowly, I drew my eyes from rocker guy and looked up at Asher. He dipped his chin down toward Lucifer.
>
Oh shit. Had he spoken?
I faced the devil again. He looked annoyed with his arms crossed over his chest. “Are you listening now?”
I nodded, but then a deep chuckle touched my ears. It came from Lucifer’s side, and I slid my eyes to rocker guy. Our gazes caught and locked. He winked, and a thrill trembled throughout my body. My nipples hardened.
The rocker guy’s body jerked forward. I realized Lucifer smacked him in the back of the head. My power burst forward, my heart beating louder, harder. My eyes glowed, my claws shot out, and through my long, sharp teeth, I snarled, “Don’t.” I glared down at the man I wanted to hurt for doing such a thing.
“Don’t?” Lucifer whispered.
The room shook. More power threaded through the air, swaying clothing and hair around. Before my eyes, Lucifer changed. His eyes bled black. No white showed at all. He grew taller, larger. His shirt and jacket disappeared as wings sprouted from his back. His own claws held a silver-tipped edge. He didn’t just have one set of teeth, but two, all long, pointy, and no doubt sharp.
“Did you tell me don’t?” he demanded, his voice hard, cold, and vibrating around the room. Some of my guards shook from where they stood. His people watched on, either bored or with a smile. While Asher went all vampire and Nate half shifted, Lucifer’s suit tore as his body expanded.
“Yes,” I hissed. “I fucking told you don’t. You don’t harm anyone under my roof.”
“He is one of mine. I can do to him what I wish.”
I took a step forward. Both my men moved with me. Nate growled in the back of his throat, and Asher’s own chest rumbled.
“Not here. This is my domain. You do not rule here. I do. I will do everything I can to protect people I see being hurt for no reason. Fucking touch him again and you’ll see how that goes for you.”
In the back of my mind, I knew this was crazy. I knew I should be cowering from the force of Lucifer’s power licking and burning my skin, but I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t back down. I wasn’t weak, and I would do anything to protect the guy beside him. Why? I didn’t know, but the need to drag him to my side and curl around him, shielding him with my own body from any harm was strong. I was sure I would kill anyone who laid a finger on him.
This is stupid, Paige. He’s the fucking devil. I tried to talk myself down. It could have worked if Lucifer hadn’t started reaching for the man beside him because then all I saw was red.
I ran and sprang at Lucifer, ready to take him to the ground and rip his head off while I plunged my hand into his chest and dragged out his heart.
But I froze.
In midair.
My body was literally frozen in midair.
I could still hear, still see and move my eyes, but my body wouldn’t move. By the sound of Asher’s hisses and Nate’s snarls, both of them were in the same predicament. I glanced at the guards and saw them frozen.
I’d fucked up big-time.
We were screwed.
Lucifer was going to rip us all apart and feast on our own bodies. He’d hunt my people down and kill them… all because of me.
Even when I thought I was doing the right thing, when my instincts were running my mind and body—and were usually right—I’d been wrong.
I wanted to cry, to scream and beg for my men, for my people. I wanted to ask to spare everyone and take my life only.
Before me, as Lucifer stepped close, his body morphed back into his human guise. Only his wings didn’t disappear; he used them to float up to get in my face.
He studied me, then flew around to face his people. “She is ferociously beautiful, is she not?” No one commented. He spun back to me. “I think I might take this time, while you’re not going for my throat, to introduce you to my people. Do you agree?” He cupped his hand behind his ear. “Oh, wait, that’s right; you can’t speak right now. Not to worry, my dear, I’ll go on.” His feet landed back on the ground, and he stood before the woman. “These are my concubines. Corazon, Aretha, and Virginia.” For the first time, I actually took them in. Corazon looked like a young version of Salma Hayek, Aretha looked a twin to Halle Berry, and Virginia, well, she looked like Charlize Theron. Of course he would have women in his bed who were stunning. Virginia was the only one who smiled and waved at me. Lucifer kissed her neck while his other two glared at Charlize. He moved over to the men. “At the back, we have my loyal guards. Ozuna, Rami, Xi, Jair, and Glenn.” I would have laughed at Glenn’s normal name, if I wasn’t damn frozen. For now, it was a good thing I couldn’t move because I was sure I’d have kept laughing since his guards resembled Dwayne Johnson, Vin Diesel, Jason Statham, Bruce Willis, and Glenn looked like Chris Hemsworth when he starred in Avengers. I didn’t know if they truly looked like that or if that was the form they’d picked. “Lastly, my son, Azrael.”
As soon as I looked to his son, I was captured and lost in his dark, yet kind, gaze.
“For fuck’s sake,” Lucifer cried. I forced my eyes back to him. “So, you see, queenie, I can do what I wish to my own son since he’s of my flesh and blood.” He walked close to Azrael, who stood still and just stared up at me with a small smile on his face, while I wanted to yell at him to run.
Lucifer stopped behind his son. His hands rested on his shoulders in what seemed like a nice way, but I didn’t trust it. I tried to yell, scream, and curse, but I couldn’t.
“Do you like what you see here, queenie?” Lucifer asked, cupping his hand under Azrael’s chin. Lucifer smiled. “I think you do. You’re very distracted by him.”
I tried again to move my mouth, my hands, my legs, but nothing.
“What about if I do this?” One claw popped out and he scraped it down Azrael’s cheek. Blood welled and dripped down to his shoulder, his T-shirt.
My chest burned from my attempts to break free.
“No? You don’t mind?” He laughed. “Then I guess I’ll do this.” He sliced across Azrael’s neck, not cutting, but scratching, only I really didn’t like to see it. To witness Azrael flinch. A savage howl started in my belly, swept up my chest and out my mouth. Only it was muffled.
Lucifer clapped and laughed. “Oh, she didn’t like that at all.” He grinned. “Hmm, let’s see what else I can do to my own son.” Lucifer walked around Azrael’s body. All of his claws were out now, and he used them to slice at his son’s shoulder, his arm, his chest, cutting through the material easily.
An untamed part of me ignited in my stomach. It went up in a blaze and burned bright throughout me. In the next second, my snarl was loud, free, just like my body, and I finished the jump to the ground, landing in a crouch.
Asher and Nate made noises behind me, but I couldn’t look at them. I kept my eyes on the devil. My power still rolled over me. I pulled my upper lip up and snarled at him again. He was too close to what was mine.
Mine? I blinked at the word, confused.
Lucifer’s hand reached out toward Azrael. Not wanting him harmed any more, I leaped. Arms stretched out, feet kicking off the floor, I grabbed Lucifer by the neck, hand circling, my own claws dug into his skin. We fell. Lucifer landed with a thud with me on top of him.
“Stop,” he yelled. I didn’t, but then I saw his hand out and knew he was talking to his guards. Then his hands were at my waist and he pushed, and I flew over his head, dropping to my back. I rolled, jumped up, and faced him again. He was already on his feet, spreading his legs, bracing. I moved in and jabbed my fist at his face. He dodged. I kicked at his legs, but he jumped them. His hand pushed at my chest, and I went crashing back into the pews. I got to my feet and charged, fist ready for his face, but I faked and then ducked, circling my arms around his waist. I took him to the ground, straddling his waist. I punched my claws into his chest. He cried out and grabbed my wrists.
Clapping started.
It had me pausing before I could reach his heart. I glanced up and saw Lucifer standing near his guards, still clapping. I looked back down and found nothing under me.
Lucifer b
eamed at me. “I do believe you are perfect.”
Blinking, I stood and drew my power in as I backed up a little to stand in front of Azrael. “What is this?” I demanded at Lucifer.
“A test.” Lucifer smirked.
I jerked my head back, confused. “A test?” When Lucifer stepped forward, I took one back, nearly tripping on my stupid dress. At least it hadn’t been a hinderance when I fought.
I felt Azrael’s heat. I wanted to face him, soak in it while I kissed and tasted him.
Why him?
What made him bring out my possessiveness like my men….
No, he couldn’t be.
No. I had my men. I didn’t need another one.
But why did I feel a connection toward him?
“Yes, a test, and you passed with flying colors, Paige Alice.” Lucifer winked.
“A test for what?” I demanded.
“Not many can break my power, but you did. I’m impressed.” He nodded with a big smile.
“That doesn’t answer my questions, and can you please allow my men and guards to move?”
He shook his head. “Not just yet. I do believe they’ll need to calm down first.” He moved forward again.
I clenched my jaw, and Lucifer smirked. “Now, now, queenie. Don’t get your panties in a twist. They’ll be free as soon as I sense they have their rage under control.”
There wasn’t anything I could do, so I nodded. “While we wait, will you tell me what the—” A moan escaped me when a warm hand touched the back of my neck under my long hair. Spinning, the hand followed around to the front of my neck. I looked up into Azrael’s dark eyes, startled by how familiar they seemed, and yet I couldn’t place from where or why.
Azrael graced me with a smile, and I then realized his skin looked scratch-free. I reached out and touched his smooth cheeks, neck, and then he let me lift his T-shirt so I could make sure he’d healed… or had it all been a trick to begin with?
His hand covered mine over his chest. I glanced up. “No marks,” I said.
He shook his head and lifted my hand back up to his cheek, flattening it there. His eyes closed, and he leaned into my touch as my heart hammered in my chest. I would have given anything to have kissed him right then. In fact, I started to lift up on my toes, since he was another tall man in my life, to take his mouth with mine. His eyes opened before he chuckled and shook his head. Humor danced in his eyes, along with desire. I hadn’t read him wrong. He liked me, but why was he denying me a taste?
