For him?
Fuck, if he was feeling honest with himself, he had been waiting for her the entire fourteen hours she had been in the valley. He had tried to work, had attempted to focus on his duties and the things that required his attention. In the end, he had drifted around the castle, feeling for the first time just how cold and empty it could be.
Because he had wanted to be elsewhere.
With her.
He turned back to face the castle, filled with a pressing need to return to her. It had nothing to do with seeing her again, or hearing her voice, or smelling the soft fragrance of her fading perfume.
It had everything to do with business. He needed to return to her and ensure that she was obeying his command to stay in her apartment, and also to see if she had remembered anything else about Mihail.
His men were under strict orders not to enter her room and to teleport if she dared to venture into the corridors or other rooms, but the chances of her seeing one of them in their natural form of an angel was still too high for his liking. She seemed to take seeing his powers in her stride, was coping well with the things he had revealed to her to test her mind and see whether perhaps he could push her a little again to make her remember things, but he knew that if she saw his men for what they really were, it would be too much. It would break her.
That was the only reason he was returning and the only reason he was keeping her locked away.
It had nothing to do with any sort of desire to protect her or spend time with her.
He walked the snaking path back to the fortress, his gaze on it the entire time, shutting out the black lands around him.
It would have been quicker to teleport, but shifting the passage to the separate plane where the valley existed from its original location to Nina’s room, and then turning day into night for her had expended a vast amount of his powers, weakening him. Looking back, he should have walked to the prison and teleported back, but he had wanted to reach it quickly.
Because he had wanted to return to her.
Lucifer shoved that thought out of his head and clenched his fists to stop them from trembling. He cursed the sign of weakness, one he hoped his men hadn’t noticed. It was only temporary. Within the hour, he would be back at full strength.
If he had realised that altering the valley would drain him so fiercely, he wouldn’t have done it.
He snorted at that.
Fuck, he could even taste his own lies now.
He would have done it even if it had killed him.
He would have done it because he had wanted nothing else in that moment than seeing the pleasure and astonishment he had known Nina would feel on seeing the stars and the valley bathed in moonlight.
He had wanted to impress her.
“You seem awfully distracted today.” The deep male voice coming from his left instantly drove thoughts of Nina from his mind and he teleported a short distance on instinct, placing some land between him and the angel.
“Venturing beyond the boundaries of your prison again?” Mihail ran ice-blue eyes over him and shifted his weight to maintain his balance on the tall basalt rock near the path.
Lucifer sneered at him for daring to look down on him and flexed his fingers at his sides, his claws emerging as he thought about bringing the angel down to the level where he belonged.
Under Lucifer’s feet.
“I am well within the boundary.” He calmly pointed to the invisible wall that surrounded him but Mihail’s cold eyes didn’t move from him.
The angel spread his glossy pure white wings, an intimidation tactic that might work on the lower angels, but failed to make an impact on Lucifer. The span of Mihail’s wings was nothing compared with that of his own.
The wings he had once possessed anyway.
Now he possessed only a shadow of them, but they were both beautiful and terrifying, fitting for a king of Hell.
They burst from his back, ripping through the fine material of his suit jacket, and he spread them. The black shadows fluttered, forming shapes like feathers for the briefest of moments before shifting and regrouping, in a constant state of flux. Their span exceeded that of Mihail’s wings and the angel raised a pale eyebrow at him, his eyes turning colder as he glared at Lucifer. It seemed the little servant of Heaven hadn’t realised he possessed wings again.
He now possessed far more than mere wings.
Lucifer threw his right hand forwards, unleashing a black orb of energy that shot directly towards Mihail. The angel’s icy eyes widened and he kicked off, launching into the air just as the orb struck the rock. It exploded, blasting black fragments in all directions. Mihail grunted as the tiny splinters hit the backs of his bare thighs, each leaving a red streak on his golden skin.
None touched Lucifer.
They bounced off the invisible wall of his power and onto the black ground, tumbling away from him.
“An unprovoked attack?” Mihail sneered at him, beating his broad white wings to keep him stationary in the air. His black armour seemed to suck all light from around him, making the dull white inlay stand out, revealing the pictures of demons being defeated by men carved on it. “That is rather like you.”
“I did not think you had come to talk.” Lucifer threw his other hand forwards, unleashing another ball of energy that expanded as it rocketed towards the angel.
Mihail beat his wings and shot left, evading it, his long white ponytail streaming over his right shoulder.
“I have not.” The angel halted in the air again and drew a white blade from it. “I have come to take the mortal female from you.”
Lucifer frowned at that.
Why would the bastard want to take her back rather than use her against him?
It didn’t matter.
It wasn’t going to happen.
Lucifer lowered his head and glared through his lashes at the angel hovering above him, his lips peeling back off his emerging fangs as he growled.
Nina was under his protection now.
He wouldn’t surrender her to Mihail.
Mihail quirked a pale eyebrow at him, curiosity crossing his wretched face for a heartbeat before it turned to horror.
Lucifer pressed his wrists together and shoved both of his hands forwards, snarling as he unleashed a blast of black energy directly at the angel. Mihail attempted to dodge it, but it caught his right wing and sent him tumbling through the air. Lucifer didn’t give him a chance to recover. He kicked off and beat his shadow wings, shooting towards the angel as he attempted to right himself.
He roared as he pulled a flaming black blade out of the air at his side and launched it in a sweeping curve, aiming straight for Mihail’s neck. Mihail’s blue eyes grew enormous and he twisted at the waist, his bare stomach rippling with the effort to turn himself in time. His white blade came up and Lucifer snarled out his fury as it blocked his strike and pressed forwards, driving the angel backwards through the air.
Mihail grunted and tried to shove forwards to counter him.
No use.
Lucifer grinned and swept his arm out and the angel went flying backwards, sailing through the air with his wings streaming past him and the most wonderfully shocked look on his face.
A jolt of pleasure ran through Lucifer, igniting a hunger to see the angel begging for mercy at his feet.
He beat his wings, each sweep of them gaining urgency, born of that hunger to finally defeat the one angel capable of defeating him.
Mihail hit the enormous black spires of stone that surrounded the courtyard, but not as Lucifer had anticipated it. The male struck them with his feet first, coming into a vertical crouch, and kicked off. The force of the pressure he exerted to launch himself back towards Lucifer cracked the rock and Lucifer growled as a whole spire collapsed, crashing into the courtyard.
He had only just fixed it up after Asmodeus had killed a fucking dragon in it, the creature’s lava-like blood destroying half of the pavement.
Lucifer flew harder, clutching
his sword in his left hand and hurling his right one forward to unleash another blast of energy. He put more of his power into it this time, all of his fury and hunger to kill.
It shot towards Mihail, expanding rapidly until it was three times the size of the angel, easily able to swallow him whole.
Mihail rolled at the last second, spiralling out of the path of the orb.
Leaving it on a direct course for Lucifer’s castle.
“No!” Lucifer bellowed and teleported in an instant, reappearing in the path of the blast, between it and the fortress.
He sent his sword away and shoved both hands forwards, at the orb shooting towards him, and braced himself for contact, focusing all of his power on his hands so he could contain the orb and attempt to change its course.
It hit him hard and he grunted as the blow knocked the air from his lungs and hurled him backwards. The energy seared his palms, hotter than the boiling lakes of Hell, and he gritted his teeth as his suit jacket caught fire, rapidly burning away and taking his shirt with it, leaving only tatters behind. Shadows streamed from his arms, sinking deep into the orb.
The fortress loomed behind him and Lucifer growled as he beat his wings, twin feelings he hadn’t experienced in a long time surfacing within him to devour him as he struggled with the ball of dark energy.
He had to stop it from striking the castle.
He couldn’t fail.
If he did, Nina could be injured.
Or worse.
He threw his head back and roared as he flew harder, each desperate beat of his wings draining his strength, making him shake from weakness, until he was struggling to breathe. Fear closed his throat. Despair and doubt filled his heart, mocking him. He was going to fail again.
He was going to fail her.
He was going to kill her.
He would protect Nina with his life if it came to it.
His hands began to melt into the black ball of energy and he cried out as it burned him again, destroying his fingers first before it ate away at his palms, gnawing up to his wrists. He shoved more desperately, his teeth gritted against the pain and his fangs cutting into his lower lip. It was no use. He couldn’t slow the blast enough, not even with his shadows countering it, attempting to consume the energy back into him.
He looked back at the castle.
There was only one thing he could do, but it would leave him vulnerable to Mihail. The angel would easily be able to kill him, and then he would take Nina.
Lucifer realised he was going to lose no matter what he did.
And he didn’t like it.
It brought memories back to the surface, pain that refused to die and haunted him every day of his life.
He had been filled with such cold certainty before in his long existence.
Back when he had realised that no matter what he did, he would not escape the pit and he would not be allowed to return to his beloved home in Heaven.
But this time he had a choice.
He could choose to save Nina.
He could sacrifice himself for her sake.
She was worthy of such an act.
He focused all of his power, digging his shadows into the orb to anchor it to him, and teleported.
He reappeared close the plateau, with his back to the wall of rock that supported it, facing the castle. It shimmered through the black orb, just visible to him. The last of his strength left him and his shadows faded, but he kept his eyes on the fortress and his thoughts with Nina as his grip on the orb disappeared.
The energy pulsed over him and he tossed his head back, arching violently forwards as he bellowed in agony, so loud the ground trembled and the air vibrated with his roar.
Pain devoured him.
It ate his awareness of anything but it, blazed so deep in his bones that he was sure they were burning to ashes just as his hands had, that he was going to be consumed by his own power and this was the end for him.
Numbness followed it.
And then voices.
He cracked his sore eyes open, trying to seek the source of those voices, sure that it was Mihail and his men come to kill him.
A broadly-built male with familiar black hair and golden eyes towered over him, his obsidian armour as glossy as the raven wings furled against his back. Beside him, a petite hazel-eyed female lingered, her hand clasping his and the softness in her gaze making Lucifer want to end his own life.
The male nudged him with the toe of his black leather boot.
Lucifer bared his fangs at the angel of his own creation and shoved onto his knees, and paused when he saw he had hands again. He stared at them, and then slowly shifted his focus to the woman. Liora. A powerful witch.
She tucked her long chestnut hair behind her ear and smiled, and it was enough to make Lucifer want to vomit.
The witch had restored his hands for him.
The perfect end to a shitty fucking day.
He owed her and she knew it.
It was bad enough that Asmodeus had witnessed everything, and Lucifer knew from the smug look on the maggot’s face that he had witnessed everything. The fight against Mihail and what had followed as he had attempted to protect his castle from his own energy blast. Not only that, but Mihail was gone.
Meaning Asmodeus had fought him and driven him away.
And now Lucifer owed Asmodeus too.
The black-haired male held his hand out to him and Lucifer growled at it. He had already humiliated himself enough. He wasn’t going to add to it.
He carefully rose onto his feet and locked his knees when they tried to betray him and buckle beneath his weight. His shadow wings streamed from his bare back, shifting to counter each sway of his body and keep him steady as his strength slowly returned.
Lucifer flexed his fingers. They were pale and perfect, tipped with short black nails. His bare arms and chest were covered in scratches and lacerations, smeared with black dust and rivulets of red. A snarl tore from his lips.
Mihail would pay.
His snarl died and his head snapped up, his eyes fixing on his fortress.
What if Asmodeus hadn’t driven Mihail away?
What if Mihail had left, after taking Nina?
Lucifer stumbled forwards, managing a few steps before his right knee collapsed, sending him back down onto the black ground. He struck it hard and grimaced as pain shot up his knee and zinged through his bones. He couldn’t wait for his strength to return. He had to reach Nina.
He had to see that she was still there.
Waiting for him.
He shoved back onto his feet and fixed his eyes on the fortress, determined to reach it. The distance seemed enormous, an insurmountable obstacle between him and his little mortal when he was weak. He wanted to teleport there, straight into the room she had made her own, but no matter how hard he tried to muster it, he didn’t have the power to use that ability. His knee went to give out on him again but he managed to remain upright this time, merely staggering a few steps to the right instead.
“You are in no fit condition to walk.”
He ignored Asmodeus’s observation and kept trudging forwards, unable to deny the fierce need to see that Nina was safe and Mihail hadn’t stolen her from him.
When Asmodeus placed his hand on Lucifer’s shoulder, Lucifer turned on him with a growl and lashed out at him, backhanding him hard across the face and knocking him away.
Asmodeus snarled right back at him, his golden eyes flashing red and his fangs on show.
There had been a time when Asmodeus had known his place and wouldn’t have dared to touch him.
Lucifer huffed.
There had also been a time when Asmodeus had been more like a servant to him, a slave who did his bidding without questioning his orders. He slid his gaze to his right, towards the male, and hated the voice that mocked him by mentioning that he had attempted to do with Asmodeus what his master had done with him. He had made the male carry out atrocities without a thought to how it made him fe
el and had expected him to obey his every command.
He spat a curse at Asmodeus, one so dark that the ground shook beneath his feet, and instantly regretted it when the trembling caused him to lose his balance and he hit the basalt knees-first again. The small pebbles cut through the remains of his trousers, biting into his knees.
He should have paved every fucking path in his kingdom.
He slammed his fist into the ground, so hard that fault lines forked out from where he had struck and pain danced up his arm, a fiery heat that stole feeling from him for a brief second before he burned in agony all over again.
“Do you mind? Do you know how much of my power it took to remake those?” Liora’s light voice was laced with a sharp edge, and as much as Lucifer wanted to lash out at her too, he found he couldn’t.
He looked down at the hands she had repaired and realised that it must have taken most of her power to use such a spell. Suddenly, he didn’t have the heart to hit anything for a while.
What the fuck was happening to him?
He wanted to blame Erin, but he had the terrible feeling that this time the blame rested on someone else’s shoulders.
Someone’s beautiful, slender shoulders.
Shoulders that were part of a curvy body hidden beneath prim and proper clothing, and supported a head full of wavy red hair, a face made up of clear skin with rosy cheeks, soft shell-pink lips that he couldn’t stop fucking thinking about kissing, and the most stunning peridot eyes that entranced him.
Hell, he needed to see her.
He needed it so badly that he took the hand Asmodeus offered, hauling himself back onto his feet, and didn’t even grumble when the dark angel cast his other hand out, creating a swirling black maelstrom slightly taller than he was and broader.
Lucifer trudged into the portal, not quite able to believe he was relying on Asmodeus and allowing someone to help him.
That hadn’t happened in millennia.
Since long before he had fallen.
No one had ever tried to help him.
He stepped out of the portal in front of his fortress and looked back at Asmodeus and the little witch. She wisely busied herself with the hem of her black dress, fraying it with trembling fingers. The dark angel didn’t avoid his gaze. He held it instead, his golden eyes intense and focused.
Her Angel: Eternal Warriors Romance Series Complete Series Box Set (Books 1-5) Page 152
