by Cate Corvin
The arena itself was once again dead silent, the stands empty, the doors barred against intrusion. I walked across the arena floor, remembering every fight I had here with perfect clarity, the rush of exhilaration I’d felt at finding my new place in the world…
I’d missed it so much.
I sank onto the steps of my dais and looked out across the circle. “I suppose it’s time we make new plans, but we’re missing someone.”
The place in my heart that Azazel occupied was an aching void, and I was dying to tell him everything. It was irrational, but I wished he’d come when the healer was there. Surely the Grigori, Watcher that he was, sensed everything…?
“We’ll catch him up later. For now, we need to examine our options,” Lucifer said, waving a hand. “The Sword of Mourning is out.”
“The Sword of Light-” I started to say, but all three of them said “NO.”
The single word bounced off the walls, making it sound like a choir had spoken.
“Let the Sword of Light go, Melisande,” Lucifer said ferociously. “We weren’t going to let you try before, and we’re absolutely not letting you try now.”
I stood up, bracing myself to argue my point, but at that exact moment a storm of smoke and stars exploded through the ceiling, whipping wildly before condensing into a solid form in the middle of the arena.
We all went silent as Azazel took form, his features just visible through the storm of shadows, violet eyes furious.
“Is it true?” he roared, his voice multiplied and overlaid with the crackling electricity of what I thought of as his shadow-form.
Belial and Lucifer were in front of me before I could blink, forming a shield between myself and the storm of shadows, each gripping a weapon and warily watching the Grigori.
“Azazel,” I breathed. “You’re back.”
I stepped down to the obsidian floor and placed a hand on both the Prince of Wrath and the Prince of Hell. “He won’t hurt me. Let me speak to him.”
Lucifer shook his head minutely, but Azazel’s cold gaze landed on him. “Let her through,” the Watcher said, with the silky, seductive lilt that always seemed to forebode danger to me. “You know I won’t harm her.”
“I know nothing of the sort,” Lucifer muttered, but the time had come to stand my ground. I was sick of everyone else making my decisions for me.
I could handle the Watcher who’d marked me with his star.
I slipped between the two of them like quicksilver, stepping into the shadows before either of them could grab me and pull me back out.
As soon as I was in the grasp of Azazel’s magic, the smoke swirled around us, cutting us off from everyone else. I could just see their vague outlines outside the shadows, but I had no fear in me. Not from Azazel, no matter what he was.
I looked up at my teacher and lover, taking in the lines of tension on his sharply-chiseled face, the fact that my feather was still pinned to his lapel, and reached up to stroke his cheek.
“It’s true,” I told him. “I’m pregnant with Belial’s baby, and… I wish you’d been there when we found out.”
He seemed like a statue carved from marble in his anger, but the lines slowly faded from his features.
“I always want you with us, Azazel. I’ve already apologized to Lucifer, and you’re the only one left, but I couldn’t find you. I’m sorry I ruined the Sword of Mourning, but I’m not sorry about-”
“I don’t give a damn about the Sword of Mourning,” he said, but his voice was normal again instead of the crackling monster of the void. “I care about you, and I should’ve been there.”
“You’re here now, and that’s what matters.” I dared to rise on my toes and wrap my arms around his neck. His clean herb-and-salt smell filled my nose.
“There’s always another way,” he said gruffly, his arms twining around me. Little loops of shadows wrapped around my arms and legs too, like even the magic inside him wanted to be close to me. “Except for the Sword of Light. Don’t even think about it.”
“Not you, too.” I groaned against his shoulder.
“You’d be risking both yourself and the baby, which is unacceptable.”
Despite my annoyance that no one thought this was a viable plan, I couldn’t help but smile while my face was hidden against his shoulder. He had his clipped, stern tone back in place, like nothing had ever happened.
All the pieces of my heart were together again, the fractures cleanly healing over.
“As long as you don’t try to keep me out of the fight, I’ll agree to not touch the Sword. At least not at first. I can’t promise what might happen later.”
“Oh look,” Azazel said. “There you go again, making things difficult.”
But he stroked my hair while he said it, taking all the heat out of the words.
“Making things difficult is what I do best. But how did you know? I meant to find you and tell you, but they insisted we come to the Brightside right away.”
Azazel looked over my head, right through the shadow-shield. “I felt the winds of change, and Vyra confirmed it for me. I missed you by minutes on the Nightside.”
“Just stay with me from now on,” I said. “Everything that happens, happens to all of us. We need to be together to get through this.”
Azazel stroked my lower lip with his thumb. “Naturally. From now on, my shadows will always be with you.”
As he spoke, the shadows swirling around us lightened and dissipated, and I heard Belial and Lucifer arguing the moment they vanished.
“Just let her handle it,” Belial said. “She survived seven rounds in my arena, she can handle one Grigori.”
“He’s the god of fucking nightmares,” Lucifer snapped back. “With a void in his heart. He’s unpredictable at best.”
Belial smiled slyly. “I thought you were the best of friends?”
“You can be friends with someone and acknowledge that they might have a few tiny faults.”
I raised my head and blinked at Azazel. “You’re a god?”
He shrugged. “A minor one, thanks to a Sumerian death-cult. Being the head of the Grigori comes with perks.”
“And what about that void in your heart?” I asked tentatively. At the time, offering myself to him as a mate in an attempt to fill that void had seemed like a good idea, but what if his soul just ate parts of mine and was never fulfilled?
Azazel gave me the quiet smile that always felt like a reward. “The monster under my skin will never go away, but I no longer feel empty.”
I released a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding, venting my relief. “You don’t feel the void anymore?”
He shook his head and pulled me closer. “Not in the slightest,” he said in my ear, a note of amazement in his voice. “When I’m near you, everything feels whole again. Even when you’re being a pain in the ass with your wild plans.”
I squeezed him tightly. We’d done it. He might’ve been a monster, but he was my monster, and that was all that mattered.
“Then let’s be a pain in the ass together and take Hell. This baby- and any that come after- deserves that much from us.”
“That they do.” Azazel looked out at the other three men, who were still a little wary, and gave them a sarcastic little smile. “And we’ll be sure Satan never makes it through us.”
Most of my fear had finally been crushed by the happiness of having them all together again.
For our sakes, and for this baby, we’d raze Hell together and build it into something better.
9
Melisande
“I know you’re about to be all over her, but we’re trying to celebrate.” Belial shouldered in, pulling me out of Azazel’s arms and into his. “That’s my baby, my mate… actually, we have business to take care of.”
He picked me up and carried me away, leaving Lucifer and Tascius staring after us.
Belial waved a hand over his shoulder. “Guard duty, people. Get on it. I’ll take my turn later.”
“You can’t just carry me off to ravish me,” I protested, but some of the anxiety was finally receding in the wake of his happiness and Azazel’s acceptance of my apology.
“How odd, because that seems to be exactly what I’m doing.” Belial waved a hand over the wall, opening the door to his chambers. He waggled his eyebrows with a grin as he closed the door behind us and strode to the bed.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and tilted my head back to kiss him, nibbling his lower lip gently at first, and then harder until I heard him growl. His cock was already hard, pulsing against my leg as he laid me across the bed.
I barely noticed him peeling my clothes away, lost in the feeling of his tongue sweeping into my mouth and tangling around mine. The fiery, whisky taste of him sent fire simmering through me, heat pooling in my stomach and washing away the last of my misgivings.
“Our baby,” he said, breathing raggedly as he kissed a line down my throat and over my breasts. He sucked each nipple into his mouth and moved lower, planting a kiss right over my lower stomach. “I couldn’t have imagined a more perfect mother for it than you.”
I scooted further onto the bed and my back arched when his mouth dipped below my stomach, his tongue sliding between my folds.
Stars burst behind my eyes as his lips closed around my clit, gently sucking and making me writhe under him. I gripped handfuls of the sheets, silently grateful he’d replaced the cinders of his last bed with a new one for us to destroy.
“So you just carry her away, right when I have need of her,” a silky voice said. Azazel materialized through the wall, scowling at the Prince of Wrath.
Instead of getting angry, Belial barely looked up from between my thighs. “If you’re going to be in here, make yourself useful,” he said, his voice muffled. He plunged back into my pussy with his tongue, laving deep strokes.
I gasped as Azazel’s shadows floated through the air, and the Watcher rematerialized over me, giving me a kiss that was nothing but stars at first, and became solid. His tongue replaced Belial’s in my mouth, stroking over my tongue and matching the Prince between my legs stroke for stroke.
I reached up to grip him, shaking under Belial’s ministrations as the pressure built inside me.
“Come for me, angel,” Belial rasped, circling my clit with his tongue. Fingers gripped my thighs hard, holding me in place as he feasted.
I closed my eyes, my nails digging into Azazel’s back as the orgasm ripped through me. Pleasure spiraled through me as Belial kept going, giving me long, slow licks to draw it out.
When I was quivering in Azazel’s arms, Belial stood and shed his clothes, climbing over me and thrusting inside. The thickness of his cock pushing through my climax-tightened walls was like another little explosion, and Azazel swallowed my moans with more kisses.
“Let me have you, too,” I said, looking up into violet eyes. His pupils were wide with desire, hands roaming down to cup my breasts and pinch my hard nipples. “Like we did in the City of Sight.”
Azazel sat up and shed his own clothes, revealing his lean frame. Next to Belial’s tan musculature, he was a different kind of beauty, so perfect he seemed nearly untouchable.
“Did you teach her new things?” Belial asked, slowly pumping into me. “I knew you were good for something.”
Azazel just rolled his eyes. “If you’re going to do what I think you’re going to do, you need to get on the bed.”
Belial pushed into me up to the base, his aquamarine eyes focused on my face. With a groan he rolled over, taking me with him until I was straddling his lean hips.
“Stop reading my mind,” he growled at Azazel. I rode against him, taking my time as a glimmer of excitement formed in me.
I wanted Belial’s mark back on my skin, linking us together like one being. Being separated from him without it had felt so empty and cold, but on top of him, with his cock sheathed entirely inside me, it felt like we were halfway back to being what we were meant to be.
Azazel knelt behind me, brushing aside my hair to kiss the star on the nape of my neck. The mark lit up under his touch, his emotions connecting to mine: his satisfaction and pleasure melting into my chest to fill me with warmth.
As he kissed me, his hand slipped between my legs, using my own wetness to lubricate my ass. I hissed when I felt the head of his cock push against me, throbbing and ready.
“Do it,” I gasped, rising up and down on Belial. The Prince beneath me gripped my hips, sucking his lip between his teeth as I clenched around him.
Azazel drew in a breath, groaning on an exhale as he pushed into me.
The slight but sharp pain I’d felt once before spiked through me, but vanished as he slid in further, centimeter by centimeter. It was replaced with the intense pressure of being completely filled, my clit throbbing as it rubbed against Belial’s hard lower stomach.
I made an incoherent noise, somewhere between a moan and gasp, and Belial sat up enough to kiss me, running his tongue over my lower lip.
“There’s nothing better than seeing your face when you’re on me, angel,” he said, growling as I moved against him again.
He laid back and took my hand, pressing my palm against his cheek. I ran my fingers through his hair and leaned forward a little, pushing back against Azazel.
Azazel withdrew a little and pushed in again, taking his time so he wouldn’t hurt me. No more pain appeared, but his strokes grew harder until his cock was completely buried inside me.
Instead of letting them take the lead this time, I kept riding Belial and pushing back against Azazel, slowing whenever the heat of the second orgasm threatened to tip over the edge.
They let me ride between them until my muscles tightened. With the pressure on my clit and in my abdomen, there was no way to hold off for much longer.
I braced my hand against Belial’s chest, slamming down hard as Azazel plunged in. Pure pleasure swept through me, my pussy clamping down hard on Belial’s cock as my hips began bucking.
Belial’s hand gripped my hip hard, but he turned his head, kissing the palm that had been against his cheek a moment ago.
I felt the fire he’d given to me in the first hours I’d met him, but this time it didn’t hurt. I’d not only grown used to his flames, but come to love them, taking the heat inside me and making it my own.
Black marks appeared on my palm, spiraling outwards to fill my hand.
By the time I’d gotten my trembling under control, the mate mark was emblazoned on my skin, this time permanently.
I gasped for breath, my heart racing in my throat. Azazel had groaned when I tightened up, and he pumped my ass hard, his cock pulsing. I felt it twitch and he buried himself deep, wrapping his hand around my throat when he came.
Belial waited until he pulled himself out, his breath coming hard, and flipped me over again.
He kissed my palm before my mouth and pounded into me, letting out a guttural grunt before he released himself.
I let my muscles relax and completely collapsed, tangled between the two of them. Belial laid on top of me, his face buried in my neck, and Azazel’s hands were laced through my hair, his fingertip stroking my temple.
“You gave it back,” I whispered, lifting my hand to look at the mark over Belial’s shoulder. Once upon a time, I’d been horrified at the mark on my hand.
Now it felt right, looked like it was supposed to be there. The mark lovingly cradled the lines on my hand and wrapped around the base of my fingers.
“And I’m not taking it again,” Belial said, his lips moving against my throat. He kissed me and raised his head. “That’s a promise.”
Azazel rolled over and tilted my head to kiss me too. “They’re getting restless out there,” he said with a faint smile. I wondered what it was like to be able to sense literally everything happening in a mile-wide radius of myself, and decided I’d probably go insane in minutes. “I’ll keep them off your back until you’re ready to come out.”
“Tell them they’re we
lcome to come take a turn,” I said, too comfortable to try to escape Belial’s grasp. He was so warm it was like being wrapped in a blanket of pure muscle, which I was perfectly content to remain in.
“Absolutely not,” Belial growled. “This is celebration time. They had their chance on your little field trip.”
“Okay, tell them I’ll be out in a few days. Or weeks. I’m not sure.” I gripped Azazel’s hand until he became amorphous wisps of vapor and vanished. “Do his clothes just reappear when he materializes?”
Belial rolled onto his side and pulled me in against his chest. “I’m not sure he’s wearing real clothes at all,” he said, looking momentarily disturbed.
I traced the line of his lower lip, lingering on the scar that bisected its perfection. “I’m glad you trust me again,” I said softly. “I never wanted you to remove it.”
There was something so soothing in the way he rubbed his hand over the dip of my side that I could’ve fallen asleep right then and there.
“I never wanted to.” His eyes looked into mine, the little yellow stars in them bright as gold. “You are everything I wanted. And if we’re being honest, I’m glad the first baby is mine. Little wrath-baby.”
“Wrath-baby is not its nickname,” I said sternly.
Belial quirked a smile. “Try to stop me, Mother of Wrath-baby. It has my blood in its veins. It’ll be just like me, born with swords in its hands.”
I groaned, burying my face against him. “Oh god, please don’t say things like that. It conjures horrible mental images.”
He shook with silent laughter, wrapping an arm around my back. “I’m just joking. Mostly.”
“I don’t even want to know the truth of it,” I grumbled. No swords for my uterus, thanks.
“Good, because it’s extremely off-putting and not the kind of thing you want to hear right now.”
I looked back up at him. His eyes were glittering in the low light. Instantly I changed my mind about assuaging my curiosity. “Definitely wait until after its born. I already have enough stress as it is.”
