Page 20

Chapter twenty

T he scent of fresh, crisp bacon filled my nostrils. My eyes opened slightly, sunlight trickling through my windows blinding me. I turned away from the bright light, groaning from how tender and heavy my body felt. Building the new gate had really depleted me.

The wafting scent of fried pork strengthened. I forced my eyes to focus as the haze of my deep slumber began to wear off. Deus’s beautiful face came into view. His lips curled back into a smile, revealing his deep dimples. My gaze slid along his bare chest and the black ink markings outlining his wing scars.

He waved a strip of bacon under my nose again.

“I thought this might wake you up,” he said in his deep and sensual voice. “Your adoration for this disgusting excuse for meat baffles me, but what my mate wants, my mate gets.”

I snatched the piece of delicious fat from his fingers. He lunged over me, trying to retrieve the greasy bit, but I stuffed it into my mouth, relishing the taste. He laughed, pinning my body to the mattress.

“You slept hard last night,” he commented, brushing loose strands of hair from my face. “I tried to wake you to eat, but you weren’t having it.”

I swallowed the last of the bacon piece, licking my lips. “The gate took a lot out of me. I thought with my demon powers and the bond in place I would be able to blow through it, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.”

He pressed his lips to my forehead, trailing more kisses down the side of my head to my cheek, finally making his way to my lips. I let out a comforting moan of satisfaction. He pulled away with a smile.

“I dreamed of you last night,” I whispered. “Well, sort of.”

His brow arched. “Sort of?” he asked.

I laughed. “It was you, yet … not all of you, if that makes sense. I was cold and surrounded by nothingness, yet there you were, in the foreground, waiting for me. You were cloaked in darkness, your shadows and power twirling around you, yet your eyes blazed the same shades of red they always do when you use your gift. You extended your hand out to me, and I took it.”

“Hmm. And how can you be so sure this shadowed figure was me?”

I wrapped my arms around his neck, trailing my fingers through his thick hair. “Because when I was in your embrace, I only felt peace. The kind of peace only you can give me. I was home.”

His eyes blazed with desire and passion at the words leaving my lips. Before I could continue, his mouth was on mine, devouring me wholly. His hands roamed my body, throwing the sheets back, needing to feel my flesh against his own. I giggled with happiness.

He paused, pulling back to look at me. “And what, my beautiful fiancé, is so funny?”

I shrugged. “Nothing. I am just … happy.”

“My purpose in life is complete, then,” he said with a soft smile, running the back of his knuckles down my cheek.

“I was talking to Tony yesterday and I—”

“My love,” he interrupted me. “I never want to hear another man’s name leave your lips while you are in our bed.”

I rolled my eyes. “Big demon baby.” He laughed. “As I was saying, when I was talking to … that individual … I remembered something and I wanted to see if you had anything to do with.”

“Go on.”

“When I was still in the nunnery, there was a night where I had an episode, and the nuns over did it on the drugs. I lay in my bed, paralyzed from the neck down. A black shadow appeared in the corner. I wasn’t scared of it. Even as I watched it morph from a bull to a ram, and then into a man with with red eyes. I was comforted by the strange presence. Was it you?”

“When did this happen?”

“About two days before I arrived here. So, May of last year.”

“I … I don’t honestly know. At that time, I was still being held prisoner from the bargain I had made with Lucifer, but … but there were these little moments during my imprisonment where I would allow my mind to drift. It usually happened after my brother had used my power or sin against me, making me do—” he paused, closing his eyes in discomfort.

I ran my hand along his face in a comforting manner. He leaned into my touch. “When I was forced to do things that were inhuman,” he continued. “In those moments I would allow my mind and power to detach from my control, searching for memories that were pure and peaceful. Experiences, even if they weren’t my own, that would allow me to hold onto my power, so I wouldn’t forget that my chains were only temporary. In those moments, I suppose it is possible that your power called to mine, summoning me … even from Hell.”

“When I died before, Aradia confirmed that the experience she and I witnessed during the right was your magic, reaching out, searching for me.” I laughed. “It appears your magic was in love with me long before you were.”

“Only a week or so,” he replied, smiling.

“Oh, so that day in the woods you were struck by Cupids’ arrow, huh?”

He laughed. “You’ve obviously never met Cupid.”

My eyes widened. “Cupid is real?”

“Very. And one of my worst creations.”

I gasped. “You created Cupid? But I thought he was an angel.”

“Farthest thing from it. He’s a horny little shit who gets off on watching other people in the act. He even tends to join in at times. His arrows are laced with hormones that send you into a heated frenzy. He’s impossible to catch and his appetite is never satisfied.”

“Sounds like someone else I know,” I said playfully, nipping at his ear.

“Do not compare me to that … experiment.”

“Hell is just full of surprises.”

“You have no clue,” he replied, his eyes filling again with a heaviness.

“I’m sorry for all the pain you’ve had to endure,” I whispered, my heart breaking for my mate.

I felt him reach down the bridge between us, wrapping his essence around my own. “It was a necessary evil. Especially, if it led me to you.”

“For heavens, sake,” I said, leaning over the large wooden table in the library. Deus, and his brothers were spread around the room, along with my family, Tony, and Giana. “Why can’t any of this ever be easy?”

“My question is,” piped in Belz, “why has our brother held onto her bones? Especially for this long? If they aren’t a heaping pile of dust by now, he must have casted a spell to preserve them. Why are these bones important to our brother?”

“They obviously knew each other,” said Levi. “If Talia is determined to end Lucifer once and for all, he must have done something that really pissed her off.”

“Whose idea was it to scry for the body in Hell?” asked Nonna.

“Mine,” Mal said, pulling herself from the wall. “I watched for hours as your little band of misfits scried map after map. Then I thought to myself, ‘what would Lucy do?’”

Mammon huffed. “Carefully, Mal,” he said sarcastically. “That’s blasphemy.”

“Anyways,” she continued, “he’s been five steps ahead of us this entire time. The only time we even surprised him was when you and Deus mated and Deus sacrificed himself. So, I thought about the places he could be keeping her bones. The only place is his castle in Hell.”

“But Seren can create a gate that leads right to his front door,” stated Frankie.

“Yes,” answered Mal, “but he would be alerted the moment any of you stepped foot onto his territory, including Seren. And if you were caught … game over.”

“So, Talia’s bones are in Hell?” asked Aunt Thora.

Mal nodded. “In Hell … inside of Lucifer’s castle, most likely”

“Son of a …” Nonna said, shaking her head.

“We need to come up with another plan,” added Mammon. “ Something that doesn’t involve us having to go to Hell.”

“What do you suggest?” Levi said, aggravation lacing his voice. “Asking him nicely?”

“No, you dumb twat,” Mammon spat. “But I don’t see you volunteering any alternatives.”

“I swear to Father—” Levi growled.

“I have an idea,” Mal intervened before the brothers began throwing blows. She looked down at her nails, as if she wasn’t holding onto the thing that could save us all. “Ask Satan for his help.”

There was a moment of silence in the room as the words landed on all our ears. Then all the princes, except Gor, burst out in laughter.

“You have lost your mind,” said Belz. “You’ve had your fair share of interactions with that pompous, ill-tempered asshole. What makes you think he would ever side with us over big brother?”

“Out of all of us,” added Levi, “even Lucy, Satan is the least trustworthy.”

“He’ll do it,” Mal said flatly.

“And what makes you so certain?” asked Deus.

“You,” she replied, looking firmly at my mate.

“Explain,” I said, stepping closer to the table.

“We’ve all witnessed firsthand the hatred Satan has for Asmodeus. He is Lucifer’s favorite brother, is he not?” She paused, looking around at the other princes. They all nodded their affirmation. “A position Satan covets. No matter how loyal Satan has been, as soon as Asmodeus was soulless, Satan become nothing more than a pincushion for Lucifer’s insults and the butt of their jokes.

“The jealousy and wrath he possesses is unmatched by any of you. That wrath has begun to turn Satan against Lucifer. I witnessed a few conversations he had with some of his subjects. He wishes to overthrow Lucifer and take over his portion of Hell. He sees Lucifer’s games and trickery as weaknesses. He no longer finds him fit to be the ruler of Hell.”

“And how to you purpose we go about this?” asked Frankie. “Surely Satan will want something in return.”

“We tell him parts of our plan,” explained Mal. “Small portions of the truth mixed with lies … just enough to make it believable. At the end, we tell him that Lucifer will be imprisoned. We don’t tell him the specifics or even who Talia is, but we offer Lucifer’s throne over to Satan as a bargaining chip.”

There was a moment of silence while each of us thought the plan over.

“It’s brilliant,” Deus said first. “This could actually work.”

“If we are wrong,” added Levi, “we risk everything.”

“It’s our only shot,” Mal said. “It will work. Trust me.”

I looked to Nonna for the answer, but she shook her head with a soft smile. “This decision is yours, bambina,” she said to me.

I took a deep breath, sifting through the details, searching for any pitfalls, but Mal was right. This was the best plan we had. “How do we make contact with Satan?” I asked.

“Leave that to us,” said Mammon.

Belz stepped up beside him and nodded. “We’ll get him to the table,” he said. “Then you lot do the convincing.”

“Okay,” I said, still unsure of my decision. “Looks like we have a plan.”

“More like a suicide mission,” Gor said sarcastically.

“When Satan is ready to meet,” said Nonna, “send word.”

“We will find a safe location that is far from Castle Salvo,” added Aunt Thora. “With all the covens gathering, I don’t want to risk things going poorly and their members being caught in the crossfire. ”

“Good idea,” Nonna said with a smile of approval.

“Training will continue until then,” I said. “And I will work on the gate so once we have the bones, we will be ready to go.”