Page 37 of Broken Shadows (Corrupt Shadows Duet #2)

EPILOGUE

Evie

Hell belongs to the damned but is a refuge for the broken. It’s here, surrounded by punishment, demons, and ugliness, that I began to heal from my trauma—of a life on the run as an abused, adopted daughter with no one to love me, who believed I didn’t deserve love.

I found freedom from mortality and suffering in the darkness, a sense of belonging with a family I chose, and the truest, most fucked up love I could have imagined.

For all my father’s words of damnation and injecting the fear of Hell into me, it has become my haven, and it’s here where I belong.

If only Lorcan would stay.

My fingers curl over the edge of the stone balcony railing overlooking the layers of Hell, wastelands and trials stretching out seemingly for an eternity, the darkest reaches belonging to the fog. I breathe in the ash-tinted air and allow my eyes to flutter shut.

Death has followed me my entire life, but now I see it for what it is—salvation. There is only so long a mortal can remain in Hell, although time is different here, so my regular lifespan is much longer than it would be in the Human Realm.

How ironic that when my soul passes, I’ll never have to leave this place. If Lucifer is merciful, he may preserve me like he did for my aunt. Her soul, however, has been obliterated out of existence. I give little thought to her nowadays. Just like the rest of my biological family and Edward, all of whom were lost to the trials. Some statues, like Edward, Lorcan told me in passing, and a few of them turned into water wraiths or those trees that bleed in the woods.

I could help them if I wanted, but who am I to intervene with divine punishment? Not that I’d want to. Any of the dead who were good in my life, ended up some place else.

I feel Rosa before I hear her footsteps. Her warm, cozy magic a breath of fresh air amongst the grayness. I know why she’s come. We’ve lost ourselves in court life ever since Evangeline was eviscerated and it had to end, eventually.

Her extended sigh grows louder as she closes the gap between us and joins me on the balcony. Wide, brown eyes take in the scenery, her fixed stare absorbing every detail. “You seem happy here.”

My lips quirk upward. “I am. Although Lorcan is still intent on me having a human life back in your world.”

She purses her thick, rosy lips. “My world? So, I assume that means you’re not coming back with us?”

“I’d hoped you’d stay a little longer,” I admit and twist my torso to fully face her. “But I get it. You need to get back to your life.”

“Well, start again. There’s no way I’ll be able to get my clients back after this hiatus.” She runs her hands through her fading pink ends. “It’s no matter. Ezra can walk through shadows, so I’m going to have him rob a bank or something.”

I snort-laugh, unsure if she’s serious or not. “So, Ezra is going with you.”

She drums her long, pink fingernails against the stone ledge. “He won’t leave me alone.”

My gaze narrows. “You love it.”

“I’m not about to get into a relationship with a demon,” she says, but the twist of her lips tells me it’s something she’s contemplated. “He’s going to be my first client.”

I smile. “So, you do have a plan for a fresh start?”

“Yes.” She nods and sucks in a deep breath. “I’m going to treat demons and witches in the Human Realm who need help with their sexual health. It actually opens many new doors.”

My brows slide halfway up my forehead. “Well, talk about making lemonade with lemons.”

She lands a hand on her tilted hip. “I’m also going to start a line of monster dildos. Ezra agreed to let me make a mold of his in its demonic form.”

Her pupils dilate and I shake my head with a grin. “You’ve seen it.”

“A girl can look.” Her quirky smile quickly fades as silence hangs between us. This was never a quick stop by to tell me she’s leaving soon. This is a goodbye. “Ezra and his little Rupert are waiting by the doors. I didn’t know how to tell you… I… I’m going to miss you. Fuck.” She grabs me by my shoulders and buries my head in her hair. I commit her scent to memory—raspberries and candy floss. Tears spring unexpectedly into my eyes when she says, “I had no one who really got me. I was always too much for most people and not enough for others. You saw me and I’ll always love you for that. I hope we get to see each other again, I mean, before our deaths and all.” She pulls me back at arm’s length. “I like Lorcan, I mean, for you anyway. He loves you and I already told him if he hurts you, I’ll summon him and bind him to a circle and force him to watch reruns of my favorite shows on repeat. He looked positively horrified.”

A laugh bubbles from deep within my stomach. “How the Hell am I supposed to manage without you?”

“Oh, you’ll be fine, babe. Look, if you get bored here, you can always pop up and see me through one of those visitors' entrances.”

We both know that can’t happen, at least, not without time catching up on me. I wouldn’t be able to come back to Hell. But we hold on to the possibility as we hug again. “Say goodbye to Gomey before you go.”

“Of course,” she whispers against the top of my head. “I wouldn’t leave without giving my baby a cuddle. You take care of him. Give him treats whenever he wants.”

“You always did spoil him.”

She steps back and winks. “Here’s to new adventures, ones without a ton of murder and blood.” I watch her walk away, catching the gloss to her eyes as she turns toward the door.

Before she leaves, I call out, “Where’s the fun in that?”

The ghost of her laugh lingers in the room after she walks out the door, leaving me alone to say goodbye to Gomez, who’s taken up permanent residence in my other room now that I spend most nights in Lorcan’s, which is ours now, I suppose. He prefers it that way, to be left to sleep without having to hear any sexcapades, while still spending the days with me. Although, occasionally, when Lorcan is sleeping, I’ll shadow walk across the castle and snuggle into bed with my little bat.

A light tapping sounds on the door, and I turn, thinking it’s Lorcan back from his meeting with Lucifer, when I’m instead greeted by the devil himself. “Evie, darling,” he says, arms wide open. Moving at inhuman speed, he wraps his arms around me, kissing me on the cheek before moving back a foot. “I was hoping I’d find you before you returned to the Human Realm.”

“I don’t want to go,” I admit, and his smile grows, deepening his smile lines.

“Excellent.” He presses his hands together, as if in prayer, then turns to look out over the balcony. “Because I do.”

My eyes almost bulge out of my head. “You want to go to the Human Realm?” I clarify, figuring I must have misunderstood.

“Yes.” He grips the stone and diverts his eyes from the landscape, probably tired of having looked at it in a million different ways. “Hell was my punishment for sins against my father. I was prideful then, and I wanted more from the position he’d given me.”

My head spins as he explains his backstory. Lucifer. I still can’t wrap my head around this being real sometimes and swear I’m going to wake up from the longest fever dream ever.

“Anyway,” he continues casually, as if he’s not explaining a story most humans would die to know the truth of, “relieved of my exalted position, I was to begin servitude here until the day my heart was without sin. I know now that no heart is without sin, not even an angel. I don’t want to go back to my family up there, not when I have my sons here, and my new daughter.” He smiles and tips a finger under my chin. “Which is why I am here. You wear darkness beautifully, better than any mortal I have known. Lorcan is my eldest and always was my most sensitive son.”

“Don’t let him hear you say that,” I tease, and he laughs.

“Lorcan was born to rule. He does it with a level head, and like you, he can handle the crushing darkness. I, however, am tired of it. I don’t wish to return to Heaven, even if I could, or stay in Hell. I am looking to retire, to go to the Human Realm and live a human experience. I was there when they were created, after all, but I never got to live amongst them. Punishing souls in Hell means I’ve been around the worst of them, mostly, but Rosa has told me of all the new and wonderful things there.” He pauses. “Besides, I am hoping to find my cinnamon roll recipe I lost some millennia ago in an old grimoire somewhere.”

Excitement brims in his eyes and I don’t have the heart to tell him it’s probably lost to the ages. Everyone needs hope, even,—especially—the devil.

“Are you saying you want Lorcan to reign over Hell?”

Threads of the universe swirl in the silver fabric of his eyes. “I’m saying I want you both to rule Hell. He, as King of Hell, taking my place and you, as Queen.”

My heart palpitates. A million questions caught in my throat as I choke on my response.

“Don’t answer now,” he says, lifting a finger. “Talk to your beloved first. Lorcan has not accepted the position yet. He believes you want to live out your mortal life.” His grin sparkles with knowing. “Although you and I both know that’s not true.”

“But I am mortal,” I splutter, finding my voice. “How can I rule over demons when my body is so vulnerable?”

He taps a finger against the ledge. “I never fully trusted Evangeline. There was something about her I couldn’t place, if I am honest, that I didn’t want to see. But I could see she was a liar, yet being loved by her was so refreshing and thrilling that I ignored all of that.” With a shrug, he says, “I’ve always had a thing for dominant women.”

My nose scrunches. “We all have psycho exes.”

He laughs again, and I’m not sure if he’s being polite or if he genuinely finds these quips funny. “Well, I could have made her immortal, but I didn’t for that reason. However, I do have the ability and have weighed your heart. I know you will not forsake Lorcan, or me. If you and Lorcan agree, I’ll feed you my blood and you won’t have to worry about mortality again.”

I cough, bringing my hand to my throat as the scratchy words reach my lips. “I want to be with Lorcan for an eternity. I also want to rule Hell,” I admit, surprised at how easy it is for me to throw my mortal life away. Then, I never had a good time as one. “I like it here and I see souls that can be saved, with some gentle nudging in the right direction. The ones that are too far gone, too dark? Well, I quite enjoy dishing out punishment to those deserving.”

“Wonderful.” He spins to leave but stops by Lorcan and my four-post bed, running his hand over the carved expressions in the wood of suffering. “You’ll make an excellent Queen, Evie Fallenmoore.”

That next evening, Rosa and Ezra decide to stay for the ceremony, and I’m glad to know I’ll have a mortal ally here with me. Aiden decided to stay with Gideon for some unknown reason, even after Lorcan removed his mark.

Gomez flaps his wings, a tiny, obsidian crown on his head attached with a little strap as he’s given the honorary title of prince of Hell by Lucifer.

Lorcan claps from the dais holding two thrones made of obsidian and bone, surrounded by tall pillars carved from the most intricate cravings. A ghostly mist creeps around the stone steps, thrones, and vaulted ceiling, illuminated by the purple glow of candlelight.

Rosa catches my eye from the intimate crowd swelling at the bottom of the dais. Her smile sparkles amongst the rest and I watch as Ezra stares, a look in his eye I’ve seen before and wonder: Does Rosa even know that Ezra’s falling for her?

Asher leans lazily against a statue of a mortal holding up a pillar, the marble figure appearing crushed under the weight. Beside him, Lazarus glares, arms crossed over his chest. Silas at least looks somewhat happy, or it’s an act. Either way, we’ll find out soon.

Ezra pushes two fingers in his mouth and whistles as Lorcan takes the center dais, kneeling in front of Lucifer.

I’m proud of you. I push the words through our bond as I watch the crown lower around his black locks. I’m so happy you admitted to wanting this. You deserve it.

Pride swells our bond, tightening it as if it’s a tangible thing. You are my eternity, My Little Witch.

I love you too, My Demon.

He stands, commanding eyes taking ahold of the crowd as Lucifer transfers his powers to Lorcan, the shift invisible to the untrained eye, but I notice a few spectral swirls of smoke dancing from Lucifer’s fingers and into Lorcan’s. His eyes close in what seems like a peaceful transference.

Silver outlines Lorcan’s black pupils, melding with the pastel green in his irises. After a few minutes of silence, Lucifer sucks in a deep breath and smiles at Lorcan, then embraces him. “I love you, Son.”

Lorcan’s heart balloons in the bond. I walk the few steps as Lucifer descends them, the taste of his blood still potent on my tongue from this morning when he’d kindly mixed his angel blood with a sweet tea.

Suddenly, no one else matters as I stand before my king, my immortal heart racing for his touch.

“Immortality is breathtaking on you.” His fingers entwine with mine. “How did I get so lucky to become the demon with everything?”

“To think, this started with you stalking me,” I tease, and our conversation falls silent, slipping into our bond instead where our words are all our own.

Even then, he speaks into my mind. You captivated me. It’s why I wanted to hurt you, punish you even. It was never because you were my key to freedom, or your affiliation with Evangeline.

No?

It was because no one has ever made me hornier. I catch the laugh in my mouth, and he grins. I always knew you were my salvation, but I didn’t understand then that it wasn’t just from the Shadow Realm. You were always the key to my happiness, and I could sense it then.

I could sense it too.

Sense what, exactly? He asks.

That what we had was something epic.

He grabs a crown of obsidian, similar to Gomez’s, but full size. “Kneel,” he commands. “For it’ll be the last time you kneel for anyone, My Queen.”

The crown is heavy as it settles around my head. I lift my fingers to touch the cool metal and a smile creeps over my face.

Aiden whistles from the crowd, clapping in tandem with Rosa. “Woo! Bromina!”

I smirk and before I can take in the moment, Lorcan spins me to face him and takes my mouth in his, his tongue meeting mine with the same obsessive word filtering through our bond as he grips me with fervor.

Mine.

Mine.

Mine.

Always mine.