Page 49 of Hunted By Fear

It wasn’t something angels were meant to feel, at least I didn’t think we were.

Now I have no idea.

Ever since Aeri fell back into my life, everything’s been all upside down and inside out.

I wish I could say I want simpler times back, but that would be a lie. No, I do wish she weren’t currently locked in Hell, though.

Even more so, I wish that she and Kai weren’t both there. Unlike her, hecouldcome up and visit me, but I know that won’t happen.

Instead, I sit on my couch for the third day, watching shitty mortal TV, eating takeout, and waiting.

0/10 don’t recommend.

I should be doing something; I itch to be able to offer my assistance, but at the end of the day, I have nothing to give.

What I need to do is go back down to the river and call on Lucifer, asking him to let me in.

I don’t want to.

Like, really, really don’t want to. Nothing is free, and to ask the devil for a favor is just asking for trouble, but I’m not sure there’s anything else I can do, and with every day that passes, I feel more desperate.

Aeri could be dying down there for all I know.

Shit, no, I can’t think like that.

With a huff, I force myself off the couch in order to go grab a shower. I’ve been trying to think of ways to get more information on mates for demons with no luck, but it dawned on me this morning, when I was thinking about Aeri, that Purgatory might just be that perfect place.

With the towel wrapped around my waist, I head back to my room to find an outfit for tonight. Usually, I don’t care much, but if I’m trying to get answers, it might help to dress somewhat nicely.

Clearly, I’m distracted between thoughts of Aeri and the prospect of finding some answers tonight; it’s the only excuse I have for not noticing sooner, and honestly, it’s a pretty shit excuse at that.

“Fucking hell!” I shout, clutching my chest as my heart threatens to beat out of it. I’ve had a lot of crazy things happen on Earth, but this takes the cake for sure.

I’m sure not many people can say they have had the devil come to visit them personally, though I’m sure for normal people that would be terrifying.

Just months ago, I would have agreed, but not now, not when he’s the only shot I have to see Aeri.

The fact that he came here to me without me reaching out to him is a little concerning, though, and if I were a smarter man, I might question it, maybe even overthink it.

As it is, all I can do is watch as Lucifer raises a brow at me from across the room.

I haven’t seen him since the fall, and while that might have been centuries ago, it feels like just yesterday. He seems like a totally different being yet strikingly similar as well. The biggest difference is the red that covers most of his skin, which looks like blood, yet it doesn’t appear to flow or move, which is confusing. The other is the jagged pieces of… I’m not even sure what it is, but it protrudes from his body like built-in armor on his shoulders, elbows, and around his waist.

Maybe that is what happens when one becomes King of Hell? I have no idea, considering I’ve never been there myself, but I’ve heard stories of fire and brimstone. All the angels have, it’s told like mortals tell ghost stories, to keep us in line, and it works.

No, I’ve never seen brimstone, but it would make sense for him to wear it with pride; after all, that’s what he was cast from Heaven for, supposedly.

“I see your vocabulary has expanded.”

Of all the things for him to say, I find myself once again caught off guard.

“Yes, hundreds of years change people,” I tell him, unable to keep the snark from my tone.

“Does it?” I don’t need him to elaborate to know what or who he’s referring to.

“Sometimes it’s not always for the best.” It’s true both for Rome and possibly for him as well, though I don’t dare say it aloud.

I’d been so tempted to call to him, but I’m not sure I’d have ever really had the nerve, no matter how much I craved Aeri.