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Chapter Twenty-One

LILY

The encampment was still buzzing with tension when I led Rathiel through it. Eyes followed us but I ignored them all. Let them whisper, let them wonder. They would learn soon enough that Rathiel wasn’t their enemy.

Gorr padded at my side, his ears flicking with restless energy, while Mephisar and Sable slithered close behind. It seemed my hellwyrms weren’t planning to leave Rathiel’s side anytime soon.

Good.

Rathiel walked beside me, steady but slow. Each step looked painful, but he didn’t complain. Because he never complained. In his hand—slung over his shoulder—was the tattered bag that had lay beside him in the dirt. I didn’t know what was in it, but it looked heavy.

Without a word, I reached out and took it from him.

He handed it over with nary an argument. Just let the strap slide from his shoulder and into my hand.

We reached my tent—the one decent space I had carved out for myself. I pushed open the flap and gestured him inside. He hesitated for a second, glancing over his shoulder, then ducked through. I quickly followed and closed the flap behind us, sealing us away from all the prying eyes.

Sighing, I crossed the space and dropped the bag on the floor. “Sit,” I said, pointing at my cot in the corner of the tent.

Rathiel immediately sat, his elbows braced against his knees and his head bowed.

“What happened to you?” I asked. “The last time I saw you, you were fine.”

He lifted his head, a wry smile touching his lips. “Your people caught me just outside the perimeter of your camp. They didn’t exactly ask questions first.”

Ah. My people did this. It shouldn’t have surprised me. Of course they’d attacked him. To them, Rathiel was nothing more than Lucifer’s most trusted. A fallen angel. An enemy to the rebellion. They had no idea who he really was or what he possibly meant to me—not that I, myself, knew the answer to that.

I pulled over a small stool and sat, studying his face. Tentatively, I reached out and brushed his hair back from his eyes. “You’re telling me a group of hellspawn got the jump on you?”

That wry smile broadened until he winced. “Well. I may have let them.”

I chuckled, though the sound came out a bit weak. Yeah, that sounded more accurate. Rathiel would never let a bunch of hellspawn jump him. But he’d likely known the only way to get to me was to bleed for it.

If he’d fought back, the entire camp would have turned on him. Rathiel might be a soldier, a warrior—Lucifer’s strongest—but even he couldn’t survive an all-out assault from an entire camp of hellspawn. They would have killed him eventually. But this way? They dragged him right to me. And all it’d cost him was some blood and a few feathers.

The questions I’d wondered earlier came roaring back to me. Especially if we needed to start preparing for an attack. But Rathiel didn’t look worried, nor was he interrupting me to warn me about an impending ambush. Which led me to think there wasn’t one.

So, instead, I gestured at the bag now resting next to his feet. “What’s in there?”

Rathiel followed my gaze, then reached for the bag and dragged it closer. His movements were stiff, but careful—as if the contents mattered. When he opened it, steel glinted at me.

I leaned forward and gasped.

All my weapons—Inferno’s Kiss, Shadow’s Embrace, Whisper, Hell’s Fang, and Oblivion’s Edge—sat inside.

Rathiel looked up at me. “I thought you might want these.”

“You—” I reached into the bag and touched my swords, reassuring myself they were actually here. “You brought them with you? How?”

“I went back for them,” he said quietly. “Before I left the palace. I couldn’t leave them behind. Not when I know how much they mean to you.”

Emotion clogged my throat. He didn’t say it like it was a big deal. But it was . He’d brought me all the things that made me feel strong.

I met his gaze. “Thank you.”

His expression softened in a way I’d never seen before. “You’re very welcome.”

I studied him and frowned. He seemed different somehow. Less scowly. I knew Rathiel. He was usually the epitome of a brooding vampire. But now, he seemed lighter somehow, minus the bruises and cuts, of course.

“I have a lot of questions,” I said.

A knowing glint sparked in his eyes. “I would be disappointed if you didn’t.”

I laughed.

“Which one do you want to ask first?”

I lifted my hands and gestured around us. “How are you here? Why are you here? Why aren’t you at the palace? Did Lucifer send you? Are you here on his orders? What happened to you after I left?”

Rathiel laughed—really laughed , which had my jaw dropping—then reached up and took my hands. “I’m free. Lucifer freed me from the vow.”

I blinked at him. Those were not the words I expected him to say.

“What? Like, freed you from your actual vow?” I shook my head. “The same vow that gave Lucifer control over your free will?”

He nodded.

Baffled, I stared at Rathiel. “What? How? Why? When?” I paused, my tone that of complete and utter disbelief.

He laughed again, a sound I wasn’t sure I would ever get used to.

“How about I start from the beginning?”

“Yes, please,” I rushed to say.

“After you escaped, I may have…let the other hellwyrms loose.”

I lifted my brows.

“Anarchy followed, obviously. No deaths, but the wyrms injured most of the hellspawn in the palace. I fetched Tavira, and we spent hours rounding them up. When we reported to Lucifer, Tavira informed him that the hellwyrms had broken free, and I told him you’d escaped on two of them en route to the dungeons.”

He paused, then continued. “Lucifer was…incensed. So furious that he didn’t stop to question who had opened the hellwyrm cages. He assumed it was you. And I let him.”

“He knows I’m close with Mephisar and Sable,” I said. “So that tracks.”

Rathiel gave a slow nod. “He demanded to know how you got past me. I gave him a version of the truth. The vow kept me from lying to him. I told him Gremory was stabbed—never mentioned by whom—and you vanished into the shadows. Made it to the stables before I could catch you.”

I nodded. The truth, but not the full truth.

“Again, he was so mad that he didn’t stop to ask the finer details. He also didn’t question Gremory. Gremory’s given me a few suspicious looks, but he hasn’t confronted me yet. Lucifer, obviously, wasn’t happy. I had failed him. But failure is a lesser crime than treason. He punished me for losing you, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. If he’d suspected the truth, he never would have let me live. It wasn’t long after that we received word about the outpost you destroyed. The survivors reported to Lucifer. That you had Mephisar and Sable with you certainly helped solidify your escape story in his head.”

“I can only imagine his wrath when he learned about that.”

Rathiel held my gaze. “He was furious. I’ve seen his rage before, but this was different. He saw your escape as a personal slight. He wanted blood.” His lips pressed into a thin line. “And he took it.”

I clenched my hands, heat curling under my skin. “What did he do to you?”

He paused, as if considering how much to say. “He made an example of me. His usual methods.” His fingers twitched slightly against the cot, but his voice remained flat. “Pain. Humiliation. All reminders that he doesn’t tolerate failure. But he let me live thanks to my assurances that I was loyal to him and only him.”

A fresh wave of anger burned through me. I’d seen Lucifer break his own soldiers apart just to remind them of who owned them. But I’d also endured my father’s punishments myself, so it didn’t take much imagination at all to envision what he’d done to Rathiel.

I dragged in a breath. “Then why would he free you from the vow? That’s not like him. He never lets go of something he owns.”

Rathiel’s expression tightened. “Because he doesn’t see it as letting me go. And he has a plan.”

A chill skated down my spine. Lucifer with a plan was never a good thing.

“You escaped. You joined the rebellion. You are a problem, and he saw an opportunity.” Rathiel let those words sit before he said, “He ordered me to infiltrate your ranks.”

The chill in my spine turned to ice. “So, he did send you here.”

“Yes.”

I put myself in my father’s shoes and tried to understand his motivations. Why would he send one of his fallen to me? I played out the scenario in my head, feeling around for the truth. “He freed you from the vow so you can gain my trust,” I said. “Because to be a part of a rebellion, you’d have to do some shady things. And for that, you’d need your free will.”

“Yes.”

“But why not just order you to do this? Why not command you to do whatever it takes to gain my trust? Why free you from your vow?”

“I think it’s a test,” Rathiel said. “I told him I was loyal, but this would be the ultimate way to find out the truth.”

“He believes you’ll go back to him. No matter what.”

“Maybe,” Rathiel said. “But Lily, I didn’t come because he ordered me to.”

“Then why did you come?” I asked, my voice quiet, not sure I’d like the answer.

“Like I said before, I’m here for you. Only you.” He paused, his gaze holding mine. “Fuck your father. I don’t care what he wants or what he expects. I’m loyal to you.”

My breath hitched, and my pulse drummed in my ears. Rathiel had bled for me, suffered for me, carried my damn swords across Hell just because he knew I’d want them. And now he was standing here, bruised and abused, offering me his loyalty.

Rathiel rose from the cot with a slow, measured exhale.

I stood too.

He took a step toward me, then another.

I didn’t move. I should have. But my feet stayed planted, my breath shallow, my pulse a traitorous drum in my ears.

He was too close now. Close enough that the firelight caught the bruises along his jaw, the shadows under his eyes, the cut of his mouth. I’d seen him fight, seen him bleed, seen him broken and defiant and unshakable. But I had never seen him like this. Never seen him look at me like this.

“I need you to hear me, Lily,” he said quietly, his voice rough at the edges. “Because there is so much I have wanted to say to you for so long, but couldn’t. I finally have my freedom, and I refuse to give it back.”

A flurry of emotions fluttered in my stomach.

His hand lifted slightly, like he meant to reach for me, but then he hesitated, curling his fingers into a loose fist. “I know life hasn’t been easy for you,” he said, quieter now. “And I know that I am responsible for a huge part of that. I don’t expect you to forgive me for anything my brethren and I have done to you.”

I hardly breathed, afraid any movement might ruin this moment.

Because the man standing in front of me wasn’t the same one who had forced me through countless battles, who had trained me, pushed me, prepared me for a war I never wanted to fight. That Rathiel had been my father’s tool. But this Rathiel had broken free.

“I didn’t come here because he ordered me to,” Rathiel said, voice quiet but certain. “I came because I chose to. Because I see you,” he murmured. “I have always seen you.”

My stomach tightened.

He stepped closer, and I couldn’t make myself retreat. His presence pressed in, crowding my space, suffocating me in ways that had nothing to do with fear.

“You are everything he hates. Light, beauty, freedom. But you’re everything I want,” Rathiel said. “And I won’t let him break you.”

My breath hitched and my pulse stuttered at the sound of his voice. I had spent years resenting him, cursing his name, telling myself he was nothing more than my father’s lackey. I had spent a lifetime resenting him. Except, everything had changed now.

I’d changed when he kissed me.

I’d never kissed anyone before. Not like that. Not at all. I still hadn’t processed the way his lips had burned against mine, the way his hands had gripped my waist, holding me like I was something he wanted to keep.

And I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it since it happened.

“I told you once that I couldn’t leave with you.” His voice was quieter now, rough at the edges. “That I was bound to him. That I had no choice.”

I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry.

“I have that choice now though. And I am yours, if you want me. But I need to know…do you want me?”

Heat flushed my skin as his question took root within me. It wasn’t a simple question either. I knew what he meant. He wasn’t asking if I wanted him as a soldier. He wanted to know if I wanted him . Romantically. Intimately.

And it was a damn good question. One that I already knew the answer to, if I was willing to admit it.

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. My chest was tight, my stomach twisting itself into knots. I had never had to make a choice like this before. Not in war, not in survival. This wasn’t a battlefield where I could react on instinct, where I could swing a sword or summon hellfire and be done with it.

This was different. Because this was something that actually mattered. And that terrified me.

Rathiel didn’t move, didn’t push, didn’t rush me. He simply waited, his steady presence both grounding and unbearable at the same time.

I didn’t know how to do this. My father had taken everything from me. My mother, my one and only friend, my freedom. A large part of me feared letting myself have this , that Lucifer would take it from me as well.

But I didn’t want to be afraid anymore. I didn’t want to let my fear of Lucifer control my life anymore.

For the first time in my life, I didn’t have to be alone. I didn’t want to be alone.

My hands trembled as I reached for Rathiel, my fists clenching in his tunic. Rathiel tensed for a fraction of a second before he shifted, closing the final sliver of space between us.

He rested his forehead against mine, his hands sliding over my waist with careful, measured ease, as though afraid he’d scare me off. And given how my heart was beating like a frightened hellcat’s, he wasn’t far off.

He stayed still, letting me hold onto him, letting me take however much time I needed.

Be brave , I told myself. If I could survive Hell, I could handle this.

I lifted my chin, tilting my face up just enough to brush my lips against his. A test. A silent confirmation.

Rathiel groaned softly, his grip on me tightening. He didn’t hesitate after that. His lips crashed against mine, hard and unrelenting, and I melted into him, into the fire building beneath my skin.

I broke away first, my breath ragged, and my pulse a wild, frantic thing in my chest. I forced myself to open my eyes, to meet his gaze.

His pupils had dilated, his lips were parted, and his expression was wild. But his hands never let go of me.

I licked my lips, my voice rough when I finally spoke. “Guess this means you’re mine, then.”

A slow, dangerous smile curved his lips. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

I dragged him back down for another kiss. His hands slid up my back and pulled me against him. I didn’t fight it because I didn’t want to. I kissed him with everything I had, every ounce of heat and frustration, every question, every damn thing I hadn’t let myself feel until now.

Because I had spent my entire life fighting against something. Against Lucifer, against fate, against myself.

But this? This wasn’t a fight. This was a choice.

And I chose him.