Page 148 of Wicked Believer

I nod slightly, my stomach twisting at what the answer might be.

Another manipulation. Another choice made for me.

But this time, for the right reasons.

“The only intention I’ve had since the moment I first sent that press release, Charlotte, was to make you mine. It was never about anything other than that.”

My knees buckle, the relief that fills me so complete I feel almost lightheaded from the shock of it. A shaky laugh tears from my lips as I turn away momentarily.

“Thank you.” I mouth the words silently, so neither Lucifer nor Azrael can hear. “Thank you.” I glance toward the ceiling.

For once, He answered my prayers.

He may be a shitty excuse for a Dad when it comes to Lucifer, but on this one rare occasion, He came through for me. That’s all the reassurance I need.

“You should have told me sooner.” I hold on to my mother’s necklace like it might lend me strength as I turn back toward Lucifer.

“I tried to, but after your Father’s funeral ...” His voice trails off.

I try to see the situation from his perspective, to objectively consider how I reacted.

If I’d been in his shoes, would I have thought I’d be able to handle it? Would I have thought myself capable?

I sigh, already knowing the answer.

No. No, I wouldn’t have.

Not when I was so busy resisting my fate rather than embracing it.

Fate may have led me here, forced my hand in some way, but now ...

Now, I get to decide what I’m going to do with it.

“So, what happens now?” I glance between them.

Lucifer looks toward me, a knowing grin on his lips. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

I stand taller as I turn toward Azrael, my head held high, not as Lucifer’s fiancée, but ...

As his queen.

For the first time ever.

Azrael seems to inherently know what to do. “Hell’s legions, they grow restless, my lady. They’re more likely to rebel every day.”

I try not to let my shock at that thought show as I lift a brow. “Why?”

“Before you, they were promised that Hell would be brought to Earth,” Azrael says.

The perfect soldier reporting for duty.

I cast an annoyed sidelong glance to Lucifer, but he only shrugs and says, “I won’t apologize for my past, darling.”

I nod. I’d never expect him to. Just like he’s never expected that of me.

I knew what I was getting into when we were first locked inside that private room at Azmodeus’s club.

I wanted a villain. Not a hero.