Page 57 of Wicked Believer (Original Sinner #2)

“I did do it for you, Charlotte,” Lucifer growls, grabbing me by my collar and hauling me into his lap ruthlessly.

Even in a weakened state, he’s stronger than I’ll ever be.

“Everything I am. Everything I’ve done ever since you first walked into my brother’s club has been for you, don’t you see?

” He grips the sides of my face with both hands, pressing his forehead against mine, his eyes desperately searching mine.

“I’m utterly and completely lost for you, darling. ”

My breath hitches.

“It’s true.” This from Azrael.

I tear my gaze from Lucifer’s to where Azrael stands a few paces away, watching us. I don’t know why, but I don’t like him standing on the other side of the room. Like he’s somehow separate from Lucifer and me.

He’s ... supposed to be here right beside us.

I push the thought away.

“I’ve known your Lightbringer since longer than you are capable of perceiving time, little siren, and never once has he pleaded for me to not reap a soul the way he pleaded for you.”

“I wouldn’t exactly say pleaded .” Lucifer loosens his tie like he’s suddenly uncomfortable with this level of vulnerability.

“Would you prefer begged then?” Azrael shoots him an agitated look.

Lucifer’s eyes narrow, his lip curling slightly, but if how he allowed Azrael to manhandle him is any indication, Azrael doesn’t have anything to fear from him.

Especially not in his current state.

“And Michael? The apocalypse?” I ask, steering the conversation back on track.

Lucifer is the one to answer. “I intended to play both sides. Convince some of my angelic siblings to come to the aid of humanity. We’re severely outnumbered, you see, and with Michael having the blade.

” He shakes his head. “I knew opening the first seal would require a sacrifice, a trial, but I ... underestimated what my Father’s punishment might ask of me.

We’re playing the long game. I fully intend to get my power back, but I needed everyone, you included, to believe I was the villain they expected, so I could—”

“Undermine him,” I finish. Which means he didn’t tell me for my own protection.

For my own good. Because Michael, or anyone else for that matter, could have used me as a tool against him until I was properly trained and able to better defend myself.

“You planned to save the whole of humanity, go against everything you’ve ever stood for, for me? ”

“Of course, Charlotte.” He cups my cheek. “Flawed as your kind may be, they gave me you.” He lays a gentle kiss on my hand, cradling it against his cheek. “And I’ve never loved anything more.”

I throw myself into his arms, only to realize my mistake when he lets out a sharp hiss. “My ribs are still a bit tender, darling,” he groans.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, easing back. “I’m sorry I ever doubted you.”

My eyes fall to his bare stomach, his stitches. No wonder he’s been keeping most of his clothes on every time we play.

“I didn’t want to worry you,” he says.

Like he’s been thinking of me. Considering me every step of the way.

Like I’m his equal.

Like he’s finally ready to share all the parts of his life with me.

My resolve softens.

It’s time to come clean.

“I could’ve died the other day.”

“You what ?” Lucifer’s rapid blinking is the only sign I’ve shocked him.

I turn away from him, standing and walking toward the other side of the room. “I could’ve died, and you didn’t know it.”

Lucifer sputters. Legitimately sputters.

Before his eyes narrow. “Who do I have to—”

“The night after you used my employment contract against me, to put me on lockdown,” I say, cutting him off before he launches headfirst into a full-blown murderous rampage. “I ... stepped off the top of the building.”

His furious snarl is his only response.

I have a feeling I’ll be getting punished for that for the rest of my immortal days. “If it weren’t for Azrael, I ...”—I look toward him—“I would’ve hit the ground.”

Lucifer casts a sideways glimpse at Azrael like he might actually murder him for not disclosing that all-important detail.

“I was trying to see if you or your Father, I’m not really sure which of you honestly, would catch me. I’m guessing I would have survived it, considering I’m immortal now, but I don’t think that—”

“Matters?” he finishes for me. “Of course it matters. You matter. You have always mattered to me.”

I shake my head. I don’t know exactly why I feel more confident confronting him about everything that’s been keeping us apart with Azrael standing right here, but it’s like his presence acts as a shield for me.

A layer of celestial protection that I didn’t realize I needed to stand on my own two feet until now. My hand flits to my collar.

Like a balance. A scale.

To level the playing field between Lucifer and me.

“Not enough for you to be open with me. Not enough for you to trust that I could handle all this. Would you even have told me you’d lost your powers if I hadn’t been here to witness this?” I gesture to his wounds, the sweat coating him.

He’ll need a full course of antibiotics and plenty of rest for sure.

Azrael stands with his arms crossed over his chest like he’s not going anywhere.

Lucifer rubs the back of his neck. “You can imagine how emasculated I might have felt.”

My features soften. “All of them?” I ask, wrapping my arms around myself. “You really lost all of them?”

“All the earthly ones, I’m afraid.” He nods slowly, and I blanch.

“And Michael? He still doesn’t know what your plan was?”

“No.”

“And what’s the new plan?”

Lucifer glances toward Azrael uncertainly, who gives a curt nod of encouragement.

“You are, Charlotte,” Lucifer says, locking eyes with me.

“I’m sorry?” I can’t have possibly heard him right.

Lucifer looks away from me, pinching the bridge of his nose and squeezing his eyes shut. “I meant to give you more time. To shield you from this for as long as I could while Azrael and Greed trained you.”

My chest tightens. “What are you trying to say?”

He turns to me. “There is only one immortal capable of navigating between all three realms, between Heaven, Hell, and everywhere In-Between, the only person aside from Christ—”

“And Lazarus,” Azrael grumbles.

“Who’s ever been brought back from the dead. The only being who has both my Father’s power and mine in one corporeal body.”

I gape at him. “And who . . . ?”

“You, Charlotte,” Lucifer says, watching me as if he’s trying to gauge my reaction.

His emotions play out on his face. Pride mixed with fear.

A flare of adrenaline fires inside my brain.

Like he’s incredibly proud of me, but also ... tortured by the thought that he might have put my life in danger.

But what choice did he have? To let me die in his arms?

Suddenly, all the ways I blamed him for our shared fate feel incredibly selfish.

Lucifer speaks softly then, as if he fears the full knowledge of all this might shatter me.

“I’m afraid when I gifted my Father’s redemption to you, I unintentionally made you the only immortal capable of reopening the pearly gates.

The only person capable of navigating all three realms. The only one who would ever be capable of searching for my Father, to find Him, to demand He put a stop to all this. ”

I exhale slowly, my breath shaky. “So, all this punishment, this training, was because you planned to ...”

“Use you as a celestial weapon?” he asks.

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.

But I got a little of both.

“And Michael? Lilith?” I ask.

“Michael knows, or more likely suspects, that you’re equally as capable of opening the seals as I am. Once Azrael trains you, if we can convince my brother that you want the apocalypse as much as I do, that you’re acting on my orders, then—”

“Then he won’t see either of us coming.” I try to tamp down the fear that sparks in me. I can’t fall apart every time he confides in me. Not if I want him to continue to treat me like an equal moving forward. The equal he’s helped make me.

That was his plan all along, it seems.

To lift me up. Push me beyond my current limits until I ...

Recognized my own power.

Just like he does every time we’re alone in the playroom.

“One last thing before the doctor gets here.” A feeling of certainty expands inside my chest, making my breathing easier, more confident.

“I’m having brunch with your siblings soon.

I’ll explain why later, but if we’re going to do this, we need to be fully honest with one another moving forward, to trust each other completely.

I understand why you weren’t, but I need to know that you’ll always be honest with me, Lucifer.

” I meet his gaze head-on. “If you love me, if you truly love me, I need you to trust me, to believe in me.”

“I trust you, Charlotte. I was just waiting for you to trust in you too.”

I smile. “And you still want to be my husband? My king? Even if that requires full transparency?”

He smirks like he can already see where this is heading, wicked strategist and master manipulator that he is. “Of course, little dove.”

“Good.” I smile as I turn on my new Prada heels, my head held high, and stalk out of the room. “Then start acting like it, husband.”