Page 10 of Hell Bound

She hit the floor hard, landing on her knees as she gasped for breath. Deasley inched forward, and I cleared my throat, a barely audible sound to anyone but one of my wolves.

He stopped, quivering as Lilith choked on a sob, her hands shaking as they rubbed at her abused scalp.

Asmodeus’s eyes flashed up to me. Fresh rage burned there, but there was a wild anticipation that boded ill for all of us.

He was going to draw this out, make it hurt as much as possible.

After decades chained to the sadist, I knew I could handle it, but… could she?

“Escort her to her chambers, Morningstar.” Asmodeus flicked his fingers towards Lilith, like she was a piece of trash he’d dropped on the floor. “I think we’ll prepare a celebration for the Queen’s return.”

He didn’t wait around to see if his orders would be obeyed, turning to sweep back down the hall. I felt the strictures of his command wrapping around me, compelling me to do exactly as ordered.

His curse was like magic chains encircling my body and anchored in my soul. Asmodeus said the word, and we were forced to obey.

Refusal of an order meant excruciating pain, the kind that flayed your soul open… and in some cases, it left a permanent mark.

If only I’d been strong enough to fight the curse. I’d have left my Lily in the human world, where she would’ve been free of him forever.

I stepped forward and slipped my hands under her arms, lifting her to her feet. She almost stumbled, one hand still gripping her head. She used the other to shove away from me.

“Get off me,” she snarled.

Deasley shifted to his demon form, falling in on her other side. “We have orders, Li—my Queen.”

I glanced at the rest of the pack. Odragir’s eyes still burned bright. His pale green hellfire was a mark of his Spectral Court origin. He tracked Lilith’s every move, and I hated his eyes on her.

I jerked my head towards the door. “Return to pack quarters.”

Like Asmodeus, I didn’t need to wait and see if they’d obey. My commands came second only to those of the king for the wolves. I heard the sound of receding paws, their claws clicking on the stone floor.

Lilith was backing away from me, her eyes frantically searching for a gap in which she could break through. I set my jaw and gripped her upper arm, pulling her down the hall towards a staircase.

Deasley took the rear, ensuring she’d have nowhere to run.

“Next time I tell you to hold your tongue, listen,” I growled, my wolf’s anger barely contained.

I didn’t want her to have to learn the even harder way, even if my coldness made her hate me now.

“What did he mean by his ‘collection’?” she asked, her tone remarkably even considering she’d just been yanked off the floor by her hair by a demon calling himself her husband.

My jaw tightened. “You don’t want to know.”

She needed to find her footing here in the Infernal Court before she knew the details about that. The knowledge may very well break her.

Lilith tugged against my grip, but I hauled her up another flight of stairs. “You dragged me here, the least you could do is tell me what I need to know, asshole.”

Asshole?

My wolf flexed his claws, digging into me from the inside.

After what I’d given up to free her, and the pain I’d suffered in a vain attempt to defy the order to bring her home,Iwas the asshole?

I took a steadying breath, fighting my anger. Lilith couldn’t know that. She still had no idea who or where she was.

I bit back the first retort that tried to jump to my lips, then wrapped my arm around her waist, picked her up, and carried her up the last several flights. “You aren’t moving fast enough.”

She slammed her fists into my chest. Little, soft human fists. It felt more like being pecked at by a tiny bird than an actual strike.

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