Page 105 of Hell Bound

The room stank as I stepped in. It smelled of Tavila, her sour perfume… and Asmodeus.

The reek of their sex hung in the air.

“Did he touch you?” I growled, stepping closer.

I realized the sheets were piled on the floor. She hadn’t been sitting on her bed, she’d been stripping it herself, like a servant.

The reek came from those sheets.

She shook her head mutely, throwing a pillow at the pile. “No, but… he could come back. You should go. We came way too close to getting caught today.”

I nodded in agreement and reached for her, but she stepped back. “Lucifer… I have to take responsibility,” she whispered.

My fingers curled up. I dropped my hand.

No matter how many times I’d been warned, I’d always been unable to stop myself from touching the fire.

“I brought you something.” I fished the ring out of my pocket, and this time, I didn’t let her pull away. I grabbed her hand, gently sliding the ring into place on her hand where I’d seen it before.

Lilith sucked in a breath. “Where did you find this?”

“Tavila stole it. Along with plenty other of items that belong to you—”

She shook her head, twisting the ring. “She can have everything else, but this… this is special to me. I couldn’t live without it.”

Did she… did she remember that it was from me? Was that why she held it so dear?

My body went rigid as Lilith rose on her tiptoes to kiss me. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Only the remaining stench of Asmodeus kept me from pushing her to the bed. “My lady,” I growled, and forced myself to take a step back.

Then another.

Soon the balcony doors were at my back. Lilith stared at me hard, chewing her lower lip as though holding back words.

“Do you want me to help you?” I asked, nodding towards the pile of bedding.

Lilith looked at it, her cheeks flushing red. Not with shame, or coyness… but with rage. I could only imagine what she had witnessed.

“No,” she said evenly. “I’m going to see if I can set it on fire and maybe take the rest of the palace with it.”

A ghost of a smile touched my lips. “I will see you again, Fire Lily. When it is safer.”

She twisted the ring, then launched herself at another pillow, ripping it out of its case in a renewed fury. “Until then, Lucifer.”

I wanted to say the words I used to say as I slipped out and climbed down the balcony, but this was not like old times, or the old Lily. She wouldn’t whisper soft words and tell me she loved me in return.

This was a Lilith who was furious enough to reduce the world around her to ashes, given enough time and a long enough leash.

And once I found a way to get us out of here, I would make sure she got the chance to strike that match.

Chapter25

Lilith

Ispent the next day in my room. No matter how much my heart tugged at me to go find Lucifer, I resisted.

Wandering wasn’t a good idea, since we’d seen how that would inevitably wind up, so I stood on my balcony most of the day, watching the ripples and flow of the red lake below.

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