Page 11 of Hell Bound

“Commander, should I...?” Deasley trailed off, looking from my face to Lilith’s furiously flailing hands.

“Go to the pack,” I said gruffly. “I’ll meet you there.”

With one last grimace at Lilith, he vanished.

We exited the staircase into another quiet hall. No one else lived here.

Asmodeus had ensured that years ago, another form of psychological torture for her. She’d spent days at a time in isolation, often with the door blockaded so she had no means of escape.

Unless she was willing to go over the balcony.

“You fucking psycho—” She was still shoving at my chest, so I had to kick her bedroom door open with my hands full.

Despite her wild struggles, I placed her on the floor gently.

She’d been hurt enough for one night. More than enough for a fucking lifetime, and Hell knew she’d lived hundreds.

“These are the Queen’s quarters,” I told her. “Your quarters.”

The moment I released her, she backed away from me, searching for a weapon.

There was nothing in sight she could use against me, so she turned to the window, clearly intending to jump out.

Instead, she stopped dead in her tracks, both hands braced on the sill.

I could hear her rapid breaths from across the room. The hot winds of the Infernal Court’s lands blew in, making her black and red hair stream behind her.

“This isn’t a nightmare,” she muttered, more to herself than to me. “It’s real. This is all real.”

“Yes.”

She turned from the window, glancing over her shoulder at me suspiciously, and flung open the balcony doors. Lilith leaned against the rail, still close to hyperventilating.

I followed her out, my arms crossed over my chest. This view should’ve been familiar to her. After all, she’d looked at it for hundreds of years as she dreamed of freedom.

A lake of blood gleamed like a ruby far beneath us, promising no escape in that direction. The waves lapped at the shore, as slow and languid as if it’d been tapped from the vein and left to congeal.

Her shudder of revulsion was obvious.

Beyond that was the forest. The beast of Asmodeus’s creation roamed the forest; if its dark, twisting branches didn’t drive her off, the monster within it would.

There was nowhere to go. Even if she managed to climb out with what little handholds there were, nothing but despair awaited her.

She finally turned to me, her expression anguished.

“Trying to escape will only make it worse.” I tried to sound cold, uncaring, not letting an ounce of sympathy into my tone. If she truly didn’t remember her surroundings, she’d walk cheerfully into the arms of her own demise. “The forest is impassable. Only death waits out there.”

Lilith set her jaw mulishly, glaring up at me now with tear stains still on her cheeks. “You can’t really expect me to stay here willingly.”

“I do expect that.” I gave her a level glare in return. It was easy enough to summon the anger. I simply had to remember how she’d let that human man put his mouth and hands all over her…

“I’m not a demon, or your queen!” She paced back and forth on the balcony, gave the blood lake another repulsed look, then slipped back into her quarters. She was trying so hard to avoid contact with me that her back scraped against the door frame as she passed.

Even as her mind fought it, her body had enjoyed being close to me again when I’d found her. Just like when she was my Fire Lily, and she’d brought out all the light left within my soul.

Now nothing remained of that idealistic demon. Instead, a vicious beast dwelled there, and the demoness I’d known might be gone forever. How could she bring me back when she was lost herself?

I wanted to know for sure if she was gone, or if the real Lilith was still inside.

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