Page 65 of The River of Fire

Ash squeezes my hand once, slowly, as if to say ‘It’s okay’, and it spurs me to speak. “I believe he would rather hear about the reason we are here. Prince of Darkness,” I add an honorific in an afterthought – maybe he’ll turn me into ashes for addressing him directly.

“Mortals these days are a delight,” he murmurs instead of dismembering me. “Belial paid me a visit some time ago, Ashtaroth,” he says louder. “He had an interesting tale aboutAsmodai taking an Elioud girl by force. Normally I would not concern myself with such trivial matters, but Heaven was in a tizzy, so I had to step in.”

“Why bother?” I ask, and Ash squeezes my hand again, this time in warning. “Aren’t you the definition of ‘I do what I want’?”

Satan chuckles again, the sound like the most glorious morning birdsong. “I am not in the habit of suffering nuisances if I gain nothing from it.”

“Is Asmodai here then?” Ashtaroth asks, clearly worried for the archdemon he claimed as a little brother.

“Oh, certainly.” In my peripheral vision, I see the king of demons wave a hand lazily. Suddenly, fire roars to life in front of us, widening into a circle. Within the hazy heat, a picture forms, like a hologram at an amusement park. Two cages are suspended in the air. One holds a male with short brown hair and a stunningly chiseled face. He grips the bars anxiously, his gaze unmoving from the person in the other cage.

There’s Simone, looking no different than when I saw her last. Ground-shaking relief washes over me at seeing her unharmed. Except… “Is she –”

“–very much with child? Yes,” Lucifer drawls. “I offered them a choice, something to appease Heaven. She refused. But seeing as she is, well, permanently tied to Lilith’s progeny, I cannot let them simply leave.”

“What choice?” Ash growls, eyes fixed on the caged archdemon.

“Ah, I am glad you asked, friend.” Lucifer waves the fiery viewing portal off and Asmodeus and Simone disappear. “Heaven would doubtless no longer concern themselves with these unusual, messy bonds were they beyond a doubt consensual.”

“I’m with Ash by my own free will,” I hasten to confirm. “My mentors at Purgatory know it and I have no problem telling the entire Council myself.” Ash squeezes my hand again; the only way he can communicate his gratitude.

“Not good enough,” Sataniel sings, and I can hear his evil grinbefore I take a quick glance at his face and see it.

“What would be good enough?” Ashtaroth grits out, the tension in his voice drawing my eyes away from the most beautiful fallen angel in existence.

“You are to make a bargain with your mortal, tying you together for eternity.” The literal Devil joins his hands at the fingertips, the ultimate villain mastermind.

“A soul bargain?” Ash asks, incredulous.

“Indeed,” the Devil intones and I quickly look away when his gaze shifts to me. “The sacrifice must be equal, of course. Shall we say, a third of your power,Ash?”

“I accept,” Ash replies instantly, ignoring the mockery Lucifer made of his nickname.

The latter laughs in delight. “Marvelous. Even Asmodai balked at the suggestion. And I daresay he has more at stake.”

I blink up at Ash, tugging on his hand until he meets my gaze, seeming somewhat reluctant to do so. “A soul bargain? As in ‘selling my soul to the Devil’?”

“Yes,” he confirms softly.

I bite my lip. “So, if I get killed, my soul wouldn’t end up in Purgatory, it would be here?” The wailing screams of tortured souls rise up in chorus, as if showing me what that fate would entail.

Ash uses two gloved fingers to tilt my head up by my chin. His eyes hold mine, looking both regretful and conflicted. “With a third of my power, it is unlikely you would ever be killed. Living in the Underworld already halted the aging process.”

I chew on my lip, trying to picture my life if I said no. Living at Purgatory, patrolling Hell. Lucifer would make sure I never see Ashtaroth again. It’s only been a couple of months, but I can no longer fit who I am into the confines of who I was before him. And he would give up a part of the most important thing he has to keep me by his side – his unfathomable strength.

“Would you be much more vulnerable without a third of your power? If another fight with an archdemon happens?”

He moves closer to me, no longer caring that we have anaudience. “It would make no difference. The only creature that would have an easier time disposing of me is the one salivating over the position he put us in now.”

“Careful, Ashtaroth,” the Devil says softly. “You are the one who created this issue the moment you decided you wanted to play with an Elioud.”

“The decision must be yours.” Ashtaroth ignores Lucifer’s murmured warning and places a gentle kiss on the tip of my nose.

“Do spare me.”

I ignore Satan as tears roll down my cheeks and a sob catches in my throat. I don’t think I really have a choice here. I don’t want to spend eternity away from Ash, and a part of my soul had always already belonged to Hell. “It’s a bargain,” I whisper, not trusting my voice. I clear my throat and take a deep breath. “My soul for a third of Ashtaroth’s power.”

“Wonderful!” Lucifer claps his hands and my legs give out. I collapse in Ash’s arms and he grunts just as a wave of intense heat radiates through my body. Once it passes, I right myself and look my demon over, then take stock of myself as well.

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