Page 63 of Fallen
Lucian Elysium
Present Day
TheboredomofHellwill be my undoing.
I tried to concentrate on the upcoming plague Adaliah and her minions would soon be spreading, but it was no use.
I couldn't even get myself worked up last night when not one, butthreesuccubae thought to entice me with their naughty ways.
Anna. Just admit you can't stop thinking about her.
It was true. That annoying, self-righteous voice of conscience in my head was not wrong.
I might've blocked her prayers, but I could not block her from my memories.
Or what I did to her friends.
How long had it been since I'd last seen her?
A year? Two?
I've been away from Earth too long.
My power, fully charged, could stand a foray out of the stink of sulfur and the damnable heat of hellfire.
Perhaps I'd even drop in on the girl, see how she was getting along with her new eyesight.
I imagined her home or college dorm filled with new paintings even more glorious than before now that she could see the world.
Surely she'll forgive me, especially when she finds out I sent the fat kid to Heaven.
I strode across the throne room toward Samael, who lounged against a wall of the fortress. His attention didn't seem to be on anything in the room. He looked as bored as I felt.
"Where's Malachi?" I asked.
Samael shrugged. "Do I look like my brother's keeper?" He formed a black ball of power and tossed it into the air, then caught it in a hand and twirled it around his fingers.
Malachi disappeared more frequently than usual, and today's absence irked me.
I really need to start taking more of an active interest in the goings-on in my plane, to stay here longer and stop visiting Earth and draining my power.
I'd been so distracted by thoughts of Anna lately that apathy had begun to settle in my heart.
Before Anna, I'd enjoyed my plane.Now, I longed for the simplistic amusements of her world. And I yearned to hear her voice, to feel her touch.
It was bloody ridiculous, but I could not deny the impish human had some sort of hold over me.
"You're in charge until I return."
Samael lifted an eyebrow. "Does this mean I must sit on your gaudy throne decorated with skulls?" He cast a cursory glance at the piece of furniture in question and sneered an upper lip.
"It means you'll ensure everything runs smoothly while I'm away. It means you'll keep a patrol going to guard the portal from nosey angels. It means"—I snapped my fingers and human garments replaced my uniform—"that you'll keep the other Chosen in line." If Malachi were here, I wouldn't need to explain.
Whereishe, though?
I kept a mental tether to all Chosen. It allowed me to force their obedience when necessary.
But I didn't use it very often because offering a choice was much more amusing.
