Page 3 of To Crave Madly
“Well, you’re too late. I took care of them myself before I nearly died and then you rescued me like my knight in shining armour.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
I was confused. “What did you mean?”
“If they’re dead, that means they are down here in the Under Realm. I am going to personally see to their punishment and make them suffer for attempting to take something that ismine.” The last word was a growl and anger flashed brightly in his eyes.
“You’d punish someone more, just because I was involved?”
“In a heartbeat. You are mine and I will always protect you.”
“Then protect me, Lucifer. Don’t use my name to punish souls more than they deserve.”
A smile lifted the corner of his lips and the fire died down in his eyes a little. “You are too good for me. Too kind and sweet. You are not made for this world of monsters and I am sorry I brought you into it. I know my actions were irrational. Abducting you is one thing, but it was never my intention to kill you. I promise you, that wasn’t me.”
“I know that now. Now I know thatyouare Lucifer. Abducting me was pretty stupid. I am sure that, given time, I would have gone with you anywhere.”
Lucifer winced. “I know. I was just so desperate to have you all to myself. I’ve made a mess of things, haven’t I?”
My heart clenched a little for him. Here he stood, trying to make me understand his reasons and all I could think about was the fact that he hadn’t trusted me with his real name.
“I wish you had told me who you were from the start. Did you have to keep me in the dark?”
His eyebrows raised and a soft chuckle escaped his lips. “Would you have been as open with Lucifer as you were with Orion?”
My heart gave a pang at the realisation that Orion was gone. But as I looked up at Lucifer, I realised he wasn’t really gone. He was just a part of the man in front of me. I just needed time to reconcile myself with the fact that the Devil was now dependent on my very existence.
I snorted. No pressure then.
Lucifer was right though; Orion was just a demon. He wasn’t the King of the Under Realm and he didn’t have all the stigma and fear that came with being the Devil. Lucifer, on the other hand… well, let’s just say it was going to take me a while to get used to the idea that he even existed, let alone get used to the fact that we were irrevocably bonded.
I tucked my hand under the collar of Lucifer’s shirt and found the mark on his chest that mirrored my own. His eyes closed and a sense of calm settled upon his features as my fingers traced the puckered skin. His chest rose beneath my hand as he took a deep breath. He was waiting for my answer to his question.
“If I am being honest, no. I would not have been as comfortable with you had I known who you really were. And while I understand your reasoning for withholding your name, I do not think I am quite ready to forgive you for it.”
His eyes opened at my words and pain flashed fleetingly across his face. The fire in his eyes had darkened back to a glowing ember and my chest clenched at the vulnerability I saw in them. It was only there for a moment before his walls were back up and his mask was back in place. I felt him withdraw from me, the bond between us dimming in its intensity, and coldness seeped under my skin. I didn’t like that sensation at all. I didn’t want him to pull away from me. While I wasn’t ready to allow Lucifer further into my life, I also didn’t want our relationship, such as it was, to go backwards. Something drew me to him, and it scared me how powerful the yearning between us was. I needed some time to process everything that had happened.
I was still reeling from the fact that Lucifer, the actual Devil, was in my life. That he wanted me and needed me. The fact that I had bonded with Lucifer removed all doubt that I was part of this prophecy and I was somehow going to help him destroy the world.Thatwas indeed a lot to process.
“Are we going to destroy the world?”
Bewilderment settled on his brow. “What in Heaven’s name gave you that idea?”
Now it was my turn to be confused. “The prophecy? Mistress Blackwood foretold you wanted to burn the world whilst Heaven cries. She wrote pages and pages of revelations and—”
Lucifer burst into laughter cutting off my words. I’d enjoy the sound of it if I wasn’t currently standing in stunned silence.
“That old crone?” He laughed again. It was deep and melodious, and it reverberated through me deliciously. But it wasn’t enough to stop me from crossing my arms across my chest disapprovingly.
“I’m sorry,” he continued, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. “I wouldn’t set much store by what she’s written. She was mad as a box of frogs.”
“Yes, and you made her so. You cursed the woman with Hellfire and drove her insane.”
His expression sobered. “I might have cursed her, but she was always mad.”
“But what about the prophecies that have come true?”
“Little dove,Icould write a number of things down in a book and I am sure that over the next few centuries a number of them would come true.”
