Page 47 of To Crave Deeply
I placed my finger under her chin and brought her eyes up to mine. They were an exact copy of mine. Two circles of solid black surrounded by the flames of Hell itself.
“Iveri, how could you do this to me? To us?”
She sniffed and jerked away from my touch.
“I have no regrets. You deserved it for what you did to me,” she spat.
In a flash of anger, I slapped the back of my hand across her perfect cheek. Her head snapped to the side, and I felt the tension rise in the room. I didn’t care. The others were here for punishment, too.
I’d never felt so disappointed. They’d betrayed me. Turned against me and tried to destroy me. My own creations. And it was all led by Iveri.
“Why?” I asked incredulously. “Why would you persuade them to destroy me?”
“Because you’re an abomination,” she spat. “You manipulate and coerce people into doing your bidding. You remove their freedom of choice, all for your pleasure.”
“I don’t remove anyone’s free choice. It’s impossible!” I roared. I didn’t miss the way she flinched, or the small step Iver took towards her. I could feel their fondness for each other.
“You made me for the sole purpose of loving him.” She pointed to Iver, and I glanced at him. His dark hair was dishevelled, and his pitch-black eyes were swimming with tears.
“Yes, I created the perfect match for him. And look at him, Iveri. Look how desolate and full of envy he is.” She turned her head in his direction. “Can’t you see how much he wants you? But you chose this path. You chose to persuade my creations onto it, too. And now, he can only watch from the shadows. You chose destruction over love and creation. That wasn’t me. I didn’t force you to do that, Iveri.”
Iver fixed those black eyes on me. He was pleading with me, but my mind was made up. She needed to be punished.
“You gave me no choice,” she whispered softly, almost as if she couldn’t bear the weight of Iver’s gaze as she told the room she couldn’t love him.
I gripped her chin in my hand and brought her gaze back to mine.
“That’s where you’re wrong. I might have created you as a companion to Iver, but it was always up to you whether you loved him or not. I don’t remove free will, Iveri. You always had it. I’m not the monster here. You are.”
“Don’t do this, Lucifer,” Selene beseeched. “Don’t do something you’ll regret.”
I turned to the witch and seethed. I called my power to me and wrapped it around her, bringing her to her knees. She screamed as I forced her to kneel before me. “Who are you to tell me that? I am King, and I will do whatever the fuck I want.”
That seemed to shut her up. I was getting angrier by the second. I could feel the heat of it stirring in my veins and it wouldn’t be long before I was consumed by it.
“Any last words, Iveri?”
Her face paled. I think she was expecting a slap on the wrist, but I was too pissed off. Beyond angry, and the need to destroy raged in me like the fire of Hell itself.
“Lucifer, no!” Iver screamed as he started forward. I flicked my wrist and sent him flying backwards with a gust of wind. He crashed into the wall and collapsed in a heap. Selene and Mordecai made a move towards me but stopped as my Hellfire erupted along my skin.
“Stay back! All of you!” I commanded. I was King and they would damn well obey. Their heads dropped as they averted their eyes from the heat of the flames.
“I hate you!” Iveri sneered, her voice laced with venom.
“I know,” I replied, my voice dropping low. “And that will be my greatest shame. You were supposed to be brilliant. The very best of my creations. To be my successor. But it seems you were to be my punishment. And with your destruction, not only will I suffer, but the other three will as well. It seems your death will serve us all quite the punishment.”
Her eyes blazed with defiance and her back was ramrod straight as she listened to the sentence I’d deemed suitable. She didn’t cower from me as I moved closer, even though the inferno raging around me must have been burning her.
“You can destroy me, remove me from existence, but you will never be rid of me, Lucifer. I will burn in your mind like a memory calling from the darkness, and I promise you, you will rue this day.”
Her words were delivered with a quiet, angry grace, and I almost believed them.
“Goodbye, Iveri.” I pulled her into my arms and let my fire burn while my original three watched in horror.
She didn’t scream or pull away, but wrapped her arms around my waist and held tightly. There was a soft brush of her lips against my cheek and her last words would be forever burned into my mind. They were whispered so gleefully that a shiver ran up my spine despite the heat from my flames.
“I’ll see you soon, Father.”
