Page 35 of Demanding Discord
His nostrils flared, his brow slamming hard as his features morphed slightly, giving me a peek at the beast simmering beneath his human skin. “I am incapable of love.”
“Incapable or unworthy?” I leaned against the wall, reaching my hand toward Discord’s.
The devil glowered. “Unwilling.”
He pushed his magical claws farther into Discord’s neck. The wounds gaped. Blood spurted from an artery with each beat of my demon’s heart.
“Hecate can rot in her hiding place for eternity.” Lucifer made a claw gesture at me, and searing pain exploded on my chest. Blood seeped onto my shirt, my muscles screaming as he pierced through skin.
“Why don’t you tell us the truth?” I clutched Discord’s hand and focused on the sigil on my arm, hoping to Hecate he’d get the message. If my magic truly countered his, we could use it to bring truth and clarity to anyone, right?
A surge of power crashed into me, rolling through my veins and vibrating my bones, filling me with exhilaration and heat. I allowed myself half a second to revel in it before I pushed it out toward Lucifer, lacing my words with magic, both Discord’s and my own.
“You should stop lying to yourself,” I said. “If you really didn’t care about Hecate, you wouldn’t have sent us to search for her.”
His brows drew together, his elongated pupils returning to circles. “A fool’s errand to make the game more…interesting.”
“You don’t sound so sure. Is that the truth?” I asked. “Is that what’s in your heart of holes and tar?”
His face contorted into a bewildered expression, and he relaxed his hands, withdrawing his invisible claws from our skin. Discord slid down the wall, his feet hitting the floor as Lucifer eyed our entwined hands.
“You love Hecate, sire. You’ve told me as much.” Discord pressed a hand to his neck, slowing the bleeding as he healed himself. “We can find her for you.”
Gray dusted the hair at Lucifer’s temples. “She’ll never return. A piece of her resided in that amulet, and now it’s gone. Losing it to the earthly realm was the final straw.”
His eyes glistened, the gray spreading through his hair as his posture softened. “I wasn’t the easiest deity to live with.”
“I remember.” Discord laced his fingers through mine, holding my hand tightly as he sent healing energy into my chest. “But she forgave your every transgression.”
“Except this one.” Lucifer narrowed his eyes, the roots of his hair beginning to turn black again. “Your transgression she will never forgive.”
I wanted to launch into a speech about how even the devil needed to take responsibility for the role he played, but I thought better of it. He needed Discord to be the villain in his story, and if it meant we’d get out alive, we’d have to oblige him.
“We have people on the other side searching for the amulet,” I said. “If you let us go, we’ll find it and Hecate, and we’ll set things right.”
“I told you the amulet no longer exists.” His hair turned salt and pepper, and I let out a slow breath. “I, too, have been in contact with someone on the other side.”
I harnessed another wave of Discord’s magic and focused it on Lucifer. “With whom? If it was someone from the Boston?—”
“With Scorsha Holland.” He flicked his gaze to mine, and all the air left my lungs in a rush. “Your mother.”
14
CINDER
“My…?” I started to tug from Discord’s grasp, but he held me tighter, drawing me against his side as my heart plopped into my stomach and ice flushed my veins. “You talked to my mom?”
An amused grin tugged at one corner of Lucifer’s mouth. “Your father was there too, though your mother is quite obviously the witch in charge. You seem surprised. Did they not tell you they made a deal with the devil himself?”
“They… I…” Holy Hecate on a highwire. No, my mom did not tell me she was consorting with Lucifer. Hell, the only reason I knew they’d summoned anyone at all was because I’d eavesdropped and followed them.
“You abducted her parents,” Discord said matter-of-factly.
“Abducted?” Lucifer shook his head. “You make it sound like a wrongful kidnapping. No, they promised me their souls in exchange for saving their daughter. I required more, and they didn’t deliver. I simply took what was already mine.”
“Where are they?” I asked, more growl than words, completely forgetting about our newly discovered truth magic.
“You asked for the amulet.” Discord squeezed my hand.
