Page 59 of Inheritance
Raphael eyed her before looking up at me with an expression that was almost amused. Ama muttered a curse under her breath and turned away from him, looking at me, “You would think that Heavenly beings would understand manners and respect. He can’t even give me a freakin’ answer.”
Oh, I was positive he had an answer, but Raphael was holding his tongue, and I had a feeling it was because he was completely aware of who Amare was to me.
I was momentarily distracted when her mouth popped open as she saw the dome I’d constructed, but I was quick to placate her as her eyes narrowed on me. I raised my hands in defense, “This will keep them safe. If they move to attack any of the Seraphim, neither you nor I can save them. They are too impulsive.”
Before she could mull that over, Zerachiel piped up, his voice gravelly as his eyes ran over Ama, “That’s a feisty one you have there, Luce.”
My Little Temptress' face turned murderous as she snapped around. I grabbed her immediately, pulling her into my side once more before she could approach the most vicious of my brothers. I didn’t think Zerachiel would hurt her, specifically, but his definition of bodily harm was a bit skewed, considering his day job consisted of judging the souls of the dead.
Her words were clear and sharp despite my possessive hold on her, “I am right in front of you! Donotspeak to him like I’m not right fucking here.”
She turned to me and looked up, “Shame on them for acting like assholes.”
I smirked at that, “Well they are ‘born of the light’ and technically the ‘highest of rank.’”
Ama turned thoughtful, nodding, “First sphere, right?”
“You remembered,” I smiled at the confirmation that our time together had stuck in her head as much as it had found residence in my own.
“Of course.” She smiled softly before looking at them and scowling. “You five are literally the closest to God. You are supposed to be acting onhiswill, not coming down here and acting like patronizing jerks.”
Remiel stepped forward, his entire appearance refracting in reds and pinks in accordance to Ama, no doubt, and he offered her a small smile. “You truly do shine, Amare. So brightly. Your soul is extremely pure, young one.” Instantly, I was narrowing my eyes at him.
Remiel was known for being sincere and authentic. Everything he said, he meant. So...what? He was complimenting her? I wrapped her tighter as the rest of my brothers exchanged understanding looks, the dominating aggression in the air seeming to have evaporated completely at once. It left me with an uncomfortable chill under my skin. Nothing about how they were acting was okay or normal. Ama offered me a concerned look, the others in the dome behind us seeming to have quieted as well, and I tried to offer her a reassuring look. I didn’t have the answers that I knew she wanted.
I looked at all of them, “Why have you come here? Speak your piece and leave us to pick up the shambles of this realm.” And to rebuild with my mate and her other men. To create a realm that wasn’t formed in hate but in unity. For the first time in a very long time, I felt a string of hope coursing through me.
Remiel tilted his head to the side and eyed me with a ton of judgment that made me absolutely furious. “If only you had made this change in yourself earlier, Luce, then we wouldn’t have had to come here to carry out the Creator’s wishes.”
I forgot for a moment that God and creator were interchangeable, but Luce had said that during his explanation of their inner workings prior.
My face screwed up in further confusion. “Stop speaking in fucking riddles.”
Raguel stepped forward boldly, “We have watched you, brother, ever since your fall to this realm. We have watched you be given the chance time and time again to build a beautiful and flourishing realm. The chance to care for those around you and to treat your people with the compassion the creator and ruler of a realm like this should have. And even when you failed, we all waited to see if you would atone for your transgressions.”
The haunted shadows of my past swarmed around me as Ama sucked in a sharp breath, her head going to my shirt and clutching it tightly.
Jeremiel, the most serious of my brothers, stepped forward, watching me with no disappointment rather than judgement. “I have seen it all, Lucifer. We all wanted you to become the light for this realm—the future.”
“Bullshit,” I snapped. “You were all thrilled to see my fall, cast out by our own creator, never to return and instead abandoned by the people who should have cared for me. None of you thought I would become the ‘light’ of anything. You just allowed me to disappear and buried me in the back of your heads, an unhappy stain on your pure existence.” All of their faces twisted in some form of pain, as if my words truly hurt them.
“No,” Jeremiel defended, “That is not what happened.”
“You were the chosen one amongst us to birth a realm, Lucifer. You had the greatest honor bestowed upon you,” Raphael argued. There was no convincing them of the pain I’d felt at how unfair the reality of the situation had been because they felt it was an honor. That was something I would never understand—all of this was a load of bullshit.
“Just explain why you are here,” Ama bit out. “Your skewed judgment about what happened isn’t something that is up for debate. Besides, we have our families to free from the cells—they have been held prisoner for far too long. That isn’t including the entire kingdom that needs to be rebuilt.”
A defensive growl came from my lips at the sight of all of my brothers staring openly at my Little Temptress.
Remiel’s words echoed loud and clear. “Young one, we are here on the behalf of the Creator to bestow the powers and title of ‘Ruler of Hell’ toyou.”
Wait, what?
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Ama
My brain essentially short-circuited, and I blinked in confusion before saying, “I’m sorry, what was that?” That was the nicest way I could say ‘What the fuck did you just say?’ I mean, was this guy high? Maybe they were all high…or maybe I had passed out from a post adrenaline rush after experiencing torture and then healing in such a short span of time. I felt like that was far more likely than the nonsense I’d just heard.
