“I’ve been here in Hell for the past ten years. Last week, when I rescued you, was my first time out.”
That didn’t add up. Was he lying to me? If he didn’t rescue me from my poisoned mind, then who did?
“Okay. Well, thanks….” I prompted for his name.
He crossed his large arms. “You can call me General or General Ronen. Your choice.”
“What’s your first name?”
“Ronen. But you’re not allowed to call me that without my title.”
Oh, Heavenly Hell. He wasn’t going to make any of this easy on me.
“That’s not your last name?” I gritted out.
“Angels and demons don’t have last names. That’s purely a human quality. You’d know that if you grew up around us.”
And with that oh-so-pleasant but pointed comment nudging me to tap into my Infernus and chuck an icicle at his head, I said, “Get out of my room.”
I didn’t have to tolerate his disrespect or the disdain pressed into his lips. Sure, I needed to play nice—and I would—but I had no energy for that right now.
His shadows swallowed his eyes, and his nostrils flared. Aspen wasn’t the only one who showed his anger through the power in his eyes. But from the pressure behind my own, I had a feeling they weren’t alone.
“I may be weak right now,General.But that won’t stop me from freezing your ass if you don’t listen.”
It was all bluster. The mere thought of pulling at my power made me want to pass out. But he didn’t know that.
“Your father wants to meet with you in a few hours.”
No shit. It’s not like he didn’t just mention that.
“Out.”
I needed a second to gather myself and take in Oliver’s information. I needed to process the fact that I was in my father’s lands. I was the Princess of Hell. I was a born angel. And the person whose help I needed already hated me.
“Please,” I pushed out through clenched teeth.
“Be ready.” He gave me one last punishing stare, then left.
Rune sat in the doorway, panning between me and the general with her glowing golden eyes.
“Beastie, I’m not sure what the glowing entails, but if the general is watching through you, I’d prefer if you cut it out.”
Rune’s eyes returned to their normal hue, and I slumped back, feeling weak.
I patted my bed, and Rune jumped up, curling into my warmth without hesitation. My body sank into the sheets, but my mind… that was a different story.
Overwhelming thoughts circled with a vengeance, pressing down on my chest with each pass. I didn’t expect to wake inmyfather’scastle. The very thought of that term made my stomach twist. I knew he wasn’t Michael, but that didn’t change the fact that Michael tainted that word—and practically every other endearment regarding a father figure—with every line he carved into my body since I was five.
And the king wouldn’t be any better.
My mother kept me hidden from him for a reason.
She always thought he’d kill me.
Chapter
Four
