Eventually, the three of them passed out on the shower floor. The dragons splashed to the ground, running toward the drain. Ichi stepped around their limp bodies and approached us.
“You’re a badass, Ichi.” Oliver grinned.
I dipped my chin to her. “Thanks.”
She bowed her head in response. “I’m only following my word. They’ll wake up in a few minutes. Let’s not be here when they do.”
Chapter
Thirty-Seven
RONEN
Iluscelered through the healers’ wing and into the private room in the back, placing Lucifer on the bed. Then shouted for Sam.
He stormed in, ready to chastise me for yelling—until he saw Lucifer.
“He’s suffering from Divine Wasting from four Transference Runes carved into his arm.”
Sam snapped his head toward me and ripped off his amulet. “That’s suicidal!”
It was. If Lucifer weren’t the King of Hell, he’d be dead already.
Sam shook his head and placed a hand over Lucifer’s chest. Yellow light shot into his body, pressing him into the mattress. Seconds passed. Then minutes.
What was taking so long?
Was hedying?
I couldn’t become king. We didn’t have my feather for the ceremony. Even if we did, I didn’t know how to perform the transference of power. And then there was the matter of my past. If he died, I’d be exposed, and things would turn dark fast. That wasn’t even factoring in all of Hell’s other unresolved problems.
“Seven Hells, I shouldn’t have taken so long to bring him in,” I muttered.
A second later, color returned to Lucifer’s face. Sam’s yellow light faded, and his hand dropped limply. He turned to me, sweat soaking his brown hair. As he gripped his dark amulet, yellow flames flickered in his irises.
“You did what?”
That was a first. I’d never seen him angry before.
“We ran into an incident at the Shard Field. I had to make sure Lucille was okay.”
“Assuming by the fact she’s not here, no harm came to her, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Then the king should’ve been your priority, General!” he shouted. “Instead, I’ve hit my limit and can’t heal anyone else today!”
“I—” Had nothing to say to that.
Sam scoffed and left, slamming the door behind him.
Fucking Lucille.
The more time I spent with her, the harder it became to distinguish between Lucifer’s order, my obsessive shadows, and my intrusive desires. The worst part? I didn’t know if the urges I felt were mine or the bond’s. Did it really have that much control?
I could ask MJ. But that’d only lead to more questions, and she knew how to get the truth out of me. Alexei was already breathing down my neck as it was.
“I didn’t take you for a daydreamer, General,” Lucifer rasped.
