"Shh." He raised an index finger to my lips. "You don't have to decide now. Let me show you what Hell is like, then you can determine if it's something you'd want to do. It's your choice, Anna. Never let it be said I took away free will."
The idea of seeing his worlddidintrigue me. But my God, I felt wrung out and raw. "Can we do it tomorrow? I'm exhausted." My body yearned for sleep.
Lucian tipped his head backward and laughed with complete abandonment.
I tapped my foot."What's so funny?"
"I've just offered you the world, and you're turning it down for a nap." He shook his head, a smile still lifting his lips. "I can take away your exhaustion."
I tilted my head and lowered my eyebrows. "I'd rather not have any of your devil shadows or whatever they are."
Another wonderful laugh burst from his mouth. "I don't heal with my ether. I use the little bit of light from my leftover days of Heaven."
Really?How interesting, that he still had light in his soul. Instead of telling him this, I nodded once, too tired to argue the point.
He ran his hands lightly down my arms, the touch sensual and invigorating all at once. It felt amazing.
"I also want you to see me, Anna, before I take you to Hell."
"What do you mean?" It was as if his fingertips were massaging my muscles without the massage. A tingling sensation began building along the nerves of my skin. "I know what you look like with your wings and crown."
"No. I mean to truly see me in my work, to see the things I must do to judge and punish. It can be gruesome but I do not shirk my duty." There was a touch of smugness in his tone. "I don't want there to be any surprises between us. Not anymore. I want to be truthful with you, even with the ugliness of what is me, with what I do."
Whatever magic he was working on my body must've been healing my heart, too, because right then, I didn't see an otherworldly being. I saw a man wrestling with his past and attempting to give me his heart.
"Lucian," I said, daring to touch his face. "There is no black and white when it comes to existing. No one is completely good or completely bad. We are all made in shades of gray—humans, angels, demons, and whatever else is out there. I think our true nature shines when we're faced with tough situations, and sometimes those same situations require more of one than the other, but it doesn't define us. It ensures we survive."
He watched me hungrily, still lightly tracing his fingers along my skin, making my flesh rise in goosebumps.
"So yes, I do want to see you, to see your world, to decide my own fate. But I want to make one thing clear."
His touch stilled.
I hooked my fingers behind his neck and inched closer.I feel so much lighter now.That heavy burden of guilt always pushing down on my shoulders lifted. New hope for my future bloomed. Even the sadness of knowing my family's fate couldn't touch the excitement of an unknown future.
"What is that, my Anna?" Lucian's tongue licked his bottom lip as his gaze bored into mine.
"I'll still serve God."
His body stiffened and his eyes grew distant.
Silence stretched between us.
"How do you plan on being a nun while also running with the devil?"
It was my turn to laugh hysterically.
"I do not see what is so funny about it." His tone became prissy, which made me laugh even harder.
His hands dropped to his lap.
I wiped tears of laughter from my eyes. "No, I don't mean it that way." Honestly, the life of a sister had become less appealing over the past few months. Deep down, I knew I killed my dream of college and becoming an artist as some sort of punishment to myself.
But now, Lucian gave me hope. Things weren't perfect, but he truly was trying, and in the end, isn't that all any of us can do? To be sincere and make an effort to right our wrongs?
"I mean—" I stood, and held a hand toward him. "—that I'll never condone the suffering of innocents."
"Fair enough." His wings appeared and he flexed them outward. From tip to tip, they spanned the entire room, the darkness of the topmost feathers seeming to absorb the low light in the room. But the bottom of his wings, with their subtle red and burgundy feathers, shone. "Would you like to visit my home?"
