I pushed off from the wall and moved toward the door, but he moved in front of me, blocking my escape. “I’m done playing your game, Lucifer. Now move.”
“This isn’t a game, Jessica. I wish it were. This nightmare has been going on for far too long, and I’m ready to bring you home.”
Bring me home? What the hell was he talking about?
“My King,don’ttell her. Not here.” Abaddon’s voice came from the other end of the room. He was standing in front of the door, guarding it. How long had he been standing there? Had he seen us together?
My cheeks flushed red, half with embarrassment and half in anger that he was purposefully blocking my way out.
The two were making it pretty clear that they had no intention of letting me go. Oh God, what had I gotten myself into? What was I thinking by coming here?
“Don’t tell me what?”
I was beginning to shake with panic.
Lucifer took a big breath. “Your name is Lilith. You are the reincarnated Queen of Hell, a fierce and beautiful demon shifter. That woman I was telling you about, Abaddon’s ex-wife? That’s you, Jessica.”
I felt like I was on the set of one of those trashy prank shows, and at any second, a film crew would jump out from under the tablecloths. Then we’d all have a good laugh, and I could go home.
But the sickening sense of dread in my belly told me this was anything but a joke. I was caught up in something deeply magical and dangerous. The devil thought I was his reincarnated queen, for crying out loud, the same one he’d stolen from Abaddon.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not Lilith.”
“Oh, Jessica. Don’t be so obtuse. You admit you feel our bond. You may not be a shifter anymore, but you must know the difference between the mating bond and simple attraction.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat, my eyes narrowing on the muscular demon. “I know I’m not who you think I am because, for one thing, I would never in a thousand years sleep with him.”
Abaddon cackled. “Well, ithasbeen well over a thousand years.”
Lucifer shot a deadly glare over his shoulder at the demon, and I took the second of distraction to bolt toward the kitchen door. Maybe there was another exit. Maybe Cerberus would help me.
Strong arms looped around my waist and pinned me against a hard chest. I looked back to see Lucifer holding me, a grim look on his face. “I’m sorry, Kitten. I can’t let you stay on the surface. Not when the celestials already know about you. You’re not safe here anymore.”
Was he actually talking about taking me to Hell? My throat constricted, my head went light. No, no,no. I couldn’t go there. Not to Hell. What about my cat? What about Mel and Gabe? What about my dad? He needed me.
I didn’t expect a psycho like Lucifer to make good on his deal, not after this kidnapping stunt. This was all just some scheme to lure me here, one I stupidly fell for. Christ. I really was going to get my own episode ofUnsolved Mysteries. My face would be on posters and all the news channels, and they’d probably use an ugly picture.
“Calm down, Jessica. Please?”
I was anything but calm. I started screaming. The last thing I registered was Lucifer’s soft voice in my ear whispering, “Forgive me.”
Chapter Fourteen
Lucifer
“Well, you fucked that one up big time,” Abaddon admonished from the driver’s seat of my Bentley.
I dropped my gaze to Jessica, who was slumped over in the backseat, her head resting in my lap. My beast was relieved that I had found our mate, and that’s all there was to it. But what little humanity I possessed was horrified with how I’d gone about things.
I brushed rogue pieces of her honey-blonde hair behind her ear and admired her for a moment. She looked so peaceful it was hard to believe she had been screaming hysterically minutes ago with hatred in her eyes.
I hated myself for how I’d gone about it. But that kiss. Her cunt. Her everything. It was even sweeter than I’d imagined. My lips still throbbed from her kiss, my cock pulsated with the memory of her dripping heat, so needy and ready for my fingers. Her taste still lingered on my tongue.
Her flavor had always obliterated all reason.
“We had a plan,” Abaddon continued. “You were supposed to get her to sign the contract so she could be easily compelled. What was the point of making that damn hex if you were just going to let her freak out at the end of all this? What was the point of it if you were just going to say ‘fuck it’ and play ‘hide the finger’ instead?”
I jerked my head up, locking eyes with Abaddon’s in the rearview mirror. My lips twisted into a sneer, and a low growl of warning rumbled from my chest. “So youdidwatch.”
