“Mmm. I’ll crack open a case of wine while you’re gone. Oh, but we don’t have anything to drink out of. Bring up some flagons?”
I snorted and licked my grinning lips. “Who needs flagons? Cover yourself in it. I’ll lick it off of you.”
The scent of her arousal grew so strong, my mouth began to water, and my beast wined for its mate.
“Hurry,” she said.
“I will,” and then I was gone, hurrying down the dark tunnel that would lead to Lust. I wasn’t gone long. The tunnel connecting the first and second layers was free of any wandering souls since I had shooed them all away to the lower levels. I snatched up the very last of her possessions and rushed back with all the speed of a demon on my tail.
Never in all my days could I recall being this happy. Not even when I was in Eden. Especially not when I was in Eden. Hell, when I was in Father’s “Paradise” on Earth with my head between my ward’s legs, I was miserable compared to when I was sloshing through the human filth that was the Third Circle, or stranded for Fates knew how long in the tiny little boat on the River Styx. All because Lilith had been by my side.
I had stolen the throne to Hell but being king of a hellish cesspit of suffering and chaos was a sad little prize for beating Abaddon. It was his queen’s company that had been the true prize.
Fuck me for taking so long to figure out she was my true mate. I had so much lost time to make up for. I wanted to shower her in everything I fucking had.
When I burst through the gate to Limbo, I was practically glowing with anticipation and excitement. “Got the last box, Kitten. We don’t have to go back to the lower levels for a long time. Or ever again if you don’t want.”
My words froze like ice in my throat. The room I had left Lilith in was completely empty.
There was no trace of her. Her warm, sunny scent was gone, proof that she wasn’t here. I scanned the area, my throat tightening as I took in the little details that told me exactly what had happened here while I was gone.
The barrel of wine she’d drug out to the middle of the room had its lid half-opened. Something had stopped her mid-task. The metal pry bar she was using lay on the floor, feet away from the barrel.
It was covered in blood.
On our journey, her blood had split enough that I was well akin to the tangy, metallic scent. It wasn’t her blood on the iron. She’d given a good beating to whoever had attacked her.
I stepped closer to the door on the other side of the room, the one that led up to the surface.
It was agape.
My beast was alive inside me, screaming with rage as soon as my gaze settled on the thick claw marks carved into the stone around the doorway. She had shifted. Shenevershifted unless she was in danger. Whoever had attacked her had dragged her out.
My vision shrunk to pinpoints as I stooped beside the door, my breath becoming short.
In Lilith’s struggle with her assailant, two items had been left behind. One of the golden brooches bearing my crest from her dress. And past the door, a lone brown feather rested on the second step toward the surface.
My stomach went sour. My beast roared, and all I could see was red.
I clutched the brooch in one shaking hand and the feather in another. The scent coming off the feather was one I hadn’t smelled in centuries. But it was one that summoned foul memories, and I would know its bitter, pungent odor anywhere.
Michael.
That cunt of a brother had stolen her.
My own blood had stolen the only thing that mattered to me anymore.
A whirlwind of questions slammed around in my skull, making my head spin. When I had fallen, everyone back home had thought Eve was my mate. Even Father. So how had He found out about Lilith?
How had Michael gotten in here?
What was he going to do with her?
Lilith was a powerful demon shifter, but she couldn’t take on an arch celestial like Michael.
I had to find her. Before he hurt her. Before he…No.
I swallowed my heart, refusing to consider the dark and ugly thoughts that had wriggled into my mind. I couldn’t think of the worst. There was no time for that.
