With my heart in my mouth, I made my way for the surface.
I had to find Lilith before it was too late.
Chapter Seventeen
Jessica
Lust – Present
We sat on the couch in silence for several tense minutes. I had taken Lucifer’s wine glass from him and took a hearty sip of my own, savoring the warmth that chased away the insufferable chill of Limbo.
His memory of the last time he’d seen his mate left me with a bitter taste in my mouth that no amount of wine could wash away. He had gone to find her, but from our conversation earlier, I didn’t need to see any more of the memory to know what happened next.
Michael had murdered Lilith. Out of envy.
It’s not like I was an expert on angels, but somehow I knew there was more to it than that.
The memory had left one big question unanswered. Why were they going to Paradise to meet Lucifer’s father? In his thoughts, he had implied that he was going to get his wings back soon. But how could that be?
Clearly, it hadn’t panned out that way for him because he was still fallen.
Then there was also the question of how Michael had found out about Lucifer’s true mate. There had to be more reason than jealousy. When Lucifer had spoken about it, his voice had been tight, and he refused to look me in the eye.
I wondered what he wasn’t saying. Even now, he sat at the other end of the couch, his golden gaze affixed to his wine glass. He was swathed in memories, his dark brows pulled together in a tormented scowl.
“That was the last time you saw her?”
He nodded.
My stomach twisted with unease as I pushed to my feet, letting the blanket fall from my shoulders onto the coach. I smoothed down the wrinkles in my dress and let down my hair, the bun already half undone anyway. My skin prickled beneath his gaze as I felt his eyes on me, watching as I smoothed out the tangles in my hair with my fingers.
“So um, second floor then? I have to say I’m pretty eager to see the version of Lust that inspired your chef to makeminestrone.”
I was acutely aware of the way Lucifer was staring at me. It was the same way he looked at Lilith in his memory. Those golden eyes, full of hunger, could get a girl pregnant with just one look. She had been so beautiful in his memory. With luscious black hair and full lips that men would sell their souls to taste. I could see some faint resemblance between us. We had the same color of eyes, a similarly shaped face, the same long thin nose. But her hair was black, and mine was blonde. She had slightly wider hips, and her boobs were bigger.
We looked like we could be related, but we definitely didn’t look like the same person.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Lucifer said with a sigh as he got to his feet.
I rolled my eyes. “Of course you do.”
“You’re not going to look exactly like you did back then. You’re reincarnated. Things are bound to change, especially when I know my father reincarnated you with the hope that I wouldn’t find you.”
“But why?”
“Because that would mean he would have been wrong. And he doesn’t like being wrong. Besides, these days, Paradise likes to pretend celestial shifters are above other animal shifters. Meaning they like to pretend that we don’t have true mates. Like we’re somehow above temptation, despite the fact that I’ve served as the poster child rebuking that fact for thousands of years now.”
I wrinkled my brow as I followed him through the main room of the cellar and around a corner to a modern-looking elevator door. “I thought reincarnation was a Buddhist thing.”
Lucifer stopped in front of the elevator, jabbed the down button, and turned to look at me. “Reincarnation is a tool of the Almighty. He’s a mysterious being, even to the likes of me.” The devil paused, considering. “Especially to the likes of me.”
The elevator door opened with ading,and we stepped inside. The elevator was surprisingly sleek and modern. The pleasant jingle of classic elevator music sounded overhead, briefly interrupted by a feminine voice over the intercom. “Welcome home, My King. You have been greatly missed.”
“Thank you, Nyx.”
I perked up at the familiar name. “Nyx, as in the Goddess of Night?”
Lucifer chuckled, his golden gaze banked with secrets. “Something like that. In modern times she’s simply referred to as the Director of all Nine Circles. She keeps things running smoothly for me when I’m away.”
