For once, my misfortune wasn’t to be blamed on some cruel act of God. My father had always looked down on me. Maybe knowing what Michael and Abaddon were up to would make him smile with rueful glee because surely he hated seeing me with any shred of happiness. But this time, I’d brought this misery on myself.
This was my payment for trusting Abaddon. I’d let his years of false loyalty trick me. It had all been a ruse, an act. All these years, and he hadn’t changed. Deep down, I thought he was still in love with Lilith. Maybe I thought that love had changed him, that after all that had happened, he would be glad to see her happy in the end despite all the mistakes he made. But I was a fucking idiot for thinking his love for Lilith was anything close to the kind of love I had for her.
He never loved her. His kind of affection was a dark and twisted infatuation. One that would end in blood and murder if I allowed it.
He’d pretended to be loyal to me, that the crown and the mate I’d stolen from him was no skin off his nose. He’d made me think he could change, made me believe thathetruly believed I was a better king and that he was happy for it.
How could I be such a dumb fuck?
Was I so desperate for his help that I actually overlooked his motives?
If my powers were strong enough to penetrate his damn skull, I would have gleaned all this from day one, and I wouldn’t have wasted centuries building a fake friendship, buying into his games, trusting him.
Oh, Fates. If only Lilith hadn’t hidden those memories from me all those years back.
But I couldn’t blame her. The horrible things Abaddon had done to her were her secrets to hold. There was no obligation for her to share them with me.
My pulse went mad with rage as I dwelled on these new discoveries on the ancient relationship between the old king and the mate I stole from him. I knew Lilith never wanted to be queen, but I never would have guessed that he forced himself on her in front of the Eighth Circle’s entire population. It was her right to hide it from me, butwhy?Was it her pride? Did she think if she suppressed it, the horrible memories of what he’d done to her would go away?
My vision went red.
I’d kill him.
I wouldn’t make it quick, no. I’d rip him limb from limb. I’d peel his skin from his body, strip by strip. I’d pull out his talons, his teeth, pluck out his piercings one by one.
I was a rich and resourceful devil. Oh, the twisted torment I’d subject him to.
I’d make it last.
I’d make it satisfactory.
I would make himbleed. I’d make it painfully slow like I was tapping for syrup.
I’d pull out the eyes that dared look at her. I’d cut off the hands that touched her, slice the tongue that fed me all those lies. Then lastly, I’d cut off the cock that dared defile her.I would teach Abaddon a lesson. He was under the impression that I had stolen her from him. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. He had stolen her long before I’d ever fallen from Heaven and knew the prayer of “Lilith” on my lips.
He had stolen her from her life, from herself. He’d robbed her of her pride, robbed her of a life when he’d given her to the celestials.
He’d taken everything from us.
“I’ll make him suffer,” I managed to rasp to Nyx. “But first, we’ll get her back.”
“How?” Nyx asked in a waif-thin whisper, her voice fraught with worry. “Won’t he be taking her to the surface?”
“Maybe that’s his plan. But Jessica will know to stall. Once they step out of Limbo and into Siren’s, she’ll be in grave danger. Michael could pluck her right up, just like last time. If I know my mate, she’ll be smart and dangle the opportunity for Abaddon to take his retribution in flesh.”
Nyx shivered. “You mean—”
“I suspect she might try to seduce him, yes. It’s probably the only thing that would make him change his mind about handing her over to my brother. He let Michael have all the ‘fun’ last time. I doubt Abaddon will pass on the opportunity to be the one to fuck and kill her a second time around. She’ll draw it out as long as she can so that I might catch up to them.”
The prospect of the demon even touching what was mine made my entire body burn with hatred, the bitter taste of ash heavy on my taste buds.
“Order every single capable man we have on each layer to guard the elevator entrance and the old service tunnels—”
The look on Nyx’s face was enough to make the feeble plan die before I’d finished its construction. “Sire, that won’t work. He has the crown.”
Any hope I’d been holding onto was flung from my heart like the oars from a lifeboat adrift at sea. The crown had the power to command all subjects of the nine circles. I never had a use for the dusty old relic once I got the hang of the power without the need to wear the gaudy thing. I didn’t even know where I’d last left the damn thing. I left things like that to Abaddon.
Stupid, stupid,stupid.
