My human eyes were too weak to pierce the water’s darkness, but I could still glean the magical energy the creature gave off. It made the water thick and dark like ink. Whatever it was, it was huge. It was lethal, and it wanted to eat me. I looked down at my ankle wrapped in a slimy, white tentacle.
I swam as hard as I could toward the surface, my silent scream releasing nothing but a torrent of air bubbles. Minutes passed, and I was still thrashing. It seemed even without my wings, I didn’t need air to survive, but something told me any remaining celestial powers I still had wouldn’t protect me from getting eaten alive.
I swam with all the strength I had. I was just within reach of the water’s surface, but there was no leverage, nothing to propel me upward while the creature continued to drag me under.
Then, an arm covered in pale pink scales thrust down toward me. I grabbed hold, and with surprising might, it hauled me to the ice. A demoness pulled me up, her talons slashing at the tentacle that held me, severing the appendage.
Splayed out on the ice, laying in the creature’s blood, I stared up at the female. When I registered her eyes, I realized it was the same woman I had gazed upon minutes before.
She was completely naked now. I looked to the shore where she’d dumped her basket and her dress so it didn’t get destroyed in the shift.
“Wait!” I cried after she shifted back and immediately scrambled away, her arms failing to preserve her modesty. Sitting up, I watched with complete fascination as she hurriedly shoved the dress back over her head. She was either embarrassed of her demon form or her nakedness. Or both. Although both were peculiar prospects considering this was a demon shifter of all things.
I got to my feet and made my way over to her, moving slowly so as not to scare her away. I realized from the uncomfortable gust of wind that tickled me in places I didn’t care to be touched by Hell’s elements that I was naked. My clothes had been burned off in the fall. I never minded being nude since Father had forgotten to add some modesty to my formula when he’d made me. But by the delicious color of red straining the demon’s cheeks, she minded very much.
“I’m sorry if I’m coming on a little strong here, madam. I didn’t think I was making the trip to this delightful corner of existence today. If I’d known my father was going to kick me out of Paradise, I would have dressed for the occasion. Then again, maybe this is the right outfit for an unwhole celestial here to take Hell’s throne.”
She gaped at me as if she didn’t speak the same language. Maybe she didn’t. Admittedly I didn’t know a whole lot about this place or the creatures that called it home. If I’d gotten a little more notice that I would be coming here, I’d have done my homework. But even if we did speak the same tongue, I couldn’t blame her for looking at me like I had a living snake between my thighs. I had just unloaded a lot of information, and she seemed to be reeling in it.
I stepped closer.
She took a step back, distrust making her eyes sparkle. “What did you just say?”
“Oh good, you can speak the common tongue.” I let out a long-held breath. “I said... Well, I just said a lot. What part needs elaborating?”
“The part about you being a celestial, here to take over Hell’s throne.”
“Oh. Yes, well, that’s about the gist of it.”
“My—” Her throat bobbed with a thick swallow, and I couldn’t help but watch the movement, transfixed by it. “The king is my mate.”
“Oh. Well, that makes things awkward then, doesn’t it? It’s not like I want to be king. But my hand is being forced here. I have to claim the crown and then make my way out of here to my mate.”
“I’ll help you!” she urged, something I couldn’t put my finger on making her eyes light up.
It wasn’t common for me to be at a complete loss for words. But today was a day of many firsts.
“Er...” I ran my hand through my hair, the trusses already frozen over. “Maybe you didn’t hear me. I want to overthrow your mate and steal his crown.”
“There is nothing wrong with my hearing,” she snapped. “I want to help you get the crown. I don’t care why you want it, but you can’t be a worse king than him.”
“You’d betray your own mate?”
“He’s not my true mate. He forced me to be his queen.”
I couldn’t help but stare at this woman, who had been demure and fragile looking the first moment I’d laid eyes on her, in complete awe. Now when she spoke of her king, her beautiful steel-colored eyes lit up with a defiant fire that melted the ice around my heart. Before me stood the Queen of the Underworld, the mother of demon shifters. She was like nothing I would have ever imagined.
“What’s your name?”
“Lilith.”
“Lilith.” I tasted the name on my lips. It was sweet and had a weight to it that made my beast stir with approval. “I’m Lucifer.”
“Lucifer.” She tested my name, and my beast purred when her lips quirked with a smile as she said it. “I like that name.”
“Get closer to her.”
I could count on my hand the times I listened to my spirit, but this time I couldn’t find any reason to argue with him. I felt compelled to be closer to this creature. I took another step toward her, then another. This time, she did not shy away from me. Now that I was standing by the nightshade bush, I crouched down to pick up her basket and held it to cover myself. “Nightshade? For your unwanted king and mate, I’m guessing?”
