“My treasure…” His voice softened. “I’m so fucking sorry I let them take you.”
“Belial…” I could barely believe my eyes.
He’d come for me. He was here to take me back to Limbo.
“What are you— How did you—” My sharp whisper was cut off by the screech of metal as he took the cage bars in his hands and bent them with ease.
“Wait!” I whispered sharply, worried Leviathan would come running if he heard the commotion.
The creaking and groaning of metal being contorted tore through the cavern, and my head swiveled, searching for any sign of the serpent demon. There was none. His bed lay empty, the cavern eerily still.
Had Belial killed him while I slept? Or had he ventured off, confident I wouldn’t be able to break out of my prison?
“I’ll always be able to find you, my little treasure,” Belial answered me, the volume of his voice indicating he wasn’t worried about being heard. When he’d bent the bars wide enough for my body to slip through, he reached inside and offered me a hand. “There’s nowhere in the nine realms that could keep you out of my reach.”
I took his hand and stepped out of the cage, all the while gaping at his beautiful, marred face. My mouth hung open as I drank him in, relief flooding me as the shock of seeing him here eased.
“I don’t understand,” I muttered, blinking up at him. He was wearing his favorite white shirt with lantern sleeves and blackpants that left nothing to the imagination when it came to the bulge in the front.
I wanted to laugh, to cry. After everything I’d been through, seeing him was pure ecstasy.
His arms banded around my waist, and I collapsed against his hard chest. The sweet smell of ripe strawberries invaded my senses, soothing my nerves and quieting my frantic thoughts.
“You’re here. You’re really here.” I closed my eyes and clung to him, his subtle warmth seeping through his clothing, heating my naked body. As much as I wanted to get the fuck out of this place and never look back, I wanted to enjoy this moment. The pain and heartache of everything that had happened bled away, leaving nothing but relief and gratitude in their wake.
“I’m so sorry,” he said again, stroking my hair. The touch was surprisingly tender. Careful, like I might break. “I shouldn’t have left you alone. I was stupid, so stupid to let you run off…”
“It’s okay,” I assured him. How could he have known his brothers would betray him, kidnap me from under his nose, and drag me to the bowels of Hell? I was the one who ran off. If I would have stayed with him, if I had just gone back to the ball instead of having a meltdown, none of this would have happened.
I’d still be in Limbo, in his castle.
I’d still be home.
“It’s okay,” I repeated, pulling back to look up at him. I’d never seen so much sadness in his eyes. His cocky, aggressive demeanor had diminished, revealing something that had my stomach tingling with butterflies. “What’s wrong, Belial?”
“It hurts to be this close to you but not be able to save you,” he said, so low I nearly missed it.
I cocked a brow, wrapping my arms tightly around him. “I…I don’t understand. You’re here with me. You did save me. Let’s go.”
I took him by the wrist and tried to guide him back to the Styx, but when he wouldn’t budge, I spun around with a confused expression. “What are we waiting for?”
“Rayven,” he said, the sound of utter despair making his voice crack. “None of this is real.”
I blinked. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, you’re dreaming.”
Dread sank through me like a stone, settling in the pit of my stomach. It threatened to bring me to my knees. Tearing my gaze away from Belial’s, I studied the details of the cave, searching for anything out of place, anything to prove this wasn’t real.
The ocean waves crashed against the shore. The stone walls of the cavern glistened, illuminated by the pale green moonlight spilling in from outside and a single torch hanging in the corner. Nothing looked amiss, and Belial… He felt so real.
“How can I be dreaming?” I asked, running my hands down his arms, over his chest. I stroked my fingers over his scarred lips, reveling in the shudder that followed.
“Do you remember the dream you had after you ate the plum? The one where you bent over in my throne room and showed me every part of you?” His eyes turned darker, lust replacing the sadness that had been there moments ago. “When I told you to show me all that I own?”
Heat scorched my cheeks. How could I not remember? That image had been burned into my memory, branded on my soul ever since. I nodded.
“It was magic that allowed me to visit you in your dreams,” he explained. “To come to you now.” One of his hands dipped to cup my bare ass cheek. He squeezed, and even through his glove, I could feel the warmth of his palm. I wanted his rough, calloused hands all over me. “This is a dream.”
