More vibrant.
I giggled when the birds chirped at Luke, always trying to get his attention like they had some vendetta or were just plain nosy.
Hell was new to him as much as it was for me. Just as the human world had changed, so had his.Home, I thought one day while standing in a pasture, the grass up to my knees. A breeze swept through the field, light and playful. A breeze. In Hell. It was a strange, beautiful thing—this place that had once been a prison, now something like peace.
Tootsie mooed beside me.
I smiled, petting the Roly-Poly Hell Cow as he shoved his giant head against my waist with all the gentleness of a small boulder.
Of course, Luke was beside me.
He followed me everywhere. I think he handled his Devil duties while I slept, because whenever I was awake, he never left my side. Sometimes, we were quiet together. Other times, he wanted noise.
“Say something,” he’d say.
“This is nice,” I’d reply.
That always earned a deep growl from his chest, like he was pleased.
But when I’d tell him to be nicer to the birds—or to Tootsie—he’d grumble and let the Hell Cow chew on his boots.
We sat by the riverbank sometimes. He’d casually touch my hand or sit behind me, caging me in his arms. I let him.
I didn’t pull away anymore.
And though he must have sensed the shift in me, he didn’t rush.
We savored the small moments.
I didn’t know how much time had passed. Our touches lingered. When he held me, I’d stroke his arm… or his thigh.Sometimes, his cock would harden against me, pressing into my back through our clothes.
Luke always made a mess of it.
He couldn’t help it—leaking the second he was aroused, need painting him in shame and desperation. But I didn’t leave him alone anymore.
When we finally gave in to each other, it happened near a waterfall.
There was no slow burn. No restraint.
He fucked mehard, the bulge of his head stretching me open as he forced it in. It stung. But afterward—when he kissed my trembling thighs, when he held me like I was precious—it was worth it.
And the more we fucked, the less his monstrous tip grew.
As long as I drained him well every day, his body behaved.
We were…happy.
Throughout the book, I watched my family grow. Luke would feed me grapes while I sat in his lap, our limbs tangled as we watched a new world unfold.
Humans were stronger than I gave them credit for. Some fought the change, but many adapted—building a new way forward.
Reapers were different now. They couldn’t sense death anymore, couldn’t feel the pull of a soul like they once could.
I couldn’t either. That connection was gone. But they stillacted. They could still ascend and descend souls, use their powers, materialize from thin air. The difference was now they had toseek—had to work harder to find who needed them.
Helping people took longer. But it still happened.
And that…was enough.
