“Yes, is that abnormal?” I don’t reply. Elvor hardly speaks, and the list of people he likes is short, so I just shrug off the question.Does he somehow know something? Does he know who Lilith is to me?
“Do you have any other pressing questions?”
“No, and I wouldn’t want to take up any of your time,” she snarks, and I have to check myself. I’m so used to being short and direct with people that I didn’t even realize that I was acting that way with her.It’s something that I’ll have to stop,I think as I shake my head.
“No, what other questions do you have?”
“Why did you change me right away?”
“Because I wanted to,” I state, not ready to tell her everything. If she doesn’t feel it, maybe the prophecy was wrong. Another way for God to torture me after all of these years. I’ve learned my lesson, if Lilith is to be mine, it will need to be on her own volition, nothing less.
“Well, that’s helpful. Why do I have such a nice room?”
“Because I wanted you to have it.”
She sighs and rolls her eyes. My palm twitches at her bratty display, but I reign in my urges to touch her as I stare at her. She crosses her arms over her chest and stares right back at me.
“You’re being extremely helpful right now,” she deadpans, every word dripping with sarcasm.
I stand up from the desk and slowly approach her. She unfolds her arms, placing her palms flat on the couch as she waits for what I will do next.
Placing my hands on the back of the sofa, I lean forward so my face is close to hers.
“Let’s get some things clear, Lilith.” She shivers at the use of her name falling from my lips, and I realize this is what gets a reaction out of her. “You’re in Hell—which I happen to be the king of. When I want something, I have it. When I need something done, I have one of my demons do it. This realm is under my command, and you will do as you’re told.”
I expect her to cower slightly, nod her head, and be a sweet, obedient little demon. Instead, she laughs in my face and leans in even closer to me.
“Does that little speech work on all the pretty demons?”Yes, it usually does. In my moment of shock, she scoffs before continuing, “First, you bring me to Hell, make me a demon right away which, according to what everyone else says, you never do. Then today, I saw how your other residents of Hell live, while I just so happen to have a room made for a queen, and you think I’m not going to ask questions? If you wanted a demon, who was going to follow orders you chose the wrong twin.”
“Idid notchoose wrong,” I immediately correct.
“So why did you turn me? Why do you turn anyone specifically? Because they’re loyal? Willing to do your bidding? Because they’re just evil enough but not too far gone to do all the fucked up—”
Before I can even think straight, my hand shoots out, wrapping my fingers around her jaw and forcing her to look at me. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go.
“Are you so easily manipulated by lies, little Hellfire? Hmm, do you believe all those stories of me that you’ve heard in the mortal realm? Well, let me tell you something.” I’m so close to her face that it’s hard to focus on her eyes. There’s still no fear in them, though. She’s pissed but not scared. “Some of them may be true. I may be fucking evil, but I embrace who I am. I don’t give a fuck what anyone thinks about me—”
“Then why are you in my face trying to convince me otherwise?” she interrupts.
I squeeze her chin harder, but she doesn’t break as she glares at me. “Go to your room,” I tell her. I’m feeling so fucking volatile right now, I just need her out of my space.
She grins against my hold on her, a shit-eating grin that makes me want to spank her ass and show her who’s in charge. But she doesn’t waver. “Are you going to let go of me?” she taunts.
I release her jaw a little harder than I meant to, and she glares at me for a moment before standing up and leaving my office. I hear her mutter, “Fucking asshole,” as she leaves my study. She slams the door petulantly, and I groan, taking a seat behind my desk, my thumbs kneading my temples.
I’m not sure what my expectations were. I mean, I assumed any woman that was found compatible by the dagger wouldn’t be meek, but Lilith is… difficult.
Beautiful, headstrong, and fucking vibrant.
I pour whiskey into a glass and sip it while I contemplate.
Am I so far gone as the person who is always in charge that I don’t know how to communicate in a tone that isn’t that of a dictator’s? I know what it is, but I feel like a pathetic fool for vocalizing it.
She doesn’t remember me, she doesn’t love me, just like she didn’t in her last life. She’s so different; honestly, the polar opposite. Lily was soft, demure, and scared of her own shadow—of me. A bond wasn’t strong enough to protect her then, and it won’t be now. Maybe the dagger is wrong, maybe she isn’t Lily reincarnated but someone else. She couldn’t be more different, and I hate to admit how much I like it.
Her defiance does something for me because no one else would dare to be so brazen with their life by talking to me that way. Her talking back and not showing an interest is both frustrating and a turn-on.
Unlike other demons, she doesn’t want to use me to get what she wants. If anything, she wants nothing to do with me, and it makes me crave her even more. This isn’t like before, and I don’t plan on making the same mistakes twice. There’s already a base instinct telling me that Lilith is mine. Maybe she isn’t my soulmate reincarnated, but I need to work harder to convince her that sheismine—that I’m hers. I wonder if she’ll ever feel it too, because if it’s up to me and my personality to convince her, I’m not sure I have a shot in Heaven. I was clearly banking on the idea that she would remember or instinctively know that we’re fated. But it’s clear, I’m a fool.
