I’m sure the word please is so rarely used by Lucifer that it was nearly painful for him to say. The larger than life man in front of me has so many facets and insecurities, just as I do. He’s lost someone before, just like I have, so I can understand his protectiveness. I sigh and nod my head. “I still get to hurt Beelzebub.”
He smirks and nods. “For all of eternity, once he’s found, of course.”
He pushes my hair off my shoulder and looks at me like I’m the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen. “You won’t compare me to Lily?” I ask.
He smiles and shakes his head. “There’s no comparison, love. My darkness calls to yours.”
Chapter twenty-five
ThefirstthingIwanted to do when we portalled back to Hell is take Lilith to my bed and finally lose myself inside of her. Finally, show her that I’m truly hers. She still has this dreamy look on her face as we walk through the halls, heading toward my quarters.
“Sir,” Toth interrupts, and I hold back a groan. “Asmodeus and Dax are here.”
“Can’t it wait?”
Toth shakes his head, he looks between Lilith and me. I sigh dramatically but trust that Toth wouldn’t waste my time.
Lilith looks to me for guidance, and I gesture with my head for her to follow. We all enter the meeting room, and the tension is thick. Daxaddon and Asmodeus look as though they might shit themselves. Lilith, Toth, and Milcom stand in the corner as I try to tamper my mood.
“Update?” I bark, wondering why the fuck they’ve interrupted my evening.
“We found one of the possessed. It’s clear that when they’re possessing, the mortal is present throughout. The mortal woman said she witnessed evil deeds while she was possessed, said the demon’s name is Mara.”
I flinch at the name and glance over at Milcom. Beelzebub and Milcom reported that I had no other children, gifted or otherwise, that were currently alive. I tap my chin, wondering how I will make him suffer. The decision to hand over Beelzebub to Lilith has just gotten easier.
I have another daughter, and she’s been living on Earth—suffering. There’s a pain in my chest, and I rub the spot as I look back at Asmodeus and Daxaddon’s confused faces.
“When you find Mara, you are to capture her and bring her to Hell. Her soul is not to be destroyed. She is to be brought to me intact. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Lord,” they say in unison.
“Milcom, a word?” I tip my head, dismissing the two demons in the room, assuming they will portal out of the meeting room. Milcom, Toth, and Lilith follow me out of the room, and I do my best not to fully snap.
As soon as we’re in the hallway, I grab Milcom by the throat, pinning him to the wall. Toth and Lilith watch with wide eyes but don’t intervene.
“You said she didn’t make it to childhood.”
“It was Beelzebub, sir. We split up duties so we could get to Hell quicker.” I taste the lie as he speaks, but don’t call him out on it. Milcom has been around a long time, he knows a great deal of the inner workings of Hell. I trusted him, and this is how he repays me?
“If I find you are lying, you will suffer. Do you understand?” Milcom nods his head, a bead of sweat rolling down his temple. His face is red from the grip of my hand. “Bring me Beelzebub.”
I toss him down like the disregarded piece of shit that he is and storm off to my room. I hear the clicking of Lilith’s heels behind me but don’t slow my pace. The noise that escapes me is horrific and nearly animalistic as I swing my door open, tossing my jacket along with my cufflinks to the floor. I can’t breathe.
The collar to my shirt feels so fucking suffocating that I aggressively rip it to mid-waist. I sit on the edge of the bed, my elbows on my thighs and my fingers tugging on the strands of my hair.
I nearly forgot Lilith was here until she’s kneeling in front of me, her small hands on my thighs as she looks at me with compassion and adoration that I don’t fucking deserve.
“Who is Mara?” she asks softly. I rub my eyes roughly with the palms of my hands.
“My daughter.”
She stills for a moment until she rubs my thighs again. “We’ll get her back,” she insists, and it makes me look at her in a new light. She should be telling me what a fuck up I am. How I can’t take care of anyone who is truly important to me. I don’t deserve Lilith or my daughters. But to my core, I’m a selfish bastard, and I plan on somehow making this right with all of them.
“I… I didn’t know.”
She nods her head and takes her heels off, but she never stops touching me. “Do you trust them to bring her back safely?”
“I’m not sure.”
