“She’s chaotic, impulsive. She lets her emotions guide her decisions. I’ve been leading soldiers to battle my entire life, and those are the type of people who get you killed,” he states plainly.
I want to kill him, slap him in the face, and then ride it. My feelings for Toth are so extremely complicated. But I don’t want to give him the pleasure of making his words ring true, so I bite my lip and take it.
“Only one of us can leave the realm at one time from here on out. Mara is an extension of myself. Toth, I appreciate your input, and you are still my lead when it comes to tactics against Heaven. But when it comes to our greatest weapon, it’s going to be Mara,” Lucifer says.
Toth is wise as he nods to the king of Hell and ends that particular line of conversation there.
“Blair and Dax are still working on finding Michael, and Kasdeya and Asmodeus are held up with their witch. Their intel leads me to believe the angels are trying to make a deal with the fae realm,” Lucifer pauses, looking at Elvor.
I place my hand on my massive fae demon’s thigh as my father speaks again.
“More than likely, that will be the place of the first battle. The fae realm has been without a monarchy for a while now, and most will do anything for power. It makes sense that they would take advantage of the realm; plus, they already know of our existence, unlike the mortal realm.”
Elvor’s thigh tenses under my palm.
“Should we be going to the fae realm now?” I ask. Toth looks to the ceiling and inhales sharply through his nose.
My father doesn’t belittle me, but he does look over to my larger-than-life demon companion. Should I be calling him my boyfriend? It seems too pedestrian.
“Elvor, I have no doubts you will keep my daughter safe in your birth realm?”
Elvor nods, and Lucifer continues.
“We need to collect more information, but everything we have so far leads us to believe that’s where this war is going to finally kick-off. There is nothing cold between us and Heaven any longer. They are petulant children without a mommy, and they are acting like it. I hereby give permission to any demon in any realm to subtract from the angel population as they see fit. Toth, please spread the information far and wide,” my dad instructs before grabbing Lilith’s hand to leave the room.
She looks disappointed, and I’m sure it’s because he is forcing her to stay here instead of going out and fighting. Speaking of which, I turn to Judd.
“Judd, I don’t—”
“I’m coming with you,” Judd declares, interrupting me.
“Judd, I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” I’m not trying to belittle him or make him feel bad. It’s just that Judd hasn’t fought. He’s the sweetest demon I’ve met since I’ve been in Hell. The idea of him getting hurt, because he was following me into battle, makes my stomach ache.
“I know I’m not as strong as the three of you, I know that. But I’ll start training. I’ll do what the three of you tell me to do when we’re in the thick of it. But what I’m not going to do is sit on the sidelines. Hell is my home, and you’re my everything. I’m going to defend it,” he pledges.
My heart swells at his dedication, and I cup his face.
“Okay,” I tell him. As badly as I want to keep him safe, I have to trust him and not stifle the demon he wants to be.
“Really,okay? That’s it?” Toth questions sarcastically from across the table.
“Elvor, Judd, will you give us a minute?” Elvor looks pissed but nods his head anyway, taking Judd’s hand in his and leaving the room. It’s ridiculously cute, and I can’t help the smile on my face.
Toth stands and rounds the table, taking the seat next to me.
“What did you do to me? What did you make me forget?”
“It doesn’t matter,” I deflect. He scoffs and scoots his chair next to mine.
“I feel sick. I feel like something was stolen from me, little demon, and I want it back,” he demands, and I look away. He grabs my throat roughly, staring into my eyes. “What did you take? It wasn’t yours to steal.”
“It was, so get your fucking hands off of me,” I tell him.
He just squeezes harder and tilts his head as he looks at me. “What happened? You’re different.”
I blink at him and think about the words he said while he sunk inside of me. They were words of a compulsed man, nothing like the take-no-shit demon in front of me.
“You’re not missing anything important,” I lie to him.
