“No Lilith, stay where you are, don’t let him near you,” he warned. He coughed and struggled to get up before collapsing again on the floor. Raf sneered down his nose at Art as if the demon disgusted him.
“Pathetic,” he snapped, turning his attention back to me. I watched his cold, angry face switch to a kind, warm, smiling one, and I narrowed my eyes.
“Come on, Lilith. I’ve been sent to save you.” His eyes fell on the chains attached to the bed, and his smile widened. “I know you’ve been kept here against your will. Yahweh sent me to collect you while Ramel and Shemhazai were distracted.”
I shook my head and slid further away, wishing my chains had more give.
“No,” I said, remembering what Shem had taught me. “I am a citizen of Hell, and I do not wish to leave with you.”
“Good girl, Lilith.” Art coughed, and Rafael snarled, slamming the scepter over Art’s back, causing him to buckle against the floor again in pain.
“Stop it!” I screeched. “Stop hurting him!” I didn’t understand it, but I was furious that Rafael was hurting Art. Some primal part of me screamed‘mine!’I shook my head, feeling thrown off by the sudden desire to protect the demon that had betrayed me just days ago.
Rafael tutted his tongue and turned back to face me. This time, he did not smile.
“I see. You have already been corrupted,” Rafael sneered, and I frowned.
“You will come with me Lilith or Yahweh will make Ramel and Shem suffer. He has them. If you come with me willingly, Yahweh will keep them out of purgatory.”
“Say no, Lilith,” Art rasped, wincing as Rafael brought the scepter down on him again.
“I am a citizen of Hell, and I do not wish to leave with you,” I repeated, though my resolve was wavering. Did they really have Ramel and Shem? If they were thrown into purgatory, what would become of me?
Rafael snarled and waved his hand. It was as if a window had been opened in the very air before me, and I could suddenly see through worlds. Ram and Shem were on their knees with their hands bound behind their backs. I watched in horror as an angel slowly poured holy water down Ramel’s back. He looked as if he were screaming in agony into the leather strap they had given him to bite on. His skin was burning away beneath the holy water as if it were a corrosive substance.
I told myself I didn’t care. I tried to pretend that his pain didn’t matter. It was merely a drop in the bucket compared to what he had done to me my whole life. I should feel happy about it. I should feel glad that he was suffering.
But I didn’t. Watching them hurt him was more excruciating than anything he had done to me in my short, miserable life. There was a seed planted deep within my heart that throbbed in agony at the sight of Ramel being tortured. When the angel turned its attention to Shemhazai next, my last thread of control snapped.
“I’ll go, just make it stop!” I screamed, and a cruel smile curled across Rafael’s face.
“Lilith! No!” Art shouted, but Raf cracked him over the head with the golden scepter, and he fell unconscious.
I screamed again. “Art! Art, wake up!”
Rafael laughed and strolled leisurely up to the bed. He reached out and grabbed my chains, dragging me closer to him. I screeched and kicked and pulled as hard as I could, but he was so much stronger than me. I was just a human girl; he was a fucking celestial being. I fought him hard enough that he needed to mist away the scepter and use both hands to drag me to him.
“Stop fighting so I can fucking free you, Lilith,” he snarled, but I couldn’t stop. Every fiber of my being was telling me to get him the fuck away from me. I lashed out and managed to kick him in the jaw with my bare foot, and that seemed to be the last straw.
He cracked me across the face with a closed fist and climbed up on the bed, straddling me. I screamed and thrashed beneath him, but he snatched up my wrists and pinned them over my head with one hand.
His chest was heaving with exertion as I bucked under him. I felt him grow hard, and we both froze. I met his eyes through his thick glasses and felt the blood drain from my face. I had expected him to force me to leave with him, I hadn’t expectedrape.
“Ramel will kill you,” I breathed as I watched Rafael’s eyes darken above me.
“Ramel can’t kill me. I am immortal.”
“Isn’t there some rule against angels fucking mortals?” I asked, resisting the urge to struggle. I didn’t want to egg him on any more than he already was.
“Yahweh can’t see what happens in Hell.” He ran the hand that wasn’t pinning my arms above my head down the side of my face. I shuddered with revulsion beneath his touch.
“Rafael, please, don’t do this. I’ll go with you. Just… let me go.” I felt a tear slide down my cheek, and he watched it slip into my hairline. Instead of softening, he rocked against me, rubbing his cock against my pelvis. He groaned, and I felt all the hairs on my body stand on end.
“Do you know how long I have been celibate for, Lilith? Angels are not permitted to indulge in sins of the flesh.”
“Rafael, please,” I whispered, but he ignored me. He leaned forward, and I cringed as he ran his hot, wet tongue up the side of my neck before closing his lips around my earlobe. He sucked, and I squirmed beneath him. My skin wascrawling.
“Fuck,” he breathed into my ear. “I can understand why Ramel and Shem fell prey to your tempest ways. You’re fucking irresistible.”
