“Hecate abandoned me!” Lucifer roared, the sound loosening more dust from the walls. “She left me to rot in this kingdom of ash while she played with mortals! Do not speak her name to me again, or I will?—”
A shimmer of silver light cut through the gloom of the arena, brighter than any hellfire, as pure and cold as starlight. The air shifted, the scent of night-blooming jasmine replacing the sulfurous stench of the Underworld, and Lucifer froze, his breath hitching in his chest.
From the shadows of the arena entrance, a figure emerged, gliding toward us, her feet barely brushing against the broken stone floor. Her long silver hair flowed around her like a living cloak, and her skin glowed with a luminescence that made my eyes ache. She looked weary, her divine form flickering slightly at the edges, but her presence was undeniable.
Hecate.
“I did not abandon you, Lucifer,” she said, her voice a melody that soothed the savage vibration of the realm.
Lucifer turned slowly, his movements rigid, as if he were afraid to break the illusion. When his gaze landed on her, the rage that had defined him for centuries evaporated, leaving behind a raw, gaping vulnerability that I had never witnessed in my king.
“Hecate?” he whispered, the name broken on his lips.
“I am here.” She stopped a few feet from him, reaching out a hand that trembled slightly.
Lucifer stared at her, his chest heaving. He looked at her hand, then her eyes, moisture gathering in his own. He took a stumbling step forward, then another, until he was close enough to touch her. Reaching out, his fingers hovered over her cheek as if testing to see if she was real. When his skin met hers, a shudder racked his body.
“You…you were gone,” he choked out, the King of Hell, Ruler of the Underworld, reduced to nothing more than a man reunited with his beating heart. “I thought you had forsaken me.”
“Never,” Hecate said softly, leaning into his touch. “I was angry, yes. Your hubris led you to wager our love on a dog fight.”
He shook his head. “Not our love. Never that.”
“The amulet is a symbol of our love. It holds our most sacred powers.” She stepped back, her eyes narrowing, her silver hair flowing in an imaginary wind. “How did you think I would react when you carelessly gave it away?”
Lucifer closed his eyes, a single tear tracking through the soot on his face. “I’m sorry.”
She reached for him, and he pulled her into his arms, burying his face in her neck, holding her with a desperation that mirrored the way I held Cinder.
The King of Hell had gotten his world back, but the ground rumbled again, a sharp, cracking sound that tore through their tender moment. A piece of the arena wall fell, shattering near the entrance.
Hecate pulled back, her expression grave. “We do not have time for reunions, Lucifer. The veil is shredding. The realms are bleeding into one another.”
Lucifer kept his hands on her arms, his gaze intense. “I will fix it. I will destroy anything that threatens you.”
“You cannot fix this alone.” She turned her silver eyes toward me. “And neither can I. My power is depleted, and yours is unbalanced. To mend the veil and save our worlds, we need the amulet.”
Lucifer stiffened. “The amulet is lost.”
“It’s not lost.” Cinder stepped forward. “It’s on Earth, and my sisters are searching for it. They’ll summon Discord as soon as they find it, and he’ll return it to you.”
Hecate stroked Lucifer’s cheek with the backs of her fingers. “You must release them, my love.”
Lucifer’s gaze flicked to me, his old hatred flaring for a second before Hecate squeezed his arms.
“Cinder and her sisters are the key,” she said. “They are the only ones who can find the amulet and mend the veil.”
“Perhaps.” Lucifer lifted his chin, looking down his nose at me. “But Discord betrayed us. He’s the reason the amulet is in the earthly realm.”
“The amulet you never should have given him,” Cinder said. “Sheesh. At least take a little responsibility for all this.”
I gave Cinder a sharp look, and she shrugged.
“He did betray us,” Hecate said. “I was livid when they freed me, ready to strike them both down, but Cinder is right. You are as much to blame as he is. Let them go. Let them save our worlds.”
Lucifer looked at me, then at Cinder. He took a deep breath, straightening his spine and regaining some of his regal composure, though his hand never left Hecate’s.
“Go,” he commanded, his voice rough. “The bounty on your heads is revoked. Find the amulet. Mend the veil. But know this, Discord. If you fail, if you let this world fall, there will be no realm left for you to hide in.”
