“Sire?” Bernard asks.
I snap my eyes open. “Did I fucking stutter? Everyone out. Now.”
He nods and the demons rise as one and begin filing out of the room. Natia edges towards the elevator. “Not you,” I growl. She freezes.
“Lucifer,” Archan starts.
I glare at him. She fucked up in my realm, and now she’s mine to punish how I see fit and he knows it. His eyes tighten as he gives a subtle nod and steps back. I stalk towards Natia as she trembles in the presence of my fury. “I distinctly remember telling you I am not a good man. I reminded you I lord over sin, and that I must be ruthless in my approach.” She darts her gaze to Archan, then Jed. I snatch her chin and force her gaze back to me. “They won’t help you. They can’t help you.”
“I didn’t mean to—”
I grip her chin harder, stalling her excuses. “There are many infractions you have committed. You have entered a realm in Hell without permission from myself. You have instigated a coup and bastardised a ritual specific to me.”
“It’s what you did to Lawrence.”
I loosen my grip and let my eyes bleed to my true form. They surpass the typical red associated with the devil and reflect the terrifying depths of Tartarus. My monster stares at Natia, weighing her soul; thankfully he finds her of pure spirit—if he had not, well, Archan would have started a war.
“When I consumed his heart, I regained the power of his realm; accumulated power that he had garnered over hundreds of years. A new prince cannot hold all that power at once, it must be fed to him in increments.” Her eyes widen as she looks at Duncan. “You have not only condemned him to a life in Hell, you have forced him to bear the weight of hundreds of years of power.”
“Will he be okay?”
“It’s fifty-fifty. He’s accepted the power. But he may not contain it.”
She shakes her head. “I didn’t know.”
“Bernard,” I bellow. He comes barreling around the corner. Natia darts her gaze at him as I release her and walk towards him. “Coups do not happen without my express permission. William’s sloppy approach meant his days were numbered,” I state, putting a hand on Bernard’s shoulder. “Bernard was set to murder William and take over the realm. The plans had been in place for years.” I study Duncan as he tightens his fists. It’s admirable that he is silent under the agony, but he’s practically paralyzed. “Those that try to usurp my authority have to be punished.”
Natia swipes the trident from the ground and points it at me. I grab it and yank it forward. The trident slips from her grip, her goddess strength is starting to fail. It doesn’t make this any easier. Bernard wraps his arms around her from the back. She throws her head back and his nose bursts, making him grunt as he makes it to the dining table.
Zee launches himself at them. Nathan darts in front of him and pins him to the wall. “She has to be punished,” Nathan grits out.
I glance at Archan. He nods with permission. Pleasant words and placating don’t work to keep this woman in line. She will not only cause her own death with the way she is acting, she will take us all down with her. Jed grips his hair. Zac looks the most torn. I arch a brow at him.
“I can’t watch this,” he grits and storms out through the door we came in. His attitude towards Natia has changed so much since her return, but it won’t save her now.
I stroll to her side as Bernard keeps a firm grip on her. “Right or left?” I ask.
“What?” she spits out.
“Are you right or left-handed?”
She frowns. “Right.”
I nod at Bernard. “Left it is.”
He wrangles her left arm onto the table as I materialize a blade. Well, it’s more like a machete.
She glares at me as she tries to tug on the power normally at her fingertips. The gold lightning plays across her irises.
“This is my playground, Natia. If I want you powerless and at my feet, that’s exactly where you will be. If I want you there for an eternity, then you better get your ass comfy.”
She scowls at the blade. “Don’t you fucking dare. If you touch me with that, I will tear your left nut from your body and feed it to you.”
I lift the blade. “Hold still, I don’t want to take your arm by accident.”
“I will murder everyone in this room whilst they sleep without breaking so much as a fucking nail,” she seethes. Good. That anger is a fraction of what I feel.
I slice through the air; the blade burying itself in the wood whilst Natia lets out a blood-curdling scream.
