His jaw rippled as he glanced away, his eyes lingering on the brilliant city lights beyond the windows. “I used to be more of a demon than I am now, Mia. If you knew the things I’ve done, you would not look at me the way you do.”
Taking a deep breath, I took his hand and stepped in so close that he had no choice but to meet my gaze. There was turmoil in his eyes. So much turmoil. “I don’t care what’s in your past, Az. Whoever you were, it’s not who you are now. I will face Lucifer by your side if you’ll let me.”
For a moment, I thought he’d changed his mind. He dropped his forehead to mine and breathed me in the same way I breathed in him. Our noses barely grazed, just enough for thezingto rip through me again. Somehow, this demon had gotten past my walls and into my soul in a way I’d never expected. Meeting Lucifer terrified me. But I’d do it if that was what it took to stay in this life.
He dragged a finger across the edge of my jaw, and I shuddered against him. Need flickered in my core. I pressed up onto my toes and wound my arms around his neck. His lips met mine for a fleeting second.
And then he pulled away. He stumbled back, eyes wide.
“I can’t,” he grunted out, twisting away from me and storming over to the windows. His body transformed into a dark silhouette against the city lights. “Mia, I can’t. He will destroy you.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, but a few tears escaped down my cheeks. Dammit. I couldn’t let him see me cry like this. Quickly, I brushed them away.
“You’re an asshole,” I whispered.
“For keeping you safe?” He whipped back toward me, danger glinting his eyes a shade darker than they normally were. “If that makes me an asshole, then so be it, Mia.”
I glanced away.
“Tomorrow morning, I will start hunting down a job for you,” he said bitterly. “Something normal where you sit at a desk and type shit into a computer. I know a few people. My recommendation will be enough to secure you the role. And then I’ll find you an apartment. Somewhere safe. Under a different name. That way Lucifer can’t track you down when he gets here. Even if we part ways, he’ll try to find you.” He nodded to himself, as if that confirmed everything. “We’ll need to get you some new documents to go along with the name. You won’t be Mia McNally for awhile.”
“You can’t be serious,” I whispered.
“I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life,” he growled. “In fact, I should ship you out of the country. Send you somewhere far away from New York. Hong Kong, perhaps. Rome or Greece.”
My mouth dropped open and I squeezed my arms around my chest. “Az, no. Please don’t do this. I can’t move to a foreign country alone. I don’t know the language. Or the culture. Oranything.”
Tears spilled down my face. It had only been a few hours ago that I’d been imagining a future with both him and everyone atInfernalin my life. And now I was being tossed out the door. I knew Az was only doing it to protect me, but it still hurt.
This had been the first time in two years I’d met someone who didn’t believe the worst about me. A lot of someones. I’d found somewhere I finally fit in. A place where I didn’t have to hide. Now, it was being ripped away from me. Because of the King of Hell.
His expression softened, but the determined set of his shoulders didn’t flinch. “Alright, Mia. I’ll find you somewhere in New York, but only on one condition. You have to swear to stay away from me. After the ball, we can never see each other again.”
31
We were prisoners trapped inside a gilded cage. Scowling, I strode from one end of Az’s ebony penthouse to the other while Serena curled up on the sofa reading a book. Hendrix perched on the table where I’d left him a bowl of breadcrumbs. Az was in his bedroom, making phone calls. And two guards—Valac and Bael—stood on the other side of the single door to prevent any unwanted visitors.
Or a hasty escape by yours truly.
My skin bounced like it wanted to jump off my body and run. We’d been told we couldn’t leave unless accompanied. And I hated every minute of it.
Serena sighed and set down her book. She was re-readingA Dance with Dragonsfor the millionth time. The TV show hadn’t satisfied her thirst for finding out what had happened to Jon Snow, and so she read the series over and over again, waiting for the next book to come out. Once Serena got her mind on something, she never let it go.
“Can you stop pacing?” she asked in a plaintive voice. “You’re making me nervous.”
“I hate being trapped in here.” I stopped and caught the haunted look in her eyes. “How are you doing? You haven’t said much since last night.”
She pressed her lips together, hugging the book to her chest. “I feel like an idiot. Noah was using me the whole time. Why didn’t I see it sooner? Looking back on our relationship, it makes so much sense. He was always so interested in my job…”
“Serena, you can’t blame yourself for this. You weren’t being an idiot. He actually seemed like a nice guy for awhile.” Until he didn’t.
She sighed and shook her head. “I knew something was off when he got weird about you and your past. We had a huge fight about it, and then he completely turned it all around and said that he’d never once doubted you. That should have been a red flag. Good sex makes my brain fall out of my skull.”
“Tell me about it,” I muttered.
Serena sat up a little straighter on the sofa. “Um, excuse me? Don’t tell me that you and…” She whipped her head toward the closed bedroom door, and heat crept into my cheeks. I hadn’t had a chance to tell her about my, erm,encounterwith Asmodeus. She probably wouldn’t approve. I wouldn’t if I were her.
She popped up from the couch and pointed a finger at me. “That look. You’re embarrassed. Iknewit. I absolutely knew it. My god, Mia. You had sex with a Prince of Hell.”
