Dread shuddered through me. I lifted the mug to my lips and gulped down the tea, desperately wishing it was spiked with gin. This was not a good conversation to have sober. It felt like the future of everything rested on my shoulders, and I didn’t have the strength to support the weight of it. How could I do anything other than crumble when pitted against Lucifer?
The literal King of Hell.
“That’s a big ask,” I whispered.
“I know.” His eyes pierced my soul.
“How am I even supposed to do something like this?”
“One day at a time.” He paused. “One fight at a time. Remember?”
The Legion’s motto. Their rallying cry. I nodded, trying to find the courage within myself. It was a big mission, but this was a big, beautiful world. With lots of beautiful people within it. There was so much more at stake than my own safety.
I clutched the mug. “One fight at a time.”
9
Sleep was a fickle beast, especially when the fate of the world weighed on your mind. I got maybe two hours tops before I threw off the heavy comforter and padded into the kitchen, still wearing the slinky dress from the night before. It wasn’t like I’d had a chance to pack my clothes. I didn’t even own pajamas right now.
Priyanka’s brows shot to the top of her head when I joined her at the kitchen table. She sat with an open laptop perched next to a bowl of cereal, scrolling through the news. My stomach rumbled.
“Fancy seeing you here.” She pulled out the chair beside her, the wooden feet scraping the stone floor. “Sit. Tell me what’s going on.”
I plopped into the chair and sagged, still blindingly weary. “Valac didn’t tell you?”
“He’s not the best communicator, if you haven’t figured that out yet.”
So, I filled her in. Every gory detail. Thankfully, she already knew most of the story. When I’d finished spilling my guts, she gave me a pat on the back and sighed.
“Az was right. The best option was to bring you here. Smart move.”
“Is it?” My mind was so frazzled, I couldn’t tell anymore. “Won’t Lucifer wonder why I don’t have a place of my own?”
She shook her head and dropped her spoon into her bowl. “You’re not getting it. Lucifer already suspects you’re Mia McNally. He’s going to see if you slip up. It’s a game. He loves a game. He’s like us fae in that respect.”
“And if I win, he’ll go away?” I asked, voice hitching.
“Maybe, if you make all the right moves.” She winced. “It’s not guaranteed, though, to be brutally honest. It depends on why he wants what he wants. If he’s the one behind your fallen angel scent, there might be more going on than any of us realize. And when he gets bored with the game, he might finish what he started.”
I shuddered, my heart twisting. “Finish what he started. So, like,kill me.”
“Nope. He wants to marry you.”
“And then I would become the Queen of Hell,” I said in a tight voice.
“Exactly.”
She said it so matter-of-factly, like it wasn’t the most terrifying thing I’d ever heard in my life. The Queen of Hell. What did that even mean? Would I have to sit on a throne engulfed in flames? And, for the millionth time,why? I hated being so far in the dark that I couldn’t even see my hand in front of my face.
Suddenly Hendrix swooped in from the ceiling. There was a small balcony just outside the open sliding glass doors where an empty bowl sat on top of a wrought-iron table. Snacks, no doubt left for my pigeon. Who had done that? Az? Fondness curled around my heart as I reached out and rustled Hendrix’s feathers. He cooed happily, leaning against my palm.
“Hi, Hendrix. Thanks for coming on this crazy journey with me.”
Priyanka gave me an odd look and went back to her breakfast. We sat there for a while in silence. Me petting Hendrix. Priyanka scrolling through the news. It almost felt normal. It was a much-needed respite in the midst of so much insanity.
“Can you explain something to me, Priyanka?” I asked, turning back toward my new roommate.
After taking another crunchy bite of her cereal, she nodded. “I’ll do my best.”
