Today,I threw every object I could pick up at the invisible wall between me and my freedom. Pretty painted plates—smashed to pieces. Pillows, chairs, rocks—nothing made a dent. Not that I really expected it to. The only things I left alone were the gorgeous books he brought me over the months, many of them first or special editions. Destroying them felt blasphemous.
I sit in the ruins, looking at the darkness beyond the edges of my prison. Is it far to the cave entrance, or is Hell just around the corner? How sad is it that I wish I were being sent on dangerous missions by my mentors, facing demons and manifestations of human sin, rather than languishing here in luxury?
“What have you done, little fairy?” Az asks me, his shadow falling over me a moment later. I was so lost in thought that I didn’t even notice his presence. He crouches by my side, eyes fixed on my hands.
Oh, yeah, I cut myself on some of the pretty porcelain.Oops.
Az takes my hand, tilting it this way and that like the drying blood is fascinating.
“Can you heal yourself?” he murmurs inquisitively.
I scoff. “I can heal myself. I can heal you. I’m better at it than most of the Elioud at Abaddon. Well…” I tilt my head. “I was.”
After a moment of concentration, the cut glows before sealing itself, leaving only a faint line and flakes of blood.
“Curious,” is all Az says.
“It is, isn’t it?” I look up at him and find myself mesmerized by his unique eyes. “I’m sure they’re wrong about me. I don’t think I’m a Cambion at all. How can I be, when I’m shit at fighting and great at healing?”
Az brings my healed palm to his nose and inhales deeply. Then he shocks me by kissing the center of my palm, his tongue gathering the blood. Heat blooms between my legs, that bundle of nerves waking up after being asleep so long, now echoing my heartbeat.
His lips twist wryly. Does he know how that made me feel? Does he know that my body yearns for touch for the first time in years?
“I loathe to be the one to confirm this, little one,” he says. “But you’re certainly Cambion. Judging by the taste of your blood, you might be distantly related to one of my lieutenants, Andras.”
I blink at him, my arousal momentarily forgotten. “Like my great granddaddy?”
Az mercifully lets go of my hand, breaking the spell completely. “Something like that.”
I chew my bottom lip for a moment, hesitating. “What’s he like?” I finally ask.
Suddenly, Az sobers, elegantly rising from the crouch. He extends a hand and gives me a patient look. I have a feeling that he’d wait for hours just to be the one to help me rise. And that’s what pushes me to take his hand.
Once we’re both upright, he finally answers my question. “You don’t want to meet him.”
I don’t know if it’s because he’s possessive, or because meeting this Andras would be dangerous for me. It might be a bit of both. I don’t think I want to know.
“Are you ever going to let me go?” I ask instead, my voice smaller than I’d like it to be.
“No,” he answers plainly. “I’m not letting you go, Simone.”
A shuddering sigh claws its way out of my throat. Finally, I nod and step back.
“I’m going to sleep,” I say even as I’m already walking toward my bed.
“Good night, little fairy,” Az murmurs behind me. “Sweet dreams.”
When I turn around, he’s already gone. And every item I smashed is back in its place, whole. Like nothing happened.
But something did happen, didn’t it? My body responded to his touch. I’m starting to think this cave might be more dangerous than anything waiting outside.
11
ASMODEUS
Naamah and Sharezen convinced me to let them use my Lethe manor as the staging ground for this year’s Halloween orgy, and I only said yes because I’m fucking starving. It’s been too long since I bedded a willing demon or demoness and fed on their desire. Even before I laid my eyes on my little fairy, there had been little interest in going through the motions.
The archdemon of lust, celibate? The end of the universe must be near. Being perpetually hard around Simone is the only thing keeping me from worrying about erectile dysfunction at my young age. I’m barely older than the pyramids, after all.
