“Nothing will harm you or our child,” he vows, and there's a power in his voice that makes me believe him. “I will tear apart anyone who tries.”
I believe that too. Az may have many secrets, but his protectiveness has never been in question.
“What will our baby be?” I ask, suddenly curious. “He'll be a Cambion from my side, but what about you?”
Az tenses slightly, and I know I've stumbled close to one of his many secrets. “Powerful,” he says finally. “Our child will be powerful.”
I sigh, letting it go for now. One day, he'll trust me with the whole truth. I have to believe that.
My thoughts drift to Abaddon, to Lana and Jessica, to the team I trained with what feels like a lifetime ago. Do they ever think of me? Or did they write me off as a casualty of Hell?
“What are you thinking?” Az asks, his lips brushing my temple.
“About my friends in Purgatory,” I admit. “If they remember me.”
His arms tighten infinitesimally. “Would you go back to them if you could?”
I consider his question carefully. Would I? Leave this manor, this life we've built, the safety Az provides? Return to endless battles against manifestations of sin, to training and fighting and constant vigilance?
“No,” I answer truthfully. “That's not my life anymore.”
Az relaxes against me, and I realize he was genuinely concerned about my answer. It's these moments—when I glimpse the vulnerability beneath his overwhelming confidence—that make me love him despite everything.
“This is my home now,” I say, placing my hand over his where it rests on my stomach. “Ourhome.”
And as strange as it would have seemed to me three years ago, I mean every word.
23
ASMODEUS
Ifind myself placing my hand on Simone's softly rounded belly for the hundredth time today. The tiny spark of life growing inside her has become an obsession even greater than my fixation with Simone herself. My child. My heir.
Not my first, of course. Over millennia, I've sired hundreds of incubi, succubi, and other demonic offspring. But this… this is different. This child carries not just my essence but Simone's, too. A being born of genuine affection rather than calculated breeding or momentary lust.
I’m so fixated that I've been thoroughly neglecting my territory and my duties, letting my lieutenants and generals manage it as best as they can—I truly don't care about anything but this anymore.
“You're doing it again,” Simone murmurs, not looking up from her sketchbook. Her pencil moves with confidence across the page, designing yet another garment she won't be able to wear until after the baby arrives.
“Doing what?” I ask, feigning innocence while keeping my palm pressed against the small bump.
She glances up, those gray eyes twinkling with amusement. “Hovering. Touching. Staring. Pick your obsession.”
“All of the above,” I admit, leaning down to press my lips against her temple. “I can't help myself.”
The truth burns in my throat like acid. I should tell her. I should have told her months—years—ago. That I'm not just the son of a fallen angel, but an archdemon. That the child she carries will be more powerful than she can possibly imagine.
Simone sets her sketchbook aside and covers my hand with hers. “What's wrong? You've been... distant today.”
I force a smile. “Nothing's wrong. Just lost in thought.”
She studies my face with a perceptive gaze. “You know you can talk to me, right? Whatever it is.”
Could I? Would she still look at me with those adoring eyes if she knew the truth? Or would she recoil in horror, try to flee again—this time with our child? Fuck. I couldn't bear it.
“I know,” I lie smoothly, thousands of years of deception making it effortless. “I'm just wondering what our child will be like. What powers they might develop.”
Simone's expression softens. “I've been wondering that too. Will they have your wings?”
