“Funny. Your brother just made that deal for himself and his mortal, Asmodai.”
Az frowns, looking perplexed. “Ashtaroth? A mortal? What deal?”
“Oh, did I forget to mention?” the Devil asks. “Time passes differently here. It’s been months in the other realms. Your brother has found himself his own mortal. A spicy redhead.”
It’s my turn to frown. “Lana? With an archdemon? I don’t believe it.”
“Would I lie?” Lucifer chuckles. “Of course I would. But I’m not.”
“What deal?” Az asks again, a calculating look in his eyes.
Lucifer’s disembodied sigh winds its way through the molten cavern. “He came begging to destroy them both if the Nephalem perished. And humans say romance is dead.”
Az nods as if this all makes sense. Nothing makes sense, if you ask me.
“You said months have passed, My Prince. Then my subordinates have been left unattended for even longer than I thought. It will be chaos in my territory.”
“Oh, yes,” the Devil says gleefully. “Rifts opened. You were blamed. Ashtaroth’s mortal nearly perished. Belial’s scheming landed him in a neighboring pit.”
The archdemon who lied to me for three years blinks at the information. I only care about one thing. “Is Lana alright?”
“Yes, yes,” Lucifer says as if the question bores him. “Sheagreed to the soul binding easily enough.”
I can’t believe Lana fell in love with an archdemon. Or maybe I can. After all, I likely beat her to it, and she was always braver than I am.
“I… I need to talk to Az—” I choke on his name. “I need to talk to Asmodeus. Please.”
A moment of silence. “Very well.”
I don’t even notice how heavy the air is when Lucifer is around until he’s gone and I can breathe easier.
“This would truly help protect the baby?” I ask Az once we’re alone.
He’s watching me carefully. “Yes. Until he or she is born.”
“And when they’re born?” I ask for clarification.
“When they’re born, we will both protect them until they’re strong enough to come into their powers.”
Powers. What kind will the baby have? Will they be more like their father or more like me? I remember what Lucifer said back at the manor. About Asmodeus being the father of all sex demons. “Will they be an… incubus?”
Az purses his lips. “They will likely feed on desire and pleasure in some way, yes.”
Mon Dieu. I’m giving birth to a demon. An entity I always considered an enemy.
“If I do this, ifwedo this, it doesn’t mean I forgive you,” I state after a minute, my voice hard and cold. “I can’t just forgive your lies. But I don’t want this baby to be born here.”
He closes his eyes, one hand coming up to his chest. “At least tell me you’ll let me prove myself to you. Even if it takes the eternity we’ll be bound together to do so.”
I don’t answer him. I can’t. My mind is racing, exhausted from one bombshell after another.
“I need to think,” I tell him, closing my eyes so I don’t have to see the expression on his face. It’s raw in a way I never expected to see from my kidnapper. An archdemon. It hurts my heart, and I can’t let it make my decisions for me right now. I need to do what’s best for my baby.
25
ASMODEUS
“I'll do it.”
