“You’ve been out for a couple of days,” he says, popping his knuckles. The look of pure malice and eagerness is warring on his face, indicating he’s itching for a fight.
Murmur hands me a cold glass of water, and I eagerly drink it down and hand it back, asking for another one. He quickly hands me another glass, and this time I slowly sip it before placing it down on the coffee table. Lucifer gets up and sits down next to me, grabbing my hand. “What happened, Lilith? We thought you were on Earth.” I go to answer him when his next words silence me in shock. “It wasn’t until we heard rumors that your men were there alone that we figured something wasn’t right.”
I rub against the ache in my chest as tears gather in my eyes.Is that what I’m feeling? My men being that far away?I quickly recall that morning to my friends, explaining how I was getting my wedding dress when Adam’s lackey said I was needed. “He somehow spiked my damn drink and stabbed me in the fucking back!” I growl out, my tail whipping in agitation.
“We don’t know what all the dagger had on it, but there was a residual spell left on it that we can’t distinguish. Are you sure that you’re okay?” asked Murmur, his agitation making his British accent strong.
Ignoring his question about my well being, I continue. “You said I was in the seventh level.” All the guys nod. “How long was I down there?” I swallow around the lump stuck in my throat as my stomach turns to lead.
“At that level, you were there for three months,” Murmur says, and for once there’s no humor in his words.
A sob breaks free from my lips as I do the calculations in my head.Oh Satan. No wonder the ache feels so old and is on its way to healing.
‘You might as well forget about them now. The damage is already done,’the serious Demon purrs in my head, but I try to block them out.
“It’s been thirteen years?” I choke out and tears fall unbidden as I curl up into myself. The throb in my soul intensifies as if it knows I’m mourning the time I’ve lost with my loves. I give myself a few minutes to lose it while my mind wonders over what I did know. I’ve been stuck in the seventh level of hell and no one came to find me.Adam took me out, but why? What did he have to gain? Why didn’t my loves, mymates, come find me? Are they okay? What kept them from searching for me?I’m about to ask if they were okay when I remember what Lucifer had said originally.
I wipe away the remaining tears and look at Lucifer. “What rumors did you hear?”
Lucifer reaches up and adjusts his tie, which is one of his tells that he was nervous. I’m either going to be upset or pissed. My guess is on the latter.
“Ahem. Well, a few months ago, we heard a rumor that your men were starting families of their own,” he says and promptly clenches his jaw. Out of my peripheral vision I see the rest of the guys shift, but I can’t focus on them.
I close my eyes trying to wade through all the emotions I have coursing through my veins. I’m devastated. This kind of betrayal is unheard of in the supernatural world. Yes, humans leave their loved ones all the time, but mates don’t. And for them to actively start a family while I was missing…I’d rather have the knife shoved back into my back. It wouldn’t hurt this much. I’m not the type to sit and wallow. Give me a few minutes to grieve and then I’m up to finding answers, and if needed, seek my revenge.
Opening my eyes, I take everyone in. Lucifer is polishing his pocket watch but eyeing me from the corner of his eyes. Bez is sitting on a foot stool, sharpening his machete, holding the whetstone so hard that his knuckles are white. Murmur is wiping down the water glass I just used. Astaroth is just sitting in the chair across from me, staring at the floor with a scowl on his face.
“S-so you’re saying you only heard rumors? You don’t know that for sure?” I address Lucifer.
“They were from reliable sources,” he replies, not making eye contact.
“So what are you going to do next?” Murmur asks as he takes a seat on the other side of me.
“Well, it looks like I need to start at the end.” I give Murmur a wicked smile.
“Where’s Adam now? Does anyone know?” Astaroth growls out. The first Wrath Demon stands up and starts pacing the room, his red wings pulled tight against his back. Small booming sounds echo around the room as his tail cracks like a bullwhip, and his steps are soundless on the marble floor yet he strides with purpose back and forth in front of the fireplace. Not like we needed the heat, this is hell after all, but it is a nice decoration. His long brown hair floats around his shoulders and ram horns as his anger and power rises with every step.
“Astaroth,” I whine and his head swings my way.
“Sorry,” he mumbles, reigning in his power, but his blue eyes still have flames burning in the orbs. “I think we need to go hunting,” he says and a cruel smile graces his bearded jaw.
CHAPTER9
This little piggy
Lilith
Finding Adam isn’t hard. The little shit is throwing a party in his rooms. I don't know what kind of party, nor do I plan to ask, but I am completely civil in his extraction. I simply knock on the door and when his servant—the one from before—answers, I give him my award winning smile and he pales before Murmur knocks him out. Waltzing in with my best friends following in my wake, I watch as everyone either stares like they are starstruck or shakes with fear as we pass. Talk about a confidence boost. I’m the Queen of Hell, and I should be treated as such. They move in waves to open up a path to the man paling at the sight of me. He starts scrambling around people trying to get away, and a few demons I recognize block his way once it becomes clear who I’m hunting.
They will be rewarded for their efforts later, but right now my only focus is my ex-husband. Pulling Adam out of the room, kicking and screaming, is just the icing on the cake. Demons and Fallen Angels start to whisper and speculate as to the reason we’re dragging Adam away. Let those rumors run rampant, it only causes my infamy to skyrocket. I'd rather have my subjects fear me than see me as weak, and it helps knowing L.A.M.B has my back. Now, to secure my men and my life will be complete once again. But first, I need to find out what happened to them.
The screams flowing out of Adam are music to my ears. I once thought it was a curse that I couldn’t escape the man I was given to. The Bible had it all wrong. It wasn’t Adam and Eve, that sniveling banshee. Yeah, you read that right. She’s a damn banshee, always crying about something. I don’t even know if she’s still alive. As far as I know, they broke up and Adam has been sticking his wick into anything with a heartbeat. But obviously Adam finally got tired of her crying about everything. Yes, death happens, but apparently not for dear old Adam. God has a sick sense of humor when he paired us up. The first human and the first Demon. Granted, he never thought it would change Adam’s soul into an eternal one when I took his innocence.
Even with him being my first, I knew he sucked in bed, just lying there weeping at the beauty of it all. Really? He deserved Eve. When I left, I gave God the finger and convinced a few angels to follow me to the depths of Hell and the bliss it could provide. God decided to create Eve to keep Adam in line and give him a wet hole to occupy his time. Obviously, she wasn’t me and she didn’t have a backbone, so they deserved each other. Spewing her lies about me is what got Lucifer, my bestie’s, attention. It’s never a good thing to paint a target on your back when it comes to the ultimate trickster. Her fall from God’s grace, as of today, is still his ultimate trophy. That’s probably the only part the Bible got right, him tricking her, but I understand why they glossed over that debacle. It’s a fucked up story, and it doesn’t even have me in it! Who leaves out the main character? Definitely not the book for me, but for those that love it, good for you!
“Lil…Lilith,” Adam sputters out as blood and drool dribble down his chin. The pleading in his eyes brings a smile to my cruel lips. He’s strapped down on my torture table with the same metal he used to stab me in the back.
“Aww, does little ole Adam finally want to tell me what I want to hear?” I question him, picking up a knife and twirling it.
