“I’m not asking you to forgive me,” he said quietly, his voice barely more than a whisper.“I’m not even asking you to love me again.I’m asking for a chance.A chance to be here, with you, as you figure this out.I’ll be patient, Lily.I can wait, no matter how long it takes.Because I believe in you.In us.”
I stood there, my hand resting against his chest, feeling the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.I should have pulled away, should have put more distance between us.But I didn’t.
“And just to show you what I mean,” he continued, his voice a low murmur.Before I could process what was happening, he leaned in and captured my lips with his.
The contact sent a shock of heat through me, and without thought, I leaned into him, my body moving instinctively, meeting him halfway.The kiss wasn’t soft.It was deliberate—slow yet consuming.A different kind of fire ignited within me, one fed by passion rather than anger.And without hesitation, I parted my lips.
A soft gasp escaped me as he tilted his head, his tongue brushing mine, and the world seemed to tilt with it.Instantly, the kiss became something more—richer, filled with a heat that had been building for far too long.Every emotion I’d been struggling to ignore surged to the surface, and I met him with the same fervor, the same hunger.
His other hand moved to cradle my face, his thumb gently stroking my jaw as our connection deepened, the intensity between us sparking like wildfire.Damn it.How could a kiss completely destroy me?My heart slammed against my ribcage, my breathing quickened, and when he finally pulled away, I just stood there like a fool, eyes still closed as I revelled in the feel of his mouth against mine.
Rathiel rested his forehead against mine.“All I ask is for a chance.No pressure.No expectations.”
His hand slid from mine, and the absence of his touch hit me like a physical loss.He took a small step back, giving me space, though his presence remained overwhelming.
“Take all the time you need,” he murmured, his voice holding an edge of vulnerability I’d never heard before.“You’re worth waiting for, Lily.You always have been.”
I finally opened my eyes to find Rathiel had retreated fully into the living room, his back to me as he sorted out the couch.
Fingers pressed against my lips, I turned and fled to my bedroom.
I closed the door behind me and fell against it, my chest heaving as I panted for breath.I slid down the door, my back pressed against the cool wood as my knees pulled up to my chest.My mind replayed everything I’d said in the living room, all the bold declarations about not loving him, about not being the same person he’d known.At the time, they’d felt right.But now, with my heart still racing and my body still on fire, I wasn’t so sure.How could I not love him when one touch, one kiss, tore apart everything I thought I knew?
I pressed my fingers harder against my lips, as if that would somehow erase the memory.But it didn’t.It lingered, etched into my lips, burned into my mind.How could something so simple unravel me so completely?And how could I deny the pull between us when it was this intense?
Maybe I didn’t know Rathiel the way he knew me.Maybe I didn’t remember our past.But this undeniable chemistry between us, the way my heart fluttered at the mere thought of him, and how my body responded to his touch… it felt real.Tooreal.
I hugged my knees tighter and stared blankly at the darkened room.Damn it, that kiss had complicated everything.It had torn down every defense I’d built.And it didn’t help that his touch lingered, still burned my lips.How was I supposed to figure things out when all I could think about was him?
ChapterTwenty-Three
The battlefield had becomea graveyard for my rebellion.The scorched ground stretched endlessly before me, littered with the broken bodies of those who had fought beside me.Blood and ash clung to the stifling air, and each breath seared my lungs, the sulfurous stench and smoke choking me.I tried to move, to stand, but Lucifer’s grip, cinched around my throat, pinned me to the ground.
His grip tightened, his cold, unrelenting fingers digging into my skin as he lifted me up, holding me high in the air, my feet dangling uselessly above the ground.I clawed at his fingers, desperate for air, desperate for escape, but his hold didn’t falter.I couldn’t move, couldn’t fight.My wings hung limp behind me, and my heart drummed so violently, I feared it might burst.
“You think you can defy me?”my father snarled, his face twisted with rage.
I gasped, struggling for a breath that refused to come.My chest heaved in vain, and my mouth gaped.Panic surged through me as darkness clawed at the edges of my vision, but it wasn’t just the suffocating grip on my throat—it was the crushing force of my father’s power.Lucifer didn’t just control the realm; he commanded it, bent it to his will.His fingers tightened and my wings twitched weakly, a pathetic reminder of how powerless I was in his grasp.
“Did you really think,” he growled, the sound vibrating through my bones, “you could stand against me?”
The ground trembled beneath us, the entire realm seeming to quake from the force of his fury.His black wings flared wide, casting a massive shadow over the battlefield.Even the distant geysers, which once roared with unrestrained passion, seemed to shrink, their flames sputtering under the weight of his presence.
I tried to summon my powers, to call the fire to me, to summon the hellfire I controlled, but not a single flicker sparked inside me.Lucifer had won.He’d beaten me, and he knew it.
“I will tear you apart,” Lucifer whispered, malice dripping from his every word.
A glint of cruel satisfaction flickered in his eyes before he slowly, deliberately, turned me in his grasp, his grip loosening.He faced me toward the battlefield, forcing me to look upon the devastation, and I sucked in a rasping breath.My fallen soldiers, the shattered remnants of my rebellion, lay strewn across the scorched ground, broken and defeated.Blood and ash coated their bodies, and my heart broke at the sight of their sacrifice.
But it wasn’t just the dead that surrounded us.
Lucifer’s forces stood like dark sentinels amidst the carnage, their eyes fixed on me.They encircled us, an audience to my destruction, their expressions cold, indifferent to the violence.This was no longer just punishment—it was a spectacle.A message to all who dared defy him.
Lucifer loosened his grip just enough for me to drag in a lungful of air.
And then the agony struck.
It was sudden, brutal.
