I continued walking, leaving Emery standing behind me with sour eyes.After a quick scan of the party and finding neither the Envies nor the succubi, I headed toward the Lust Rooms.If they weren’t here, they were probably fucking.Those succubi were poisonous in the most pleasurable ways.
People were being whipped by a sexy dominatrix; others were being tortured by Wraths.I even saw two Sloths being ridden by a Glutton.Now, that was definitely a sight to see.
I searched room after room, but the three men weren’t there.I placed my glass down on the table at the end of the hall and walked toward the staircase.
The Crucifix was near the top floor, heavily guarded by Crusaders from the kingdoms.Hand-selected by me, these were the best of the best.The Envies were stupider than I thought if they believed they could just come up here and steal it.
What did they even want with it?It had gone untouched since The Fall of the Seven–when seven angels fell from Heaven to each rule a kingdom in Hell–and had only ever been wielded by the strongest women from Heaven.These men were neither women nor angels.
When I reached the floor, I stalked down the hall.A peculiar rage coursed through my veins.Before I could step into the Chapel Room, I heard the three men and women in the library.They were on the balcony with the glass bifold door open, letting the chilly air wander into the room.
Half naked and groaning, the men smirked at me.One of them grasped a succubus’s hips, claws digging into her.
“Commander, these women are taken.”His eyes glowed with mischief.
Wrapping my hand around his neck, I pulled him up and pushed him against the balcony.“What’re you doing up here?”
“Just having a bit of fun,” another one said.
I pushed the demon away.“If you wish to fuck, do it in a Lust Room.”
The third one leaned his succubus over the balcony.His claws raked down her bare back, leaving marks.“I don’t think that’s quite fair.You can have any woman you want up in these quarters, staring out at this view.All I wish for is to fuck a woman like this, just once in a while.”
With a deep breath, I turned to my kingdom and stared at its immense beauty.“For once in your entire life, you’re right.This view is incredibly breathtaking.”I turned back around to face him.“That’s why it’s mine.”My upper lip curled into a smirk.“I can take whomever I please up here, whenever I please, and you”—I snatched his chin in my hand—“can’t.”
His eyes—now a sour, envious green—glowed brightly.He tore himself away from me and pulled on his clothes.“You have it all—the kingdom, the army, the Crucifix.”
“How sad you are.Envious of a cross that you can’t even wield.”
“Not envious, just speaking what every other kingdom believes.That immense power should be shared by all of the fallen.”
“That immense power would obliterate you in less than a second.It would leave you in a pile of dust, but”—I shrugged—“if that’s what gets you going, be my guest.Try and take the Crucifix.”
“You hide behind your inflated sense of pride, Lucifer, and that’s going to destroy you.”He buttoned the last button on his shirt and briefly gazed at the others.“Come on.”When he reached the door, he called out, “I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other again.”
Three
I smiledat the upended Crucifix, which hung in the Chapel Room.It rested on the red stained-glass wall above the Altar of Sacrifice.Followers of Satanism—the official religion of Hell—would worship this beauty by sacrificing a sad soul to it.
Demons typically worshipped Sathanus in his kingdom.He had even negotiated for this cross with me for centuries, wanting it for his followers, but I refused.Either Sathanus would’ve destroyed it within the first day of having it or Envies would’ve stolen it from his kingdom.
Never would I let it fall into the hands of such imbeciles when it had been last wielded by the only woman I respected in Heaven.
The Chapel Room was open to visitors on the anniversary of The Fall of the Seven, one day a year.If they wanted to worship it, they could do it then.
Small patches of blood covered the cross’s otherwise white edges.This masterpiece was absolutely magnificent.I couldn’t resist grazing my fingers against it and searing them at the touch.The pain was worth it.It always had been.
After a moment more, I flicked off the lights and locked the doors.My guards bowed to me as I descended the stairs to return to my party.As I was told, the three male Envies had left the party and gone right through the portal to their kingdom, back to the shithole they had come from.
I spent the remainder of the night drunk on Vemon.From a cute Lust trying to lure me to a Lust Room to a Sloth asking me to lounge on the couch with him and get high off of my ass, the night was a blur.
Leaning over the bar, I nodded at the bartender.“A shot of Vemon.”
Tonia slid onto the maroon stool next to me.“I’ll take one too.”The column of her neck was already painted pink with hickeys from the Lusts, and her fingers were stained with blood, probably from hanging around the Wraths.
The woman behind the counter slid two drinks to us.
I held my glass up to Tonia.“To my dear friend Tonia.Profana.”
