Page 130 of She Who Holds My Wrath

My hands curl into fists hearing the fear in his tone.

“The lights flickered,” he continues. “Just once. And when they came back on…” He breaks off, breath hitching as his face drains of colour all over again. “There was a head on the table,” he whispers.

My heart slams against my ribs, my ears ringing as my palms instantly dampen.

“My head,” Ezra whispers, voice shaking. “Same ginger hair. Same face. Everything.”

Lucifer’s voice slips in, calm and horrifying clinical. “It was an illusion. But an excellent one.”

Ezra nods, eyes glassy. “It blinked,” he breathes. “It fucking blinked, Daisy.”

My vision blurs as my head swims.

“And then,” he says, voice barely audible, “the demon spoke. Not through the head. From behind me.”

Korithax stiffens beside me so sharply, I can feel it down the bond as every muscle in him coils tight.

“It told me to tell you something,” Ezra says. He finally looks at me then, eyes full of terror. “It said⁠—”

He swallows hard, shaking his head as his eyes shimmer with tears. Lucifer clears his throat and finishes for him.

“Tell the Queen and her resurrected Child of Ruin, that when we are done, this is what every single person she loves will look like.”

The room goes deathly still. Ezra nods, tears spilling freely now. “It said they weren’t waiting anymore.”

My chest caves in. Earth isn’t safe. Ezra isn’t safe. No one is safe. I turn slowly to Korithax. Every conflicting thought I’d had, every whispered maybe he should leave, maybe it’s safer if he stays away from this war—it dies instantly. They’re not afraid of him. They’re afraid of us together. They know he’s back, and they’re panicking.

“You can’t keep running away,” I say quietly.

Korithax meets my eyes. Something dark and resolute settles over his features.

“I know,” he says solemnly.

Ezra is still shaking. He’s trying to hide it by standing straighter with his shoulders squared like he always does when he’s scared. But I can see it in the way his fingers keep flexing, in the way his gaze keeps flicking to the door like he’s expecting another monster to walk through it.

I step closer to him, the wrongness that surrounds him finally becoming clear. It was never him—it was the residue of that evil being clinging to him like smoke. Whatever the hell was in that apartment had stained the air so potently around him, that it clung to his aura, tarnishing his safe, calming presence.

“You’re not going back,” I say quietly.

Ezra blinks. “What?”

“You’re staying here,” I repeat with a firmness to my tone that my kingdom would know not to argue against. “With me. In Hell.”

Lucifer lets out a low whistle. “Bold move, Sunshine.”

Ezra’s eyes widen. “Daisy, I can’t just—Earth is—my life is there. My flat, my⁠—”

“Was there,” I cut in, not unkindly. “They know where you are, Ez. They found you. That wasn’t a scare tactic—that was a message.”

Korithax shifts beside me, silent but coiled tight. I can feel the apprehension down the bond, but he says nothing. He knows this choice is mine.

“I won’t let them use you against me,” I continue, keeping my chin raised and shoulders squared. “And I won’t let them kill you to make a point.”

Ezra swallows hard. “So, I’m… trapped?”

“No,” I soften. “You’re protected.”

Lucifer snorts. “Potato, potahto.”