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I gagged when his head snapped to one side, looking broken for all intents and purposes, despite his laughter and eerie grin. The entire monologue made me sick, and I put my head between my knees to try and ground myself.
"What a terrible mate you are, Sariel."
With that, he disappeared, and the screens returned, but those words lingered.
A terrible mate. Was I? I'd always tried to do right by her, even back when I thought I hated her. It was why I'd helped her escape Azazel in the first place, even though it would’ve been easier to do it alone; why I had made that fae deal, even though she’d been furious with me. Did that make me a bad mate?
No. Lucifer is a liar and a thief of joy. Every word out of his mouth is designed to cut and manipulate.
My angel's voice was soft. I barked out a laugh just hearing it.
Maybe the damn thing wasn't talking to me at all, and I'd just finally cracked, as Michael had said. It made more sense than him finally trying to communicate with me instead of giving me migraines at every inconvenience—or reassuring me that I had done the best I could when it came to Aria.
Do not let him beat you. If not for Aria, then for your own pride.
Right, because sitting in this cell, filthy and drained, inspired any kind of pride.
And yet those were the words that encouraged me to sit up and look at my mate again.
Through Barimuz’s eyes, she looked happy. Her cheeks were flushed, and I could feel those butterflies in her tummy as she beamed at him for something he said.
It made me angry enough to push down the self-loathing and fear for a little while.
She only looks that way because she thinks he’s us. If she knew the truth, she would be horrified.
I knew that. I didn't need to be reminded that not only was I in a shitty position, but she was in an even worse one.
How would she feel when she realized? Would it make her sick? Would she feel violated? My angel’s rage sparked, and I smirked.
Don't go letting them rile you up, remember? For our pride.
He scoffed, but the banter made us both feel a bit better. Aria would be okay when she found out. Whatever happened, and however she felt, we would be there for her every step—this would not break us.
And yet she kissed him.
I couldn't do anything but pace the length of my cage to try and deal with the territorial rage that billowed up from my gut.
Dinner was dropped out of seemingly thin air. I’d learned better than to ask questions, scarfing it down and watching the metal tray vanish again once it was empty.
Lucifer had said the goal was us both powering up from a completed bond, and he anticipated that once she realized she'd been duped, it would trigger the bond to solidify.
I just had to wait them out. Eventually, someone would realize it wasn't me and tell Aria. Whether she believed it or not, that first seed of doubt was all it would take to get the ball rolling. Her wolf might have even noticed already—though I doubted she'd listened to the poor thing, considering their relationship. Either way, the truth would come out sooner rather than later, and then they would reunite us.
Hopefully.
Realizing Lucifer had never clarified what would happen to us once the bond was complete made me anxious, but I packed that away for another time.
Aria would need me to be okay after this. She would need to feel supported and loved and like she hadn't done anything wrong because my mate would spend years choking on the guilt otherwise.
My angel approved of this change in direction.
I tried to connect with him again, only to feel him slip through my fingers. The cage was too strong for us to stay in touch, but that was okay. His occasional appearance to keep me sane would suffice. We were fine. This was all—
"I hear he showed you Heaven."
Michael startled me from his perch on top of the cage.
"Not the real thing, of course,” he continued. “He'd have never gotten through the gate, but a… mimicry, of sorts."
