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I swallow hard, searching his face for any hint of empathy. “I…I don’t know. But there has to be something. Can I make a deal with you?”
Lucifer’s eyes suddenly glint and his laugh is a cold, harsh sound, devoid of any warmth or humor. “A deal? With me? You truly are desperate, aren’t you?”
“I’m willing to do anything,” I say, my voice barely a whisper. “Please, Lucifer. I can’t just abandon Bax. Not like this.”
Lucifer studies me for a moment. “Elara,” he says, his voice almost gentle, “This is a dangerous path you’re treading. Are you sure it’s one you want to walk down?”
“I’m sure,” I say, my voice firm. “If there’s a chance I can help Bax, I have to take it.”
Lucifer’s gaze is unflinching as he speaks. “You must understand, the implications of a relationship with Bax are…severe.” His voice holds a depth that sends a chill down my spine.
“What do you mean?” I ask, although a part of me already senses the answer.
Lucifer moves, pacing the room with a restless energy. “Should you choose to be with Bax, to accept his possession, you would be eternally damned. You would become a resident of the Underworld. Forever.”
His words reverberate through the silence, their weight pressing down on me. I feel as though I’ve been plunged into icy water, my mind racing to process the gravity of what he’s just revealed.
“Forever…” I echo, my voice barely a whisper. Images of Tessa spring into my mind. She’s all I have…and I’m all she has. How could I ever think of leaving her for a life down here? All because one demon has made me feel more than I have ever felt in all my time living Aboveworld. Pain. Hurt. So much pain and hurt. But also the most pleasure. So much pleasure.
The whole time I’ve been working with Bax, it felt like I was fighting for my life. And that’s simply because, for the first time in a long while, I was actually living. Not just going through the motions, caught in the endless rat race, just trying to survive.
Lucifer’s voice pierces through my thoughts. “It’s a monumental choice for a mortal to make. You would be giving up your place in the Aboveworld, trading it for an eternity here, with us.”
His gaze meets mine, holding me captive. “You must ask yourself: is your love for Bax worth an eternity of damnation?”
As Lucifer raises his hand, a shimmering portal begins to materialize in the room. Its swirling energy paints surreal accents of light and shadow on the walls, a vivid reminder of the threshold between two worlds, two realities.
“I have opened the way back to the Aboveworld, Elara,” Lucifer says, his voice echoing in the suddenly too-small space. His gaze is calculating, yet beneath the cool exterior, I can see a glimmer of…respect? “The choice is yours.”
I swallow, my throat dry. The enormity of the decision looms before me, a mountain I must either climb or circumvent. It’s not just about choosing between my world and the Underworld, between a life of normalcy and an eternity of damnation.
It’s about choosing between my soul and my love for Bax.
“I understand,” I say, although my voice barely rises above a whisper.
With a final, lingering glance at the room that had been my home for what feels like a lifetime, I step towards the portal. My heart pounds in my chest, a wild rhythm that echoes in my ears. I’m on the precipice of a life-altering decision, with the weight of two souls on my shoulders.
Yet, despite the fear, despite the uncertainty, there’s a sense of resolve within me. I’m ready to face whatever lies ahead.
I know what I need to do. There’s only one real choice here.
“I’m ready,” I say, my voice steadier than I feel.
And with that, I step through the portal, leaving behind the world of Damnation and stepping into the unknown.
ChapterSixteen
Bax
The pain is insurmountable. Pure, raw torment. Methods of my own devising. I’m strung up by chains, my body hanging limply as searing hot lashes cut across my bare skin. Each whip crack is a fiery serpent, tearing through flesh and sinking its venomous fangs deep. But the physical pain is a mere nuisance. Despite the torture, my mind is fixated on her. Elara.
Her face is etched into my mind, her voice a soft whisper that echoes in the silence between each wave of pain. When Asmodeus enters the room, the look on his face tells me everything I need to know.
“She’s gone, Bax,” he confirms. “Returned Aboveworld.”
Numbness washes over me, far colder than any underworld chill. The pain of the whip fades into insignificance, replaced by a gaping void in my chest. She left me. Of course, she did. Who could willingly embrace an eternity of damnation? Who could love a monster enough to sacrifice their soul, especially one as pure as hers?
As the torture resumes, I don’t resist. I don’t fight back. My shoulders sag under the weight of my failure, my arms hanging heavily from the chains. In all my existence, nothing has cut me deeper than Elara’s rejection.
