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“So that’s what this is? You’re attempting to get in my head…” I scoff, pushing up off the ground. “I should’ve known.”
“No.” Asmodeus doesn’t stand up, just careens his neck to hold my stare. “No games, little mouse.” Something reels within me over that nickname, as if he’s targeting me as his prey. “I’ve seen you fight. You’re calculative.Intelligent. Use that brain of yours. Lucifer is nowhere near as strong as I am. You, me, and my brother are a different breed, and he knows it. It’s why he didn’t step off that hill today, no matter how hard I tried to drag him out.”
I shouldn’t enjoy the way he compliments me. If I didn’t heal, I’d still have bruises from where his hands wrapped around my throat and slammed into my cheek. He should be pinging on my radar as an enemy, yet something about him has me curious. And he knows it.
Asmodeus stands, dusting off his pants. “He knew he’d lose in front of his men, and they’d abandon him, ending his chance at a war with Heaven. Instead of manning up, he let you fight me. And if you think he cared whether you lived or died, think again. The devil didn’t so much as flinch while you were seeing fireworks and the light was flickering out of your eyes. Think about that.”
I was curious as to why Lucifer didn’t fight, and even more as to why he kept Kai from helping me. I thought he was protecting him out of love, but maybe he was testing me. He wanted to see what I could handle, but there’s a pang in my gut that knows Asmodeus is telling the truth. I almost died today. Finn almost died today. Yet, Lucifer did nothing, then trapped the one man who could save me behind a wall.
“Take care of yourself,” Asmodeus says, then turns and starts toward his men. I need to know more. What am I going to do if Lucifer truly is the monster he’s painted him to be?
“One more thing,” I shout, and he pauses to crane his amber eye over his shoulder. “If he can’t beat you, then how did he imprison you?”
His hand rakes through his dark waves before it drops back to his side. “He didn’t.” Asmodeus disappears, only to pop into existence near his men.
“If Lucifer didn’t, then who the fuck did?”Luri asks, nudging me and nearly knocking me over to use my back as a scratching post for her head.
“Your guess is as good as mine.”
“He smells good.”
I scrunch my face and turn to stare daggers into her. “He smells like violence and death. Not to mention he just massacred our men.”
“Still smells good.”
A ball of light, similar to the one I saw the High King sent to summon the fury, flies through the air, then slams into the band around Asmodeus’ wrist. It’s made of the same metal the creature’s collars are from, and sparks until his spine straightens unnaturally.
When the electricity subsides, he lets out a deep groan and his chest heaves like he’s run a marathon. His lips move as he points toward the forest of lost souls, but I’m too far away to hear what he says.
“Did you catch that?” I ask as Luri tries toyet againscratch her head on me.
“The High King wants them to return to their castle.”
“They’re retreating?” My hands press against the barrier as I watch them mount their horses and head toward the forest.
“Seems so.”
Just before he enters the woods, Asmodeus glances back at me and I could swear he smiles.
Either we’re being played and playedhard, or shit’s going to get weird.
27
Alice
In hindsight, inviting Luri inside since everyone else was still hiding out in the tunnels, was probably not the brightest choice. Her body sleeks around the steps to the stairwell as she follows me to our room, but her feet barely fit on the ledges, making her climb on her tiptoes.Too bad I haven’t learned how to teleport yet.
Finn tried to teach me, but it was tasking for someone who has never personally done it to show another how. He was teaching secondhand information—stuff he learned from Kai and Lucifer over the years—and after many failed attempts, we opted to wait for Kai’s return. It didn’t seem paramount at the time, anyway.
The problem with that was Kai hardly ever came home. When he was, the time seemed better spent enjoying each other’s company, rather than training. Then, the week or so at home here and there turned into a day or two, or extensions of their trips, until finally the whole idea of learning how to teleport got put on the back burner.
“I can feel the unease within you. What are you planning?”
“I’m not sure, but I need answers. So far, I’ve trusted blindly based on Kai and his actions… I don’t believe he lied to me, but I do think he hasn’t been telling me the entire truth, either. If he even knows it.” I step out onto the landing for our floor, gliding down the long hall to our room. “Something Asmodeus said stuck with me, and sure, he’s likely trying to get in my head, but I owe it to myself to know. I owe it to Kai to find out.”
“You’re going to trust the man who tried to kill you?”She does little to hide the disapproval in her tone.
“No, not trust.Verify. I need to see it for myself. I’m just not sure how, yet.”
