Page 85 of Hell Bound
“So what? That’s normal life, not ‘imprisoned in Hell’ life, dammit! These aren’t normal circumstances by any stretch of the imagination.”
“I don’t want to hear that shit.”
“What?”
“You are a queen, Lilith. Queen of all succubi by right of birth. There’s nothing you cannot do. At least when you aren’t lying down and letting Asmodeus wipe his filthy boots on you.”
I planted my hands in his chest and shoved him as hard as I could, moving him not a fraction of an inch.
So I pounded against his chest and shoulders instead.
“Fuck you! You didn’t have to relive all those deaths in that graveyard! You haven’t had to go through decades of abuse in the course of a few days!”
“No, because I live with it every single day! Do you know how often I wake up in a cold sweat, another of your deaths having come back to haunt me?” His eyes flickered to life, the flames that had been dormant this whole time flaring from his irises. “You remember the deaths, but do you remember how often he chained me up and made me watch? Took his time with you until I’d screamed my throat raw and no sound came out? Only then would he put you out of your misery.”
“Then why would you want to chance that happening again?” I demanded, my voice dangerously loud, but I didn’t care anymore. We would have this out, and we would have it outnow.
“Because I would riskanythingfor you, Lilith! Chance any outcome if it meant I could get you safely away from him. And Iwill. You just have to be patient for me, andtrustme.”
“To what end? What do you think is going to change?”
“Everything.” He stroked the side of my face, a far gentler touch than his temper belied. “How much do you remember of my curse?”
I searched through all of my newly returned memories but came up empty. “I only know what I’ve seen since coming back. You’re bound to serve Asmodeus, and he’s cursed all of you to shift into wolves.”
“There is… there is much more to it, but the important thing is that Asmodeus not only commands us, but he controls us completely. We’re powerless to resist him, or the chains of the curse tighten around us and cause unimaginable agony. Even out of earshot, he can issue a command and we have no choice.”
I tried to process this information. I knew he was as trapped as I was, but to be robbed of free will was an altogether different form of torture.
“I’m searching for a way to break those chains, or at least weaken them long enough for us to get beyond his reach.” He leaned in and pressed a kiss to my lips. Just soft, sweet pressure, before pulling back to meet my gaze. “I just need you to wait for me, my Fire Lily. Trust me, and don’t push me away. It’s going to take my all, and I need to know that I still have you. That you’ll be mine when it’s over.”
How could I say no to that?
I may not be the Lilith he knew, but I was the Lilith he wanted. The one he was willing to fight for.
The one he wanted to take away from this place where Asmodeus could never touch us again.
My heart clenched violently in my chest. He cared this much for me… and I for him.
He’d called to me since the moment we met, and now I knew why. But it wasn’t my past that wanted him for my own.
No, that was all me.
“Yours, Lucifer. Completely.”
Chapter20
Lucifer
Relief crashed through me at those words.
Not just because she admitted she was mine—but because no matter how much Asmodeus tried to hurt her, whether it was through memories or physical force, he still hadn’t broken her.
A faint spark of her fire was back in her eyes. As long as that ember remained, he never would.
I coiled a lock of her hair around my finger, resting my forehead against hers.
“There are so many things to tell you,” I told her. “Everything I’ve done in these last twenty years was to ensure you lived free. Much of it I’m not proud of, but I want you to know who I am again—in the same way that I will know who you are now.”
