“Hm?”
“Have you gotten over losing her?”
“Fuck no.”
“How do you keep going?”
“Because I know it’s what she’d want me to do. She could have killed me—hell, I told her to—but she chose to protect me instead. If I gave up on my life, it would be throwing away the time she sacrificed for me to have. So I’m living and praying that when my time runs out, God will let me return to her.”
* * *
I pacedthe hallway outside Laila’s bedroom. We’d been staying here for days now, and so far we hadn’t run into any trouble, but we also weren’t any closer to getting out of Hell.
According to Astaroth, the only way into Lucifer’s palace was by invitation. He didn’t have the kind of authority required to get us in himself, and he couldn’t tell us what we needed to do to acquire an invitation—something about it looking suspicious if he helped us too much. So in other words, he was pretty much useless.
His genius plan was for us to charm or trick answers out of one of the other grand princes, preferably not one we were currently living with, which meant jumping into the thick of Hell’s high society. The plan sounded terrible to me, but Astaroth was sure the grand princes would take an interest in two angels showing up at their parties. I believe his exact words were “Everyone will be more than happy to test you, push you, see if they can break you.”
But Laila had agreed to the plan, and I wasn’t about to let her go without me. So like it or not, I was going to go rub elbows with the demons of the Devil’s court.
I stopped pacing and glared at the bedroom door as if that would make it open. Laila had been getting ready for the party at Mammon’s tonight for what felt like hours. I didn’t like leaving her alone. How long did it take to get dressed?
She wanted me to see her as an equal, thought my urge to protect her came from a belief that she was weak. But she was wrong. I didn’t think she was weak at all. I thought she was important, worth far more than I was.
The door swung open, and it felt like I’d just been punched in the chest. Laila was always gorgeous, but when she was actually trying to be, she was something else entirely.
Her platinum-blond hair had been pulled back in a high ponytail with a couple of strands left out to frame her face. The style showed off the many silver hoops that now climbed up her ears. Dark makeup lined her eyes, drawing attention to them. And for a second, I couldn’t look away from her gaze.
Slowly I let my eyes travel down her body. She was wearing a two-piece dress. The top was a pale pink, nearly identical to the color of her flesh with garnets creating an elegant detailing of swirls and flowers. I wanted to kiss the skin of her exposed shoulders, to run my tongue up to the edge of the fabric around her neck.
The top ended several inches above the sparkly waistband of the burgundy skirt, showing off her flat stomach. The skirt barely reached midthigh in the front, with layers of see-through material hanging lower in the back.
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her bare legs. I wanted to drop to my knees and worship every inch of exposed skin. To feel her under my hands, my lips.
“Well?” she asked. “What do you think?”
There was no way I could answer that honestly. She looked delectable, like temptation made flesh. Or rather her flesh was the temptation.
I swallowed hard. “You look beautiful,” I forced out.
She frowned. “You don’t mean that.”
I winced. How could she tell? It was the truth. Shedidlook beautiful, but she was so much more than that. “You look like seduction, and it honestly hurts to keep my hands off you.”
Her lips parted and my dick throbbed in response. “Youdomean that,” she whispered, sounding surprised and pleased.
“You have no idea how much, snow angel.” I flexed my fingers at my sides. God, I wanted to touch her. That strip of skin between her top and skirt called to me.
I tore my gaze away from her body, but looking at her eyes was worse. I didn’t want Laila just for her body. I wanted her for her heart and soul.
Jade-green eyes locked on mine, and I could have sworn I saw my own hunger reflected back at me. But Laila couldn’t want me. I was wrong for her in every way possible.
“We should probably get going,” I said, holding out a hand to her.
She placed her hand in mine, and I noticed a line of script right where the back of her hand met her wrist.
“What is this?” I pulled her hand closer, but the words were in a demonic language I couldn’t read. In that moment, I would have given anything to have even just Micah’s level of demonic knowledge.
Laila tugged her hand back and took a deep breath. “Promise me you won’t freak out.”
