The demon prince opened one of them and pushed me inside a square cell with plain stone walls and floor. A wooden bench was attached to one of the walls with heavy chains. Windows were set high above our heads, letting in patches of sunlight. Which didn’t make any sense because it was supposed to be nighttime. But it definitelylookedlike morning.
“Stay still and I’ll take the shackles off,” the demon said.
I felt the key fitting into one cuff and then the other. The metal fell away, and there was a hard shove in the center of my back. By the time I regained my balance, the door was thudding shut behind me, the sound echoing in the room that would likely be my home for the foreseeable future.
TWENTY-SIX
Laila
I pacedthe beautiful bedroom I’d been shown to last night. The waiting was driving me crazy.
I’d expected to be chained and taken away, either back to the prison realm or some other holding cell, one that would be even harder to escape from, but none of the princes had made a move toward me. They’d all been there in the throne room—minus the one who’d left with Joriel—lines of gorgeous young men who looked every bit the part of the first Fallen. Their ages appeared to range between about sixteen and early thirties.
I could almost picture them long ago with hopes of grandeur as they rebelled against God with Lucifer at their head. They’d once been young men who dreamed of more, of rising above the positions they’d been given.
They had been wrong, at least in my opinion, but there was always something attractive about people fighting for what they believed in. And even standing in Lucifer’s throne room, I hadn’t been able to find it in me to hate them.
I’d recognized about half the grand princes, but friend, foe, or stranger, they’d all looked at me with equally impassive expressions.
None of them had come forward to fasten shackles around my wrists. Lucifer had watched me for a long moment after Joriel was dragged out of the room before dropping the bomb of all bombs.If you wish to leave Hell, my dear, all you have to do is say the word. You are not a prisoner in my land. You, angel of the light, are a guest.
Just thinking about Lucifer’s words made my blood boil. He was so freaking charming. It was actually easy to see how he’d gained followers, sucked them in with his promises and lies about a better future. As if such a thing could really exist. I had no doubt he was the only reason the other grand princes were stuck in Hell now.
But I hadn’t been in the mood to be seduced by the Devil and his charms.
I could still hear my laughter filling the throne room, the lack of humor and utter wrongness of it.Do you make a habit of dragging your guests through your home against their will?
And he’d had the nerve to apologize, to act like he hadn’t had a choice.I am sorry for that. It was an unfortunate situation, one I wish could have been avoided. I would have preferred you not be mixed up in this mess. But you tied yourself to what is mine, and I had no good options.
It might have sounded believable if I didn’t know the truth of why Joriel had agreed to give Lucifer his soul. I knew what it really looked like to have no good options. It was the choice between saving yourself and saving someone else. Or even worse, the choice between two different people you loved.
But I wasn’t convinced Lucifer had ever made a truly difficult choice. He’d chosen himself in every case, taken as much as he could from every situation. Once upon a time, he’d let all his friends, his followers,fallwith him rather than take responsibility for the war he’d started or appeal to the Father’s mercy.
I wouldn’t make that choice. I wasn’t leaving Joriel behind while I got out of Hell. I didn’t need “time to think about it” like Lucifer had told me to when he gave me this pretty bedroom. I knew my decision from the moment the choice was presented to me. I wasn’t going back on the promises I’d made on my wedding day. I’d meant it when I told Joriel I would never forsake him, that I would walk through life by his side. I wasn’t going to turn my back on him simply because I’d been offered an easy way out.
A knock sounded on the bedroom door. “May I come in?” an unfamiliar voice asked.
“By all means,” I said, my fingers hovering over the slit in my skirt where my dagger was concealed.
The door opened to reveal the prince who’d taken Joriel out of the throne room. He was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen. His face was the kind of perfection that seemed like it shouldn’t be real, except for his amber eyes. There was something about them that made me sure he was very much a real person who felt and lived.
Those eyes flicked to the untouched bed behind me before settling back on my face. He knew I hadn’t been resting or taking advantage of the room I’d been given.
“Where is Joriel?” I demanded before he could say anything.
Prince Beautiful grimaced. I had no idea what his name was or what sin he ruled over, and I honestly couldn’t care less at the moment. “Laila, I’m going to be honest with you.”
I snorted. I was an angel of the first order—I’d know if he wasn’t being honest.
“Getting to Joriel is going to take a lot of time and a tremendous amount of pain, the kind no man would ever wish on the woman he loved. You can leave here, go back to the life you had before. All you have to do is walk away.”
“You’re saying I should just leave my husband to face Hell on his own?”
“I’m not trying to tell you what to do. That’s a decision only you can make. I’m just telling you that getting to him will be hard, and if you have even a sliver of doubt that you can do this, you shouldn’t attempt it. You have to be all in or you won’t make it. And once you find him, getting back will be just as hard.”
“Where is he?” I asked again.
“In Lucifer’s personal prison deep under the palace. In the very heart of Hell.”
