Page 113 of Endless Terrors
The rest of the meal was tense but uneventful. After our plates had been cleared away, Asmodeus insisted on one more drink.
“You didn’t get a chance to browse the collection,” he told us, rising. “Say what you will about Sthenno and Euryale, but they were passionate about the arts. They spent centuries searching for materials and creators.”
The four of us began to wander the room. Heilel stayed within touching distance, making a point of not leaving me alone with his brothers. I could see Samael from the corner of my eye. Although he didn’t approach us, or even stand near us, it was obvious the prince wanted to say something.
“Maybe you should hear him out,” I said, scanning the black-framed painting in front of us. It was a landscape, but not like any landscape I had seen before. Rather than meadows, mountains, or flowers, there were eerie rock formations, a red sky, and a scaly tail stretching casually out of the darkness. The tail alone looked the size of a small house, and I decided I had absolutely no desire to meet whatever was attached to it.
Heilel tossed the final dregs of his drink back, and his throat moved as he swallowed. He didn’t look at me as he said, “Please don’t try to repair things between me and Samael.”
“Or what? Are you going to bend me over your knee as punishment?” I crooned, brushing my hip slowly against his. Trying to lighten the mood, or make him smile, at the very least.
“Punishment?” In a flash, Heilel pulled me against his chest. His breath of laughter stirred the hair at my temple. “We both know you would enjoy it far too much to constitute punishment.”
His mouth traced the shell of my ear, sending shivers through me. I suppressed a smile and turned around, putting my hands over his heart. Maybe it was because he lived in another dimension, or because he was an original angel, but it was much faster than any heartbeat I’d felt before. It made me think of a hummingbird.
“Go talk to him,” I said softly, giving his chest a gentle push. “People can surprise you sometimes.”
Heilel’s jaw flexed, and his eyes flicked between mine. Whatever he saw made him silence the refusal he’d been about to give. With a soft, swift kiss to the side of my head, the devil turned and moved toward the other end of the room. I watched him go, twisting the stem of my glass between my thumb and index finger.
Truthfully, I didn’t give a shit about Heilel’s relationship with his brother. What I was interested in was self-preservation, and as long as Samael blamed me for the rift between them, I would be an obstacle. A target. According to Heilel, if anyone was killed in this dimension, it would wipe their soul from existence. I didn’t plan to go out like that, and I sure as hell didn’t plan to die on an altar.
Another figure sidled up beside me. Even if I hadn’t glimpsed his robe in my peripheral vision, Asmodeus’s scent was becoming easy to recognize. He smelled like incense, maybe, or candles.
“He’s different with you,” Asmodeus mused, watching Heilel. “I think this is what my brother looks like when he’s … happy.”
The wonderment in his voice made me smile. But the smile froze on my face as a memory popped into my thoughts. It was that word, happy. I thought of the last time I’d truly felt joy, and I saw Matthew, his tiny face wreathed in smiles. His nose and ears red-tinted from the cold. Damon nearby, a snowball clutched in his glove. All of us surrounded by ice, and trees, and blue sky.
Home.
Heilel had either picked up on the shift in my mood, or he was eager to leave himself, because I felt his hand on my arm a moment before he said, “We should go. I’d prefer to avoid the necrool.”
Asmodeus’s eyebrows rose. “The necrool are little more than pests, and yet the King of Hell is adjusting his schedule to stay out of their way? Is someone getting old, Heilel?”
“Let’s step outside, and I’ll show you how old I am.”
Even in Hell, males were so typical. Asmodeus’s chest puffed, and the two of them started walking off, as if they were really about to scuffle. I bit my lip, secretly enjoying their interaction. Then I felt the prince behind me move closer, and my smile vanished. Samael’s breath heated my ear. “Farewell, Lady Sworn.”
“Goodbye, Samael,” I said flatly. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of sensing the fear that crept up my spine at his proximity. My gaze stayed on Asmodeus and Heilel.
“May I give my new sister an embrace?” Samael asked. I started to say Fuck no, but he was already reaching for me. I stood there, stiff as a board, as the prince pressed close and cupped the back of my head. Then he whispered, “You are nothing more than his pet. Remember that.”
My first reaction was involuntary. My gut churned and it was like I’d been punched. I started to believe him … and then another voice crowded in. More familiar to me than a lullaby, and one I trusted infinitely more than this spineless asshole. I pictured Emma Miller’s gentle smile and her soft features.
Never forget how strong you are. Or that you are loved.
As we pulled apart, I looked into Samael’s eyes and gave him a small, crooked smile. “And you’re nothing more than second best. The eternal runner-up. I won’t bother advising you not to forget it, because something tells me you never do.”
“Are you ready?” Heilel called, standing near the enormous doors. He was looking at us with an inscrutable expression, and I wondered if he’d heard any of our exchange. Heilel must’ve put his wings on while I was distracted, because they shone in the burnt glow of a nearby torch, folded and tucked against his back.
I drew back from Samael, and I didn’t bother with parting words or taunting smiles. I’d poked the beast enough for one night. I’d also fucking won, and we both knew it. I turned my back on Samael and walked over to Asmodeus and Heilel.
“Thank you for having me,” I said to the younger brother, allowing him to see my sincerity.
As if he knew how rare it was, Asmodeus smiled. “You are always welcome in my city, Lady Sworn.”
With a grip lighter than the strange mist outside, he bent and skimmed his lips across the back of my hand. Then he straightened and nodded at the staff members waiting by the doors. They pulled on the massive handles. Once again, Asmodeus didn’t attempt to hug me, and it only made me like him more. I pulled my hand out of his and went to Heilel, who put an arm around my waist and led me back into the sisters’ eerie collection of the dead.
The doors started to close behind us, the hinges groaning like wounded giants. Heilel and I walked away, my boots making soft sounds against the rock. But just as Heilel spread his wings and started to reach for me, Asmodeus’s voice cut through the courtyard.
