Page 86 of Endless Terrors
I was about to seduce the devil.
Fighting the urge to swallow, because I knew he would hear it, I faced Lucifer. “Truth or dare?” I breathed, my eyes on his mouth.
Lucifer paused. I didn’t look up at his eyes, so I couldn’t tell if it was surprise or caution that made him go still. But his stillness didn’t last long—not after I brought up my hands and laid them on his chest. Slowly, the King of Hell bent his head. A lock of his soft hair brushed my forehead, and I felt his hand curve around my waist.
“Dare,” he said, his voice huskier than usual.
Adrenaline shot through my veins and hit my heart like an electric jolt, sending it into a rapid beat. Lucifer had done exactly what I had hoped.
All night, I’d been holding onto a single dare. Waiting for this moment. Praying for my chance.
It was the wild card. The surprise move on the chessboard. The twist ending of the movie. I’d thought of it while I was pacing in the library, and I’d known, in my gut, this would work and win me the game. The only problem had been getting Lucifer to actually agree to a dare.
Thankfully, the devil was male—however ancient he might be, however intelligent and cunning, he still thought with his dick. That was a given no matter what species I was dealing with.
So I smiled up at Lucifer with all the satisfaction of a hunter finding an animal in the trap, or the cat who’d cornered a mouse. “I dare you to show me what’s behind that mysterious door,” I said.
There was another pause, and I could have sworn the temperature dropped. Lucifer looked down at me. He was probably working out that I’d planned this. So much depended on what he did next. Everything depended on it. My heart beat so hard that I could hear it in my ears. I used it to mark the seconds. One. Two. Three.
“I yield,” the devil said at last. “You win our wager, fair queen.”
Excitement sent my heart into a rising crescendo. “You’ll honor it?”
“Of course I will.” His voice was soft. “I’ll notify my staff in the morning.”
“Okay. Thanks. Well, good night, I guess.” It felt like such a strange, stilted note to leave on, considering everything we’d said tonight, but I had no idea what else to say. I gave Lucifer an awkward nod and began to turn away, reaching for the doorknob.
“Lady Sworn,” Lucifer said. I turned back. He kept his eyes on mine, and there was a soft vulnerability in the way his demeanor shifted. “My name is Heilel.”
I went still. It was such a simple statement, just four words, but it was the first piece of himself that he’d ever given me. It changed things, somehow.
I felt a rush of fear, and I spun back around, desperate to hide my reaction from Lucifer. He would figure out what I was really afraid of. For some reason, the thought of him knowing that was more terrifying than anything else I’d seen in Hell. I reached for the doorknob again.
“Allow me,” Lucifer said, his hand already on it. I hadn’t even seen him move. I felt his breath on the back of my neck, and another ripple of desire went through me, stronger this time. It felt like there was a tiny voice in my head, pleading. Urging.
Give in. Give in. Give in.
God forgive me, I wanted to. I really wanted to. It felt like I was hanging off the edge of a cliff, holding on with just my fingertips. I needed something else to grab onto.
A new question formed in my head.
I spoke over my shoulder because I couldn’t bring myself to fully face him. “Truth or dare?”
He searched my gaze, a faint line between his eyebrows. As if he’d stumbled upon something strange in his path, and he didn’t know what it was. “Truth,” Lucifer said.
No surprise there—the devil had been surprisingly forthcoming this evening. He was either determined to win my approval or, just as I was nervous about what truths I might reveal, worried about what my dares could expose.
But the truth was always worse. Strange the devil hadn’t figured that out yet.
My voice was quiet. Like the whistle of air just before an ax fell. “When was the last time you did something good?”
Lucifer looked back at me, and his expression was impenetrable as ever. The silence stretched on. And on, and on.
When it became apparent that he wouldn’t—couldn’t—answer, I felt my lips curve into a small, humorless smile. “That’s what I thought,” I said. “Good night, Lucifer.”
He flinched as the name cut between us. We both knew it was my way of throwing his gift back in his face. I’d never tell him how those soft words floated in my mind. My name is Heilel.
Without waiting for a response, I put my back to him and stepped inside the guest suite. I didn’t look back, but I could feel Lucifer’s eyes on me as I closed the door. I leaned against it and willed my heart to slow down.
