“Lying assholes?”
Idess snorted. “Yeah.”
“Do you know Reaver?” When Idess nodded, Lilliana breathed a sigh of relief. “He can vouch for me.”
Idess’s expression lit up. “If Reaver is cool with you, then so am I. Welcome to the family, Lilliana.”
Lilliana appreciated the welcome, and the family thing sounded awesome. But she doubted it would happen. Hell, she was lucky Azagoth hadn’t killed her. There was no way he’d forgive her.
Betray me and you’ll see exactly how unforgiving I can be. There are no second chances.
Chapter Twenty
Azagoth stood in the courtyard outside of his palace, staring into the murky waters swirling around in the black-streaked fountain. What had, for a few short days, been pristine white was now smeared with sooty residue. The once-crystal water had stagnated, its surface so thick with slime that it resembled industrial sludge.
His belly hurt and his heart ached, and his throat was raw from screaming. He missed Lilliana as much as he hated her. No, that wasn’t entirely accurate. He missed her more than he hated her. And truth be told, he didn’t hate her...he hated what she’d planned to do.
“Father.”
The familiar voice came from out of nowhere, and he wheeled around. Idess stood on the stone pathway that led from the portal, dressed in jeans and a fitted violet silk blouse with matching strappy sandals. The desire to hug her damned near made him tremble.
But so did the fear that she was the rotten icing on the cake, here to tell him to fuck off like everyone else. Bracing himself, he waited.
“I spoke with Lilliana,” she said, and his heart shot into his throat. “She’s worried about you.”
He snorted. “She should be worried about herself. After the archangels relieve her of her time travel ability, she’s going to be miserable.” He should be happy about that, but no, the thought of her suffering only dragged him deeper into the pit of despair he’d dug for himself. “How is it that you spoke with her?”
“She came to me at Underworld General. She told me what Methicore did. And she gave me this.” Idess reached into her purse and withdrew a polished sapphire globe about the size of a softball. “She stole it from the Time Travel Department.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a miniature viewing stone. It’s practically useless to Heaven because it requires permission from those you want to spy on...and who in their right mind consents to that?” She shrugged. “But somehow Lilliana convinced hundreds of my brothers and sisters to give permission. It’s not the same as them being able to visit, but it’s better than nothing. Some of them even sent messages and invitations to contact them. They’re all about Skype.”
He had no idea what to say, even if he could speak. His voice was gone, clogged by the emotion in his throat. Idess handed the shiny ball to him, the solid weight of it sitting heavy on his soul. Lilliana had done this even after the way he’d treated her?
You treated her that way because she lied to you. She deceived you.
Somehow, none of that seemed to be important right now, which was strange, because he had never treated betrayal lightly. Had anyone else done what she did, they’d be gracing his great hall right now, frozen in a screaming statue.
“Father,” Idess said softly. “I know this is none of my business, but I think you should cut her some slack.”
He rolled the globe around in his palms, strangely comforted by the fact that Lilliana had once held it in her own graceful hands. “You don’t know what she did.” His voice was humiliatingly hoarse.
“Yes, I do. She came down here to steal the chronoglass and return to Heaven.” Idess dropped her bag on the ground and gazed out at the devastated landscape. “Did she ever tell you why she was given the choice to come here or have her ability taken away?”
“She broke out of the shrowd.”
“Yes, but did she tell you why she did that?”
He frowned. She’d always skirted around the issue or changed the subject, never lighting on talk of her punishment or the shrowd for long. “No, she didn’t.”
“She did it because she was taken prisoner by an angel named Stamtiel. He forced her to travel into the past to search for some sort of holy object he could use to wrest power away from one of the archangels. She refused, even when he tortured her.”
His breath burned in his throat, and his voice turned smoky with the depth of his anger. “He tortured her?”
“Badly. He wrecked her, Father. To save herself, she agreed to do his bidding, but it was a trick. She went into the past and then broke out of the shrowd in hopes that angels would rescue her. They did, but they were angels from the past. What she did was highly illegal, and it caused a lot of problems. Memories had to be wiped, and getting her back to the present was a long, involved process that required more memory alterations.”
“So she was punished for escaping her torturer?”
Idess nodded. “You know how Heaven operates. Rules are rules, and they can’t be broken for any reason.”
Bastards. “Why would she tell you all of this but not tell me?”
“She didn’t tell me. I asked Reaver to do a little digging, and he discovered all of that. The reason she didn’t tell you is that she doesn’t remember the worst of it.”
“Why not?”
“She was in bad shape,” Idess explained. “The angels knew she needed to be punished, but even they felt sorry for her, so they altered her memories. She knows she was kidnapped and that she escaped, but she has no recollection of the horrors Stamtiel inflicted on her.” Idess pursed her lips in disgust. “Father, she came here to steal your property, but somehow, she managed to fall for you, and given her past, even if she can’t consciously remember it, that’s kind of a miracle.”
He squeezed his eyes shut, but his vicious actions replayed on the back of his eyelids. “I’m such a fool.”
“Males always are,” she muttered.
“Did you give your...” He held up the orb, afraid to even ask if she’d consented to allow him to check up on her from afar.
For a moment, Idess looked perplexed. “Why would I?”
“You’re siding with Methicore, then.”
She grimaced. “Hardly. I didn’t infuse my permission into the globe because I’m not Memitim. I can visit your realm anytime I want to. And if you want to see me, send one of your griminions. Or heck, send an e-mail. I’ll come, Father.”
He gaped at her. “You’d visit me? For no reason other than that I requested it?”
“Of course.” She shrugged. “I didn’t know you wanted me here or I’d have come more often. And when my son is born, I’ll bring him, too.”
He sucked in a sharp breath. “You’re pregnant?”
“Soon,” she said. “With all the apocalyptic crap that happened recently, Lore and I wanted to wait until we knew we wouldn’t be bringing a child into a shitty world. It’s still shitty, but between Lore’s family, the Horsemen, and Reaver and Harvester, I know my son will have a powerful, loving family to depend on. And, of course, you.”
He hugged her, something he’d never done before. It was awkward and stiff at first, but when she relaxed into him, an emotional earthquake rocked him. This was his first true connection with one of his children, and he hoped it wouldn’t be the last.
He tried not to think of the children he might have had with Lilliana as he reluctantly pulled back.
“Thank you, Idess,” he said, his voice thick with the force of what he felt for her. “You’ve already done so much, but I have one favor to ask of you.”
“Anything.”
“Tell her...tell her I love her.”
Idess stepped away. “I can’t do that,” she said, and his heart sank. “But you can tell her yourself.”
She turned, and he followed her gaze to the steps of his mansion, where Lilli was standing...in a flowing white gown, just as she’d been dressed when she’d first arrived. Her hair wa
s long and loose, the way he liked it, and peeking out from under the hem of the gown were her bare toes, painted bright cherry red.
He closed the distance between them in less time than it took to blink. Then he stood there like a dolt on the step beneath hers. He’d had so much to say to her just a few seconds ago, and now he was completely blank.
“Hi,” she said.
He couldn’t even manage that. Dolt.
“Um...” She cleared her throat. “I’m not sure where to start. I originally came here with every intention of stealing your chronoglass and leaving.” Her eyes grew liquid, and it took every ounce of restraint he had not to reach for her. “And then I...I started falling for you. I put off taking the chronoglass so I could stay, and then I changed my mind, but by then...”
“By then it was too late,” he finished. God, he was an ass. “I’m sorry too,” he croaked. “I should have let you explain. I should have listened. Instead, all I could think about was how I’d let another female deceive me. I went back to that dark place from so long ago, and it wasn’t fair to you. Please forgive me, Lilli. Please.”
A tear dripped down her cheek. “Only if you forgive me.”
He caught the tear with his finger, and damn, it felt good to touch her again. “It doesn’t matter. None of it matters.” His heart thumped against his rib cage. “Tell me you’re here to stay. Tell me—”
She silenced him with a kiss. When she pulled away, she was smiling. “The window for me to leave closed sixty seconds after I got here.”
He stepped back and nearly fell down the stairs. “Lilli, damn...you took a huge risk. What if you’d gotten here and I was in a rage? Or if I never forgave you?”
“Then I’d spend the rest of eternity making it up to you.” She grinned. “I can be pretty persuasive. It wouldn’t have taken an eternity. Besides, I figured I could hold that hour a day of time traveling over your head.”
He grimaced. Ran his hand through his hair. Looked down at his shoes. They were dirty. “Ah...about that. I sort of destroyed the chronoglass.”
“You what?”
“I know. I’m an idiot. I just—”
Abruptly, she gripped his arm in a bruising hold. “Azagoth! Look.”
Cranking his head around, he took in the new splendor of his realm. His daughter was gaping in disbelief as the scorched earth once again sprouted with lush, green grass. The gnarled, charred trees straightened, their blackened bark peeling away to leave healthy wood in its place. Leaves unfurled along branches that stabbed up into an infinitely blue sky. And all around, the fountains spewed crystal water against the backdrop of pristine white buildings.
“That’s your doing, Lilli,” he breathed, his love for her flowing through his veins and through the realm. “This is all because of you.”
She sidled up close, drawing him to her with arms around his waist. “We’ve been over this. It’s you. Because you can feel again.”
“Yes,” he said, as he dipped his head to kiss her, “I can feel.” He could feel everything now. Love. Joy. Tenderness. Against the soft warmth of her lips, he whispered, “But all of the beauty infusing my realm is simply a reflection of what I see when I look at you.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Eight days had passed since Lilli returned to Sheoul-gra, but to Azagoth, the realm now seemed like Heaven.
He could tell she missed being able to time travel, but maybe he could arrange for an artifact that would allow her to get out of here every once in a while. He’d heard that some objects, such as the one her torturer had possessed, could transport the user to a very specific time and place.
Better than nothing, he supposed.
He’d been keeping her busy with plans for the newest Inner Sanctum level, and it wouldn’t be long before construction would start. She’d also been tending to the new growth in the realm, but soon she was going to need a definitive purpose. He just hadn’t figured out what. He definitely didn’t want her involved in soul reaping or visiting any of the Inner Sanctum levels.
A tap on his office door brought him out of his planning, and he hoped it was Lilli, in from outside for a lunch break and, if he was lucky, a little between the sheets action. Or on the floor action. Or against the wall action. Or maybe if he was very lucky, she’d done something deserving of a spanking.
He wasn’t particularly picky.
“Come,” he called out.
The door burst open, and the Four Horsemen’s Heavenly Watcher, Harvester, swept in, dressed in super-skimpy attire as usual. Her mate, Reaver, must love her barely-there black leather miniskirt and thigh-high boots. Azagoth needed to get that outfit for Lilliana, ASAP.
“Azagoth.” Harvester brushed her long black hair back from her face. “I assume you’re calling in that favor I owe you?”
“I am.” He sat back in his chair and folded his hands across his abs. “I need an angel to be dead.”
She gave a haughty sniff. “You do realize I’m not a fallen angel anymore. I can’t go around killing angels for fun. Not that I wouldn’t like to, mind you. But sadly, Heaven frowns on angels who assassinate other angels.”
“You will handle this,” he said, allowing a thread of warning to weave into his voice. “When I allowed you into the Inner Sanctum to rescue Reaver, you agreed to bring me one item and one person of my choice. Stamtiel is my person.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Stam? Heaven has been looking for him for years. Do you know where he is?”
He nodded. His network of spies and people who owed him favors had made fast work of his request to locate the bastard. “He abused Lilliana. I want his soul.”
“Can’t you send your griminions out to give him a heart attack or something?”
“Come now, Harvester. You know they can only kill demons and evil humans.” And even then, there were rules he had to follow.
“Hmm.” Tapping her chin with one blue-lacquered nail, she appeared to consider that. “Swear to me that if I agree, I will be free of my debt to you.”
A strange request, since that was the deal they’d struck already, but what the hell. “I swear.”
“Then I agree.” She shrugged. “So how are things going with your...what should I call her...prisoner?”
He looked past her shoulder at the female just now entering the office. “Why don’t you ask Lilli?”
Lilliana strode inside, giving Harvester a polite, but forced, smile. “Hello.”
“Lilliana, this is Harvester.”
Lilliana checked up short, as if she’d hit an invisible barrier. “H-Harvester,” she stammered. “I, ah, know your Reaver.” Wincing, she shook her head. Damn, she hadn’t even been this flustered when she’d met him. “I mean mate. I mean, I know your mate, Reaver.”
Harvester cocked her head and studied Lilli. “Have you fucked him?”
Lilliana choked. Maybe he should tell Harvester to stop messing with her, but this was kind of amusing.
“N-no.” Lilli waved her hands vehemently. “We’re just friends.”
“Oh,” Harvester said brightly. “Then you can keep your head. And geez, don’t be so nervous. Also, you should probably know that it was your friendship with Reaver that got you sent down here.”
“What?” Lilli blurted breathlessly. “How?”
Harvester’s smile was sour. “Raphael and Reaver have a...past. Now that Reaver has been raised to Radiant status, he’s far more powerful than Raphael, and he can’t strike at Reaver the way he wants to, so he’s finding other ways to punish him. When you did Reaver’s Christmas shopping, it gave Raphael a reason to go after you.” Her tone turned apologetic, something Azagoth had never heard from the notoriously prickly angel. “You got caught in the crossfire. I’m sorry.”
Lilli looked down, and for a long moment, Azagoth feared the worst. That she was wishing she’d never gotten involved in a power struggle between an archangel and a Radiant.
But when she looked up again, there was fire in her gorgeous eyes. “A couple
of weeks ago, this would be upsetting news. But today? I think I’m very fortunate that Raphael has it in for Reaver.”
Harvester rolled her eyes, but Azagoth’s heart got all stupid happy. Then a thought occurred to him.
“Harvester,” he began, “if you knew why Lilliana was sent here, then you must have known about Stamtiel.”
Now her eyes went wide with exaggerated innocence. “Moi?”
He stared, and she huffed.
“Okay, fine. Yes, I knew. And I suspect that Raphael was involved in Lilliana’s kidnapping as well. Stamtiel was Raphael’s friend until he went rogue. Raphael denies that they are still friends, but he’s also a lying bastard. I’d bet my shiny new halo that Raphael put Stamtiel up to kidnapping Lilliana, but I think her escape wasn’t part of the plan. In any case, I’d already intended to destroy the bastard for what he did to her. You didn’t need to call in my debt to you.”
Now her odd request earlier, that her debt would be paid if she killed Stamtiel, made sense. If he’d known that she was already planning to kill Stammy, he wouldn’t have wasted the request on her. Well, fuck. But he had to admire her cunning.
She turned to Lilliana. “I also knew you didn’t sleep with Reaver. I was screwing with you. That, I’m not sorry for. Now,” she said, “if we’re through here, I have an angel to hunt down.”
“See Zhubaal in his office.” Azagoth stood. “He’ll give you the information you need to find the son of a bitch.”
Harvester nodded in farewell. “Oh,” she said, as she strode out the doorway, “I almost forgot. Reaver left you a present outside.”
The moment Harvester was gone, Lilli turned to him. “A present?”
Azagoth groaned. “I had Hades hold Reaver in the belly of a giant demon in Sheoul-gra’s Sanctum for three months. The present is likely not a good one.” He took her hand. “Let’s go see what we’re in for.”
Once outside, he inhaled the air, thick with the fragrance of apple blossoms. He still couldn’t believe the transformation. And then he saw it. Movement in one of the trees.