by Meg Xuemei X
Lilith, in all her dark glory, emerged. The mist cleared a little, revealing her standing behind an entrance adorned with swirling blue blossoms made of light.
She wore a crown of stars, diamonds, and power. Her flimsy gown highlighted her gorgeous shape. The blue gown flowed along her body in the breeze, and her alluring scent grew heady.
Her eyes shone with seduction that no male—god, immortal, or mortal—could resist. She was the Queen of Everything. Her beauty surpassed even the goddesses’, and her dark power rippled the electrified air.
CHAPTER 22
Lucifer, the Lord of Hell
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Lucifer gazed at the woman in front of him with desire he hadn’t felt for any other female for a very long time.
Lilith’s beauty was unparalleled in any era and any corner of the universe.
“The queen,” his son murmured in awe. “She’s the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen. I’d give her the world just for a kiss—”
“Shut up, Loki. You have nothing to offer her,” Lucifer snapped, possessive jealousy rippling off him.
The King of Hell stepped toward his former queen but halted a few yards from her.
“Lilith?” he whispered in disbelief, his gaze softening. No one knew he also had a tender side. He was different when he was with her.
He took in her exquisite features, feeling like he was at the brink of starvation. His dark eyes fixed on the silver horns protruding from her temples, and his eyelids grew hooded.
His cock hardened right away.
“I’ve come as I promised,” Lilith purred, her horns turning crimson at the sight of him, indicating she was also turned on.
Lucifer moved half a step closer to her, but then checked himself and halted again. Despite the depth of his lust for her, he was cautious.
“Last time you promised to remove my head, Lilith,” he said darkly, his eyes never straying from her but roaming over her every generous curve.
She’d once been his whole world, but he coveted power more, which was his nature. How could he fight his true nature?
“Can you blame me, Lucifer?” she murmured, his name a caress on her tongue. “You turned on me.”
He shuddered in pleasure just from hearing her silvery, husky voice.
“I regretted it,” he said sleekly. “But you wronged me, too. You fucked Hyperion. Lilith, you fucked another.”
“Oh, the true King of the Titans and the first God of Power, Light, and Fire.”
Lucifer’s eyes burned with jealous rage, but he reined himself in instead of throwing a fit.
Lilith arched an elegant eyebrow, and her horns grew brighter.
“Really, Lucifer? Are we going to quarrel over trivial things after I traveled all the way here to see you because my reckless daughter happened to open a universal portal?”
“That daughter of yours is the worst little monster,” Lucifer sneered.
“Isn’t she?” Lilith asked fondly, then motioned her chin toward Loki behind Lucifer. “What about that bastard son of yours? How many have you produced while I was away?”
“Only one. And he’s but a vessel that has outlived his usefulness. You don’t need to be jealous, Lilith. You know no woman means anything to me, except you. My bastard son will soon be disposed of mercilessly.” He paused to peer into her radiant silver eyes, then at her crimson horns. Possessive lust and jealousy ruled his emotions. “Does the Titan king know you’ve come to see me? Is he comfortable in Tartarus, the pit of the Void? You came from there, didn’t you? How did you manage to breed Celeste and get her out of the Void?” He added softly and regretfully, “No one escapes that forever-damned realm.”
Lilith’s pearl-like laughter was the most enticing melody.
“I’m not in the Void, and I’m no longer with Hyperion.” She sighed. “You know and I know there’s only you for me in the universe. No one can truly replace you, even though I’ve tried hard to get over you and move on.”
Lucifer let out a breath. “It was foolish of you to even try.”
Lilith narrowed her eyes. “Foolish?”
Traces of fire sparked on the tips of her crimson horns.
Lucifer felt his cock grow granite hard. It pricked painfully against his leather pants. It wanted to spring free and bury deeply inside the soft heat of his former queen. He’d always loved her temper.
“Why didn’t you come back to me earlier, Lilith?” he asked, savoring her name on his tongue.
“Pride,” she said. “Isn’t that what made us fall from Heaven in the first place?”
Lucifer looked nostalgic. “We had a good time together.”
A jealous fire burned in Lilith’s eyes. “For eons, you took all kinds of women to your bed.”
“But none were like you,” he said softly, taking another step toward her. “No matter whom I took to warm my bed, they couldn’t sate me. There’s never been anyone like you in the universe, my queen. And there’ll never be anyone like you. I’ve suffered eons of loneliness and misery, which I consider punishment for my sins.”
“We once exchanged vows,” she said.
He choked on emotion. He’d never showed vulnerability in front of anyone except for her.
“The vow hasn’t expired,” he whispered. “I miss you, my queen. I’ve tried to find you. I’m miserable without you. I’ve changed for you.”
She tilted her exquisite head to the side, studying him. Longing for him twirled in her lovely eyes.
“How did you escape the Void, Lilith? Where are you now?” he asked casually, yet his heartbeat spiked.
Regretfully, he found that he coveted her new powers—just like he had coveted her power before.
“Here,” Lilith said with a smile of pride, waving her elegant hand.
The mist lifted, revealing a fairy forest with sparkling stars and golden, blue blossoms behind her.
“I found a new realm lovelier than Heaven,” she said. “It has the purest, most inexhaustible energy. It’s given me power you can’t even imagine.”
Lilith started radiating like the most brilliant star, incredible power rolling off her in spades.
Loki whimpered like a lovesick puppy at the queen’s beauty and glory. Lucifer had no time to snap at his pathetic bastard son. He squinted at his former queen’s power and brightness, envy and lust burning though him.
The corners of Lilith’s eyes crinkled in amusement.
“I’m Queen of Mist,” she said, touching her crown made of star fire and diamonds. In its center, a tiny flame shaped like a bleeding heart blossom shone fiercely.
Lucifer’s gaze followed the leaping flame, coveting it.
“I sense that it contains a great power,” He asked softly. “What is it, love?”
Lilith’s smile turned feral. “The Forevermore Flame. It grants eternal, immense power to its bearer. That’s why I can roam the worlds without limitations. I could even return to Heaven anytime I desired, but I no longer feel the urge. Heaven is like a village compared to my realm. If one day you visit the land of Mist, you’ll know what it’s like. Well, it’s good to see you, darling, but I should go now.”
As she half turned, Lucifer blurted out. “Aren’t you going to invite me to join you, my queen?”
Lilith blinked. “Join me? Why?”
He’d been fed up with Hell and Earth for a long time. He’d been feeling trapped between rocks and fire.
“You said there’s no one like me for you.”
She nodded.
“There’s no one like you for me either. I’ve never stopped loving you, Lilith,” he said, unleashing his sexual power, which could bend any female’s knees.
A satisfied laugh danced in his dark bedroom eyes as he watched the great Lilith, the Queen of Everything, sway her hips for him.
Her scorching lust fueled his.
He hadn’t felt like this in so long. He wanted to shove his cock through her parted, sultry lips. And then he’d bend her over and mount h
er right there, fucking her until she was sore.
He reined himself in before he attacked her. There would be time for that.
“Now that you’ve come to me, my love, I can’t let you go,” he said, his tone as firm as it was sexy. “I can’t give you up. Not again. Never again. I want to renew our vows—just give me a chance.”
Lilith looked hesitant, fear, distrust, and searing desire warring with each other in her eyes. And he saw through her. He saw her resistance and her hatred of her own weakness for him.
He smiled, his cock jerking forward aggressively. Soon, he’d fuck her and make her scream, just like the old days.
“I’ll make it up to you for eternity, my queen. I want to be your king again. I’ll serve you and warm your bed. You can’t find a better lover than me when it comes to pleasuring you, and you know it. You won’t ever regret it if you take me back, I promise.”
She held his immodest gaze, and her horns glowed, her arousal perfuming the air.
She extended her hand toward him, smiling darkly and daringly, just like the night they’d tangled in bed, scheming to go to war against Heaven’s army.
“Don’t make me regret this, Lucifer,” she said.
“You won’t. I vow it,” he said, his heart pounding, his lust burning, as he strode toward her.
Soon he’d be King of Everything. He didn’t need his queen’s brat daughter to reach Heaven. He’d spit at it and mock his former archangel brethren.
He held his queen’s icy hand.
CHAPTER 23
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Lilith—actually, I yanked Lucifer forward with great force, dragging him over the threshold of the portal into the Void.
My glamour dropped.
The backdrop of a dark abyss shifted back, replacing the dreamy fairyland.
The reality was as gritty as it could get.
“It’s only me and all me—Marigold.” I winked at the devil. “Mom suggested I bring you to her. She’d love to catch up with you since you owe her the powers you stole from her. I hope she’ll be as friendly as I am toward you. But then, you probably know Lilith better than me—she never forgives and never forgets.”
“You bitch—” Lucifer screamed, thrusting his claws toward my heart.
I ducked, showing him my real speed, and backhanded him twice in the face.
It wouldn’t leave any angry fingerprints, though. He was the devil.
He swung his arm at me but just then the gravity of the Void, which no one but a native like me could resist for long, pulled him into its embracing pit.
I smirked at Loki, and he stared back at me in tears.
“Your dad is such a douche,” I said. “I had to teach him a lesson.”
He laughed. “That was the best show and finest illusion I’ve ever seen in my life.”
“You sent me Esme/Vi, and she gave me the power of glamour.”
He nodded and swallowed.
“We made it, Celeste. We fucking made it.”
He had made it, and I had lost everything except victory over my immortal enemies.
Tears streamed down my sooty face.
Soon, I would have to part with my mates again.
I had dragged both the devil and the god into the Void. Neither of them could escape, but I needed to take an extra safety precaution and seal the portal.
I hadn’t known how to open it, but as I’d seen how Loki had done it, my magic had learned the trick. I could seal it, and not even Loki could re-open it.
I wouldn’t let my mates follow me into the Void and be trapped there forever.
“Tell my mates I’ll find a way return to them,” I said, still teary.
When I came back to them, I’d travel to the death realm for Zak, just as my demigods had tried to bring me back when they thought I had passed over the veil to the afterlife.
“May we meet again, little sis,” Loki said.
“You’re the King of Hell now,” I said. “Don’t forget your promise to take care of my friends who fought for us. Let my mates take Lisa and her sister to their Half-Earth. Hell isn’t safe for them.”
“I’ll protect them,” Loki said. “But I’ll respect your wish.”
I twisted the liquid mirror that connected the two realms and closed the portal.
Gravity from the core of the Void sucked me into the spinning tunnel where cold stars wheeled. Pain shattered me and I screamed.
When the force tossed me out into a valley, I doubled over, my fingers digging into the dried grass and dirt, and sobbed.
CHAPTER 24
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I’d vowed to return to my mates at all costs, but I had no illusion that it would be soon.
The battle wasn’t over. I had to make sure that Lucifer and Ares stayed the fuck down in the Void.
But my mates—
I wept openly and loudly. No one was here to hear me cry my eyes out anyway.
My heart ached so much.
A flare of light flickered by the corner of my eyes.
My spine straightened and my muscles tensed.
A gust of wind swept over the valley from behind me, sending my hair flying all over my face.
I drew my demon sword—I’d lost the katana gifted by the Duke of Wickedness in the battle—and turned my head, tears and dirt smudging my face.
A pair of massive, glossy wings spread wide in their glorious rage, carrying starlight on their feather tips.
I was stunned. Before I could shout out in joy, Héctor had pulled me into his arms. The warmth and silkiness of his wings wrapped around me, comforting me. But it didn’t last long. A second later, his wings vanished.
As the wind passed, the rest of my mates landed behind Héctor, with Paxton and Axel supporting Zak on either side.
Zak’s chest was sealed, yet a long, deep scar remained on his bare skin.
Lucifer would pay for that further when I found him in the Void!
The demigods closed in on me, their power and devotion calling for me, heating my blood.
I choked back a sob. “Zak. I saw you die.”
But my Zak lived!
Joy washed over the grief that I hadn’t had time to process.
“Héctor brought him back from the dead before we followed you here,” Paxton said. “That’s why we were a bit late, Buttercup.”
“How?” I asked, gazing up at my Héctor in a mist of tears as gratitude filled my heart.
Then I noticed differences in my beloved Héctor. The death light no longer shone in him, and there was this hollowness inside him where his demigod power used to pulse like a galaxy’s icy fire.
I pressed my palms over his chest, trying to feel his death fire again. And I got my confirmation—it was vacant.
Tears rolled from my eyes. My Héctor had become a mortal.
I darted a gaze between Zak and Héctor, and the truth dawned on me.
Héctor had vowed to me that he could bring me back from the dead in the Dreaming, but he had never said it would cost him his demigod power and immortality.
My heart bled.
“What matters is we’re all together now,” Héctor said gently, his large hand caressing my cheek, his thumb wiping away my tears.
“I sealed the portal,” I said, trying to be strong for them. “How did you sift in?”
“We tracked you,” Zak said, swaying on his feet, as he was still recovering. Judging by his joyful exuberance, he didn’t seem to know about Héctor’s sacrifice—that his cousin had become a mortal for him. “We followed the mating bond.” He grinned at me. “If we’d been a nanosecond slower, the portal’s door would have ground us to dust.”
I blinked in horror, my heart pounding.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—I was trying to—”
I’d been trying to spare them by preventing them from coming after me. And in doing so, I’d almost killed them.
“You can never get rid of us, Cookie,” Axel said with a smile, exuding sexiness. My puls
e picked up. This never got old. “We go where you go. We’ll never let you be alone again.”
“We’ll never let you get lost, love,” Paxton said.
They all pressed in to embrace me. I could no longer tell whose arms were around me, whose hands were all over me, whose solid chest I leaned my head against, and whose lips I kissed while I stood up on tiptoe.
A beast whimpered and growled beside us. I twisted my torso amid my mates to see what was going on.
My hellhound was trying to brush my possessive men aside to get a piece of me.
Somehow, he’d hitched a ride with my mates.
How had that happened?
“Angel!” I shrieked in delight, and he barked in response, raising his heads outside the walls created by my mates’ embrace, baring his fangs, and grinning at me.
He was no longer Loki’s. He was mine, through and through.
His ears suddenly pricked up
The valley shook under our feet; the surrounding mountains rumbled.
“What the fu—?”
Before I finished my curse, Ares and Lucifer emerged at the other end of the valley and shot toward us like menacing arrows.
My mates immediately formed a protective half-ring around me, roaring and raising their blades.
Overbearing alpha males!
I stepped between Axel and Héctor, my demon sword drawn, my legs bracing apart like theirs.
The god and the devil sprang past us as if their tails were on fire, not even sparing us a glance, fear bleeding through their eyes.
Who would terrify even them?
Inhuman howls rose from the depths of the mountains, echoing in the valley and chilling my bones.
My hellhound yowled back in challenge, but his singular voice sounded thin and weak compared to the bellows of an armada of beasts.
Paxton’s violet eyes flashed dark light. Even he was worried.
“The legends say the beasts in the Void specialize in eating gods and immortals as if we’re candy,” the Demigod of Sky told us grimly. “I think we’re in the Valley of the Monsters and the City of Cannibals.”
Great. Just great!
The valley rattled again, and monsters of all shapes—kinds we’d never seen before on Earth or in Hell—emerged from the peaks of the mountains all around.