by Eve Newton
“If this bitch isn’t to your liking, I could see to that for you,” the male says with a lewd look at my crotch.
I pause and very briefly wonder what that would be like, but I shake my head.
“Suit yourself,” the male says and turns back to the female to ram into her with full force.
A small groan escapes me. Would Axelle allow me to chain her to a wall? I picture her so, with her legs wide open, giving me unfettered access to her entrance.
I turn quickly away from the scene and come up short as a man that looks like Luc, but isn’t Luc, is staring at me with a horrified expression on his face.
“Fuuuuuck,” he breathes, his eyes wide, but then he licks his lips and pulls himself up straight as I give him a once over.
“Who are you?” I ask him.
He blinks, his eyes narrowing with suspicion, then he tilts his head, his whole demeanor changing. He becomes arrogant and slimy.
“Who are you?” he asks back.
“Dashel,” I answer him, seeing no reason not to.
He nods his head at me slowly. “I see. Interesting, very interesting.”
Then he vanishes from my sight.
“Who was that?” I ask Evan as he sidles up to me, his eyes on the fornicating couple.
“Luc’s dad,” he replies to my surprise. “Back from the dead for some ritual bullshit. Axelle told me he walks around wearing Luc’s face. Fucking weirdo. Watch out for him. He’s trouble.”
“Hmm,” I mutter, now understanding why he looked so horrified to see me.
He might be wearing the face that his son favors, but I am wearing the face of his dead father, my twin brother, Lucifer.
I have no doubt that this secret is going to come spilling out now, and my grandnephew isn’t going to appreciate this news one bit.
“I need to go,” I say to Evan and hurry back towards the stairs.
“Wait up!” Evan calls and follows me as I make my way back to Axelle to tell her this secret before someone else does.
~ CHAPTER EIGHTEEN ~
Axelle
“Axelle.”
I hear my name being called softly and I rouse myself, feeling like utter shit.
I moan and open my eyes.
Luc is staring down at me and I cower from him. He was so furious with me, he terrified me. I really thought he was going to hurt me, or worse, banish me to those pits I’d heard of, alongside Jezebelle.
“Don’t be afraid, my love,” he says, lightly taking my hand. “I apologize for my actions earlier. I was harsh.”
No fucking kidding.
“It’s okay,” I say meekly instead. “I upset you. I know that and I’m sorry.”
“I know you are. You kept it a secret, but you also came clean eventually,” he says.
“You hurt me,” I complain, gaining some of my confidence back now that he is calm and saying the right things to me.
“I know,” he says with a sigh. “I had to get rid of any trace of Vazna’s blood in your system. I will not tolerate it.”
“I know that, but what you said to me. You really hurt me.” I feel the tears spring to my eyes, and I brush them away, having shown him enough weakness for one lifetime.
“Oh, that,” he says and clears his throat. “I was angry and disappointed. I shouldn’t have said what I did.”
I notice that he doesn’t apologize for that, nor does he say that he didn’t mean it.
“Do I still disgust you?” I ask, needing to know in spite of myself.
He pauses and it’s all the confirmation I need. I lower my eyes in shame and humiliation, but he grabs my hand quickly and squeezes it.
“I’m sorry for what I said. It was unnecessary and completely to hurt you as I felt you had hurt me. Forgiven?” he asks with that smile that melts my panties in a big way. But he still hasn’t said that he didn’t mean it. He just said it was unnecessary. I really feel like I should pursue this, but the other part of me just wants to forget it.
“Of course,” I say, giving him a big smile in return.
His whole demeanor changes then to one of a loving husband as he gathers me to him, all relaxed and happy with a bit of a wicked air about him. Maybe my Devil-given powers don’t work on him, but feminine wiles seem to be a whole other thing.
Good to know.
“I have something for you,” he says, brushing his lips lightly against mine.
“A present?” I ask in delight.
“Yes, to show you that I’m not a complete dick and that I know I have some making up to do…as do you…” His stern look makes me nod my head quickly and he smiles at me again.
I’m fascinated by this response in him whenever I obey him. I will do it now just to see if it keeps working. Even if I disagree with him, I will get whatever I can out of him to make up for it. And by all appearances, he is quite generous with his gifts. He is holding out another box. This one about the same size as the previous one. I blink at it as Evan and Dashel enter the room.
“Hey, is that my soul?” Evan asks with a snicker, jumping on the bed with me.
“Pah, you wish,” Luc mutters and pulls the box back. “A bit of privacy, please?”
“No can do. Dashel has something he needs to say. Whatever this is…it has to wait.”
“What? Why? What’s going on?” I ask, suddenly frantic. Dashel’s face is grim, grimmer than usual as of late.
“Yes, do you mind?” Luc snaps at them. “I’m trying to give my wife something that I should have given her from the start.”
“What is it?” Evan asks, peering curiously at the box that Luc is once again holding out to me.
“Open it,” Luc grits out, clearly pissed that his moment has been trodden on.
I look at Dashel as he comes closer. “I have something to say and if I don’t say it right now, someone else might come in here and inform you of the secret I’ve been harboring.”
“Secret?” I ask with a frown. “Are Angels allowed to have them?” I add with a light laugh, but now I’m really worried.
He gives me a sour look as Luc huffs and sits down, pocketing the box to my dismay.
“Go on then,” he says. “What, pray tell, do you have to say that you cannot wait five damn minutes?”
“I believe I saw your father earlier,” Dashel says to Luc.
“So? The asshole is sticking around unfortunately, until the babies are born. What of it?”
“He recognized me. Well, not me, but my face.”
“What do you mean?” I ask with a frown. “You’ve had dealings with him before?” I knew he was ancient, but I don’t suppose I really knew how old.
“No,” Dashel says. “Not at all. But, uhm…”
“Spit it out, dammit,” Luc snarls at him. “What has my father got to do with anything?”
“I knew his father,” he says quietly, staring at me, with an almost stricken look.
I gulp.
“Lucifer?” I blurt out and then at Luc’s growl, I add, “The original one?”
“Mm-hm,” he mutters. “He and I…we…”
“Oh, for the love of all things unholy! Just say it! You and grandfather what? Knew each other in Heaven? Not out of the realm of possibility and who the fuck cares?” Luc roars.
“More than that,” Dashel says. “He…he was my brother. My twin brother,” he rushes out.
Silence falls in the room.
We are all looking at Dashel like he has grown another head.
“Excuse me?” Luc sputters and then laughs. “You have got to be fucking kidding me.”
“No. I speak the truth,” Dashel says, put out that his integrity is being put into question.
I grab his hand, drawing his attention to me. “Are you saying that you are…” I gulp and look at Luc. “Luc’s great-uncle?” I end on a croak.
“That is what I’m saying,” he confirms.
I cast my uneasy glance at Luc.
He is stock-still, and as pale as I have ever seen him.
“Don’t be absurd,” he says eventually. “No one ever mentioned that Grandfather had a twin brother.”
“Doesn’t make it any less true,” Dashel says. “Ask your father. At some point, he must’ve seen Lucifer’s real face. My face.”
“Fuuuucking shitballs,” I mutter. “You two are related.”
Oh, was that the wrong thing to say.
Luc stands up and flies at Dashel, grabbing him by the throat and slamming him up against the wall, tearing my hand out of his so rapidly, I nearly fall off the bed. Again!
Evan catches me around my hips and steadies me as we hear Luc growl, “Was this your fucking plan all along, asshole? To use Axelle to fall so you could come in here and steal my Kingdom? You are fucking deluded if you think I will let that happen, kin or not.”
He throttles Dashel so roughly, his head smacks against the wall with a dull thud,
“Luc!” I cry and go to him swiftly. “Let him go. That wasn't his plan.” At Luc’s withering gaze I bite my lip and look at Dashel. “Was it? Did you use me?”
“No!” he chokes out, his hands going to Luc’s to try to forcibly remove them from his throat. All it does is loosen them enough for him to take a breath.
“I knew I should have followed my instinct and taken you, body and soul to the dungeon. I let my affection for my wife cloud my judgment but let me assure you that is no longer the case!” He sprouts his wings and before I can say another word, he has flapped them and flamed out with Dashel still in his fist.
“Luc!” I roar, clutching at the pendant that is around my neck. I’m not letting this go without a fight to the death.
Hopefully it won’t come to that.
Luc
I’m furious.
The Angel knew about this all along and played us all. He decided that Heaven wasn’t for him anymore and used my Demon to get himself into Hell and into a position to take my throne.
I shove Dashel away from me and take a breath. Axelle will be pissed and upset when I kill this fucker, but I won’t let him live after this. I will never trust him enough to turn my back on him.
Trust.
I’ve never trusted anyone before in my life before I met Axelle. Now, I seem to be using that word in everyday conversation.
“I’m not here to take over Hell,” he says to me quietly. “I did not use Axelle. I love her. I have been battling with this decision since I lost my soul, but today when I was recognized, I knew I had to stop being a coward and come clean to her and to you.”
“Shut up,” I say, shaking my head. “Fuck’s sake. You are my great-uncle and you have fucked my wife! Even I get how fucked up that is. I should kill you for that alone!”
“If you had any intention of killing me, you wouldn’t have brought me down the hall,” he drawls with all the confidence of a fucking fallen Angel that shares blood with Hell’s original fucking ruler.
Dammit!
What the fuck is this?
I feel like I’ve entered the Twilight Zone.
“What is your intention?” I ask him.
“To be with Axelle, that’s it.”
I sigh. For some reason, I’m not torturing him to death. Why is that?
“I swear to you on the soul that Axelle wears around her neck, that it is not my intention to rule Hell and it never was. I came here to be with her. She is all that matters to me. The blood that I share with Lucifer means nothing to me. We stopped being brothers, the day he fell from grace.”
“Well, seeing as you have now also fallen from grace, is all forgiven?” I can’t resist saying.
It hurts him and I get a small amount of pleasure from that.
“No, he betrayed me. He stabbed me in the back. All is definitely not forgiven,” he says mutinously.
“Not so Angelic after all then.”
“I’ve changed. I’m no longer Heaven’s Guardian. I am…” He looks down at himself. “This,” he says flatly.
“A Dark Angel with Lucifer’s blood running through your veins. Fuck’s sake,” I mutter. “Does that make you Hell’s Guardian now?” I add smartly.
His dark green eyes find mine and search them. “Is that what you want?”
His question takes me aback. I blink, licking my lips and shrug, feigning nonchalance as Axelle storms into the room, kicking the door off its hinges, which by the looks of her, she has done to all of the doors down this hallway until she found us manually, cloaked as we were.
Her surprised look goes suspicious as she takes us in, just standing around and not in a brawl to the death.
“Everything okay in here?” she asks, as Evan comes in behind her wielding a Viking’s double headed ax and looking damn fucking sexy while he does it.
“Ugh,” I mutter as my thoughts went somewhere unexpected.
“I don’t know,” Dashel answers her, staying where he is, a few meters away from me.
I grit my teeth and look at Axelle’s ashen face. She is clutching at the pendant as if her life depended on her never letting it go. She wouldn’t give it up without a fight and I admire that. She loves him and that makes the difference here. All the difference here. I don’t want to hurt her, even if it means letting Dashel live and potentially challenge me for my throne one day.
“Dammit,” I mutter and hold my hand out for her.
She comes immediately and grips my fingers. “Luc?”
“Yes, everything is fine. Think about what we discussed,” I add to Dashel to his surprise, and then with a soft kiss to Axelle’s lips, I flame out, needing a minute to process what the hell all of this means.
I sigh happily and it catches me off guard. Happiness has never been in my reach. I have never cared about anything enough for it to make me happy. But now, it is consuming me. I will be lost without Axelle. I can only hope, and reassure her at every turn, that she is strong enough to carry on with this pregnancy and that she needn’t fear for the life of her Angel. I should never have told her that the matriarchs of my family died in childbirth. I should’ve kept that secret and made sure she knew she was strong enough. But she has this way about her that makes me want to tell her things about me, my life. I know that eventually I will tell her about my childhood and about what a bully my father was to me.
I growl when I think about Gravla, and that brings my thoughts back to Lucifer, Dashel and the depiction that Grandfather is locked away in. I’m going to stash it away. I cannot ever let him out of that painting. He will want his throne back and with his twin by his side, I will be annihilated. I know that and I accept it. I possibly would have welcomed him before, but not now, as I know that Lucifer will take everything from me and kill me in the process. I have too much to lose and he has everything to gain. Dashel can never find out that Lucifer still lives in this painting. Although, how I will convince Axelle to keep that quiet is another matter altogether.
The thought of the two of them taking her to their bed, suddenly makes me feel sick.
No, this painting has to remain under lock and key and I only trust myself to handle it.
With that dealt with, I make my way back to Axelle, the natural way. I feel like I can’t be out of her presence for very long. I want to ravage her again, preferably alone this time. I still need a hot minute to get used to the idea that Dashel is my great-uncle. It’s weird and I don’t really want to see his dick in my wife just yet. Or his dick. Period.
“Sir!” Darius reaches me before I get to the stairs.
“What is it?” I ask, irritated.
Then the whole building starts to shake.
I narrow my eyes and hiss. “Trent’s supporters?”
Darius shakes his head. “No, far worse,” he says. “You need to get out there.”
My Guard is unusually agitated and even more terse than usual. It gives me a mild jolt of panic. Not for myself. I can annihilate every Demon in Hell with just one shift. No, my panic is for Axelle and my children.
“One minute,” I say and flame out to Axelle.
&n
bsp; She, Evan and Dashel are clutching one another, looks of surprise on their faces.
“What is going on?” she asks. “A Hellquake?”
“Listen to me,” I say to her quickly.
My tone leaves no argument that I expect to be obeyed. She is at my side in moments.
“Go to the caverns and do not leave for anything or anyone. I will come to you in my true form when it is safe for you to leave. Do you understand me?” I bark at her and then look at the other two men. “Go with her and protect her with your very lives, or you will not have one when I return.”
They all nod wide-eyed but trusting that I’m being deadly serious about the threat. Axelle grabs their hands and flames out.
I take the time to flame out behind her to ensure she did as I asked and am relieved when I see them where they are supposed to be. I give her a grim nod and shift to my pseudo-Devil form. Then, I flame out back to Darius.
“Tell me,” I grate out as I stalk to the double front doors, that are so rarely used, they creak and groan as I yank them both open at the same time.
“Revolt against the Apocalypse,” Darius gets out before I see the hordes and hordes of Demons, adorning the vast open land outside of my residence.
I sigh.
Great.
Here I thought that the Trent thing would cause riots, but instead it is the one thing that has been foretold for eons and is about to be realized. Fuck’s sake. Even Axelle had something to say about it. That should have given me some inkling that others would be pissed too. But I don’t really know why.
I spread my wings and fly out, rising up over the crowds so that they can see me.
There is a hushed silence, but then the shouting begins.
It is deafening.
I huff and swoop down to pick up the first Demon I can get my hands on.
He shrieks with fear, but when I shake him, he shuts it. “What is the issue?” I demand the dangling Demon. “Speak!” I roar, giving him a shake as he remains silent.
“The-the Apocalypse. We don’t want it,” he says.
I growl at him. Obviously, you fucking idiot. “Why?” I thunder, “You fucking imbecile!” I can’t resist the insult.