Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 66383 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66383 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
He laughs at my words. “No, sweet girl. You and I do no such thing. We can’t just think where we want to be… we have to be.” He reaches for me, and in the next instant, we are standing in front of a lake. “This is where I met your mother.”
I’ve never been here before. Cardia is large, and I traveled a lot of it lately, but this is one place I haven’t seen.
“You can’t just think… you need to be. I want to be here… and to be here, I felt it with every fiber of my being, darkness and all. It takes me less than a second now to be where I want.” He pauses. “I can go places Valefar cannot, but I have a feeling you are going to be the same.” He touches my face, covers my eyes, and he says, “Tell me where you want to be and why.”
“I want to see Max,” I blurt out the words before thinking clearly.
“Now… where do you want to be?” he asks again.
“With Max,” I gush out.
“Open your eyes.”
I do and find we are standing in front of Max and all his people. They appear worse for wear, but I notice they made it through Viper’s forest.
“How many days has it been?” I whisper, and that’s when Max notices me standing there. His eyes go wide, and he starts toward me. As he gets halfway, I watch as Levy puts her hand out and blocks him from reaching me. He halts, and she speaks, “She left you. Remember that. And look, she shows up with another man.” I say nothing while Max stands there, unsure of what is happening.
“You told me to stay, that you didn’t want me to join you,” I whisper, and his brows pinch. Before we can say anything more, Lucifer moves and returns in a blink, standing next to me, but this time, he isn’t alone. No, he is standing there holding a shrieking Levy.
“Do you care to tell my daughter what you did?”
“Get your hands off me, demon!” she shouts, but Lucifer only laughs, and that laugh is satanic in nature.
“I am not a demon! I am the fucking king of demons, so watch your words before I slice your tongue from your mouth.”
I gape at Lucifer, not knowing exactly what to say.
“Remove your hand,” Max says, now standing in front of us.
“Tell him,” Lucifer commands, squeezing down harder on her neck. “Or I will end you right here, right now, and take you to Hell with me to play.”
“I shifted into you,” Levy admits to Max on a pathetic cry. “I didn’t want her to come, so I told her when I was you that you didn’t want her to come.”
My mouth hangs open at her words.
“She is the reason you left?” Max asks, looking at me.
“No, I thought you were,” I tell him.
“I would never leave you willingly. It’s been weeks. I never thought I would see you again.”
“This is cute and all, but I must really be going,” Lucifer says simply and turns to me. “When you need me, remember to be.” He looks to Levy, who’s still in his grip. “And you, my dear, are coming with me.” He snaps her neck, and I watch as her lifeless body falls to the ground. Grim appears, and his surprised expression stuns me.
“Hello, old friend,” Lucifer says, but Grim is looking at me.
“Oh, I see.” Lucifer grabs hold of me again, and we are gone.
Chapter Fifteen
We reappear in the sitting room of Lucifer’s domain. Valefar is seated in the chair where Lucifer sat earlier and glances up at our entrance.
“Fancy seeing you two again. Bonding, I hope?”
I push away from Lucifer. “You killed her,” I say in shock.
“I did. She betrayed you. You have to be a cruel queen to rule this world.”
“Why does everyone keep saying that? I do not need to be cruel.”
“But you do,” Valefar interjects. “No one nice can hold a throne.”
Lucifer walks over to his son.
“Grim.” He says the name, and Valefar looks at me. “So, the rumors are true. He has fallen for an earth woman.” Lucifer spins around. “Never thought I would see the day…”
“He hasn’t. We aren’t a thing,” I tell him.
“That Angel has been saving you, correct?” Lucifer asks.
“Correct.”
“He knows what you are, but never shared it with you.” I nod through a rough swallow, wanting to leave right this second. “Interesting. I wonder if he was afraid of what you might do if you knew. Too late for that now, I suppose.”
“I’m leaving.” I close my eyes, intending to think of Max, but Grim pops into my head instead, and somehow, I end up in the in-between, and I find him staring out at the ocean. He knows I’m here and turns around slowly. When his silver eyes lock on mine, I’m not sure what to do.