Devilish Mate

9

W

hen I woke, Hannah was gone. As I knew she would be.

I could have stopped her. I could have gone after her. If I wanted her by my side, nothing on Earth would prevent me from getting my way. But Azazel was with her—I’d made sure of that—and I would allow Hannah to confront her sister on her own. She needed some time to think, and to recover. Then she’d return to me...or I’d drag her back here, kicking and screaming if I must.

While Hannah sought her past, I had other problems to deal with. My destroyed penthouse, for one thing. I immediately ordered it cleaned and repaired, and I knew my staff would have it looking like new within a few hours. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time—even in the last week—that they’d had to restore order to the place. As they worked, I headed to my war room one floor below, searching for Samael.

As soon as I stepped into his office, Samael’s face darkened, his eyebrows lowering into a glower. He stood from his seat, pacing in front of the large window that separated us from the main hub of the control room, where giant screens flashed with demon locations and global activity. My staff rushed about out there, taking phone calls and exchanging information, but Samael and I were trapped in a quiet bubble. I moved to the small bar in the corner and poured us both a whiskey, then took a seat in front of him.

We sat together for some time, the silence thick and heavy in the room. He shook his head and parted his lips like he was finally ready to speak. Then he closed his mouth and shook his head again before glancing out of the window and clearing his throat.

“I can’t understand how I missed it.” He slowly swirled his whiskey around in his glass. “For over a century Gadreel deceived us. How did I miss that he was truly Adam? I was with him the most. We worked together. I trusted him!”

“He spent years earning our trust, only to betray us all,” I said, my rage quietly simmering under the surface, but threatening to boil over. The rage I always felt whenever I thought of Adam.

Samael stood and poured himself another drink. “Yes, but he was my assistant. I trusted him with everything. And all that time he was lying to us and plotting his attack. I should have seen it. I should have stopped it.”

“We all should have seen it.” I’d trusted Gadreel too. He’d been at the center of many of our operations. I’d let him get close to Hannah, even left him alone with her. I shut my eyes briefly, not wanting to consider the things he could have done while he’d had my trust.

Fuck—the things he had done while he’d had my trust.

“He killed Lenore. And Haniel.” My chest clenched with pain at the old memory, newly recovered. And the other memory of him last night, standing over Hannah, about to finish the job. “He must pay.”

Samael knocked back the whiskey in one gulp. “He will.”

“Find him,” I ground out, my voice low and angry.

“What do you think we’ve been doing?” He set his empty glass down on his desk with a heavy thump. “I have all my best people looking for him, but he’s proving to be elusive so far.”

I downed the rest of my whiskey as well, hoping the slight burn would calm my smoldering fury. “The Archdemons must be hiding him. Mammon said Adam was working with some of the other Archdemons. They wish to overthrow me and return to Hell. Fools, all of them.”

Samael poured another glass for both of us. “There will be fallout from you killing Mammon. There are so few dragons left, and you killed the oldest, most powerful one.” He tipped his glass toward me in an almost salute. “Not that I blame you. He deserved it. But they might retaliate.”

“If they’re that stupid, let them come.” I was in the mood to remind some more demons who was in charge of them.

He arched an eyebrow at me, a gentle rebuke. “Perhaps you should consider making peace with them, if you can. It would be a shame if you had to wipe out the few remaining dragons.”

“That’s up to them. They can swear loyalty to me—or they can die.”

“That’s not our only problem,” Samael said. “Gadreel took my ancient journals, the ones that spoke of the curse, and other things from our distant past. It contains knowledge he and the Archdemons should never know—like where certain Elder Gods are sealed away.” He looked at me, his gaze full of warning. “Including your father.”

My chest tightened and fury whipped through me like fire as things started to make sense. “They must be trying to release them. The Elder Gods are the only ones who could defeat me.” It was a foolish, dangerous plan that was likely to backfire on them, but would also result in many casualties along the way.

Samael furrowed his brow. “If Adam and the Archdemons release those four, destruction will rain down upon Earth.”

My fingers tightened around my glass until it shattered. Those four Elder Gods could not be unleashed upon the world. Especially my father. “I won’t let that happen.”

“We’ll do everything in our power to stop it,” Samael said, before letting out a long, frustrated sigh. “But first I need to find a new assistant.”

I rose to my feet and adjusted my suit. “Try to find someone who isn’t plotting our destruction this time.”