Debauched (Hades and Persephone Book 3) Read online

  “And if you didn’t?” I eased myself back to study his features.

  Lucifer was darkly handsome—some would describe his features as rugged, especially with his dimpled chin and his permanent five o’clock shadow. He could convey both charm and sexuality in a single expression that I supposed women would find irresistible.

  I think it was the way he tilted his head to the side, held my gaze for far longer than was comfortable, and curled his lips into the barest of smiles. I’d seen actors do this on the Netflix shows, but they usually accompanied that look with a sexy catchphrase. Raising my brows, I waited to hear his reply.

  “Don’t ask that question.” He glanced away. “There isn’t a thing you can do to break my curse.”

  “Who can?”

  Lucifer shook his head. “I’ve long given up hope.”

  The waitress from before arrived with two fresh glasses of lemonade, placed them on the table, and apologized for the poor service. I was about to ask which glass was Lucifer’s when I spotted a swirl of what looked like blood floating in one of them.

  He handed me the plain-looking lemonade before picking up his tainted drink. “A toast.”

  I raised my tumbler. “To a strong alliance between the Fifth and Seventh.”

  “If you like.” He clinked my glass with his before taking a long swig. As he drank, his gaze fixed on mine, making me squirm in my seat.

  Lucifer was probably the most peculiar creature I’d met so far in the Supernatural World, and that included Hades, who I sometimes struggled to understand.

  On one level, Lucifer was kind and gentlemanly and had a soothing way about him, much like Azriel if he wasn’t so snobbish and uptight. But beneath that facade was something dark and twisted, and beneath that, I felt the heart and soul of an angel.

  “What on earth happened to you?” I asked.

  Eyes softening, he took my hand and brought it to his lips. “I can see why Hades was so smitten. Most women look at me and only see my power and exterior, but you’re trying to burrow beneath the surface to work out if you can relieve me of my burden.”

  My chest tightened. “Isn’t that the right thing to do?”

  “Actually, it isn’t.” He kissed each knuckle and kept his gaze fixed to the back of my hand. “What do you feel when I kiss you?”

  I raised my shoulders. “Your lips?”

  “No sparks, no tingles, no stirrings?” His gaze drifted toward mine, the corners of his eyes etched with pain.

  “Sorry.” I pulled my hand away.

  He shook his head. “Fate can be a cruel mistress.”

  “Are the fates real?”

  He chuckled. “Yes, and I suggest never getting entangled with any of them.”

  “Your Majesty?” Namara said through our link. “Azriel just told me Samael has taken control of the Eight Faction.”

  “Lucifer and I got the story from one of the waiters,” I said.

  “He wants to know if Samael’s claim of having adopted you is true?”

  “What?” My nose wrinkled.

  “Anything the matter?” Lucifer’s voice pulled my concentration back into the present.

  I flung my arms around him. “Nothing.”

  While Lucifer mouthed at my neck, I focused back into the link I shared with Namara. “Why does Azriel want to know about me?”

  “He says Heaven won’t tolerate Samael’s ploy to take over Hell. He now controls the Second, Third, Eighth, and he claims to have you and Hades under his domain.”

  “That’s not true.” I clutched at Lucifer’s jacket and said out loud, “That tickles.”

  He sighed. “It’s supposed to arouse, not amuse.”

  “Sorry.” I tuned back into Namara. “Tell Azriel to exclude the Fifth from any form of heavenly retribution.”

  “And the Seventh?” she said. “He seems to think you’re forming an unholy alliance.”

  Rolling my eyes, I communicated the threat Samael held over Hades, which made her gasp. When the waitress returned to take our order, Lucifer shoved a few bills at her and canceled our order for food.

  Namara went quiet for several moments, and Lucifer drew back, staring into my eyes as though I was the most fascinating creature in the world.

  “What are you thinking?” he asked.

  “Multitasking, mostly,” I said with a tiny raise of my shoulder.

  “Am I somewhere on your list of to-dos?” he asked.

  “I came to warn you about the plot to have you purchase my soul. That was one of my major goals for the day.”

  His eyes twinkled. “And I owe you a debt of thanks.”

  Two months ago, before Dami had told me about the network of hollow roots beneath the mansion, a date with a suave, sophisticated man like Lucifer would have been beyond my most desperate fantasies. Now, I ached to share my news with Hades.

  “Do you think we’ve convinced Samael’s spy that we’ve become entangled?” I asked.

  He ran his hands through my hair and smoothed it off my face. “Well, I’m certainly ensnared, even though the feeling could never become mutual.”

  “Azriel is going to stage an emergency meeting of all the Factions,” Namara said. “Don’t share this information with Lucifer, but he’s going to turn off the restrictions on monarchs murdering each other.”

  I reared back, my eyes widening. Namara just implied he was just an administrator. “Really?”

  “Anything the matter?” Lucifer pressed a kiss on my cheek.

  “Absolutely not,” I replied out loud.

  “Azriel doesn’t know I’m sharing this information with you, but I’ll ask him to visit the Fifth so he can tell you himself,” Namara said.

  My lungs inflated with a warm feeling of triumph. If Hades and I were the only people apart from Azriel and Namara who knew the Faction leaders could murder each other without repercussions, then we might have a chance of destroying Samael before he could expand his empire.

  “Excellent work, Namara,” I said into the connection, and I patted Lucifer on the chest. “We’ve spent enough time frolicking in public. Now, it’s time for us to leave.”

  He waggled his brows. “Would you like to see my penthouse?”

  “Sure,” I said. “Why not?”

  After pulling out a black card from his pocket and pressing it to the menu, he rose from his seat and stepped out from the booth and winced at the onslaught of bright lights and loud music. I looped my arm through Lucifer’s and walked past the other diners and toward a wall of mirrors, making sure to cast my gaze around to see who could be Samael’s spy.

  The booths on either side of us were unoccupied, but hundreds of people stared down to our level from the balcony. My shoulders sagged. There was no telling who could have been on the payroll. Who knows? It might even have been the dwarf who had claimed to have escaped the Eight with his life.

  Lucifer wrapped an arm around my waist and paused at the mirror. “I can’t wait to show you my impressive array of weapons.”

  Without meaning to, my gaze dropped down to the thick bulge in his pants. My stomach tightened. Lucifer had also made an innuendo at the housewarming when he’d been helping me toward my bedroom.

  I offered him a nervous chuckle and tried not to grimace. This time, there would be no Hades to rush to my rescue.

  “After you.” He swept his arm toward the mirror.

  My gaze darted toward Sodom’s crowded balcony, where hundreds of partygoers crammed themselves around the rails. Any one of them could be Samael’s spy, watching to make sure I was carrying out my assignment. With a gulp, I stepped through the enchanted glass and into Lucifer’s home.

  Violin music filled my ears, and I glanced around an industrial building at least four times the size of the apartment Hades had bought me. It was all exposed brick walls, steel joists, and huge, arched windows.

  Outside, the rising sun reflected off steel-gray clouds, coloring the sky a soft mauve. It was the kind of romantic vista I wanted to enjoy wit
h Hades.

  Lucifer stepped in after me and placed a hand on my shoulder. I turned to meet his flaming eyes.

  “Can I offer you something tempting?” he asked, sounding seductive.

  Shaking my head, I stepped back. “Are we alone here?”

  He grinned. “Why, yes. Are you planning on doing something you want to keep a secret from Hades?”

  “I want to make sure no one sees that I’m leaving.”

  His face fell, and his brows drew together in a frown. “Can’t you stay a little longer and chat?”

  “It wouldn’t be fair to lead you on.” My gaze wandered around the huge space, taking in mostly white furniture. “We were planning to send someone else to warn you of Samael’s plot, but he forced me to come here. I’ve delivered the message that he’s after your Faction, so it’s time to return to Hades.”

  Lucifer glanced away, his lips tightening. “Samael can bloody have it.”

  “You don’t mean that,” I said.

  “He’s a wretched bastard who was thrown out of Heaven around the same time as me, and I wasn’t even castrated. Yet somehow, he’s gotten himself a wife and a family.”

  My brows rose. “Have you met my mother?”

  “Some men enjoy Amazons,” he said with a shrug.

  I huffed out a breath. “This curse you’re under is wearing on you, isn’t it?”

  “It’s plagued me since they cast me out of Heaven.” He stormed across the apartment’s wooden floor to a glass cabinet that held ornate bottles of amber liquid. With a flick of his finger, he levitated a crystal tumbler and filled it half-way.

  Curiosity burned through my insides, and my mind filled with questions. “Why did they make you and Samael leave?”

  He took a sip of the liquid, turned to me, and sighed. “Samael became entangled with a woman. The reasons for my fall are unknown.”

  I bit my lip. “Couldn’t Azriel tell you?”

  Lucifer shook his head. “Since then, I’ve roamed the earth, plagued with desires I can never satisfy. If Samael worked out a way to break his curse, maybe I’ll consider an association.”

  Frustration built up though my insides like a thundercloud, expanding with his every word. I couldn’t imagine what it was like to suffer for that long, but even I could appreciate that Samael was a danger to the world.

  “Be careful what you wish for,” I said. “He wants you dead.”

  Lucifer snatched his gaze away from mine, a muscle in his jaw tensing.

  “Listen,” I murmured. “I’ve got to go.”

  “Will I see you again?” he asked, his voice strained.

  “Hopefully, we’ll resolve the situation with Samael.” Before he could ask me another question, I teleported back to Namara’s office.

  Pale moonlight streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the empty courtyard, and I glanced from the white leather sofas to the mahogany desk, wondering if I should have stayed behind and offered Lucifer comfort.

  I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. My presence in his office had triggered his curse, although I wasn’t sure if it had been this new body, the bondage, or talk of seducing him.

  It was probably too late to see the doctor, and I needed to get to Hades and tell him about my trip to New York before Namara could make her report. Squeezing my eyes shut, I teleported into the chamber that led to the airlock separating the palace from Hades’ sterile room.

  After walking through the void, I pushed open the double doors and stepped inside. The room was lit, and the four-poster remained devoid of net curtains. Hades lay on his back, still connected to the intravenous bag of panacea.

  “Hades?” I whispered out loud.

  I gave him a nudge through the bond, but either he was fast asleep or Healer Iaso had enchanted him unconscious. After walking to his bedside, I slipped off my shoes, unfastened the tie of my wrap dress, shouldered off the garment, and slipped beneath the covers.

  He’d already warmed the bed with his larger body, and I snuggled at his side, resting my head on his shoulder.

  Hades stirred. “You’re wearing far too many clothes,” he muttered under his breath. “I absolutely forbid it.”

  “Are you talking about my knickers?” I asked with a giggle.

  When he didn’t answer, I slipped off my underwear and tossed it to the side. “Better?”

  He continued sleeping. I wrapped my arms around his middle and let my eyes flutter closed.

  I’d only meant to cuddle with him for a few minutes before returning to the greenhouse for the evening, but I fell into a deep slumber and dreamed of rushing through a rainforest of carnivorous plants, trying to find which one had eaten Hades.

  After chopping through swathes of vegetation, I found a clearing that contained a pitcher-shaped plant large enough to consume the entire mansion. I flew up on wings of lightning and stared over the rim to find the skeleton of a man floating in the digestive fluid. Its wing-bones lay outstretched, and on its finger was Hades’ ring.

  A jolt of shock pulled me out of the dream, and my eyes flew open. I tried to rise off the bed, but Hades’ arm around my shoulders kept me in place.

  “Kora?” he rasped.

  “Sorry.” I slid my hand over his bare chest. “I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

  “Have you been here all this time?” he asked, his voice still thick with sleep.

  I tilted up my head and pressed a kiss on his stubbly jaw. “There’s so much I need to tell you.”

  “What have you been doing?” he asked. “I thought you’d be with the dryads, honing your plant magic.”

  “That was the plan before I heard news about the cats.”

  He chuckled. “Don’t tell me they’re having another wild party?”

  My brows drew into a frown. So much had happened since I jumped out of the penthouse’s windows that I’d lost track of how much news I’d shared with Hades.

  Seeing him being consumed by a plant had been shocking enough, but Mother had made matters worse by attacking with carnivorous pollen. Add a new body, getting my memory wiped, and Samael’s plan to take over Hell with his offspring, and it was no wonder I’d never mentioned the cats.

  “Do you know Macavity?” I asked.

  “The Fire Queen’s meddlesome hellcat?” Hades asked.

  “I found him and Dami in an enchanted sleep. Someone put poisonous plants in their catnip,”

  “Demeter?” he growled.

  “It was a trap for me to lower the wards around the penthouse so Dr. Attalus could make an emergency visit,” I said, my voice laced with bitterness. “She came with this possessed body with Samael and tried to capture me.”

  Hades shook his head and growled. “Someone needs to impale those bastards and roast them over a spit.”

  I drummed my fingers on his chest. “We might have a way to kill Samael without getting into trouble.”

  He turned his gaze to me and stilled. “You’ve been studying the Handbook of Hell for loopholes?”

  “Even better.” I pulled back from his embrace, rolled to my side, and stared at his profile.

  My gaze dropped to his full lips, which I would have kissed if I didn’t need to share so much news. Hades was breathtaking, even with his skin paler than usual from the pollen’s influence. He was sin and sensuality, and he made Lucifer’s features as sterile as a work of art. Beautiful to look at, but no spark of attraction.

  Hades turned to his side and stared at me through heavy-lidded eyes that were as blue as the pool in the inner sanctum. His dark lashes lowered to my lips, making my heart flutter. I loved how his eye color changed from calm to fiery.

  “You can’t hint at being able to kill Samael and not follow through,” he said in a voice of smoke.

  “Sorry.” I traced his lips with my fingertips. “I got mesmerized by the way you look.”

  “So, you do think I’m handsome?” He asked with a wolfish grin.

  I pinched my finger and thumb together, my lips
curling with a smile. “Maybe a little bit.”

  A laugh huffed from his chest. “Strange, because the arousal I’m scenting says that you find me irresistible. If I were a prey animal, I’d tremble at the flame-haired predator who snuck into my bed while I was asleep.”

  Leaning toward him, I pressed a kiss on his soft lips. “Let me tell you what I discovered. If you’re still in the mood afterward, I’ll ravish you later.”

  He gave me a sharp nod. “Agreed. Now, finish your story. Then, I’ll let you slake your lust on my helpless body.”

  I set aside the tempting image for now and concentrated on my most pressing news: “Azriel wants to set up an emergency meeting with all the monarchs. He isn’t telling anyone this, but he’s going to withdraw the penalty for murdering each other.”

  Hades’ eyes narrowed. “That’s one of the oldest scams in the book.”

  “Huh?” I leaned back and frowned.

  “Tricking someone into performing an activity that will result in their self-destruction,” he said.

  “Like if I tried to sell my soul to Lucifer just to get him killed?” I asked.

  “Exactly,” he growled. “Angels love their passive-aggressive tactics.”

  My teeth worried at my bottom lip. “But I don’t think Azriel is lying.”

  He shook his head and harrumphed. “Angels aren’t good guys who sit on clouds all day, playing harps. They aren’t even messengers, as the legends say, but violent and powerful enforcers. The ones with white wings might not be able to tell outright lies, but they’re capable of misdirection, omission, and obfuscation.”

  Pausing for a few moments, I considered his words. I had seen three other angels in my lifetime—two of them had fallen and become Demon Kings, and the others had been Azriel and the Angel King who had presided over my trial.

  “Azriel has feelings for Namara,” I said.

  Hades parted his lips, raising his brows toward his hairline. “She managed to seduce that limp wonder?”

  I grinned. “From the way he acted when I found them in your bed, I don’t think he was limp.”

  He choked a laugh. “You’ll have to tell me everything from the beginning.”

  “There’s something else,” I murmured.