his sleeves up to his elbows, showing the corded muscles of his arms. “It was only a matter of time. He took on the dragon’s body eons ago, but… eventually he would’ve realized he was missing out. Of course he’d want something more enjoyable, even if it’s less durable…”
I sank into a leather chair that hadn’t been there minutes ago. Now that I’d done the important thing, it was starting to hit me just how tired I was. Even two weeks without flying was enough to put my muscles out of practice. “He’s going to be far more dangerous this way.”
Azazel glanced up at me, giving a quick nod of agreement. “Far more. The dragon had brute force and size on his side, but his mind will slowly adapt to fit the shell. He will eventually be capable of more rational thought than before, like he was in the days before he stole that body. The problem with exchanging the essence of a god is that they will take on the capabilities of the vessel. In the dragon body, he was at least somewhat predictable, more simple of thought. Now he’ll regain the intelligence he lost in those millennia.”
“Not just that.” I absently rubbed the mark on my chest. “He’ll be faster, able to use weapons. I would’ve taken a dragon before a man, when it comes to him.”
Without Lucifer to stop me, I would’ve had the Dragon when he was fleeing. Now he’d be capable of walking anywhere, sneaking in, just like his puppet-bodies he used to abduct Vyra and sneak into my arena. Only he’d be solid flesh and bone this time.
The Dragon had been slow despite his strength, and I’d been prepared to become the world’s most murderous gnat. Now I’d need every skill I had to wield the Sword to its full potential.
“Azazel, why did he run to Irkalla?” I caught my mate’s eye, refusing to look away. “What’s the draw of that place, when he could’ve gone anywhere else in Hell? He didn’t even need to run. I was already taken down and the Sword destroyed by Lucifer when he fled.”
He looked down at the floor, his brows drawn together. “Irkalla is… a terrible place. A place where he likely believes he’ll find a sympathetic ally.”
“What ally?” I stood up, determined to poke and prod him into telling me what the Hell was there in that wasteland that might appeal to Satan. “Azazel, I know you don’t like to share your thoughts with people. But… please. I can’t help but feel like there’s something connecting us to that place, and that was before we knew where he was.”
Azazel finally met my eyes. There was an ancient sadness there, and something else.
My heart thumped unevenly. Was that fear? There was nothing Azazel needed to be afraid of.
“Irkalla is where I was born.” He pressed his lips flat, jaw tightening as he looked away. “That’s all we’ll discuss of it now.”
My fists balled at my sides. “Does this have to do with your so-called ‘dreaded bloodline’? Who are you, Azazel?”
His eyes flashed when he looked back at me. “What does it matter? You knew what I was when you accepted the mate mark.”
So that’s what this was about.
Just like Tascius believed he was doomed to repeat Gabriel’s evil, Azazel knew perfectly well what he was and where he came from.
He was the monster that lurked in the darkness. And there might always be that fear in him that he’d be pushed away for it.
“I did. And I wouldn’t give it up for anything.” I took a step forward, holding out my hands. He didn’t try to move away when I touched him, reaching up to stroke the sharp line of his cheekbone. “I don’t care what you are, Azazel, but please don’t do what Lucifer did. Tell us before everything goes to Hell. There’s nothing you could tell me that would make me hate you.”
He let his head rest against the palm of my hand, his lashes fluttering shut. “The last thing I want is to start a panic. I could be completely wrong. But if my suspicions are correct… he means to travel to Kur, a sister city to Dis. The Queen of the Dead, Ereshkigal, rules there, and she was once quite enamored with Satan.”
“So he does have an ally.” I cursed under my breath. And she was a Queen. Lovely.
“Not just any ally, Melisande. The worst one he could’ve chosen.”
I searched for some tiny