yourself to the position, have you?”
“No, I didn’t. I accepted an offer presented to me.”
“By whom? There’s only one being who could . . .” Clarity went through his brown eyes. “Is that so? And you’re the one who’s been chosen, have you?”
“Uh-huh. The one and only.”
Lucifer swept his gaze over Darrak’s expansive and fiery form. “They must have been grading on a curve.”
“Bite me.”
“I knew you wanted the power once, but now—I would have thought . . .” Lucifer’s brows drew together. “Wait. You’re not doing this for the power, are you? You’re doing this for true love. Oh, how romantic, Darrak. I see little butterflies and kittens and rainbows right now.”
Darrak crossed his thickly muscled arms. “You’re way cooler when you’re not trying to be sarcastic. It really doesn’t suit you.”
“All for her.” He shook his head. “You would take on this heavy burden all for Eden. To save her from mean old Lucifer.”
“That was the general idea. Also, again, bite me.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“And this is the comeback of the next Prince of Hell.” Lucifer shook his head. “Pathetic.”
“You’re pathetic.” Darrak sighed. “My snappy comebacks do need a bit of work, I’ll admit it. It’s been a rough week.”
“I will find someone else for the job, but that changes nothing today. I would rather see Asmodeus on my throne than you.”
“Too bad I destroyed him then, huh?” Darrak frowned. “Wait. Does that make me the Lord of Lust now? Because my new business cards never arrived if I am.”
“If you were residing in Hell instead of playing house in the human world, then yes, his power would have shifted to you. As it is, his throne had to be manually reassigned. You know, maybe I’ll get that nice human Ben Hanson to take over for me. I’ll kill him, take his soul, make him into a demon—bingo. I’ll have myself a nice upstanding prospect to take on the shadows for the next eternity.”
“Not the first time me and Ben have competed for something we both wanted,” Darrak said. “Keep in mind, I won last time, too.”
Lucifer came toward Darrak and grabbed hold of him. Lucifer had no true power over him anymore, but Darrak realized with a strong sinking feeling that the prince’s brute strength was much greater than his own.
Lucas pushed Darrak backward toward the Void. “I don’t give second chances.”
“We’re a lot alike that way.”
“Eden will be fine without you if I shove you in, I promise.”
“How about I promise to hang on tight and take you with me?”
“Either way, you’re gone forever.”
Darrak’s eyes narrowed as he felt the edge of the cliff at his heel. “Have I asked you recently to bite me? It’s on the very tip of my tongue.”
Any remaining humor left Lucifer’s expression. “You would really give everything up to rule this dark, cold, unforgiving place for the rest of eternity? No one would choose this of their own free will, Darrak.”
Darrak clutched on to the prince, knowing he wouldn’t loosen his talons until they were both in midfall. This could only end one way now. Both of them would have to be destroyed.
He hoped there was another plan in place in the universe because Hell would soon be without its prince.
“No one would choose this of their own free will.”
An image of Eden went through his mind then, holding a baby in her arms. His baby.
He didn’t want to give her up, so it looked as if Lucifer was right. He’d chosen this path, but it wasn’t because he felt he had any other option.
The thought was enough to make him lose both his concentration and his footing. Suddenly there was nothing behind him. He clawed at the ground, at Lucifer, at anything, but it all crumbled away.
And then he was hanging on to the side of the Void just as he’d done earlier.
Rinse and repeat.
“Good-bye, Darrak.” Lucifer straightened up, brushed himself off, and turned away.
“Who’d give up everything to rule this place?” Darrak snarled up at him, only raw anger now giving him the strength to continue holding on. “You would, that’s who. Why don’t you remember that? You gave everything up—you gave up Heaven—in order to help keep the balance down here because you knew it was the right thing to do.”
Lucifer froze and looked over his shoulder at the demon swinging above the gaping black hole of the Void. “No. I was cast out of Heaven for having a different opinion of how the world should be. Because