Cipher (Demonica Underworld #8) - Larissa Ione Page 0,18
Bob’s fingers snapped in front of his face. “Yo. What the fuck, man? Put your horns and fangs away. And stop snarling. Makes my wings itch.”
Azagoth blinked as he once again climbed out of the mire of his own thoughts. His body vibrated with a dark lust as the memories of toying with prey collided with a sexual awareness that burned deep in his muscles. Warmth crept into his cold flesh, and his cock, already excruciatingly hard, began to throb to the beat of his pulse.
His pulse.
Holy hell, his heart had started beating again.
“Lilliana,” he breathed, joy taking his breath as her presence filled his soul. “She’s here. She’s home.”
Another spike of awareness pierced him, a powerful energy signature he’d never felt before.
What the fuck?
A possessive, smoky growl rattled his chest, and his hackles rose with his wings. Someone else was here. Someone crazy strong.
Lilliana wasn’t alone.
Chapter Seven
Lilliana inhaled a shaky breath as she stood on the portal pad inside Sheoul-gra, the symbols engraved into the stone glowing hotly. A breeze swirled around her, rattling the leaves on the perpetually blooming citrus trees and bringing their tangy and sweet scents to her nose. Grassy lawns stretched for acres, broken by babbling streams and worn paths—and the occasional ancient Greek column or demonic statue that rose into the featureless gray sky.
Several yards away, a fountain that once ran with blood splashed crystal water onto pavers leading to outbuildings that housed dozens of Unfallen angels and Memitim. And beyond the fountain, Azagoth’s palace towered over all, its pale walls gleaming.
Relief sifted through her, temporarily replacing her nervousness. The realm was attuned to Azagoth’s moods, and she wasn’t sure what she’d have done if she’d come back to find the kind of decay and evil that had once held court here.
The Grim Reaper’s realm could be beautiful but disconcerting; look, but not too closely, touch, but don’t feel.
Her gut turned over, and inside her rounded belly, the baby stirred as if sensing the return of her anxiety.
Except that anxiety was too mellow a word for what she was experiencing. Really, she was flat-out terrified, mere moments away from seeing her husband for the first time in months. For the first time since she’d left him.
And he didn’t have a clue that she was pregnant.
She almost regretted telling Reaver that she didn’t need him to accompany her down here when he’d flashed her from Ares’s Greek island to the outer portal. She should have at least allowed Maleficent, a hellhound that had shadowed her everywhere on the island, to come with her. The hound had refused to leave her side until Cara distracted the beast long enough for Lilliana to get away. She was going to miss the moose-sized canine, but Cara assured her that Mal would find her if the hellhound had bonded with her.
Lilliana was going to have a hard enough time trying to explain bringing home a baby, let alone a pet that ate people.
Resting her palm on her baby bump, she stepped off the landing pad and started toward the palace, her heart pounding wildly. Azagoth would have sensed her presence by now.
Before that thought even faded, the skin on the back of her neck tingled, and she stopped in her tracks.
He was here.
He was behind her.
She should turn around and face him. But damn, she wasn’t ready for this.
Closing her eyes, she let out a long, ragged breath, and when she spoke, she could only manage a whisper. “Azagoth.”
“Look at me, Lilliana.”
The sound of Azagoth’s voice, commanding but soft, sent a tremor of emotion through her. They’d spoken almost daily via Skype, so she knew he wanted her to come home. But how would he feel about their child after he’d once told her he didn’t want any more children? How would he feel about the fact that she’d kept this from him for nine months?
Bracing herself for anything, she swung around.
Dark power emanated from Azagoth as he stood a few feet away, his glossy obsidian wings folded rigidly behind him, his short hair as black as his shoes, slacks, and shirt. He’d rolled up the sleeves, revealing tattoos he’d stolen from Thanatos, and his hands were clenched at his sides.
She couldn’t read him at all, and she wasn’t sure how to process that.
His emerald eyes met hers for a mere heartbeat and then dropped to her belly.
“I guess I have something to tell you...”
The sound of laughter came from somewhere behind her, and Azagoth’s head snapped back up