side and sighed deeply. “But I'm not alone anymore.”
“No, you're not alone.” I laid my cheek on his chest and listened to his heart—his twisted, broken, beautiful heart.
Chapter Fifty-Three
“Wake up.” Someone was stroking my cheek gently and kissing my face.
For a brief moment, I thought I was home and it was one of my husbands holding me. Then I opened my eyes and saw Lucien. The events of the night before bombarded me—his cruelty and then his pain. His soft words. But I knew the softness had disappeared with the morning light, and he was the Devil again. I had told him I wasn't expecting anything to change, and I didn't.
I grimaced at him and asked, “What's it to be today, Luci? Oh, let me guess—you're going to try to rape me.”
Lucien's jaw clenched, and he rolled away from me, onto his back. I sat up and moved to slip out of bed, but his hand shot out and grabbed my wrist. I paused, waiting for the torture to begin.
“Let's call a truce for one day, Elaria,” Lucien said softly.
My heart sped up. I looked back at him over my shoulder. “Right,” I scoffed. “So you can throw it in my face later? Or in their faces?”
“This isn't a trick. I just want to spend the day with you without fighting. Can we do that?”
I went still. I'd been trying to make the Devil love me by making love to him, but it doesn't work that way. Love doesn't come from being sexually intimate; I knew that. And yet, I had tried because it was the option he'd given me. I tried because I'd never done this before, never set out to win someone who didn't want to be won, and I didn't know what the hell I was doing. Raphael said to be myself and that's what I'd done last night. I offered Lucien comfort because, despite what I did or didn't feel for him, he had been in pain and his pain had touched me. I had helped him without trying to manipulate him, just because it was the right thing to do. And now, he was offering me a truce.
“All right,” I agreed. “Truce.”
Lucien grinned. “Thank you.”
“Fuck with me, and I will find a way to make you regret it,” I tossed over my shoulder as I headed to the bathroom.
The sound of Lucien's laughter followed me.
When I returned, I found him out on the balcony, the sun turning his hair into a halo and his wings into diamonds. He sat at a small, round table with a selection of breakfast dishes before him, pondering them as he sipped from a teacup. He set his cup down and stood as I approached, then came around to pull a chair out for me.
“I wasn't sure what you'd want, so I made a few options,” Lucien said, sounding... nervous?
I frowned at him as I sat. I would allow myself to hope secretly but not to be foolish. This could be one of Lucien's games. He might allow me to think I was getting through to him only so he could hurt me later tonight at the next challenge. And he'd do it in front of my men. I had to keep my guard up.
“Thank you,” I murmured and started filling my plate.
“Coffee or tea?” He asked as he resumed his seat.
“Coffee, please.”
Lucien poured me a teacup full of coffee from a silver carafe. Its aroma helped to clear my head. I breathed in deeply, then sipped and stared out across the sea. The waters were calm again, the sky overhead a sharp blue. Sun warmed my skin. If it had been anyone else sitting across from me, I would have sighed in contentment.
“What shall we do today?” Lucien asked as he cut into his pancakes.
I stared at him. The Devil was eating pancakes. Why did that strike me as funny in a chilling way?
“Elaria?” he prompted.
“Whatever you like,” I said blandly.
“Oh, come on,” he grumbled, sighed, and laid his utensils down. “I'm making an effort. Won't you do the same? After last night, I thought...” He cleared his throat. “Never mind.”
Fuck, was he really trying to be kind?
“Maybe we could take Cerberus for a walk?” I grimaced. If my bestie had heard me referring to him like that—as a common dog—he would have had a fit.
Lucien's smile returned, and he nodded as if taking the Hound of Hades to go walkies was a perfectly normal suggestion. “I think I