jeered at a boy already broken by tragedy, a child, and looking at them now, I knew they’d do the same all over again. Thousands of years, and they hadn’t developed a scrap of empathy, it seemed.
I get it now, I mentally pushed to Azazel.
What?
How tearing wings off a body might be very satisfactory indeed.
The tiniest twitch upward at the corners his mouth. Extremely.
We finally strode into the throne room, through those doors large enough for a jet to pass through. The cavernous hall beyond was hewn from glittering stone, upheld throughout by countless huge pillars, each with intricate carvings depicting scenes of battle and revelry. Sparkling chandeliers hung from the high ceiling, casting patterns of light and shadow over the crowd.
And what a crowd.
The room was teeming with demons, dancing in groups and single to the hypnotizing rhythm of the music. Bodies writhed and undulated, their movements as enthralling as the beat of the drums. I squinted, drew back and flushed with heat.
Um, yeah, they were doing a lot more than just dancing.
Azazel had been right when he’d laughed at my thinking the meeting with Zaquiel was an orgy. That had been tame.
There was nothing tame about this. The scent of sex hung heavy in the air, moans rose above the notes of the music, and everywhere I looked I spotted at least one pair—or threesome, or foursome, or...—going at it right in the open. Roaming hands, exposed flesh, lips on skin, teeth skimming nipples, thrusting hips…
The onslaught of impressions left me reeling. I was surprised there wasn’t steam rising from my skin, what with how on fire I felt.
Azazel’s hand on my nape made me jump.
You okay?
Sure, sure, yeah. If I could have mentally cleared my throat, I would have. So this is what you guys get up to on the weekends.
His mental voice held a hint of amusement. Hell is a shithole and immortality holds endless ennui. We take pleasure where we can find it.
Not judging, I replied. Just… I tilted my head as I studied one particularly enthusiastic couple. …taking notes.
He laughed under his breath, and the sound caused a flutter of warmth in my chest. I did that—made the tight coil inside him loosen for a moment, made him think of something else, something better than the strain of coming here, or the anxiety about what awaited us.
All too soon, however, that brief moment of levity evaporated. The crowd parted in front of us…to reveal a large dais with two lounge-like thrones on it, framed by a few settees on either side. Guards in black-and-gold livery surrounded the dais. Demons sprawled on those sofas, and on the two thrones sat…what I assumed must be Lucifer and Lilith. If the fact that her seat was of the same size as his was any indication, she really did rule as his equal then.
The echo of Azazel’s energy in me snapped taut, and I quickly studied the two figures as we approached before I’d have to lower my gaze. The most surprising aspect about Lucifer was probably that his hair was blond. I had to blink several times to make sure I saw right. For some reason, I’d always imagined him dark-haired, maybe due to how he was preferably pictured in popular media? In any case, despite my personal confusion, it did fit with the rest of his appearance.
Like the most exquisite masterpiece of one of the great sculptors, his features seemed so finely hewn as to appear otherworldly, skin like white marble with a silver sheen, his beauty so striking that it hurt to look at him directly, as if gazing into a small sun. I had to avert my eyes after a few seconds. The brightest star in Heaven, indeed.
He lounged on his throne with the careless arrogance of the god-kings of old, clad in a black tunic and pants embroidered with stylized golden stars along the seams. A dark crown sat upon his head, the light of the chandeliers glinting off the slate black metal.
My eyes tracked to Lilith on the throne next to him. Where Lucifer seemed ethereal, she was all earthen beauty, glowing with an inner fire that shone from her features, flared with every movement. The flickering candles painted her light brown skin in hues of gold and amber, kissed the curls of her loose, black hair with a warm shine and sparked off the golden headdress she wore like a crown. A necklace of emeralds draped down toward the deep cut