He drew back, dismay written into the lines of his face.
“I can’t tell you when that will happen, but it usually takes some time. Decades. You have many good years ahead of you.” I swallowed hard. “No other demon will be able to drag you back to Hell—Azazel will have someone here to watch over you. And if you should turn…”
“I’ll be put down?”
I gave a shaky nod. Wraiths could never be rehabilitated, but they could be destroyed, their soul essence smashed to smithereens.
My dad looked toward the house. “Good,” he said, his voice rough. After a minute, he turned back to me. “And you?”
“I’ll be with Azazel.”
His gaze mapped my face. “Will you be happy?”
A small smile stole onto my lips. “I already am.”
“Then I’m happy for you.” His answering smile was genuine but brittle, underlaid with pain and sadness.
Much like our relationship.
I stood, and he got to his feet as well.
“I’ll be by,” I said.
A self-deprecating smile. “I’ll be here.”
I hesitated for a moment, my heart in knots. Then I reached out and hugged him.
Startled, he didn’t move at first. When his arms closed around me, I thought I felt him choke back a sob.
Throat tight, eyes pricking hot with the ghostly memory of tears, I let him go, nodded, and walked around the house to the front.
Azazel took one look at me and opened his arms. I walked right into his embrace, burying my face in his chest. His scent wrapped around me, strong and reassuring, his energy a comforting caress.
“He’ll be okay,” I murmured into his shirt.
“So will you.”
Eventually. Or maybe not. Considering that Azazel held onto his loathing for his father for thousands of years…some wounds might never close.
And thinking of his father…guilt coiled in my guts for my lie of omission about his mother.
When Azazel asked me about what happened in Lucifer’s palace and what I’d done to make Lucifer indebted to me, I stuck to the truth as much as possible. He’d seen my dagger lodged in the chest of one of the insurgents, and I told him that by defending myself from the demon, I unwittingly saved one of Lucifer’s treasures from being destroyed.
I was upfront about the vow Lucifer had extracted from me, that I was sworn to secrecy about the treasure itself.
Azazel wasn’t happy about it, but he seemed to accept my explanation. He knew better than anyone that incurring Lucifer’s wrath by breaking my vow to him would be a thing of madness.
Still, my secret ate at me, and I couldn’t shake the feeling it would come back to haunt me in time.
My fingers dug into Azazel’s shirt. I would cross that bridge when I got there.
Until then, I’d hold on to what I’d found, to this love that had sprung from the most unlikely of circumstances, and I’d relish every minute I spent with my own personal demon. He was a gift I hadn’t seen coming, my love for him something I still marveled at in quiet moments.
Looking up at him, I slung my arms around his neck, pulled him down for a kiss. When we came up for air, his eyes were a storm of silver lightning.
“Let’s go home,” I whispered.
His smile promised sin and seduction. Grabbing me tighter, he unfurled his mighty wings and shot us into the sky, hellbound.
Thank you for reading Hellishly Ever After!
Would you like to read the Zaquiel meeting scene from Azazel’s POV? Join my newsletter, and you’ll receive it as a welcome gift. Sign up here.
Also by Nadine Mutas
The Love and Magic series:
Novels:
To Seduce a Witch’s Heart (Love and Magic, #1)
To Win a Demon’s Love (Love and Magic, #2)
To Stir a Fae’s Passion (Love and Magic, #3)
To Enthrall the Demon Lord (Love and Magic, #4)
To Tempt a Witch to Sin (Love and Magic, #5); please check my website for updates on the release date
Novellas:
To Caress a Demon’s Soul (Love and Magic, #1.5)
Acknowledgments
First and foremost, my thanks go to my husband, who has supported me tirelessly and stepped up to the plate to give me writing time when the world outside was ravaged by the virus and we all hunkered down at home. I couldn’t have done this without his help. Not with an active, demanding kindergarten kid whom we had to homeschool (don’t get me wrong, I love you, kiddo!).
My thanks also to Jessica Morison, who was there for the birth of this very idea nine years ago and cheered me on through it all. Your enthusiasm kept me writing.
More thanks to Dominique Heidenreich, who’s been there for me with encouragement, laughter, and kindness, gave me first feedback on the manuscript and reassured me I could do this. I’m so glad to know you.
I also want to thank my mom for being with me on this writing journey, always believing in me, and loving my stories.
My cover artist Orina Kafe did an amazing job with the cover. It’s everything I hoped for, and I love seeing Azazel and Zoe brought to life.
Last but not least, to all my readers, who have waited so patiently for my next book and jumped right on it when I told them of my new project. The members of my FB reader group, in particular, have stuck with me through three years of non-writing due to burnout, losing my dad, struggling with infertility and finally being able to write again. Your support means the world to me. Thank you.
About the Author
Nadine Mutas is the award-winning author of paranormal romances featuring demons and witches and lots of forbidden love. Her debut novel, To Seduce a Witch’s Heart, won the Golden Quill 2016 for Best Paranormal Romance as well as the Published Maggie Award 2016 for Paranormal/Fantasy, and the latest installment in her Love and Magic series, To Enthrall the Demon Lord, won the Book Buyers Best for Paranormal Romance in 2018 as well as the Booksellers’ Best for Paranormal Romance in 2018.
After obtaining a university degree in the subjects job counselors like to warn you about (“There’s no money in humanities!”), Nadine is now writing full-time and introvertedly thriving from her home office. You can usually lure her out of her socially awkward shell by striking up a conversation about languages (keywords: Indo-European family; relation of Sanskrit to Ancient Greek) and watch her geek out for the next hour.
She currently lives in California with her college sweetheart, beloved little demon spawn, and two black cats hellbent on cuddling her to death (Clarification: Both her husband and kid prefer her alive. The cats, she’s not so sure about.)
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. For permission requests, contact Nadine Mutas at one of the addresses below.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.