I fall into step beside him as we exit through a side door into a part of the Beyond I’ve never had the authority to traverse.
“Tell me what Fee needs,” the divine says.
“An ancient immortal called Cain has awoken.”
The divine’s step falters. “Cain… Yes, I remember. Eve’s son. The offspring of my brother’s favored son, Samael.”
“Yes, and he also happens to be Fee’s brother.”
I fill him in on the revelations, expecting surprise, but there is none. “You knew?”
“Contrary to popular belief, I’m not omnipresent, and I have been locked away since the beginning of time, so no, I wasn’t aware, but I have done my research since my return.” He looks down at my chest. “And I have attempted to put things right.”
“What do you mean?”
His smile is mysterious. “There have been wrongs committed. But in time, I believe those wrongs will be rectified.” His gaze slides my way. “When the time comes you will have all you need to aid in that.”
His words are enigmatic, and I want to question him further, but I’m here for Fee and need to focus on that. Who knows how much of the divine’s time I’ll be able to monopolize?
“I need to find out more about Eve and Cain. I need access to the written history of man.”
He frowns up at me. “There is no written history, child. There never has been.”
I stare at him in confusion. “But the Righteous—”
His lip curls. “Are liars obsessed with power and have been relieved of their positions.”
Shit.
The divine comes to a standstill outside a white door. “We have no written history, but you might find the answers you’re looking for beyond this door.”
“And what’s beyond the door?”
“An oral history of man. Everything that has taken place since creation began. The Oracle knows all. It exists here and there and everywhere, and it will only tell you what it believes you need to know. Some paths can be changed, others must not be touched. The Oracle will decide if you’re worthy.”
I look at the door then back to him. “You knew I’d need to speak to it, didn’t you?”
“Like I said, I’m not omnipresent, but I do get hunches.” He taps the side of his nose. “Good luck.”
He pushes the door open and darkness swallows me.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Fee
“We’ve torn this place apart,” Conah said. “It’s not here.”
We’d spent two days combing the library, and the table in the center of the room was piled with scrolls which Conah was in the process of cataloguing because he literally couldn’t help himself.
He noted something into a ledger and popped a scroll into one of the many piles he’d created.
“Seriously?” Azazel said. “Do you have to do that now?”
“It needs to be done,” he retorted, sapphire eyes flashing. “You could help.”
“No,” Azazel said shortly. “We have more pressing matters. Like locating a certain fucking scroll.”
I held up my hands. “Okay, we’re all tired and grumpy. Let’s not turn on each other.” I flopped into the nearest chair. “But we do need that damned scroll.” And I was beginning to think it wasn’t in this room at all.
Samael flew down from the uppermost level of the library, empty handed this time. “It’s not here,” he confirmed.
Oh, thank god. I mean, I wanted to find the damn thing just as much as the next guy, but to be told the search in here was over was more than a relief.
Samael didn’t look happy though. In fact, he looked positively pissed. His eyes flashed dangerously, and I felt the zing of his ire as an electric bite in the air. Conah and Azazel flinched.
They felt it too.
“She moved it,” Samael said. “She hid it elsewhere. Why would she do that?”
It was obviously a rhetorical question, so I kept my mouth shut.
“The question is where?” Azazel looked thoughtful.
Wait… “Keon mentioned a personal library? Lilith has texts locked away somewhere.”
Samael’s head whipped up. “We need to find this personal collection.”
“Keon will know,” Azazel said. “He should be back with us soon.”
Samael nodded but his jaw was tight. “Every moment we wait is another moment my Lilith is in that degenerate’s clutches.”
He’d gone from being pissed at her to saying her name as if it was a precious wish.
“We will get her back,” Azazel promised.
“Yes,” Samael said. “And I will finally have Mammon’s head for treason.” He strode toward the exit. “Rest and recharge, for when we leave this place there will be little of either to comfort you.”
Conah pressed his palms to the table and hung his head.
“What is it?” Azazel asked.
He looked up with a sigh. “Why the hell did I start cataloging this mess?”
The doors to the library burst open and a liveried guard entered. “Lord Azazel, you wished to be informed when the troops arrived.”
Azazel pushed back his seat. “They’re here? All of them?”
“Yes, Lord Azazel.”
The guard retreated, leaving me confused.
“What’s happening?”
Azazel grinned. “The army Asmodeus and Mal have prepped and gathered are here.”
My pulse sped up. “Does that mean—”
“Yes, Fee.” He chuckled. “Mal is back.”
I wanted to shove my chair from the table and run out of the room, but I held back. I didn’t want Azazel to feel I was running out on him
“Fee?” Azazel said softly.
I met his gaze. “Yes?”
“Why are you still sitting here?”
My heart leapt.
He jerked his head toward the door. “I think Mal would appreciate a proper welcome home.”
I shoved back my chair, flung myself at Azazel and planted a sloppy kiss on his lips. “I love you.”
He cupped the back of my head. “I know. Now go. But come back to me.”
“Always.”
Mal didn’t know I was in the Underealm. Azazel and I had agreed that it was best that he remain unaware, because knowing I was here, this close, might be a distraction when he was in General mode. But now he was at the Keep, and I was about to see him for the first time in a week.
Yeah it didn’t sound like a long time, but it felt too long.
I paused outside his chamber doors and took a deep breath to compose myself before knocking lightly and entering.
The drapes were drawn, blocking out the afternoon sun, and the room was shrouded in gloom. I made out the shape of the bed, a bedside table and free-standing lamp, but there was no Mal.
Shit.
“Fee?”
I turned to face Mal framed in the doorway. He looked bigger, imposing in his Imperium General’s armor. He brought the scent of outdoors with him. Dusty plains, drake sweat, and leather mingled to create a strangely heady concoction. His face was streaked with dirt, hair tousled and windswept, but his smile… His smile was the sun breaking out from behind a cloud.
And then we crashed into each other, my arms around his neck, his mouth on mine. He hoisted me up, and I wrapped my legs around his slender waist, losing myself in the taste of him. His tongue tangled with mine, and his hands sank into my hair. I gripped him with my thighs, holding fast, and deepening the kiss to breathe in the elements that clung to his salty skin. And then we fell, only to be caught by the mattress.
He broke the kiss, breathing raggedly to look down at me with a mixture of awe and desire.
“I need you.”
I tugged at his belt. “Take it off. Now.”
I shucked off my pants and underwear, eyes on the prize as he unveiled it. Oh fuck, he was straining and eager, and my body responded with a clawing need that was almost painful.
There was no inclination to undress any further. We had what we needed. He had what I needed. He palmed it now, pumping once, twice. His chin fell forward, eyes blazing as they trained down to my sex.
“Babe,” his voice was a ragged rasp of desperation.
“I know.” I parted my thighs. “Please.”
He fell on me like a ravenous monolith of lithe muscles and barely restrained power. I cried out as he filled me, my body clutching hungrily at his hot arousal as he began to thrust. I settled around him, welcoming him into my slick heat. I moved to meet his thrusts angling my hips so he hit the perfect spot.
I turned my head to the side, offering him my neck. “Feed.”
He didn’t ask me if I was sure this time. He knew better than that. He took what he needed, fangs sliding into my artery and flooding me with euphoria. I lost all concept of time and place as he molded me to him, drawing from me, invading me with pulses of pleasure that tore primal cries from my throat.
He was mine, trapped with me in a circuit of pleasure, a union that was more than physical. I grasped him to me, jerking my hips against him. He retracted his fangs and claimed my mouth, bringing with him the coppery taste of my blood, that for some reason, served to amplify the heat between us. It pooled hot and liquid between my thighs, heightening every rasp of Mal’s cock inside me. I swallowed his groan as he swelled. My body tightened and my breath twisted in my throat. Oh fuck, I was about to—
I came, rolling my hips against him, mouth crushed to his as I rode the pulsing waves that wracked my body. He joined me a moment later, fingers digging into my hips as he found release.
He collapsed on top of me and nuzzled my neck his breath ragged and hot. “By the way, I missed you a fuck ton.”
“You don’t say.”
We both burst into laughter.
Mal was back. My guys were with me, and together we could take on the world.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Cora
I stride into the Magiguard building with Hunter by my side. Ursula, the gem that she is, has agreed to help us with a little Cain tracking. The Magiguard aren’t about to sit by and let an ancient entity create havoc in the city, especially not when it could affect the human population. Yeah, shame it didn’t occur to me before Fee left with Azazel. I could have put her mind at rest.