I could see Azazel make some kind of gesture out of the corner of my eye, but Raziel ignored him. “I didn’t send anyone to save you. You’re a demon. Your well-being isn’t our concern—you were expendable.”
“Then who—”
“None of that matters,” Azazel interrupted. “The question is, what are we going to do now?”
Raziel’s eyebrows slammed together in displeasure. “I think you should answer Rachel’s question.”
I had the sudden idea that I wasn’t going to like the answer. No one else was volunteering the information—no one was saying anything—so I turned my head to look at Azazel.
It hit me anew, my longing for him, for the monster who’d delivered me to torturers. It was crazy and wrong, and I would die before he found out. “So tell me,” I said calmly.
The bright blue eyes, watching me without emotion. The gorgeously shaped mouth that had kissed me. The hands that had turned me over to the Truth Breakers without a moment’s hesitation.
“I brought you back.”
I froze, going through a mental litany of curses. I was just going to shut up now, before I found out anything else I didn’t want to hear. What was I supposed to do, thank the son of a bitch? I couldn’t move away from the insistent pressure of his thigh against mine, and knew that if I tried to leave the table, he’d simply force me back down. But I could move his restraining hand. I picked it off my thigh and deposited it on his own. He left it there.
“We have decided to follow the prophecy, since fighting it has only made things worse,” Raziel was saying, though whether to me or the others I wasn’t sure. “The demon Lilith will wed Asmodeus, king of demons, and together they will rule hell. They will raise Lucifer up from darkness, and they will beget a new generation of the Fallen.”
“But we know that’s impossible,” Allie spoke up. “For one thing, Rachel is no longer the Lilith. Her servitude is broken.”
“How do you know?” her husband said.
Allie ignored him. “As for Azazel, he’s only referred to as Asmodeus in a few obscure texts. Some people think he’s an entirely different demon.”
“I might point out that I’m not a demon.” Azazel’s voice beside me might almost have held humor, but I knew that was impossible. Besides, if he found anything about this funny, I’d hate him even more than I already did.
“On top of that, we can’t reproduce, so how they can beget a new generation of the Fallen is beyond me. The prophecy is just one of the twisted stories Uriel put about to torment the wives of the Fallen and sow discord among us. It’s wicked enough that we offered Rachel up to them in our desperation to find Lucifer. If you’ll remember, I was against it in the first place. And it not only didn’t help us, it gave Uriel the advantage, and in the meantime we lost our humanity.”
“My love,” Raziel said gently, “we’re not human.”
“Well, I am,” Allie snapped.
“In fact, you’re not.”
She glared at him across the table, and a lesser man would have watched himself. “Are you suggesting we offer Rachel up as a virgin sacrifice once more, even though she no longer has anything we need?”
“That remains to be seen. Asmodeus and the Lilith will rule—”
“Enough, already. She’s no longer Lilith, and we don’t know if Azazel ever was Asmodeus. Come up with a better reason.”
“How about this one,” Azazel said from beside me. “Uriel believes that prophecy, whether it’s true or not. It unnerves him, frightens him, and there’s not much that can frighten the archangel. And frightened creatures make mistakes. If he believes he has something to fear from us, he’ll go straight for where Lucifer is entombed, and he’ll lead us there.”
“So what do you suggest we do?” Michael demanded. “Sit and wait? Wait for him to uncover Lucifer and destroy him?”
“He can’t do that. He can’t override the Supreme Being’s edicts, which is why he hasn’t destroyed us. We live in the curse placed upon us by an angry and vengeful God. Uriel’s not divine.” Raziel’s voice was measured.
“Even though he thinks he is,” Allie said. There was a ripple of laughter around the table, which astonished me. I wouldn’t have thought these grim creatures capable of laughter.
“So what do we do?” Michael repeated.
“The answer is obvious.” Azazel’s cool, deep voice almost seemed to vibrate within me, he was so close. “He will attempt to wipe out the first threat. He’s already tried it and failed, which must gall him. If he believes the Lilith and Asmodeus are truly mated, he will panic. The threat of the union is at least twofold: not only that we will find Lucifer, but that we will beget children and the curse will be broken. If the Fallen can have children, then our numbers increase, and we grow stronger.”
I was speechless with outrage, and by the time I found words Michael had already overridden me. “And you will reign in hell. Uriel has joined heaven and hell, so if he believes the prophecy, he will fear that you will reign over his own kingdom.”
“The Dark City?” Azazel said. “He can have it.”
“And if you bond, you will find Lucifer and raise him, and our army will have a leader,” Michael added, his voice tight. “It sounds like a good plan.”
Michael, the warrior angel—of course he’d think anything involving battle was a good plan. Once more I opened my mouth to protest, but no words came out. It was my damned voice. There still wasn’t much to it, and any stress or heavy breathing shut it off entirely.
“It’s not without its risks,” Raziel said. “But as far as I can see, it’s our best option. Are we all agreed? Azazel and Rachel will mate?”
I pulled away, knocking my chair over as I went. Azazel could have stopped me, but he let me go, and I ended up with my back against the wall, literally and figuratively.
Finally I found my voice. “Hell, no.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
THEY ALL JUST LOOKED AT ME AS if I’d grown a second head. “You heard me,” I said fiercely. “Hell, no.”
Azazel’s eyes were on me, unreadable as always. “Why have you suddenly become so squeamish? We’ve already done most of it.”
Heat flooded my face. “Yes, you fucked me on Beloch’s orders. You see how far that got us.”
Damn, everyone’s eyes were moving between Azazel and me as if this were the world’s best tennis match. That, or a soap opera.
“I disagree. I found it most instructive,” he said in his cool, emotionless voice. “It proved we’re physically compatible.”
“Not anymore,” I snarled.
Allie jumped in, thank God. “Azazel, you haven’t thought this through. You can’t risk mating with her. It’s too dangerous.”
“He already has ‘mated’ with me, didn’t you hear him? And why should it be dangerous? I’m not a praying mantis—I don’t bite the heads off my partners once we’re finished. Even if they deserve it,” I added.
Allie shook her head. “You don’t understand. And really, you don’t need to. This is simply too dangerous for Azazel to attempt. He knows he can mate only with his chosen one. If he mates with a casual partner, he could die.”
I had no idea what the hell she was talking about, but everyone else in the room seemed to understand. I stood there, wishing I hadn’t jumped up. Now I felt foolish and vulnerable, the only one in the room standing. I was being too emotional—it had always been one of my failings.
“She’s right,” Raziel said finally. “You can’t risk it.”
“It is no risk,” Azazel said. “I choose her.”
There was dead silence in the room, shock mixed with doubt. I opened my mouth to announce that I sure as fuck hadn’t chosen him, then wisely shut it again. Spouting off wasn’t getting me anywhere.
“Azazel, her blood will poison you,” Allie said gently.