His thumbs rubbed back and forth over my knuckles slowly. “Your sister… Jo, isn’t it?”
I had a hard time believing he didn’t already know everything about me, but I humored him. “Yes. She lives in San Francisco and runs a tech company there. She helped me get back on my feet after the accident, and then I started working in the florist shop we inherited from my parents. Not long after that I met Brandy where she works at the local library, and we became friends. She ended up getting a divorce, and I moved into her house after that.”
He leaned back, releasing my hand, and began to swirl his cider as if it was wine. “Do you ever want more from life than working in a flower shop? Or is that your heart’s desire?”
I bit my lip and looked away, his question touching something deep inside me, something I tried to ignore. I did want more. Desperately. But I also had a duty to run my parents’ shop, and I couldn’t run away from that. “I’ve taken a few online classes here and there, and sometimes I wish I could go to college and get a degree, but I don’t really have time. I have to run the shop and keep my parents’ legacy alive. That’s enough. It has to be.”
“Hmm…” He sounded as if he didn’t believe me. “When you dreamed bigger, what did you want to do?”
“I don’t know. Sometimes I dreamed of becoming a landscape architect and designing outdoor spaces for people.” I shrugged and wiped my mouth on my napkin. “It doesn’t matter, since it will never happen.”
“A job involving nature and plants. Seems like that would suit you.”
I glanced around at the amazing view with a small smile. “I love being around plants. Always have.”
He nodded like he’d expected as much as he pulled a big, red pomegranate from the picnic basket. He held the fruit toward me. “Would you like some?”
I nodded as I inhaled the delicate, powdery fragrance. Just a touch of sweetness that hinted at the luxury within. He must have known it was one of my favorite fruits. I wondered if he knew my trick for cutting into one.
With a small knife, he sliced off the stem, revealing the center and the parts of the pomegranate that didn’t have seeds. After turning it on its side, he scored down the fruit, following each section. With his hands, he broke the pomegranate into sections, the seeds both beautiful and bountiful on each one.
My eyebrows shot up. “Did you teach me that trick?”
“Actually, you taught me.” He picked up one of the sections and held it close to my mouth. I bit into it and the tips of his fingers brushed my lips, sending tingles through me as juice exploded over my tongue.
His eyes stayed fixed on my mouth as my tongue darted out to gather the stray juice off my lips. “In one of our past lives, they called me Hades. You were named Persephone.”
I nearly choked on the delicious fruit and stared at him in shock. “The goddess?”
“Angels, demons, and fae were often portrayed as gods in mythology. You were actually a fae of the Spring Court in that life.” He winked, a naughty grin slanting across his mouth. “I snatched you away from Faerie to live with me in Hell, much to your parents’ dismay.”
I shook my head in wonder, trying to absorb his words. The vase in his library made a lot more sense, along with the narcissus flowers in my room. Was it my favorite flower because it subconsciously reminded me of my past life? What other things from my previous lives influenced me now? Favorite food, favorite color, even the way I drank my coffee—how much of that was from my current life and how much was from before? Having so much knowledge just out of my reach was maddening.
“It was a time of relative peace between the supernatural races, where we all moved freely between Earth and the other realms.” Lucifer kept feeding me the pomegranate seeds, holding them to my lips as he spoke. I let my tongue touch the tip of his finger, watching as his eyes flared, but he didn’t miss a beat. “You ruled alongside me in Hell for many years, though your mother made you spend part of you time in Faerie too.”
That did align with the myths about Hades and Persephone. I closed my eyes and searched my soul for some memory of this, but found nothing. “What happened to us?”
“All good things must come to an end.” Something dark lurked in his expression, something that made me wonder if my memories were repressed for a reason. He stood and held out his hand, as his shadowy black wings erupted from his back. “Come. Let me show you the Canyon the way it’s meant to be seen. At night, in my arms.”
I couldn’t refuse him, even though the thought of flying again made my hands tremble. All I could picture was my terrifying fall off the edge of The Celestial, and the way he’d caught me mid-air with a jolt. But he hadn’t let me fall then, and I knew, deep down, he wouldn’t let anything happen to me now either. The devil was dangerous and deadly, but he would never hurt me.
He lifted me up in his arms, carrying me like he did the other night, as though he was rescuing me from something. I squeezed my eyes shut and clung to his neck as his great wings flapped, sending a rush of cool air all around us, and we launched straight up. He held me close to his chest as we flew higher, and I tucked my face against his neck, afraid to let go.
“I’ve got you, Hannah. Open your eyes.”
His wings kept us steady, and I dared a peek over his shoulder. The sun was very low on the horizon, just peeking above the mountains in the distance. Dusk had never been so beautiful before, as a rainbow of colors reached across the sky, painting a canvas over the entirety of the Grand Canyon. I relaxed my hold on him as I gazed around us, soaking in the wonder of nature.
“It’s incredible.”
He nodded, but his eyes were distant as he took in the moment when the sun vanished and the sky turned indigo. “This is what day looks like in Hell.”
His voice held so much longing, and I wondered if he missed his other home. I wanted to ask him why he lived here and not there, but then we were flying and all thoughts rushed out of my mind. I tightened my hold on his neck as he flew along the cliff walls, through the winding valleys, and dropped down to skim just over the river. His grip on me never once faltered and he was always completely in control. Even when the gusts were strong, he used them to lift us up instead of being buffered. I trusted him, in a way I’d never trusted any other man.
I shifted myself in his arms to see better as he flew up and spun around, before diving back down. Fear no longer seized my muscles and gripped my throat, and instead something new had taken over. Elation. Adrenaline. Joy. It was a lot like when we’d been in the race cars. It felt…natural.
As night fell, it got harder for me to see, though the myriad of stars above us made for a gorgeous backdrop. Somehow Lucifer’s wings were even darker than our surroundings, like they were blacker than night itself. My focus shifted to the man holding me instead of my surroundings, since I could still make out the features of his face. I slid my hand along his neck, up to his stubbled jaw, then to his sensual mouth. “How can you see where you’re going?”
“All demons and Fallen can see in the dark,” he said, his voice easily carrying over the wind.
He flew around a curve in the canyon, but then something shot toward us from out of nowhere. Something huge. Lucifer suddenly dropped, plummeting down to avoid the thing hurling toward us, and my stomach lurched as I clung tightly to him again. There was a huge rush of wind as the thing flew past us, and then Lucifer turned to face it.
Then there was light—no, fire. Coming out of a huge mouth. With giant fangs.
Holy shit. Was that a fucking dragon?
The fire illuminated a winged, reptilian creature the size of an SUV, before flames hurled toward us. Lucifer stretched out a hand and darkness, even blacker than night, shot out and consumed the flames, until the light faded.
“Hold on tight to me!” Lucifer yelled, as he flapped his wings and hurled us toward the dragon.
With a shaky breath, I tightened my grip around his neck and tucked my legs in as close as I could. There was nothing else I could do, and I felt so damn powerless and terrified.
The dragon roared, sending shivers of terror through me, but it was hard for me to see him in the darkness until more fire emerged from his mouth. Before he could unleash it, tendrils of magic so dark they blended into the night erupted from Lucifer’s hands and shot toward the dragon. The dark tentacles circled the dragon all around, coiling over it and tightening in place like a net.
But then Lucifer swore under his breath in a language I didn’t recognize, his gaze on something to the right. I turned and spotted more fire emerging from two other dragons’ mouths, as they loped toward us on reptilian wings.
Lucifer turned and flew faster, arms tight wrapped around me, toward the helicopter. As we shot through the air at breakneck speed, the other dragons chased after us, moving just as quickly. Lucifer moved instinctually, avoiding the bursts of fire that blazed hot trails toward us, and I tried not to scream when one came dangerously close.
Azazel and Gadreel descended on the dragons, and I watched in awe as they whipped, whirled, and surged around the enormous creatures, wielding glowing white swords. But then we turned a corner of the canyon, and in the darkness of night it was impossible for me to see what happened next.