Embrace The Dark (Her Elemental Dragons Book 5)(27)

Lucifer reached the helicopter and landed hard on the rough stone, the ground trembling under the impact. I glanced back, but didn’t see any hint of the battle going on out there.

“Get in!” he yelled, as he helped me into the chopper. The very rock behind me shuddered with the rage in his voice, and I scrambled inside the cockpit.

He slammed the door shut and then vanished, literally just…disappeared into the night. A second later darkness surged into the cockpit with me and coalesced into his form, while my jaw dropped to the floor. Damn, how many powers did he have?

“What the hell was that thing?” I asked, as I hurried to buckle myself in to the seat.

“A dragon shifter. A demon of greed.”

Shit, I really had seen a dragon. I’d started to doubt myself as soon as we were out of sight, like maybe it had been a trick of the light or something, but no. A fucking dragon! Breathing fire at us!

“How dare they attack us?” Lucifer growled, as he started up the helicopter. He was beyond furious, but also something else. Terrified, I realized. For me. “You’re my mate. They know better than to hurt you. If they’d harmed a hair on your head, I’d wipe the rest of the fucking dragons off the face of this world.”

The helicopter lurched into the air and my stomach plummeted as it rose higher and higher. I held my breath as we zoomed off, and in the distance I saw the flash of bright lights and burning flame, and prayed my two bodyguards would make it out alive too.

When we got back to The Celestial, Lucifer was still furious. He immediately summoned some Fallen guards to watch over me, and then he gave me a hasty kiss. “Now that you’re safe, I have to go back.”

I nodded, my hands trembling a little, my stomach twisted with worry for Zel and Gad. This time Lucifer took off on his wings, flying faster than he’d done with me, and then vanished into the night. With a sigh, I realized he would have stayed to fight the dragons if not for me. He probably could have defeated them easily, but he’d run because he was worried for my safety. My mortality was holding him back. He feared losing me again so soon.

I was the devil’s weakness.





19





Hannah





I fell asleep in Lucifer’s bed alone, curled in his black silk sheets. He joined me late in the night, murmuring softly that both Zel and Gad were all right. The three of them had killed one dragon and captured another, but the last had escaped. Then he tucked himself around me and held me close as I fell asleep again, feeling safer in his arms than anywhere else in the world.

When I woke in the morning, he was already gone. A note told me he was investigating the attack and that he’d prefer it if I stayed in the penthouse today. Fine with me. I had a library to explore anyway.

After a front row seat at an epic dragon battle last night, plus all the mind-bending discoveries of the last few days, I was ready for some quiet time to myself. I took a long, hot shower in Lucifer’s bathroom, which was even more luxurious than mine, and found it was already close to noon.

Lucifer had ordered an enormous spread of food from room service for me—from colorful tropical fruits I’d never even heard of, to smoked salmon and pre-massaged beef, artisan breads and tiny egg omelets with flakes of truffle. Then there were exotic chocolates dotted with gold and cheeses flown in from all over the world. It was probably the most expensive buffet I’d ever been to, and there was no way I could eat all of it.

I noticed Gadreel standing by the door, acting as my bodyguard today. He wore jeans and a faded t-shirt, showing off his impressive arms, and with that golden hair and those blue eyes, he looked like a college football player more than a Fallen angel.

“Where’s Zel?” I asked, while I began making up a plate of food.

“She got hurt last night and Lucifer made her take the day off to heal.” He smirked. “There was a lot of arguing. She takes her duty to protect you seriously.”

My chest tightened at the thought of her getting injured. “Is she all right?”

“Yeah, just a little dragonfire on her legs. Nothing she can’t heal herself in a day or so, but hurts like hell in the meantime.”

I tilted my head as I popped a piece of cheese in my mouth. “Heal?”

“All supernaturals heal faster than humans. One of our many gifts. There’s also a type of angel called Malakim that can heal others, but we prefer not to ask them for favors if we can avoid it. Old rivalries, and all that.”

“Right,” I said, nodding slowly. My plan today was to scour Lucifer’s library for anything about angels, demons, or my past lives. I still had so much to learn.

I gestured at the huge buffet. “Please, eat anything you like. There’s way too much for me.”

He gave me a warm smile as he pushed off the wall and walked toward me. “Thanks.”

With a plate of food in one hand, I headed into the library. My eyes immediately landed on the sword on the wall behind Lucifer’s desk, and I swallowed back the memories of dead gargoyles it brought to the surface. Was I a fighter in one of my past lives? How many times had I wielded Lucifer’s sword before?

I set the food down and found the area of the library with the books on history and mythology, and then spent the next few minutes pulling out everything that looked even remotely helpful. I spread them out on the floor and sat in the middle with my plate beside me, munching on food while perusing old tomes and newer books alike.

Hours passed, and I still felt like I knew nothing. I sighed and put the book on Hades and Persephone down in my lap. It was informative, but how was I to know how much was true and how much was legend? I’d been through a dozen books on angels and demons and the Greek gods, but I wasn’t sure I’d really learned anything new. Now my neck was starting to crick from leaning forward over the pages, and my butt hurt from sitting on the hard marble for so long. I let out a long sigh and began massaging my neck, hoping it would loosen my tight muscles.

“Everything all right?” Gadreel asked, from where he sat in an armchair. He’d been alternating between eating and idly playing on his phone while I’d been in here. Not a fan of books, it seemed.

“Just a bit stiff.” I stood and stretched some more, then crossed the room to sink into the armchair beside him. Sitting on the floor had been a terrible idea, but it was the only way to see all my books. “I’ve been trying to research angels and demons, but it’s such a big topic. I’m not sure why I thought I’d be able to learn everything in a few hours.”

Gad chuckled softly. “It’s probably easier to just ask one of us. We’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”

“I appreciate that.” I sat up straighter and tucked my feet under me. “How did you come to work for Lucifer?”

“I’m one of the younger Fallen, which means I’m only a few centuries old and was born in Hell as a Fallen, not an angel, unlike Azazel or Samael. I fought in Lucifer’s army in the Great War back in the 19th century, and since then I’ve worked my way up through the ranks and proved my loyalty, until Samael made me his assistant.”

It was something of a relief to hear he wasn’t as ancient as the others, even though I would definitely not consider a few centuries old to be young. “The Great War—the war against Heaven, right?”

He nodded, with a sad smile. “I knew you then. In one of your previous lives. Do you remember?”

I shook my head, but the feeling that he spoke truth lodged in my chest. “Can you tell me about that life?”

“I’d be happy to. You were a beautiful Fallen angel named Lenore with raven-black hair and wings, born around the same time as I was in the 18th century. We fought together, side by side, and you were a fearsome warrior.”

“A warrior?” My eyes slid to the sword on the wall again. Was that when I’d gotten my fighting skills?

He leaned his head against the high back of the chair and grinned. “Oh yes. You cut down so many angels in Lucifer’s name. But you were also kind and funny, and like now, you loved books. You would often go to Earth and hang out in London, talking to the gothic writers there like Lord Byron, Mary Shelley, and Edgar Allen Poe. You inspired a lot of their stories, actually.”

“Really?” My eyes widened at that. It was a relief to hear I’d done something in that life other than kill angels, and I’d always loved all those old gothic books—to hear I’d actually met the authors and inspired some of their stories was really incredible.

He chuckled at that. “Yes, and Lucifer encouraged it. He liked that they were writing about the creatures of the night.”

I let out a long sigh. “I wish I could remember it.”

“It might come back to you in time.” But then his smile dropped and he looked away. “Although maybe it’s better you don’t remember.”

“What do you mean?”

“You died on the battlefield of Hell. An angel in gold armor cut you down right in front of my eyes. You took your last breath in Lucifer’s arms, whispering his name, and many of the Fallen wept for days over your loss.” His face was a mask of regret, as he sucked in a deep breath. “For what it’s worth, I killed the angel who did it. I just wish I’d been a little faster and could have saved you instead.”