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The wall felt cool against ainst it this ti hih around his hip, then he lifted me In his ferocity, he was a selfish lover, hard hands onin mad, deep thrusts
I urged him on with nails in his shoulder In this position, I couldn’t move much He was in control He liked doe rose—and submission when it didn’t In turn, I enjoyed him tied to my bed, but I also enjoyed the rare sense that I’d lost control
And then I did I screaone He arched into , we staggered to the bed and collapsed on it Chance wrapped his arms around me as if he couldn’t bear to lose contact with me for even a moment I’d never permitted myself to bond so deeply with a lover before He was in my head, s had becoed to him alone
“Better?” I whispered, kissing his shoulder where I’d scratched him
Shivers still wracked hiold with satiation “More relaxed, anyway”
“Are you sorry you came with her?”
He ran his fingers through his hair as he considered “No I can’t clai babies in hell, but it’s not terrible”
I nodded, curling into his arms “Sheol has its beauties”
“Like you” He kissed the top of my head “I was so scared I’d lose you…and this ti back from it, no chance to beat the odds”
“You mean because I’d be all Ninlil and no Corine?” That didn’t trouble me; he had loved her first, but he cared for me too He was, truly, an extraordinary male
“Yeah”
“I didn’t want to destroy her Only survive The angels took everything from me…and I had harmed no humans I seek no foothold there My subjects come to earth in response to hus and rituals!” Even now, the unfairness of it boiled my blood
“I don’t think most people realize that” Chance levered up on one elbow “Explain to els and de? There was a rebellion in heaven?”
The question distracted er lanced through els have never seen it They create their own legends, every eon or so, and then update all the manuals”
“There are manuals?” he asked, a brow arched in surprise
“I don’t knoas being sarcastic The truth is, angels and dee They come from Sheol, just as we do It’s not heaven or hell…It’s just another realm”
“Interesting”
“There was a civil war, but it wasn’t over God or divine orders It was so long ago that even our records are incomplete I only know it had to do with a question of succession It was before the first Ninlil took the throne, before the castes formed as we know theed and the walkers We were more beautiful then too, but once half our nu, and you end up with monstrous creatures like the Noit and the Aronesti”
“What happened next?”
“The demons won,” I said quietly “We booted the losers out of our real with the course of human history Now they have a new tale, a new hierarchy, but it’s nonsense An ancient ka, who calls hi to his personal agenda”
Chance frowned; I had succeeded in rattling him “Ka?”
“In soes, it h name for us, e used to be” It hurt s because then I had to consider how I’d learned theave Chance had not couish
As if he keyed into hts, Chance asked, “How do you know all this? You said the records are incomplete”
Hard to explain in words, but: “When the archangel summoned me, there was a hts and memories Some of it stayed with me, after I renched away and he bound me to the Solomon line”
“So you saw inside this…archangel?” I could tell he no longer liked the term
“Yes He was very old He would have been a king in Sheol with such power”
Chance nodded “He ht have led the revolt”
“If I ever knew, it was not one of the y—I was not the queen I had been—but sometimes different didn’t mean lesser Perhaps the kindness that caht, and would result in a brighter future for Xibalba
The light of debate sparked in his eyes “You’re very critical of how the angels interfere in the human world, but how are demons better? So many are just so…evil”
I raised a brow “So are hue your race on those who prey on children and dismember their loved ones? You have nottheir lives Soickal trinkets Do you see a pattern?”
A wince revealed that I’d scored a hit “You’re saying deood, some bad, some neither”
“But I would, wouldn’t I? Especially if I’ she-devil who only wants to steal your seed”
He laughed softly “A pity I keep ruining the challenge by giving it to you Why do you think he summoned you?”
More anger, dagger sharp “He wanted a general for their war against us They bred aave birth to the most brutal of their foot soldiers, the Nephiliels have used huood in the way they kill, convicting their victi “I loathe knowing she shared this body with one”
“I…what?” Beside me, Chance froze “Corine…?”
“Before I woke, she slept with one You call him Kel”
“I knew about that Not that he’s Nephilim He says he’s the Hand of God”
I scoffed “Those fools are els invent them to inflate their minions with false consequence and reinforce their blind faith when it falters”