3. Samael

A spark in Orion's eyes just before darkness engulfed us told me all I needed to know.

He was still in there, somewhere.

And unlike me, Orion had fully bonded Lilith. The familiar sensation of sin stirred in my chest.

Jealousy.

I knew sin well. It didn't fucking matter that I was an angel.

I'd fallen a long time ago. Sin was as naturally a part of me as breathing.

It didn't mean I didn't have to regularly cleanse it, though. If too much sin piled up, I wouldn't even be able to walk. An angel's natural body weight would crush my lungs if I didn't have enough levitation magic to keep me aloft. Our wings were massive and bones dense, making our bodies incredibly strong.

But they'd never make biological sense on their own. That was where divine gifts came in.

Assuming they felt I was worthy of them.

My magic was accustomed to dealing with sin when it popped up. My powers didn't work very well when it was present, so I played a constant little game of chase to handle it.

Sin.

Repent.

Repeat.

The way Orion was making me feel was definitely a sin.

A multitude of them, actually.

Because when he had pressed his hard body against mine, I was reminded of what it felt like to meet an equal.

That rarely happened.

Never, if I was keeping count.

Orion dragged me through the maze of hallways and stairs until we exited outside. I didn't have time to register our surroundings before he turned again, pulling me into a seemingly random archway.

Not so random, I realized when needles prickled across my skin and the sky changed.

What's Lucifer doing with portals just sitting around for anyone to use? I wondered as the ground underneath my feet gave way to sand.

Whatever sexual attraction I'd been feeling seemed to ebb out of me as I took in the lazy waves lapping on the shore. They fed the growing layer of foam, causing it to rise like a massive creature taking slow, shallow breaths.

Azrael had better still be breathing, I thought with a frown.

Orion disturbed the oceanic scene, plowing through the foam like a giant stomping on an anthill. The bubbles scattered around him, popping into a fine mist until only the frothy waves splashed around his feet.

He turned and glared at me, the chain still in his iron grip.

His golden eyes were held captive by a ring of red and flickering embers of darkness.

Calamity fought against the mate-bond he still held for Lilith. If I was going to get through to him, that was the thread I needed to pull.

My feet sank into the sand at the thought, one that spurred another wave of jealousy through my chest.

Thinking of Lilith and Orion supplied more sin to weigh me down. Literally.

Maybe that was something I could use to my advantage.

While I was plotting how to choke him with the damn chain and drag him out of here—wherever here was—a stirring of desire returned.

Desire didn't come and go like that. Not for no reason.

I caught myself taking in more than Orion's eyes. He wore only a pair of pants, like me, leaving the healing scar across his chest on display.

One I had given him.

My magical sword had cut him. It was probably one of the few things that could draw the blood of a demigod.

And my teeth, apparently, I thought, remembering the tang of sunlight and metal on my tongue when he'd tried to silence me in the hall.

I didn't have my sword, though. Not when I barely had the strength to keep my own body from crushing me. I required magic to summon it, and I'd been far too beaten down to have enough resources to call it again.

As my gaze lingered on the maze of his hard muscles, oversized and utter perfection, as one might expect of a demigod, I wondered what was influencing me.

Is it the mate-bond itself? I wondered. Lilith handled things in a straightforward way. There wasn't much else more straightforward than taking her mate by the balls and claiming him for herself.

She had a knack for that, not that any of us were complaining.

She'd tried with me. My jaw flexed as my body remembered the sweet agony of her pussy. She had taken me like such a good girl, sheathed me into her with determination and drive.

It didn't matter how much she had wanted our bond to work—she hadn't been ready.

Or maybe I was the one who hadn't been ready.

Maybe I never would be.

"Are you two going to eye-fuck each other all night or get on with it?" a male voice said, making both of us flinch.

I flared my wings, not that I could fly in my condition, but it was instinct to have them ready.

A shadow chuckled at us and Orion bathed him in sunlight, revealing a male I'd never seen before.

But there was a glimmer of red in his eyes that I immediately recognized.

It was gone in an instant, making me wonder if I had imagined it. "Who are you?" Orion barked before I could ask the same question.

Whoever it was had likely followed us through the portal. The male was clearly some sort of supernatural. His features were too perfect, too sharp. He wore a fitted suit and looked like he had come out of some billionaire magazine. Except he wasn't wearing any shoes.

And his cocky-as-all-fuck attitude suggested he wasn't threatened by a demigod or his Purgatory angel captive. That said something in itself.

All the fallen angels feared me. Orion didn't have to hide us when we'd been in that hallway. All I would have had to say was "Boo!" and he would have scurried away crying like a baby.

This was no angel, though. The male took a few steps forward in the sand but didn't disturb the grains. He wasn't leaving any tracks.

What are you?

That was the question we should have been asking.

Not who. What.

"Who I am doesn't matter," the male said with a dismissive wave of his hand. Thick tendrils of black smoke seemed to follow his movements. The otherwise warm air chilled when he spoke. "We share a mutual friend."

"Do we?" Orion asked with a raised brow. The gesture stretched his glowing freckles, making them twinkle as he moved. The demigod was like a fucking living constellation.

"Hmm," the male said, sounding pleased. He rubbed his chin, the motion sensual and confident. "I won't play games. I'm Asher, an incubus. And yes, we definitely share a friend." His eyes glimmered as if there was more to the story. If he was an incubus, even part incubus, the waves of lust made more sense.

And they were getting stronger. Not for the stranger who had appeared, but for my captor, who had drawn closer to me.

This unexpected stranger was an unknown. Orion and I might be enemies until he got his head out of his ass, but at least he was the enemy I knew.

This new asshole was a complete wild card.

Orion sneered at him. The demigod had trained succubi and incubi at Fortune Academy, so the entire species was one he was very familiar with. And knowing the demigod, he probably saw them as some sort of playthings to be molded to his liking.

Like Lilith, I thought, unable to suppress the growl that rumbled in my chest. She's just a toy to you, isn't she? I should show you what that feels like.

Orion ignored my aggression and instead kept his focus on the incubus. "Why are you infecting my captive?" he asked. "If you're not here to play games, that is."

Asher gave us a toothy grin, showing us his annoyingly perfect teeth. He stopped toying with his jaw and swept his fingers through his dark, curly hair. His gaze lingered on me, seeming to make my chest swell with all the pent-up frustration I'd been bottling up these past few weeks.

Or months.

Okay, years.

"I'm only accelerating what's already there." His gaze flicked back to Orion, making me blink. "I don't create lust. I just help bring it out. And given that the two of you are Lily's Virtues—"

A grunt came out of me as my collar nearly snapped my neck in two, Orion having apparently forgotten my chain was still in his grip when he went for the incubus.

Using both hands, I yanked down to no avail until Orion had closed the distance between us and Asher. He paused just out of reach as his nostrils flared.

Something's not right.

The dark shadows flickered as if angry around the incubus, making the air hiss like it was infested with snakes. Power flashed in his colorless eyes, warning Orion not to lay a hand on him.

I wasn't sure what would happen if he did.

"What's Lilith to you?" I asked, this time asking the question before Orion could. He glowered at me but didn't reprimand me for asking.

Asher rolled his eyes skyward as if praying for patience, not that I thought the incubus ever prayed. "I said we had a mutual friend." He swiped a hand over his face, then sighed. "Look, I could have hid in the shadows and worked you two up from the outside to accomplish my goal, but I decided to introduce myself. Do you know why?"

Orion and I both waited for his answer, all while I subtly shifted my weight, wrapping the chain around my forearm now that Orion had loosened it.

He seemed to mirror my movements, leaning away from me. The old Orion was still in there somewhere, and with the incubus drawing on our mate-bond connection, it only helped to bring it out.

Orion gave me a glance, one that said, Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

The chains I wore were magical in nature and designed to keep down a torturer of Purgatory.

Whatever Asher was, the chains should be strong enough to pin him down, too.

"Because I'm one of you, assholes. I'm one of Lily's Virtues, too."

That was definitely the wrong fucking thing to say.