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I swallowed, weight in my chest. “How do I replace the mark?”
Nova’s hands eclipsed mine and he bent over, lips ghosting over my knuckles. “You have to fall in love with me.”
I startled at the soft-spoken proclamation.
Love? Me? I wasn’t even sure I could fall in love with anyone, let alone this demon dude I’d only known for a few weeks. I wouldn’t know how to recognize the feeling should it even be possible.
“So, I just like…fall in love. That simple?”
Nova’s half-hearted smile did things to my already raging pulse. “If we were to attempt the connection, there couldn’t be any doubt. This particular act can and has killed demons in the past. While I might be happy to saunter to my death, I will not send you to the grave with me. Not to mention it requires rare materials that, in some cases, are nearly impossible to obtain. I’ve been lucky enough to secure the items required, but once used, they cannot be reused.”
“Demon witchcraft is so damn complicated. I was always under the impression all it took was some old ass language like Latin or some shit, and then a whisk of your hands or a chalk-drawn pentagon. But you make it sound like we’re the starring heroes in a fantasy-adventure movie.”
Snickering, Nova teased along his jaw with long fingers. “I’d never quite viewed it that way, but I can’t argue you’re wrong, little bird. I will say that many things only require an incantation, but this connection I forged with Lucifer is soul-binding.”
The idea that Nova was so spellbound and in love with Lucifer at one time that he surrendered his soul and life to her was…honestly, a lot to take in. I’d gathered as much from the few conversations we had, but hearing it said in so many words made me oddly queasy and uncomfortable.
“Why just me, though?”
Nova’s eyes sparked hotly as if he was keeping a secret. “Don’t worry. I’m more than willing to die to put you on the throne, and I don’t expect you to fall in love with me. Perhaps it’s better if you don’t. Sometimes I believe my love is the true curse…”
I’d never heard Nova talk in such an unconfident way. It completely shook me to the core to think the man could be anything but certain of every decision he made. But when his eyes met mine after staring at our joined hands for what felt like hours, it was clear he wasn’t sure what might happen to us.
“Because, whether or not you might believe it, you’ve already laid claim to my heart.” He let out a self-deprecating laugh, brow knitted together. “I don’t seem to learn and was already very much in love with you before I realized it.”
My eyes widened and it truly felt like my heart stopped beating. “What…?”
17
Lady of Hell & Fury
I GAWKED OPENLY, NOT EVEN bothering to hide my befuddlement. “You’re joking…”
Uncomfortable, I silently pined for my spikey bat of punishment, desperate for its comforting touch. It was the only thing that rooted me to reality and helped me brave the worst shit in my life. It was there for the massacre, for Aidan’s untimely demise, for any time life was an absolute shit show, and now I fucking needed it for this whole new can of worms.
No. I called BS. It wasn’t possible. The demon had to be playing some sort of game on me. This had to be a joke. There was literally no reason to be in love with me. Half the time I was a prickly bitch with a penchant for dark sarcasm, and the other half I was lost to Pleasure Central and hardly a great conversationalist.
If this wasn’t a joke, then Nova was even more shamelessly deluded than what I first believed. Because in no way, shape, or form did love make any sense here. And love had to make sense.
Right?
As if expecting my response, Nova gave way to his most self-deprecating smile yet. “I’m afraid not. I wouldn’t dare joke with a lady.”
“Ha…ha…” I slow-laughed, cogs in my head failing to turn on this little illusion confessional. “You, Nova, the dude who just told me I was the sister of the woman who literally destroyed his life, are in love with me?”
Nova didn’t say anything for a minute, and I held my breath, not sure what to expect. But then a resonating boom took hold of the world around us, and the demon’s eyes lifted to the flashing lights above. After a half second, they returned, entirely red and glowing.
“Like I said, a curse,” was his only reply before the world blinked and I was in the same seat I’d been before Nova dragged me into the illusion. The beautiful man offered me one last fleeting glance and disappeared into his office.
Like an asshole, I just watched him go. It wasn’t until Reese cleared her throat did I snap out of the stupor Nova’s confession put me into.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” she remarked sarcastically, but when I jerked my eyes over to her, the blue-haired demon lost her smile. “Wow, okay. Are you—”
I stood up and marched right over to Nova’s office, bat gripped tightly in my hand. But when I threw the door open, ready to lay into him and get some real answers, he wasn’t anywhere in the room.
Reese was behind me, peering into the space. “I don’t know what you two got up to, but I’d give him a minute. He likes to do this disappearing act when things get to him. We’re just like you blobs of meat and bones in that regard—prone to mini tantrums and emotional episodes.”
Turning my head towards her, I smirked. “Anyone ever tell you that you’re nosy as fuck?”
