Infernal God (Claimed By Lucifer Book 3) by Elizabeth Briggs (summer reads TXT) 📕

I beamed at his compliment. "That's exactly what I was trying to emulate, using everything I remembered from my time there. Although when we went to Faerie to release Famine, I realized it would be impossible to truly copy such a place on Earth. This was the best I could do."

"Do you miss Faerie?"

"Sometimes, but it was so many lifetimes ago..." I shrugged. "I have a connection with all the realms, but my place is here on Earth at the moment."

"And mine is in Faerie. Though I hope to be able to visit you more often now. A baby sister is a good excuse, after all. Speaking, of how’s my sister doing in there?” He nodded at my stomach and I automatically passed my hand over my bump, happy when my daughter kicked in response.

“She’s great. Famine promised she’d come to no harm, and she hasn’t.”

"I can't wait to meet her. I'll make sure to come back after she's born. I just can't be away from Faerie too long."

"Lucifer told me about the work you're doing there," I said. Damien was pretending to be one of Oberon's most loyal princes, but in truth he was spying on the High King for Lucifer.

Damien nodded, his face serious. "Oberon has kept Faerie neutral for years, but I'm sure he is plotting something big, though I don't know what."

"Is it true he killed Titania?" I asked. Though I'd never been close to the Queen, she had been my aunt, after all.

He glanced around and lowered his voice. “No one can prove it, but everyone knows he did."

"How did my mother..." I paused and started again. "How did Demeter take her sister's death?"

"Not well, but as Queen of the Spring Court she can't openly do anything against Oberon. I'm pretty sure she would act against him if she could though. I've been trying to find others who might help overthrow him someday."

I lifted an eyebrow. “That sounds dangerous."

He shrugged. "Yes, but someone needs to protect the future of Faerie."

I squeezed his arm gently. “Just be careful, okay?"

He rolled his eyes and grinned at me. "I am, don't worry."

"I always worry. That's what mothers do." I reached up to touch his shiny blue-black hair, which was stunningly beautiful under the sun. "What of love? Any special men or women? If I remember correctly, you were quite the charmer as Dionysus. The stories about your parties were legendary. Why don't you use that name anymore?"

He coughed and jerked his head away. "That was the old me. I've changed a lot in the last few thousand years."

"What happened?" I asked, hearing the touch of sadness in his voice. Like most immortals who'd lived thousands of years, he'd gone by many names during his lifetime. Dionysus had been his fae name, and Damien his demon one. I was surprised he used the demon one now, despite living in Faerie.

"After you—Persephone—died..." He paused, as if finding the right words. "Things were different. Belial left Hell, then tried to overthrow Father. I tried to stay out of it, and at first, I threw myself into the parties, booze, and orgies, but later I realized it was just a way to numb myself to the pain of it all. Eventually, I chose a different path."

It pained me to see my most carefree and jovial son so heavy-hearted. While I'd been alive, his life had been a celebration of wine, sex, and merriment. He'd once been a great actor and patron of the theater too, but I supposed now he used those skills as a spy. “Belial told me you both blamed your father for my death."

"It was a difficult time for both of us. I'm not sure I ever told you this, but Belial and I were the ones who found you dead, after Plutus and Philomelus killed you."

That was unusual—normally the curse had me die in Lucifer's arms, but there were a few exceptions, and it probably pleased Death to bring misery upon my sons too.

Plutus had been Adam's incarnation while I'd been Persephone. He was an Autumn Court fae, along with his brother Philomelus, who'd gone along with everything horrible Plutus had done. Recently Philomelus had been helping Adam release Pestilence and War, but I bested him during the battle in Heaven, and Azazel got in the killing blow.

"If it makes you feel any better, Philomelus is dead. And Adam..." I gestured toward the waterfall. "But why did you blame your father?"

"You were killed on one of your trips to Faerie as part of Lucifer's deal with Demeter to spend half your time in Hell, and half there. You tried to get him to go with you, but Lucifer refused, saying he had to stay and rule the demons from the palace in Hell. He always hated going to Faerie, so you went alone—and because of that, you died."

As Damien fell quiet, I smoothed a hand over his back. "It wasn't Lucifer's fault. It was Adam, and the curse. But that's over now."

"You were safer in Hell," Damien muttered. "Father should have broken the deal with Demeter and kept you there. Or gone with you at least."

I sighed. "Yes, probably, but it's easy to look back at the past and think of all the things we could have done differently. Trust me, with hundreds of past lives and just as many gruesome deaths, I could chase those thoughts for hours. But at some point we have to accept the mistakes we made and try to move forward."

"I know, and I did. I didn't speak with Father for a long time, but eventually I stopped blaming him for what happened. I don’t think Belial has ever forgiven him though.” He patted my hand. “Maybe he’ll come around now."

“Yeah, maybe.” But I couldn’t help but worry he might not.

"A new sister will help with that. Father and I reconnected a lot after Kassiel was born,