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

Our daughter had the power to destroy the world—or end it. I only hoped we were up to the challenge of being her parents.

23

Hannah

The next few months passed in a sleepless, newborn haze, although Aurora didn’t suffer from lack of attention. Our closest friends came to visit regularly, and Zel took her godmother duties far too seriously, proving the intensity we’d predicted from her was right on the money. She'd already tried to give Aurora two tiny knives like her own, and I'd had to explain that it would be a few years at least until my daughter would be ready for combat training.

Despite being an Elder God and not needing sleep, I was somehow exhausted most of the time, and it was a relief when Lucifer suggested I go out and finally take my horse for a ride. We'd made a small stable for the horses on one side of our estate along with a big grazing area, and even though the horses didn't really need any tending to, they seemed to enjoy having a space of their own.

I went out there now, breathing in the glorious fresh air, and found both horses together in the grass. Misery immediately came over to me and nuzzled me with her nose, and I smiled. I'd been so busy I hadn't made much time to get to know her, and I was excited to go for a ride and have a little me time, something that was rare as a new mother.

I climbed onto her back with ease, my body somehow knowing what to do even if I hadn't ridden a horse in centuries. I wove my fingers in her thick black mane, and then she took off with a triumphant leap, racing down the grass. Strife just shook his head and stayed behind as we galloped around the estate, and then we trotted down the rocky path to the beach. Once on the sand, Misery took off at top speed, and I threw my arms out and laughed as the sunshine filled me with life.

Riding across the beach gave me a lot of time to be alone with my thoughts without a baby demanding my attention. I wondered how my sons were doing, and hoped they would visit us soon, but I knew they were all busy with their own lives too. I thought about Samael running things from Vegas, and how nice it was to have some time to step back from all of that. I loved being the Demon Queen, but I also loved being Aurora's mother. My thoughts then turned to Lucifer, who seemed to enjoy being a father again too. The only thing that bothered me was that we hadn't been very intimate since Aurora was born. Hell, we'd barely had a moment alone together since then. I knew that was normal though—after all we'd been through this three times before—but thanks to Marcus and my Elder God healing my body had long been ready. It was more a matter of finding time and energy with a newborn. I just hoped that having a baby—a baby we both knew would be the last—wasn't going to change our relationship. Each experience seemed more important and immediate when we knew it was the last time we'd ever go through these moments, and I wanted to sear them all into my memories forever.

I wasn't sure how long I rode up and down the California coast, but eventually it was time to return to the stable. As I slid off Misery's back, I felt our connection strongly, this horse that was mine and yet also free. A part of her soul was bound to mine through some ancient magic I didn't understand, but I welcomed her calm, steady presence.

"I'll ride you again soon," I promised, as I patted her back. "And you still need a new name. How about...Shadow?"

A soft neigh signaled to me that she liked that name, and it was settled. It seemed fitting somehow, since I was an angel that lived between light and darkness. Shadow wandered off to stand with Strife, the two of them content in their new home. Like this, they certainly didn't look like horses of the apocalypse. I wondered if Lucifer would rename his horse too. We were still Famine and War, but we kept those dark parts of ourselves in check using everything else we were. We'd figured out how to control our powers...and our cravings. Sometimes I did still get an urge to drain all the life out of every plant around me, but like someone battling an addiction, I worked through it and overcame it.

I checked the time—nap time. One of my favorite times of day, especially when I looked down at Aurora's sleeping form. Tiny eyelashes against delicate cheeks, a cherubic mouth, a face so peaceful and innocent it seemed unreal. Sometimes I watched her for hours, almost unable to breathe past the love constricting my chest. How could I have forgotten it felt like this?

I strolled into Aurora’s nursery, preparing to get everything ready for her nap, nearly tripping over the millions of toys and baby products. I'd had three kids before Aurora, but I'd never had so much stuff before. Some of it did certainly make things easier though. I'd have killed for one of those automatic rockers when Belial was a baby—that boy had been the worst sleeper ever. Modern women had no idea how easy they had it compared to the olden days.

Inside the nursery I found the light already dimmed, the blackout curtains tightly closed, and a shirtless, muscular man standing near the crib. Lucifer turned toward me and held a finger to his lips, as he cradled our sleeping daughter against his chest. I smiled back, feeling a burst of love at the sight of them together like this. Lucifer and I had been through so much over