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

be enough. Fenrir was too damn crafty, even without Nemesis at his side. "We have to prepare for the worst. If Death is freed..."

Hannah shuddered. "We can't let that happen."

"But if it does, we have no way to stop him once he's released." I closed my eyes as I faced the inevitable. "We have to get the key to Void."

"I thought you might say that." Hannah nodded slowly. "Where is it?"

"In Hell. I hid it in the lowest reaches of our palace before I sealed the realm off. I figured it would be safest there."

Hannah considered this. "The palace is in the equivalent of Egypt. That's a long journey."

"I know. I'll take the private jet and come back as soon as I can."

"No way. I'm coming with you. I don't want to be apart from you for that long. Not after losing you for six months."

"What about Aurora?" I glanced at our baby, at her hands as they grabbed at locks of Hannah’s blond hair, at her wings fluttering in excitement. She still wasn't very good at putting them away yet. "That's a long time for us to be away from her."

Hannah shrugged. "She can come with us. Consider it our first family vacation. Besides, despite what Zel thinks, she’s safest with us.”

I rubbed my chin as I considered it. Hell should be completely empty, but if Fenrir was there waiting for us, we'd probably be able to stop him. After all, we were the Demon King and Queen. Who better to protect our baby in Hell? Whereas if we left her here with Zel, and Fenrir came here looking for us—or for Kassiel—Aurora might be in even more danger. Besides, Hannah and I were a team. After being separated for so long, both in this life and every other, we didn't want to be apart again.

"Very well, we'll go together," I said.

Hannah picked up her phone again. "I'll call Einial and have her make the arrangements."

I took the baby from her as she made the call. The private jet was only a short drive away, but then it would be a long flight to Egypt. Our daughter's first trip.

I hoped it proved to be an uneventful one.

27

Hannah

Our palace in Hell was located in the equivalent of the Valley of the Kings. After our private jet landed at Cairo Airport, we checked into our hotel room, and then flew out of the city on our wings under the cover of night. Considering it was her first time away from home, Aurora was doing amazingly well. She slept for some of the flight, and we managed to keep her entertained the rest of the time. Mostly she was just curious about everything she saw. Even now she gazed around from her position on Lucifer’s chest, her blue eyes wide as we swooped through the air, hidden from view by the shadows we’d gathered around ourselves.

Once we were out of Cairo, we found an empty patch of desert to cross over into Hell without anyone watching us. We landed gently on the sandy ground, and I glanced around, noting we’d managed to find somewhere actually deserted. "Here?"

"Yes, this should work." Lucifer had a protective arm across Aurora and he pulled the wrap up to shield her head against the sand that thickened the air. Somewhere along the way she'd fallen asleep, lulled into slumber by the sound of Lucifer's heartbeat and the feel of him gliding through the air.

I stood back as Lucifer produced a gem that seemed to swim with shadows. It emitted a black glow that was almost like the absence of light. A black hole, sucking all light into it.

“The key to Hell." Lucifer lifted it to eye-level, twisting it like he was examining the multi-faceted sides. Then he held it out in front of him and the dark glow spread out and formed an inky black portal before us.

A shiver ran through me as I wondered what I would see on the other side. Last time I'd been in Hell, it had been a battleground, and I'd been fighting for the other side. I also remembered it during our golden years, when I was Persephone and he was Hades and we filled our palace with love and life. I was anxious to see what Hell was like now, after it had been abandoned for so long.

Lucifer entwined his fingers with mine, and together we stepped through the portal into the land of darkness.

People thought Hell was all fire and brimstone, but that was angel propaganda. Hell was an endless night full of twinkling stars and brisk air, with night-blooming flowers that faintly glowed with light and animals that could see in the dark. It was still all of those things as we entered it, but it was also a barren, gray landscape, where instead of the ground being covered with golden sand, flakes of ash drifted into piles and dunes. That was new—there had never been ash, at least not until the angels burned everything down. It pained me knowing I had once been a part of that, before I'd remembered who I really was.

"We're home again." As I spoke, the words settled into my brain with the ring of truth. Just like Heaven and Faerie, this was also my home. Maybe even more so than those places. I'd lived in Hell during so many of my past lives, sometimes for centuries, sometimes for only a few days, but this was my first time visiting as Hannah. Even so, my soul recognized this place as home.

“My domain.” Lucifer spread his arms wide as he gazed across the barren landscape. “I’ve returned."

“You know, since we’re bringing Aurora to Hell, we should also take her to Heaven sometime. She needs to connect with her angel heritage as much as her demon one."

He grimaced as a faint shudder worked through him. “You know, I think I’ve spent far too much time there already recently.”

"It'll be different