“Yes, I did. I told you I was sent here on a job from Lucifer and sending shitty men with no morals to Hell was my mission. I didn’t think I was going to die, and I didn’t think Hell was where I would end up, but here I am. Give me the dagger and let me finish up my time on earth tonight and after this, I will hold up to my end of the deal and give you all you desire and leave this place for good. You will have my fortune and you can basically be like Al Pacino in The Devil's Advocate.”
I could see him thinking about everything I was saying as though he was weighing the pros and cons of each scenario.
“Devon, please. Let me end this and give you all you desire.”
He dropped his head down and stretched his arm out to hand me the dagger. Just as I almost had it in my grasp, Lilith tackled him to the ground, grabbing the dagger from his hands, and drove it deep into the side of his throat. He clutched at his throat, gurgling and gasping for air.
“No!” I fell to my knees and wrapped my hands around his throat to try and stop the bleeding.
“You’re going to be okay, Devon.”
“I’m...sorry...Holland.” He choked out the words.
I frantically tried applying pressure to his neck, but it was too late.
“Fuck!” I pounded my hands on the ground that were covered in his blood.
As much as I despised Devon and knew he wasn’t going to hold up to our end of the deal to begin with, he had tried to help me in the end, and I couldn’t let Lilith get away with killing him. He had every reason to want revenge on me, but he had also had a change of heart and decided to help me instead of her which led to a knife in his throat as he spent his last minutes choking on his own blood. He died for me. I hoped because of that, Azriel would allow him into Heaven.
“You bitch! You killed him!” I turned around, but Lilith and Roman were nowhere to be found.
I scoured the beach looking for any signs of them. I noticed two silhouettes in the distance next to some clusters of rocks that towered above the ocean. I remembered all of the countless late night bonfire parties we had out there as teenagers and the drunk, ridiculous boys who would use the cliffs on the rocks to show off to the girls by climbing all the way up and diving into the ocean, proving their courage while us girls watched from below scared to death to do it. Sometimes that even got them laid.
When I finally reached the rocks, I immediately saw Roman lying on the black sand bound and gagged with his hands behind his back and his feet held tightly together with rope. He was struggling to get free, but it wasn’t working. Lilith stood next to him with a sinister smile plastered across her lips and staring at me with a silent dare to proceed towards them.
“Roman!”
He shook his head with a warning ‘no’ as I ran towards him. The point of Lilith’s finger shot out in front of her, lighting a blue and green fire that rose from the ground and formed a supernatural circle around them both, making a barrier between us. I fell backwards feeling the icy flames hit my face. I had never experienced cold fire before, but then again, I had never met a succubus in the flesh or been to Hell and fell in love with a demon – the demon she held captive in her ring of fire.
She held the dagger in her long slender hands, holding it against his throat in a threatening manner, taunting me.
“Let him go, Lilith. It’s me you want!”
“Come and get him, heiress. Oh, wait, you’ve never experienced the succubae flames therefore you didn’t know you can’t cross them. Such a shame.” She pouted her lips at me.
How the hell was I going to get to them? She had me blocked and she knew it.
Think, Holland, think. If they are succubae flames, how do I get past them and save Roman? Roman was what was important right then, not Devon, not me, only Roman. He was my watcher and had been pulled up here with me whether he wanted to or not. Suddenly I wished so badly I had listened to him and went back to Hell the moment Lilith showed up. If I had, he wouldn’t be tied up with Lilith threatening to slice his throat.
“Succubae flames are cast by succubae, my new Lilith.” Lucifer’s husky voice spoke inside my head.
That one small hint from Satan himself was all I needed to hear. I was a succubus too! That meant I could cast them and cross them. Lilith didn’t know what hornets’ nest she had fucked with. I’d never loved someone the way I loved Roman, and she wasn’t going to hurt him. I would die again before I let that happen.
I breathed in a heavy breath and proceeded through the wall of flames. The coldness of them prickled my face but didn’t hurt.
Her eyes widened once I was on the other side of them. “You can’t be!”
“I definitely am. Lucifer made me exactly the same as you except he didn’t banish me for being a power-hungry bitch.”
“Only one problem, Holland. I have the dagger and you don’t. I am going to kill Roman so you can watch your new lover suffer in pain, and then I’m going to kill you. Lucifer will lose both of his prized possessions.”
“Let Roman go and you can have me. I will surrender without a fight and you can have your revenge killing the one Roman is in love with; we both know that’s why you’re here.”
“Did Lucifer really think he could replace me? Did Roman? I was the queen of seduction, the princess of Hell, Lucifer’s right-hand woman, and Roman’s true love. They both turned their backs on me, and I want both of you dead!” Her crimson hair blew in the wind that had kicked up, causing it to mimic flickering fire.
“Lilith, she has nothing to do with what happened.” Roman choked out the words. He had somehow removed the cloth she had gagged him with. “She didn’t even know you existed until she was sent to Hell, and she sure the hell didn’t choose this job – Lucifer did. Don’t take your anger out on her. Take it out on me, I’m the one who broke your heart by choosing to stand by Lucifer’s side and not follow you when you were banished.”
“Shut up, Roman. Lucifer needs you; he doesn’t need me. He can always find someone new to seduce men or maybe he will accept Lilith back and she can reign again.”
“This fight isn’t because of you, Holland. You never should have been pulled into it and you shouldn’t be punished because of something that happened so many years ago.”
“How about both of you shut the fuck up! Nothing you say is going to change what fate has already decided for you.”
She moved closer to him with the blade of the dagger facing his chest.
“Get away from my boyfriend!” I launched my body at her before she could use the dagger on him like she did Devon, knocking her back and making her drop it to the ground.
I snatched it up, scrambling to cut Roman’s hands free from the ropes. Once he was untied, I spun around to where she had fallen while he continued to untie his feet, but she wasn’t there.
“Holland! Behind you!” Roman shouted just as Lilith sprung up behind me, swiping my legs out from underneath me. I smacked my head hard on the ground, losing my grip on the dagger.
She grabbed it, charging at Roman who was still tugging at the ropes on his ankles. She smacked him hard on the head with the butt of the dagger, making him fall backwards, then straddled him with it clasped firmly in between both of her hands and raised her arms high above her head. Just as she was about to drive the blade into his chest, I jumped on her back and pulled her off of him sending us both rolling to the side.