Genesis Queen (The Road to Hell Series) (3 page)

His gaze narrowed. “Odd declaration, considering you’d have me believe you’re with me rather than against me?”

“Allow disobedience from him now and he’ll follow in your footsteps and rebel against you just as you did
your
father.” She faced him. “I would’ve thought you of all people would get that without being told.”

Darting a thoughtful glance in his son’s direction, Micah played it cool. While she had a point, it was wrong to deny him time with his child. Especially when Amos had been the one resisting visits with him before, and he was the one who instigated the renewal of their familial relationship.

“What are your exact plans for us, Micah?” Silence was the only answer he offered because he didn’t have an easy answer. His current plans differed from his original one, although Elias would be livid to discover his alteration. “Petra says you wish to start a new religion, with the three of us playing the parts of a new Trinity.” That had been the initial arrangement. “But if she lied and Amos’s complete obedience isn’t expected, then I guess his surprise visits with you aren’t a big deal.”

“Lying bitch.” Elias’s subtlety needed some work.

Anger detonated like a bomb through her expression and her Lynx succubus flashed, dimmed, and flashed hotter. Madison swung about and grabbed him by the neck once more. “I swear if you call me a bitch again, I’ll show you the definition of queen bitch.”

If Micah didn’t intervene, he suspected she’d level his brother once more. They needed to progress beyond their stalemate, so he tugged her hand free of his twin’s neck. His seraph trickled into her, calming and soothing her Lynx until it faded from her eyes.

“Mmm….” She twisted toward Micah, licking her lips. “More.”

“Later, kitten. I haven’t the strength to give you much right now.” Just that little bit and he felt like he’d stepped onto a Tilt-a-Whirl. Inhaling deeply, he ignored the way the room spun. “Leave, Elias, while I have her focus elsewhere.” Trying to calm her with touch, he swished his thumb across her wrist, but her pulse was wild against his pad.

“You’re a fool if you listen to her prevarication.”

She glowered at his sibling.

“She’s a Lynx.” Micah lifted an eyebrow at his brother. “She’s murdered Pandora. You know what that indicates. Leave, Eliel. We cannot afford for her to injure a King—or worse—now that we’ve come this far. She’ll need us all.”

Chapter One

Micah watched her like he could ferret out duplicity. But with no need to lie, Madison offered only honesty. She was genuinely pleased to discover he’d survived.

Only because he represents safety
. No one would harm her as long as he breathed.

That is not the sole reason we’re happy he is alive
. It’d be a lot easier if she could deceive her demon.

The unfortunate truth was she regretted plunging the blade into his chest. The feel of it tugging against his flesh, hitting his rib and the bone cracking, they’d be memories that would haunt her dreams for years to come.

But he lives
. To convince herself that was reality, she wanted to lose herself in more of his kisses. Maybe in his body. Wanted to go back into his arms because that was where she belonged and where she felt secure. Why hadn’t she realized he represented home to her before? Micah offered her acceptance without judgment. Her real-world family and friends wouldn’t offer her that scope of support.

But her son’s appearance ruined her dream-like happiness. His presence was a bitter reminder that Amos deserved more than a hellish empire as a backdrop for his upbringing. The power he likely would harness one day would require a solid bedrock of morals rather than his father’s evil influence.

Can he escape his parentage? That was the ultimate dilemma.

Lucifer drew nearer. Elias remained at Madison’s back. In the next few moments, he would label her a traitor and all would agree, or they’d see her viewpoint. At this stage, she could see it going either way.

“Madison makes a valid point.” Stunned by Lucifer’s reply, she held her breath and waited for him to continue. “Disobedience will incite future troubles. Rebellion in any structure is intolerable to Hell’s design.” He motioned to her son. “Approach, child.”

Amos hesitated, but he braved up. Squaring his shoulders, he advanced with reluctance shining from his eyes. Madison understood his lack of enthusiasm, but he should realize no one in Hell would harm him. Being the prince of Hell afforded him a safety net. It wouldn’t protect him from bluntness nor minor reprimands, however.

“You knew your mother’s stance regarding visitation with your father?” Lucifer’s presence was dynamic, ever-changing, but through all his personas he retained a majestic demeanor. The type that made one eager to prostrate and confess all one’s sins. It was more than a little unnerving.

Amos cast a quick glance in Madison’s direction. She allowed him to see the displeasure in her gaze and he looked away fast. As if he expected someone to thrash him for his arrival, he bowed his head and nodded.

“I didn’t remember Daddy.” His bottom lip trembled. “All we’ve ever done is run from him. I
needed
to know him, Momma.” He looked her square in the eye then. “You say he’s bad, that he doesn’t want anything good for us, but then you tell me I’ll have to make my own decisions one day. I can’t do that if you’re always protecting me.”

Micah touched Amos’s arm, shot a smidge of power into him and her son flinched. Madison went to call him on his discipline, but he halted her protest by shaking his head. “Parents do what they believe is best for their child. You disobeyed your mother. You’ll return home, and as punishment you’ll cease using all of your powers for a month.”

A slight gasp from him. “But—”

“Silence!” Micah bellowed. “Or I’ll discipline you with a lash of power again. Understood?” A reluctant nod from their son and Madison found herself a trifle impressed by her husband’s loving chastisement. “You’ll obey your mother in everything or receive more of what I just gave you.”

“Yes, sir.” Amos shuffled his feet and rubbed his arm where his father had tagged him. With a wave of his hand, Micah opened a portal back to their home and with a last, fleeting look in Madison’s direction, their son went through it.

“Lynx?” Elias snarled the moment their child disappeared. “A fucking Lynx with Pandora at her command?”

“Someone want to tell me why that bothers him so much?” Madison flicked a glance in her brother-in-law’s direction.

Before anyone could respond, he took a step closer, his presence vibrating with suppressed anger. “You weren’t going to tell us, were you, Micah?”

“I just did.”

“We thought you would die, Beliel. And even then you neglected to alert us of her status. Pertinent information, don’t you think?”

“You’d vowed to torture her. And you
knew
how I felt.” Madison’s startled gaze jerked to Micah’s. The tension in her husband’s body radiated outward like a too-hot furnace. “I’d rather die than give you information that would’ve prompted you to keep her alive indefinitely. Not when I’m aware death is infinitely preferable to anything you’d have done to her in the interim.”

Power coalesced in the cavern—and not the basic white and black magic that held it together. Madison suspected this represented the standoff between them. Palming Micah’s bicep, she slid her hand down his forearm, coaxed his fist to loosen and interlaced her fingers with his.

Elias continued to glare, while her husband sent her a surprised glance. Madison offered a slight smile. A gentle tug against her hand and he positioned her in front of him, her spine to his chest. As his chin skimmed the top of her head, Madison caught Lucifer’s gaze. No question, he’d intercepted her silent announcement of solidarity with Micah. She couldn’t gauge if he approved or not.

Raguel neared, flanking Madison to the right. Hemmed in on all four sides by the Kings, Madison reached out and felt for her husband’s presence. The weak glide of his magic against hers reminded of her infraction against him. Never again would she be able to raise arms against him.

And I’m supposed to be in a relationship with Nix
.

A union with both could be entertaining
. Her Lynx contemplated the two men, flashing images of them in her head.

Had she ever been so confused before? She couldn’t recall. And she feared Hell had a way of dulling her human emotions.

Micah’s hostile tone jerked her from her thoughts. “As I lay dying,
you
cared not for my feelings, only yours, Elias. How can you expect me to regard your notion of revenge higher than my own feelings for my bride? Ever heard of granting a dying man his final wish, brother?” His free arm circled her waist and pulled her flush against him. She squeezed his hand; his talons cool instruments of bereavement against her flesh. “Madison’s welfare is top priority, as it always has been. I love her. Why can you not understand my emotions for her?”

“I thought the success of Hell was top priority?” Soft words spoken by his brother, but they held impact.

“Madison
is
a huge part of Hell’s success.”

But she sensed he withheld something pertinent. On an indulgent impulse, she spun around and hugged him.

“Not that I’m complaining, but what’s the hug for?” He ran his palm down her back and her body ignited. The same way it had for Nix just hours ago.

“For loving me regardless of anything I’ve done.”

He kissed her temple and dragged his lips down the side of her face to whisper against her ear. “You are my everything, kitten, all I live for. Now and always.”

“She should return to the boy.” Lucifer interrupted their private moment.

“I don’t want to return.” They ignored her protest.

“First we need to protect her so Zennyo Ryuo will not suspect she’s been here.” Lucifer beheld Madison with an odd intensity that soothed her. Which was just weird, considering his image flickered like Amos channel-surfing with the TV remote.

“I can handle Zen.” Again, no one listened to her.

“How can we trust she’ll return to Hell?” Raguel ran a claw along her shoulder, and she knocked his hand aside. “That she won’t betray us?”

“I would sense deception if she intended it.” Lucifer smiled, but there was nothing genuine about the affectation. Instead she got the sense he grew bored by his brothers’ continued mistrust. “Beliel shared his seraph with her. We all know what that means.” Something about not being able to lie to one another, if she remembered correctly from her earlier trip to Hell. But before she could request an explanation, Lucifer went on. “All I feel is confusion from her.” His dark gaze slithered to Micah. “She wants you and Phoenix both, Beliel.”

“Phoenix will be my gift to you.” With no idea how to respond to his offer, she stared at him. Her emotions scattered like buckshot over the idea while her Lynx grew flustered with excitement. Two days ago, she would’ve slapped his face for the suggestion.

She cleared her throat and peered directly at Lucifer. “I can handle Zen. I don’t need any spell to block him.” Not true, but she figured if she went back to earth, he’d need access to her thoughts to glean the truth because she wasn’t certain she’d be able to remain ambivalent to her husband. “Wait!” She made a slashing movement with her hand. “Settle on one image please or your angelic form. You’re making me drunk with that constant shifting.”

“We’ll anchor you to Hell—us—and Zennyo Ryuo won’t be able to get inside your head unless you allow it. You’ll understand if I insist for Hell’s safety.” Lucifer continued to shift and Madison admitted to defeat on the Zen score. To protest would incite more distrust. “Only my brothers and Father have ever seen my angelic form and survived.”

“Not even the other angels?”

“No.”

“Why not?” Was he that protective of his true nature?

“Those who saw me grew so enamored of my beauty, I was worshipped. I wouldn’t wish that of you.”

“Enthralling a succubus.” Elias’s dark chuckle felt like acid prickling her skin. “Priceless,” he whispered against her ear, obviously having drawn closer at some point. “Micah might object to her worshiping you, Lucifer, but it’d keep her faithful to Hell.”

Madison elbowed him in the gut and grinned at his loud
oomph
. She turned her head to give Lucifer her full attention. “Hielel, right?” At his nod, she continued. “If they’re immune, I might be also. But, I won’t object to you keeping your secret identity. To prove my faithfulness, I’ll submit to being anchored to Hell, but I want the others in their angel form.”

Pure folly to do this, but what choice did she have? At their mercy, she would submit and deal with the fallout later.

Beliel shifted into his natural state and she roamed her gaze over him. Gawd, she loved the way he looked as an angel. “I request your demonic name, kitten.”

“As would I.” Madison’s eyes widened as Raguel flicked into a bronze-skinned angel, his wings not corkscrews like her husband’s but long streamers of browns, golds, and yellows.

“So different from Micah.” Lowering her voice in awe, she turned, placed her back against Micah’s chest and pulled his arms around her to crisscross about her waist. “You’re next, Elias.”

Her brother-in-law’s jaw locked hard. She wasn’t sure what part he was most unhappy about, the fact that his twin had omitted her Lynx status or that Micah showed her affection. Although she still didn’t get his displeasure over her Lynx and she couldn’t help but think she was missing something of grave importance.

“You know my demonic name, granting you untold power over me.” Elias stepped closer, sandwiching her between him and Micah. He pinched her chin between his finger and thumb, notching her head back to meet his gaze. “I’ll have yours before your boon is granted.”

Madison’s breathing accelerated as they continued their eye-battle.

“It’s a matter of trust, kitten.” His lips moved against her ear.

“I trust you.” But her quivering voice detailed the truckload of uncertainty she held toward her brother-in-law. “But not Eliel.”