Chapter Eleven

Now my body and mind are so distant

Don't know how to escape from this prison

How can I free my mind?

Cause I can't breathe

I can't breathe

I can't breathe

Chapter Eleven – Afloat

Lucifer's POV

The second she left I felt it. The air had lost its vibrancy, my surroundings suddenly not so bright. I knew she had gone and for the first time in eons, I felt pain of a heartbreaking kind. I felt the true depths of man-kinds pain.

The pain was cold, sending shivers down my spine. I felt the connection between us break and shatter, like a piece of rope being cut. This is what the distance between mates do to supernatural beings, except this pain was multiplied by a hundred due to the power of my position. I instantaneously suck in a harsh and raged breath, trying to regain some clearness to my now messy head.

My beast was in a rage, he wanted his mate, fuck even I did. His attachment to her was growing, mine was following at a fast pace. I did want to spend every second with her yet I knew I was drowning her. I didn't know how to make her want to stay. I didn't know how to make her want me.

Even godly being had an inner beast, some beasts acting better than others. The more powerful position you held, the larger and more forceful a beast would be, however at the same time, the 'darker' you were, the more hostile a beast would be.

I sat on my golden throne, one leg crossed over the other as I watched the souls who did not have an automatic reading stand in the line, awaiting their sentence. Most souls were good, some however had cruel and malicious intentions. I knew how to tell the difference, I have had millions of years to practice. I knew what the person inside the shell was thinking. Except for her. I could only read her thoughts on a shallow level. I couldn't see what she was really thinking, what she was protecting.

Sometimes her eyes had me lost on the edge, on the edge of finding what she was really thinking, but the connection would break as she looked away in discretion. She wanted to keep her secrets. For how long, who knew? She would eventually crumble to my touch, it was just a matter of when she surrendered.

At first there was no pain, the previous soul disappearing into thin air as I delivered his sentence. He was to go to the Asphodel Fields, where he would be reborn after three decades. In the fields he would reconnect with his past lives, build himself back up and try once more. The sentence was a kind one for a man who had done little good within the Human world for most would serve the Asphodel Fields for centuries before being reborn, having to relive their pasts. The fields were a strange place filled with very little good. The people there were not kind and most built up a life there, they knew of their lives and they did not traditionally wonder around aimlessly. They would have a life, have a job of sorts, some being worse than others.

Everything was allocated, and you had to earn your right to live.

The fields were cruel as I said. A place most did not want to live through.

We had the infamous Tartarus which was a complex and detrimental place. I was one of the four people to visit the depths of Tartarus willing. I was the only one to survive the journey back.

It was truly better to rule in Hell than to serve in Heaven, as I once so famously said of course.

Nonetheless, the pain got worse after a few minutes. The souls vanished at the will of my mind, just wanting to be alone. I knew the only way out of the place was through another person's wishes, or another person winnowing her out. I knew who that person was almost instantly. Except why would Lilith want her?

I clutch my chest in pain, looking over my mind to find where the she-devil teleported my beloved to. I hiss in more pain when the stabbing starts, the invisible knife cutting into the left side of my chest. I take a harsh breath and close my eyes, slumping against the back of my throne in pain. I raise my hand and move it to the side with my fingers outstretched, closing the entry points to this room as I push myself into a spiritual form.

A spiritual form can transfer between realms and worlds easier than the Human form can. The realms are like layers, layered one on top of the other, however it was so much more complicated than that; the worlds were not flat, and hell wasn't stuck inside the Human world's core.

It was easy to get to the over world, except harder to find my little angel. I knew the location of her apartment, which was apparently close to where I transferred my form to. I knew Lilith would have taken her there first because she either wasn't thinking straight or she wasn't powerful enough to travel further; which did not make sense. She was a head demon of Hell, her plans did not make sense. She, if she wanted to, could travel between the Heavens and Hell a couple of times and not exhaust.

Stupid female she was. She just endangered my mate, and if anything bad happened, which it was bound to now that Nephele was back to the Over world, her head would be hung neatly over the fire place. Either way, alive or dead, she was going to be punished for what she had done. Treachery was one of the worst crime possibly within my world, it resulted in a punishment so torturous that it often resulted in death, although death was not easy to come by for the godly.

I let my spiritual form float through the mundane world, towards were my little angel was. I saw the layers of realms beneath me, it being an extraordinary sight to behold. Either realm was a different shade, the colours all joining together magically. There were so many realms; realms of different species and dimensional individuals, demons and the mundane alike. So many lost souls traveling throughout each realm on their path to death. So many awaiting souls on their path to life throughout each realm.

Not all souls came to Hell, which was located at the centre on the spectral plain. This concept was so hard to explain to the mundane mind, to a mind that hasn't seen it thoroughly.

Nephele's realm, the well-known Earth or Over-world was located one realm above Hell, with each realm being in order from what some would say worse to best, although event the best acted as the worst. The sight between the realms was being something that you could describe from the X-Men films, a mundane thing I was forced to watch.

Coming from the explanatory trance I found my angel, her aura being a different colour to those around her due to her being my beloved. Her pale purple aura glowing among the dark blue world that surrounds her, the other pale blue auras around her making the beast within me panic in distress for his mate. Or was it me panicking? Those people around her were dangerous, they were not mundane and their aura was deadly and lethal, acidic almost. I wanted to turn up my nose at the imaginary smell that my mind is envisaging.

I open my eyes immediately, the throne room illuminating around me as I do so. Nothing more was needed to be seen before I was preparing for my beloved's return, and the punishment she would be receiving after her return. I smile wickedly reading myself to pulverize the individuals surrounding my mate to ashes.

I feel my form evaporate into the air, imagining the street outside the apartment in the area of where my beloved lives. I see the road beneath my feet, the lonely street-lamp that lies above the asphalt casting an eerie glow on the surrounding area. I see the white car on the curb, its bumper having a small dint in it from probably hitting another car.

I think of my mate.

I materialise on the street right outside her apartment, the asphalt crunching below my feet. It wasn't cold nor warm, the air being the temperature in-between, the temperature that made you feel as though you were floating. I look at the area with an insanely wicked smile, loving the thrill of the upcoming battle.

I was wearing a pair of black pants, the suit jacket I was previously wearing gone and I was left in the light button up shirt that accompanied the suit set. I smirked as they two men fighting Lilith turned to me, Lilith dealing with the other two not noticing, or ignoring, my presence. I roll up my sleeves to my elbows taking my time, looking into the eyes of the two thugs doing Judas'. I roll my shoulders and crack my knuckles all whilst smiling with unholy intent, making sure to emphasize the unholy death these two will be met with.

Although most would say I was born to be unholy.

The two start to run towards me a second later. The first one was ahead of the older, sluggish looking one. I got into fighting position, one leg balanced behind the other with my fists raise. These people here were only half demon, not fully human nor demon. It was not a common sight to see the Cambion, the European name for such beings, these beings were ancient and hard to recreate without the willingly sacrifice of the mundane.

The mundane would have had to be a willing sacrifice in the name of the devil, or me. Except they did not need the Devils' permission, the Devil did not even know about the transformation. The mundane would be then burnt by fire and poisoned by demon blood, the dark black tar that runs through the species veins having to be ingested by the mundane. The process after that was long and grueling, the torturous hours to follow was fatal to possibly fifty percent, if not more, of all who partook in the ritual.

Nephele was running at the moment, her legs pushing her further and further away from me in the moment and suddenly something flicked on, or off, within me. She was not only running from me, but also running away from the Cambion chasing her. The inner raw need to protect from the Cambion took over and suddenly I saw red.

The nearest Cambion or thug, as I like to call them, was only a metre away when I noticed him, although I knew he was there, just didn't really give a fuck.

I smirk as he raises his fist to meet my collarbone. Except the fist doesn't touch my shoulder. I catch it in my own closing fist and squeeze, allowing my godly strength to sift through into my own. The whole concept was strange to say the least.

I continue to squeeze my fist closed around his, enjoying the sickening crunch that resounds the area around us. I smirk when the thug screams a high-pitched scream, my lips quirking up just a little at the rather ugly sight.

The other thug who thinks he has the upper hand with me being distracted and all with his little friend being very amateur with his. I found this rather boring, yet enticing at the same time. I loved to fight, loved to beat the shit out of these people but it was so easy.

I twist thug one's arm anti-clockwise until I hear the familiar pop or click of his elbow joint disconnecting. He screams out again as I force him down with the arm, shoving it into his socket as I force his submission on the ground. He groans as all it took to make him partially unconscious was the breaking of one of his arms.

Although, I could have just willed him to sleep but what's the fun in that?

The second one was behind me but he didn't do anything. Before he even had the chance I had spun around punched him under the jaw, bringing his head up in a fast motion, separating the bottom brain stem horizontally from his spine, effectively killing him. I smiled wickedly at the sound of the sickening crunch as his spine did break, the snap echoing the area despite the ongoing fighting behind me from Judas and Lilith.

I look behind me to see Judas on top of Lilith punching her square in the jaw repeatedly. I smirk and don't do anything, knowing she somewhat deserves this for taking away my little angel. Sighing as she seems to be struggling, which just tells me she needs to be training more, I lift my hand and wave it over Judas.

He flies of her body and his now back on his feet ten metres away from her. They can play a little bit longer whilst I deal with me devious mate. I see her through the space between Judas and Lilith, on the ground clutching her head in her hands as if she is in pain. I furrow my eyebrows at her actions and start hovering over there with incredible speed. I watch almost in slow motion as the thug runs towards her and I am ready to tackle him to the ground mere centimetres from my beloved. Except I never make it there in time.

Her scream penetrates the air, it being so loud even I wanted to bow down to my beloved but I resisted the urge and took two painful steps towards her. She had grounded me in my position, my feet having come to touch the floor once more. Whatever she had done was not mundane.

I grit my teeth as I take another step forward, pushing through the barrier of air that is forcing everyone away. The pain that accumulates my body as I surge through her ice cold barrier that surrounds her, the barrier forming a sphere shape, was not much. I was immune to a lot of pain and did have a high pain tolerance. Some would say an invincible pain tolerance. Pushing through the blue barrier was difficult.

I continue to push forwards to my screaming mate, her scream deafening yet demanding at the same time. The sheer force of it so strong, I wouldn't be surprised if it bet the strength of the four winds of the world combined. Her scream sounded like a bird almost, majestic and graceful yet powerful and forceful.

She was in pain and through the small bond we shared I could feel it. My emotions were somewhat invested in my decisions and I didn't know whether I liked that or not; it made me think clearly yet made my mind foggy at the same time. All I knew was that I needed to get to her so I kept pushing forwards through the concrete hard barrier, trying to reach my mate in time.

The air around us was cool, almost as if the summer air was changing into a wintery one. Ice blue light radiates from her skin, giving her a deathly looking glow that made me somewhat aro-

I was brought from my naughty thoughts by the end of her scream. I watched in horror as the frozen barrier broken around her and she crumbled to the ground. I run forward as soon as she feel, not reaching her until her head had already fallen to the pavement. I skid to my knees and pick her up gently in my arms, holding the back of her neck with one of my outstretched hands as I look for any possible injuries. I find a small cut on the tip of her forehead going into her hairline, making me think it is worse than it appears to be currently.

A wicked grumble leaves my chest as my beast becomes upset at his stupid server's actions. If Lilith had just let it be.

God fucking dammit.

This is why I didn't want her to leave. These thugs would be here waiting and I wasn't there to protect her.

I raise my free hand and run it through the air at a high pace, hearing the familiar rippling of air as the thug who was trying to get to Nephele is scattered a few metres into the air. I smile in satisfaction as I hear him scream in agony as his body starts to disintegrate. Nearing the end of his short-spanned scream, I turn back to my little angel and swipe a small strand of golden hair from her cheek before feeling her temperature with the back of my hand to her forehead. She wasn't burning hot, in fact she was the opposite. Her skin felt as though it was ice.

I need to get out of here now.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath, knowing I needed to get my mate warm before she froze. Collecting the two remaining entities behind me and their aura, I imagine the rooms of Hell. I imagine specifically my room and the cell rooms to which I will command Adam to deal with. I cannot think straight without stressing about my mate at the current moment.

I hear Judas whining like a toddler as he realises what is occurring, and Lilith suddenly becoming quite from her previous fighting noises. I want to laugh at her pathetic attempt from escaping my mind hold I had on her, her futile struggles against my own mind nothing in comparison. I smile wickedly, knowing Adam is going to enjoy this one.

"Adam, I have the little trouble of yours. Bottom Level, cell four." I send him telepathically. All supernatural beings, or most had a form of mind connection that allowed the telepathic communication between an individual of the same species or bonded species to communicate.

"Sure thing Lucifer. I was wondering where the vixen had gotten to." I roll my eyes and smirk.

"Don't let your love for her fool you out of guarding her Adam, you will be down there if you release her just so you are informed. She is to be punished." I feel his side of the connection go cold and I knew he wanted to say otherwise but he also knew that what I said goes. If she was to be punished, she would be punished and there was nothing Adam could do about such an event. I sigh knowing it maybe isn't the correct thing to do. "Just wait there, I have not decided on this yet." I notice his connection break off and I am drawn back into the real world.

I feel as the now semi-cool air around us disperses along with the yelling and whining of that bastard Judas. Also along with the mental thumping of Lilith against my mind as I physically picked her up and winnowed her into the jail cells on the ground level. A few levels above where the bastard was spending eternity.

Nephele vaporises in my arms and I am drawn to look at her unconscious face. I run my finger gently across the long cut on her forward that recedes into her hairline, it disappearing at my willing touch. I smile as I inspect her closely in my arms for any other bruising, cuts or injuries that should be dealt with immediately but I could find none. All in all, I found nothing apart from the cut marring her skin. No bruise. Not cut. It was as if she had healed miraculously. I walk from my position in my room, which was the room she had been staying in, with her tucked in my arms with one arm under her knees and the other supporting her neck.

I place her gently down on the bed, making sure to undo the covers and wrap them tight around her now shivering body.

With a snap of my fingers the fire place that lies across from the bed in between the bathroom and walk in robe doors is lit, the bright orange flames rising higher and higher. The fire instantly warms the room and hopefully allows for my little mate to awaken. I place my hand against her forehead once more to feel her temperature but it has not changed much since last time, which leaves me worrying. I crease my brow and I add the pull up blanket to pile around her, making sure she is insulating enough heat.

After another few minutes with no progress I growl. If she doesn't warm up soon I will have to get in there myself; something that I don't mind, but she sure the fuck will. I wanted to scream in frustration with my angel's state.

It had not even been an hour yet Lucifer, calm down.

I quit my pacing and instead, look over to the cove in her body shape, a perfect place for me to sit. I smile softly as I approach, leaning down to wisp another fallen strand of air away from her face to admire her beauty.

Gods this woman was beautiful.

She was also extremely calming.

I knew what I needed to do once she had gained some heat, but I did not want to rush this whole process. I did like this; looking after her. I liked being the one looking after her. I was not supposed to like anything, I was the King of Hell. I didn't have time to like, nor love anything. I did though and that was a problem.

I sigh, knowing I will have to make time to love this one thing that lays unmoving in front of me for it was too late for me to back out now.

I continue to play with her hair absentmindedly as I waited for her to get to the right temperature before I allowed any tests to be done. I was going to wait for her awakening but I already had a sneaking suspicion of what my little angel was, and I couldn't wait to see if I was right.

I was so lost in the sea of thoughts that plagued by mind that I almost didn't notice the little movement of a cheek when I felt it. I snapped my eyes down to Nephele's face to see her dazed and confused expression looking at me. Her eyes flutter attractively and I can feel lust start to build in my stomach but I push it down for both of our sake.

"Lucifer? What- what is happening?" She asked and I smiled softly, grazing my finger against her check affectionately, her dazed state replying to my affection for once.

"All in due time mea amare, all in due time." I whisper solemnly and continue to assist her as she slips in and out of consciousness for the next few hours.

I knew it was too late to back out of loving her, but I just wished to the gods that no one stepped in my way of my mate because otherwise, they will experience the wrath of Hell itself.

Hope you guys enjoyed! - Sorry for any mistakes and I hope this is okay! I have an exam tomorrow and on Tuesday so wish me luck ew!

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QOTC: Favourite Romance Happy Ending Novels!?

Also has anyone Read LifeL1k3? I read it and now I want to know what occurs in Deviate because I cant go through the emotional trauma again.

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Rose xo