Chapter 24

** A Desire Awakened**

Lucifer sat on his throne, his gaze fixated on Athena as she slept peacefully in a chair not far from him. The throne room, usually a place of cold authority, felt different now—warmer, somehow. The flickering flames in the hearth cast a soft glow over her, highlighting the delicate features of her face, the way her chest rose and fell with each breath. She looked so serene, so utterly at peace, and yet, the mere sight of her set his entire being ablaze.

She had defied the council, broken the rules they'd imposed, and come to him. To *him*. The thought of it filled him with a satisfaction he hadn't known he was capable of. But it wasn't just her defiance that stirred something primal within him. It was the way she had embraced him, accepted his darkness without fear or hesitation. She wasn't just surviving in his world; she was thriving.