Even now, I could feel the weight of my powers pulling at my energy, my focus. I shouldn’t keep using them.
“That’s a little dramatic.”
I gestured to his shivering body and stiff clothing. “Your lips are blue. We’re luscelering back.”
“They’re going to think we’re weak.”
“News flash, Oliver, we are! They want us to die out here! Let’s not give them that satisfaction.”
He grumbled something under his breath, and then we luscelered. Our feet barely touched the muddy slush, although the wind pummeled our faces. My powers shielded me from the chill, not the wind. Tears stung my eyes from the force, and my vision blurred. But when I blinked, it didn’t clear.
A hazy hill loomed ahead, and Moira flickered in and out of my sight. That should concern me, but I couldn’t remember why. Sand weighed down my feet, slowly spreading through my body. When we reached the middle of the hill, my legs gave out, and I collapsed into the snow.
“Lucy!” Oliver shouted.
I tried to blink the dots from my vision, desperate to see him or the black bounding form behind him, but the dots only grew larger.
“Lucy!” Oliver stumbled back to me, his voice frantic as he grabbed my shoulder. “Hey, open your eyes.”
I felt him struggle to drag me against his quaking body, but it was useless. He was in no shape to help, and the world aroundme faded.
What was the King of Hell thinking, placing us in an elite squadron? What skills did he see in us that made him think we could ever be close to this caliber? Did he want the entirety of his military to know we didn’t belong?
Because we didn’t. We weren’t warriors.
Chapter
Twelve
LUCILLE
Agrin spread across my face as I stared at the familiar moonlit field of flowers, the soft breeze playing with the tips of my hair and rustling my coat.
“Sweetheart, how did you end up in Hell?” Aspen’s voice broke the serenity, and my smile widened.
Before I answered, I tilted my head to the night sky and imagined the one thing I continued to miss from Earth. A second later, twinkling specks of silver sprang from nowhere and gave life to the darkness. I giggled, the sound filling the quiet.
Turning away from the sparkling sky, I found Aspen standing beneath the oak tree. I walked through the field, my fingers trailing over blooms, and startled when my winter clothing melted away—replaced by a form-fitting green dress. The bodice dug into my ribs and pushed up my small breasts, making them look larger than theywere. Aspen even changed my hairstyle, unweaving it from its braid to let it spill around my face.
Was this what he found attractive?
I much preferred pants over long skirts that snagged on every blade of grass and tangled around my legs.
“This is… different,” I remarked, meeting him beneath the tree.
Shadows and moonlight slashed across his leathers, giving him a striking, almost otherworldly appearance. He stood still, watching me as if waiting for something. The weight of his gaze and lack of explanation made my smile falter. He lifted a hand, brushing my cheek softly, but his lips were pursed, his brows furrowed.
“Are you going to answer me, sweetheart?”
“That’s where the general took me when I was dying. To my father.”
Aspen’s frown deepened, his eyes searching mine for more. “Lilith always said Hell was locked. No one can enter or escape.”
“Well, for some reason, it opened that night.”
His fingers twitched against my skin as he mulled over my words. “Why? No one has been able to—for what? Nine, ten years?”
I shook my head, frustration bubbling beneath the surface. “I don’t know.”
