“Look at you,” Gremory taunted, his voice menacing.“It’s pathetic, seeing you like this.Are you proud of yourself?Are you happy with the choices you made?”
Rathiel let out a strained breath, his muscles taut with resistance as Gremory’s magic held him captive.Dark energy coiled around him like unbreakable chains, forcing his arms outstretched and his head bowed.His entire body trembled with the effort to break free, but the crushing weight of the spell rendered him immobile, his power to command the blood now beyond his reach.
“You were ourbrother!”Gremory shouted.“You were thebestof us.Now, look at you.”He sneered, and his voice grew more venomous with every word.“Youbetrayedus.Betrayedhim.And all because you two had the stupid fucking sense to fall in love with each other!Was she worth it, brother?Worth the pain, the torture?”
Wait.
What?
Fell in love with each other?
I stared at Gremory, my heart thudding painfully in my chest.The words rattled around in my skull, barely making sense.Gremory’s face contorted with rage, his voice crackling with fury as he continued to spit his accusations.But all I could hear—reallyhear—was that last sentence.
“Rathiel…” I whispered.
He didn’t respond.
My mind spun in a thousand directions at once.The pieces I hadn’t been able to fit together before suddenly began to slide into place.The way my body always seemed to respond to him.The memories that hovered just beyond my grasp, teasing the edges of my consciousness.The pull I couldn’t ignore, the yearning that always lingered beneath the surface, no matter how hard I tried to deny it.
It all started to make sense.
Like how his presence always felt like a tether, an anchor grounding me, even when he pissed me off.The inexplicable feeling of trust, even when he’d given me no reason to trust him.The way my heartbeat raced whenever he was near.It wasn’t just instinct, wasn’t just familiarity from our time together.It was so much more.
The realization hit me hard.My knees nearly buckled as the weight of it all came crashing down, my mind racing through the possibilities, through everything I’d lost—everythinghehad stolen from me.
I tightened my grip on Inferno’s Kiss, but I wasn’t thinking about the blade.I was thinking about him.About us.My mind surged with the full force of everything I didn’t know, but now was beginning to understand.
The way he would sneer at any mention of Jack, or the way he’d scowled the night Jack had kissed me.I’d chalked it all up to his overprotectiveness, but clearly I’d been wrong.
He loved me.Maybe evenstillloved me.
And I had absolutely no idea how I felt about that.My brain was a jumbled mess.Because ofhim.
Gremory’s sneer twisted into something darker as he stalked toward me, his boots crunching in the snow with each deliberate step.His wings unfurled further, casting an ominous shadow over me.“You really thought you could hide from us?From your father?”he mocked, his voice low and dripping with venom.“All this time, playing house up here, thinking you could escape the inevitable.”
Gremory circled me like a predator, his eyes gleaming with cruel amusement.“Tell me, Lilith—how does it feel, knowing he threw everything away for you?”His gaze flicked to Rathiel, who remained on his knees, blood still pouring from the wound Gremory had carved into his side.“How does it feel to know that this is how your epic love story ends?”He scoffed, lifting Rathiel’s blade in his grip, the metal catching the moonlight.“Look at the two of you.Pathetic and weak.”
I gritted my teeth, my fingers tightening around Inferno’s Kiss as the weight of Gremory’s words bore down on me.My chest burned, each venomous syllable lighting a match against the simmering fire inside me.But I stayed silent, refusing to give him the satisfaction.Instead, I tightened my grip on Inferno’s Kiss and let the power build with every breath.
Gremory leaned in, his face inches from mine, the stink of his breath hot against my skin.“Loving you cost him everything.And guess what?Now, you get to watch him die.”
I glanced at Rathiel, his blood staining the snow beneath him, his face pale but defiant.Gremory’s laughter rang in my ears, a taunt I couldn’t bear any longer.
“You’ll have to tell me what that’s like,” Gremory continued.“Provided I let you live, of course.”
Something inside me snapped.
“Shut up!”I screamed, my voice tearing through the night like a battle cry.Fury ignited in my chest, blazing through me like a wildfire.My magic surged, the power I’d buried for so long searing through my veins with blistering heat.The force of my anger surged outward, and suddenly, everything shifted.Gremory’s binding spell shattered from the sheer force of my rage, the magic dissolving like smoke in the air.Energy exploded around me, and just like that, I could move again.
Gremory stumbled back, his eyes wide with shock.“What—how did you?—”
I didn’t let him finish.With a flicker of thought, I called the shadows to me, cloaking myself in darkness, and vanishing from Gremory’s sights.
His eyes darted wildly, his wings twitching as he spun in place, trying to find me.“Lilith!”he bellowed, voice tight with frustration as dark magic crackled from his fingertips.“Stop hiding and face me, or?—”
I didn’t let him finish his threat.The shadows shifted with me as I slipped behind him and struck him with a burst of hellfire.The force sent him stumbling forward and the stench of burnt feathers filled the air.
Gremory released a furious roar and whipped around to retaliate, but I had already vanished into the shadows once more.
