Enzo stops and looks down at me. The starlight in his eyes shimmers brighter than ever and the red flecks ignite like fireworks exploding across the night sky. I sink into their darkness and find light, even though it shouldn’t be possible. Somehow, in the infinite darkness he contains there’s light, and not only have I found it, but I’ve enhanced it, magnifying it until it shines so brightly it dazzles.
“Baby,” he whispers.
“It’sdisgusting,” Eva sighs.
“I don’t…” I mumble and cling to Enzo.
“Altair,” he roars.
Eva nods and that vicious grin turns even crueler. “I found the thing you couldn’t, Amaymon. You didn’t even recognize it when it was right under your fucking nose.” She shakes her head and shadows start to swirl through the air. “You’ve been fucking an angel’s progeny and you didn’t even know it. Does it disgust you? To know your cock’s been inside something so pure? So fucking holy?”
Enzo stares at me and there isn’t a hint of anything other than adoration in his gaze. Eva’s screaming and ranting, andEnzo and I have found our balance with each other. We’re so wrong that we’re right. So opposite we shouldn’t work—but if I’ve accepted him, then he’s accepted me. I didn’t reject his demonic form and he hasn’t rejected me now.
I don’t know what I am, and I don’t understand any of this. But I know we shouldn’t be together and I know I never want to be apart.
“You don’t do you?” Eva snarls. “Even now, Enzo. Even now you see her for what she fucking is. You still choose her over me.”
“I’ll always choose her over you, Eva,” he replies. “I’ll always choose her over everything else.”
Warmth floods through me as Enzo reciprocates without even knowing it. This is what I’ve felt for weeks—or at least long enough that it doesn’t matter when I started feeling this way. It’s burned through my soul and seared into every part of me that matters and my heart beats harder, certain Enzo feels the same.
He might not have a soul, but he has mine and I’m willing to share it.
The darkness surges and deepens as Enzo roars, pulsing his own magic into the chamber. Shadows meet and clash. Black on black. Evil meets sin and the vile, despicable cruelty Eva unleashes clashes against the foul and wicked horror Enzo wields.
Pain and despair shudder around us as the temple weeps and its stone tries to buffer the carnage within it. The ground beneath us shakes and I shudder, flooded with fear and dread and horror.
Enzo’s wings fold over me and I cling tighter. My heart races and my brain screams this is more than I can handle. Thisis more than I can take. I can’t endure this, and as the noises of violence and torture rise around us, I want to join in their forceful cacophony.
We slide back and Enzo grunts, working harder. His muscles tense and a lash of pain streaks through me. It catches me and I cry, startled and too shocked to do anything other than hold on.
“It’s…”
Enzo growls and tries to hold back whatever Eva’s let loose.
He isn’t winning.
His body’s bearing the brunt of whatever this darkness is and it isn’t withstanding the assault. His muscles brace and try to hold as his skin starts to strip from his chest. Enzo’s breathing quickens and he starts to bleed, oozing blood and sweat that pour down his body.
And the vicious pain of the damnation Eva let loose continues to reach for me. It’s twisted and depraved, an overwhelming earthquake that shatters everything you’ve ever known. Its force is unstoppable and even Enzo can’t withstand it, despite everything he’s throwing at it.
He’s pulling up every ounce of magic he possesses and he’s falling short. There’s nothing more he can do, and he simply isn't a match for the evil that’s swarming around the chamber.
Even with whatever he's summoning from Hell itself. Even with the darkness he was gifted after the rite in the temple. Enzos's magic is bleak and vicious, potent and visceral, a world of pain and devastation.
The darkness is too dark. Its black is too deep.
“I can’t…”
Enzo clenches his eyes shut and forces himself to work harder, digging even deeper. He finds enough to push the darkness back a little and the shadows thicken, turning even more horrific as they gather and prepare to attack again.
They’re gaining strength, and Enzo’s losing his.
They’re not going to stop and Enzo can’t keep going.
They’re going to kill us and Enzo can’t stop it.
His eyes meet mine, and they’re filled with sadness. Their starlight isn’t as bright and their darkness seems dull. There’s only emptiness in their void and I try to soothe whatever it is he has instead of a soul with my gaze.
