“I’m so sorry, baby,” he whispers.
“It’s okay,” I whisper back.
I close my eyes, and my hand reaches into the darkness around us. Enzo growls and I ignore him, certain that I’m supposed to do this. I don’t know why my body wants to do this, but I’m compelled to reach for something and there’s no point in fighting this.
Not when it feels so damn right.
My eyes snap open and meet his, determined to hold on to that starlight. I won’t let it extinguish, and I won’t allow it to fade.
I reach into somewhere and find something I didn’t know existed, clutching at a single flame of hope that will not go out. It’s the fire that never dies and it’s the burst of warmth you need before the dawn ends. Hope sets the world alight and it’s mine to use and brandish.
And I brandish it like a fucking weapon.
Light explodes and it’s so damn bright that all the suns in all the galaxies seem dull. It’s pure and white, brilliant and bright—and it’s so fucking stunning it dazzles. It’s mine and I won’t let it go, pushing it harder and faster, making it dance and weave and spin.
It bursts from my hand and keeps spilling from me, surging forward as it clashes against the black that’s surrounding it. White collides with black and screams and wails sound out. Sparks fly as the battle rages and my arm locks, determined to keep pushing the darkness back.
“Adriana…” Enzo gasps.
I can’t respond. Not when I’m doing whatever the hell it is I’m doing. I’ve never done this before, never even known I might be capable of anything remotely interesting or magical before.
But somehow—almost impossibly—I’m holding back a darkness that threatens to destroy everything around us. It’s so damn evil it’ll purge Hell of its weakness and decimate everything it touches—and the only thing keeping it at bay is the light I’m emitting from fuck knows where.
I lie.
I’m not holding it back.
I’m pushing it back. Using something Enzo’s pushing into me as well as whatever the fuck it is I’m pulling up from a place I didn’t know existed.
I'm more than I ever was before, and I'm not doing this on my own. Enzo's pouring all he can into me, andI bet it's through the connection forged by his collar. It ought to terrify me, but it doesn't. The power he contains should petrify me, but it doesn't. Because this is who and what we are, and together we are more than the sum of our parts and the pieces that make us whole.
Fuck me, I’m beating the damn thing and as my body sweats and shakes and my muscles tremble from exertion, I realize I’m actually winning. The hisses and spits grow louder as I push the black back and the wails and cries of whatever horrors it contains grow louder as I force my will upon them.
The shadows twist and writhe and I keep working. I’m tired, but I refuse to quit and if I’m all that’s standing between us and oblivion, then I don’t have a choice. Enzo fought for me and now it’s my turn to fight for him—and I close my eyes and scream as I push so damn hard that agony tears my body apart.
“Please…” Eva whimpers.
There’s not a chance I’m showing her mercy. It’s for the weak and she deserves this anyway. Whatever I am, I am just, and this is right. This is fair. She’s reaping her rewards and I am nothing if not generous.
“I’ll do anything you want,” she pleads.
She screams as the darkness cracks apart, imploding as it collapses from the force of my light. I throw my head back, scream and push everything I damn well can into the light pulsing from me and I feel it surging forward.
It’s cleansing whatever’s around me. Purging the evil from this place. It’s riding the temple of everything that’s evil and wrong with the world.
Everything except Enzo.
The white light races forward and walls shudder, doors fly off handles and floors crack apart. Idols collapse and shatter, effigies disintegrate. I scream as the pain heightens and the strain becomes intolerable, setting my body on fire as agony becomes too mild a word to describe whatever I’m experiencing.
My arm falls and my hand lies limp, held in place by Enzo’s shoulder.
I’m so tired I don’t know if I’m alive and I’m sure my heart’s only beating out of habit. Every breath hurts, and every movement is agony. I ache and sting and throb, and there’s no pleasure to make this more bearable. I’m so goddamn broken I’m not sure if I can be repaired, but I am sure that Enzo’s safe.
“Adriana?”
“Amaymon?”
I smile and it fucking stings.
