My blood ran cold at the possibility of Lucifer descending on my brothers with his army of craeton followers and seal creatures. They’d be terrified, and if he didn’t kill them outright, the things he would do to them—
No,I wouldn’t think of it. I couldn’t. “Kobal, Ihaveto go.”
He hesitated before leaning forward to kiss my forehead. “We will see how things are progressing with the supplies.”
Rolling on top of me, he pinned me to the mattress with his thigh between my legs as he planted his hands on either side of my head. I bit my lip as my body instinctively sought out his.
“I will find your brothers, Mah Kush-la,” he promised before rolling over and fluidly rising.
I sat up on the cot as Kobal lifted the tattered remains of my shirt and tossed it onto the table. “Does Mac know the ghosts are coming?” I asked as I rose and walked over to the adjoining tent. Lifting the flap, I slipped inside it. I strode past the bed and opened the doors on the armoire to peer inside.
“I told Mac to prepare for their arrival,” Kobal said from behind me.
I turned to find him standing at the foot of the bed. “He must have been thrilled.”
He smiled at me as he walked over to stand behind me. His body warmed mine as he reached around me to pull out a pair of pants and a shirt for himself. “About as much as I am about it, but we all must adjust to living with each other now, and the ghosts could prove helpful here.”
“Yeah,” I muttered as I uncovered some of my clothes.
It was still nightfall when Kobal led me out of the tent and to the house I showered in. He didn’t like using human showers, but he took a quick one too while I dressed. Lifting the hairbrush I’d brought with me, I worked the tangles from my hair while I watched Kobal exit the bathroom. My gaze lingered on the bites I’d left on his flesh when he dropped a towel from his waist.
My Chosen, for eternity.That was still going to take time to process, but once I had my brothers back and Lucifer was dead, I would take the time to enjoy having an eternity with this demon. I couldn’t wait.
I hastily pulled my wet hair into a ponytail as Kobal finished dressing. Taking my hand, he led me out of the house and back to the area where the demons resided. All their tents formed a circle around an open clearing. On the horizon, the sky had lightened from a velvety black to a deep gray.
We passed three tents before Kobal stopped and rapped his knuckles against the outside of one.
“What?” Corson demanded groggily from within. The murmured complaints of more than one female could be heard as something clattered within.
“Time to go,” Kobal said brusquely and pulled me away from the tent.
A giggle from the woods alerted me to a nymph loping through the trees. Two completely naked male demons chased behind her. “The demons are already adapting to their new world,” I murmured.
“I think many of those who first came to Earth with me would have stayed even if they had to travel back and forth to Hell to keep their immortality,” Kobal replied. “The ones who remained in Hell while we were on Earth will acclimate soon enough.”
“The nymphs already are.”
“The nymphs could adapt to life anywhere as long as they have trees to play in and partners to satisfy them. But they will make it easier for the other demons to adjust too. They’ll make them happier.”
“That they will,” I agreed.
We stopped in front of another tent. Kobal raised his hand to hit the side of it, but the flap pulled back before he could and Bale stepped out with Verin at her side.
“We’re ready,” Verin said. She lifted her chin and stared at Kobal as if she were gearing up for an argument.
I opened my mouth to tell her to stay so she could grieve, or cry, or whatever demons did when they lost a loved one. Then I realized that demons fought, and if Verin had a chance to help end Lucifer, she wasn’t going to miss it. Nothing would have stopped me either.
Kobal stared at her before speaking, “Good.”
Turning, we walked down the hill together. Verin kept her shoulders back, but her eyes remained focused on the ground as she walked and she began to fall behind.
“How is she doing?” I whispered to Bale.
Bale brushed back a strand of her fiery hair as a raven landed beside her. With a ripple of wings and feathers, Caim appeared.
“She is still breathing, but she does not live,” Bale said without so much as a glance at the angel who fell into step beside her.
Her words sounded like one of the skellein’s riddles, but unlike their riddles, I understood what Bale meant. My eyes lifted to Kobal. Knowing that I would have left him like Verin, if not for Raphael’s intervention, made me shudder.
