“This is not amusing. Ergo, I am not amused. In fact, if you looked up ‘amused’ in the dictionary—the unabridged edition—I am whatever the word furthest from that one is.”
I make pouty lips. Which is not that easy to achieve while laughing, especially when everything hurts.
He grunts and sticks the joint in my mouth. Hunts down a still-smoldering branch, blows on it until it flames. I lean into it and take a deep drag, sucking the roll-up to beautiful life.
Bliss.
“Happy now?” he grumbles.
I nod and grin, blowing a stream of smoke into the air. “Are you? You sure don’t look it.”
“Hmm. Almost.” Merrick finally smiles. His shadows envelop us in a dark cocoon, shielding us from the outside world. And then my demon hero kisses me, so deeply and perfectly that I forget all about my weed, and for the first time since this nightmare began, up comes the freaking sun.
thirty-two
MERRICK
I can’t stop staring at her.
It’s been three days since the ordeal with the hunters, our battle in the woods fought on multiple fronts. Three days since the flames receded and I gathered the witch into my arms, carrying her away from the wreckage of blood and bones and burning trees.
And praise the infinite pits of Hell, I’ve finally got her to myself, alone in my cottage at long last.
No sisters padding about the house, barging into rooms in search of phone chargers and borrowed sweaters and laptops. No demons nosing into our business. No hellhounds or literary cats or women who are sometimes bats. No mind-altering substances.
Just me and one brave, beautiful witch, whole and alive, soft and perfect and unbroken.
Also—in the interest of full transparency—naked.
But most importantly, she’s mine. I don’t need the words; I can see it her eyes, in the deep and tender way she regards me. Ican feel it in her touch—a touch that made me brave enough to embrace such intimacy, a touch that continues to heal me with every soothing stroke, every comforting hug, every delicious kiss.
I don’t know what awaits me on the other side of the portal. The demons and I are now fugitives of Hell, having drawn our battle lines the night of the fires. Treachery and disloyalty are crimes for which there is no satisfactory penance; should we dare to enter Hell, there will be no end to Matthias’s wrath and retribution.
Nor is remaining in the earthly realm a safe option. Without a direct assignment from the Council, the demonic magic that allows us to exist outside of Hell will eventually degrade. Weeks? Months? Unknown. According to the texts I’ve studied on the matter, the degradation is different for every demon, and resultant blowback could include such side effects as memory loss, permanent hallucinations, liquefaction of vital organs, petrification of extremities, asphyxiation, and… hair loss.
But our current state of liminality is—to borrow a colorful euphemism from my favorite witch—a clusterfuck for another day-drink.
Whatever happens, my devotion to Elizabeth shall remain unwavering. Even if my cruelest penance is yet to come—the brutal curse of an immortal falling in love with a mortal woman, a life that lingers long after hers has reached its natural end—I can not possibly regret it.
An eternity of grief is a small price to pay for love, however briefly that candle may be destined to burn.
“Come back to me,” Elizabeth whispers now, stroking my face, and I smile and kiss her palm and the tip of her nose and both eyelids.
“I’m right here, love. Not going anywhere.”
I’m on top of her, propping myself up on my elbows so as not to crush her. Her silken blonde hair is fanned across the pillow and sheets, my hands buried in it, her delicate rose-and-vanilla scent filling me with a pleasure from which I’ll never tire.
In the interest of full transparency, I too am naked.
And hard.
And, I’m not ashamed to admit, trembling.
“It’s okay, Merrick,” she says softly, smiling up at me. “We can go slow. Or fast. Or any way you like. I just… I just want to be with you. I mean, if… if you’re sure that’s what you want?”
A soft chuckle. “Elizabeth, it’s all I’ve wanted for longer than I care to admit.”
“Me too! Yay!” She laughs, her words tumbling out in a breathless rush. “Oh my god, I was so worried. For a minute there I thought you—ohhh… okay, that’s…”
