Page 202 of The Bonds of Indigo

“Belial…” Her tone is hesitant, like she’s not entirely here as she continues to speak. “He wants that girl. Oh, no…”

“What’s wrong?!” I’m up on my feet.

“Amarah!?” I scream through the bond, but it’s silent. “Little slayer, answer me.”

There’s a wall, just not one I’ve ever felt before. It’s more like fog, thick and disorienting. The indigo string with flecks of gold is still there, but I can’t grip it. I can’t reach her.

When I turn to Zuhara, her hackles rise and she hisses, “No…”

“What’s happening?!”

“He told me not to bring you,” she growls, pacing. “But… Lucifer is fighting his father. Belial was going to take Amarah as collateral so Vendra would give him something. This is a mess. Hex was right—Belial has lost his fucking mind.”

I shake my head, disbelief crashing into panic. “Take me to them. Right now! I’m a thousand-year-old Vampire, Zuhara. I’m capable of fighting!”

My voice breaks into a shout because she only lowers her head.

“If anything happens to that girl… this place won’t survive. I’ll bring it all down.”

Her golden eyes lock onto mine. “Be prepared to.”

A sudden, sharp pain slices through my chest and I grip the counter, only barely stopping myself from collapsing. I haven’t sweat since I was turned, but I immediately begin to. My lungs scream for oxygen like they’re tearing apart.

Zuhara appears in front of me in a blink, pressing her massive head against mine. “Let it run its course. She’s not dead. She’s fighting. But we must go to them.”

It feels like molten lava is flowing through my veins. My skin burns so violently I want to claw it from my body just to get relief. The only thing keeping me standing is knowing this pain is happening because of her. Because Amarah is hurt.

And I don’t need anyone to tell me what’s happening. The bond is shredding. She’s… dying.

Come on.

Come on.

COME ON.

I don’t ease into it; I shove myself upright. Zuhara doesn’t hesitate. She tears open the same portal she used to drag me to the Phantasm.

Passing through it feels like stepping into a freezing waterfall after being scorched alive. The pain recedes, only slightly, but enough for me to breathe.

Enough for me to fight.

We don’t land in Hex’s world. Instead, we’re back in Belial’s manor. The same gothic architecture swallows the space, but now it’s completely destroyed. Walls and floors have caved in. Glass litters the ground—what’s left of a chandelier lies in sparkling ruins. And there’s blood everywhere.

So much blood.

And none of it is Belial’s.

Her scent hits me like a punch to the face, pulling my gaze right to her.

It’s like my barely beating heart has crawled behind my eyes, pounding until my vision blurs in and out. She’s sitting slumped, unmoving.

She has a pulse, but it’s so, so, faint.

“I shouldn’t be surprised.” The voice that hits my ears is familiar, but not Lucifer’s.

I’ve heard him before…

Zuhara darts across the room toward Amarah, and when she reaches her, I finally force myself to look at Belial as he rises to his full height. His red skin is spattered with blood—dark, thick—and most of it is Lucifer’s.