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Trapped on the end of my scythe was Matt’s soul. It had been torn in two, and I laughed when I saw the darkness that surrounded it. With a slash of my hand, the filmy apparition disintegrated and floated in the air amid onyx flakes that resembled volcanic ash.
Sam backed away from me as I smiled in his direction. Two flicks of my wrist, and he joined Matt, hovering in the air as I felt the earth quake beneath my feet. Popping noises preceded the giant fissure that split apart beneath where I stood and opened a crater wide enough for the wicked to fall in. Matt and Sam’s souls were sucked into the void where Lucifer’s laughter joined the groans and cries of suffering that echoed from below.
They were reaped—a meal for the demons in hell.
Eternal pain was the sentence and I gladly handed it out.
The ground closed up, and the room stilled. No one else stood across from me except for Stefanie. She was dirty and too thin, but that smile on her face was everything.
“You’re not afraid of me?” I asked, still in the form of my Reaper.
Her head shook. “No. What you just did. How you saved us.” Her chin wobbled, and tears dripped down her cheeks. “That was amazing. They were evil. You? Never.”
I held out my arms, taking a step in her direction as she lunged forward, and I caught her, wrapping my precious girl tight. The momentum should have knocked me over because she crashed into my body with plenty of force. I stumbled slightly but didn’t move. Multiple hands pressed against my back, and I knew that my brothers were all there. They steadied me, stood at my back in case I needed them, and proved the loyalty of a Bastard never wavered.
Stefanie’s arms and legs clenched around my neck and waist as I turned and carried her from the room. Grim, Rael, Mammoth, Diablo, and all the rest of my brothers followed. I sensed their Reapers all the way up the elevator until the door opened and then faded. We no longer needed the extra protection.
Outside, I walked back to the SUV without stopping.
“You came for me,” Stefanie whispered as I stood next to the passenger door.
Looking down, I gave her a reassuring smile. “Didn’t you know? I’d walk through fire for you, kill for you, I’d even sell my soul to make you mine. You’re my oxygen, baby. I haven’t breathed for months without you.”
“I haven’t breathed either.”
Cupping her face, I stared into my beloved’s eyes, filling up my vision with her pretty face. “I missed you so much.”
For a split second, I felt tears prickle the back of my eyelids. Stefanie was alive, and she was here in my arms, safe where she belonged.
I didn’t know what else to do but kiss her, pressing my lips to hers with a gentle but firm passion. The fates knew. Lucifer knew. He gave me a second chance at life with Stefanie. Without the Reaper, I would never be standing here.
I’d gotten my Christmas wish.
And I’d never been more grateful.
“It’s almost Christmas,” she replied, glancing at the festive decorations that were hard to miss.
“See those lights?” I asked, gesturing to the strands that hung in every direction, across every rooftop and all the buildings, casinos, and restaurants down the strip. “They’re twinkling just for you.”
“No,” she whispered, “They’re twinkling for us.”
