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They stole my throne in Purgatory.
“Raven,” Tamia whispers, shaking and crying, standing a foot away. Suddenly, her face hardens and a smile crosses her face. I spot the glow of the angel shining in her eyes, stealing control from my cousin. “Your sacrifice will not be forgotten. You’ve done a great thing for Heaven.”
Something dark and dangerous stabs me in the soul, and I reach out and grab Tamia by her ankle, yanking her over the barrier completely. She lights up in flames as the holy power of the angel explodes, dragging the fucking bitch from my cousin’s body. A gust of wind puts out the flames of Hell from Tamia’s clothing, but she stumbles, trying to escape.
Except the ground crumbles beneath her feet, and there is nothing I can do as Hell swallows the essence of the angel and drags my cousin with her into its fiery depths.
I stare in shock and horror, my whole body roiling with a thousand emotions as I try to process what happened.
“Angel-girl. Take a breath, okay. We’re going to figure this out.” Kase materializes beside me, slinking his way closer to where I stare at Elias’s bare leg, praying with everything in me for his toes to curl or something, anything, to show me that Heaven failed.
But I know in the depths of my being that they didn’t. They forced my cousin to kill my soulmate. They forced her to sacrifice herself. And for what? What did they truly accomplish? Hell isn’t going anywhere.
“Raven, please. Will you look at me?” Micah drops to his knees beside me, taking my hand. “I’m so sorry I’ve failed you. I tried to grab his soul and guide him, hoping that he was strong enough.”
My mouth quivers with his words. “I just don’t understand. Why did he do that? Where is he?”
Micah doesn’t respond right away, and the other devils close the space, circling me. I raise my gaze to meet his, but he looks at the other devils instead. Reaching out, I grab him by the chin, forcing him to look at me.
“Micah, tell me. Where is he?” I heave a few breaths, my nerves getting the best of me.
“He died unbound,” Dante says, speaking up. He scoots close to my other side and drapes an arm over me. “But don’t worry. We’ll find him.”
I blink a few times and release a breath. “Fuck. Go now. He can’t be there by himself!” Fear flutters through me. “Get him!”
Kase’s tail wraps around me and drags me from my spot on the ground and into his arms. I slap my hands against his shoulders, my mind swirling with the memory of me walking through Hell. If he’s unbound, then any demon can get to him. He is at the mercy of those who torment Hell.
“Let me go! I need you to find him!” I screech, thrashing. Kase only holds me tighter. “They’re going to torture him. Your fucking legions are going to steal everything good he carries.”
Another hot body presses against my back. “Raven, Elias is strong. He’s not an ordinary soul,” Dante says, sandwiching me to Kase. “He will be okay until we can get a good sense of him. Right now, his soul is finding its place. Even if we scoured all of Hell this second, he could still be between planes. He might not even realize what’s happening or what he needs to do yet.”
I breakdown, a sob stealing my breath and sending unbearable anguish crashing through me. “Why?” I ask, my words stuttering with my sobs. “Why did you do this, Elias? How could you just leave me?”
I push away from Kase and Dante until they finally let me go. My eyes burn with my hot tears, and I crawl across the charred grass to where Elias’s body lies, his chest ravaged with bullet holes and blood. I bow beside him and rest my head on his cool shoulder, hiccupping and bawling more tears than I knew were possible.
“Why did you protect me? You were more important,” I say, feeling the heat of the devils surrounding me. “I’m so fucking pissed. I would’ve been okay. I could’ve survived.”
Micah clears his throat and rests his big hand on my back. “You might not have, Raven. If you had died before him, you’d have failed to uphold your contract. Elias protected you because with his end, your soul would be free from Hell. He was saving you.”
His words zap me right in the heart, and I whip my head up and glower at Lucian. My body reacts before my mind has a chance to comprehend what I’m doing, and I throw myself at him. I scream in his face and whack him, hitting him as hard as I can over and over again.
“This is your fault!” I screech, punching him in the nose.
I expect him to shove me off. To react. To do something. It pisses me off that Lucian lies placidly beneath me, just accepting my wrath.
“You should’ve just ended my contract! You should’ve just accepted your damn place. Now Elias is lost in Hell! Heaven has won. This is what you wanted, wasn’t it? I was so stupid!” I swing and hit him one more time before two hands hook around my waist and pull me off.
Lucian scrubs his hands over his beard and gets to his feet, striding to stand in front of me while Andre tries to settle me down with his presence alone. Fire flashes in his eyes, and he flicks his gaze toward the stars once and back to me.
“You can blame me all you want, but it doesn’t change things. You damn fucking know that I was on board.” Flaring his nostrils he leans even closer. “There was a fucking reason I never ended your contract. You had to be bound to Hell for Elias to descend. Not to mention, if I had freed your soul, Heaven would’ve taken it immediately. You’re already fucking close to Zade. You probably wouldn’t have realized it until it was too late. I re-negotiated the contract with Elias so that upon his unbound death, you’d be free. It was the only way to give you time to negotiate something with someone you prefer. So like I said, hate me. Blame me. I don’t give a flying fuck if it makes you feel better, but don’t accuse me of trying to sabotage Hell.”
We remain in a staring match until I break first, hanging my head and letting the silent tears leak from my eyes. I thought I survived the worst day of my life, but it could never compare to this moment. My eternity is ruined. Purgatory can’t exist without the power of all eight of Hell’s kingdoms.
“Okay,” I manage to squeak out.
“And I hope you know I am sorry. Not for everything, but for some things. I will fucking find the bitch who possessed your cousin. She will pay.” Lucian tightens his jaw and reaches up, caressing my cheek. “That, I promise you.”
I only nod and push thoughts of Tamia away. What the fuck convinced her to allow an angel to possess her? Was she tricked? Manipulated? Does it even matter?
