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“What?”
I tugged at his hand, trying to get him to pay attention to me. “I don’t know why, but he planned this. He pushed me to be here now, to come into the arena. He wants me here.”
“Lucifer is a sadist who enjoys watching people tear each other apart for fun. I think you’re giving him way too much credit.”
I released Grant’s hand, frustration eating at me. I tried to figure out what I was supposed to be doing. What was the plan?
The scream of the reaper increased again, a driving pain through my temples. I clutched my head before lifting my gaze to find the reaper still and staring at me.
It did it the way the last one had, when I’d first gotten into hell. It still ignored the others, but it saw me.
Grant set a hand out as though to push me back, to keep me behind him. The chivalrous movement was sweet but stupid. The reality was that the reaper could gothroughhim if it wanted.
It seemed to bore its gaze into me even though I couldn’t spot any eyes because of how the hood hid its face. If it had a face… The sound increased again, as if it were trying to speak to me.
It came forward, and Grant tossed his hand up. A rush left his palm like a spark of black lightning. It arced across the space and struck the reaper, throwing it back against the barrier.
Everyone froze.
“I thought you couldn’t hurt it?” I asked.
“I wasn’t sure that would work,” he panted, looking exhausted. “I haven’t exactly faced off against a lot of reapers to test, and that took a pretty big chunk of my power.”
I opened my mouth to answer but that pain was back, driving me to my knees, forcing me to cover my ears to try and block it out. It didn’t work, though, the sound still bleeding through.
Across the space, the reaper was up again and almost vibrating. What was it waiting for?
Kase, Troy and Hunter came closer, placing themselves between the reaper and me. Seeing them—or at least their backs—created an odd feeling.
How many times had people given a damn about me? My whole childhood had been a matter of not being important, of people walking away because I was too much work, too difficult, too unimportant.
I’d spent my whole life trying to fit in, trying to find somewhere I belonged, and here were these four men, men who had their own lives, men who I hadn’t proven myself all that useful to, and they had placed themselves between the danger and me knowing damn well it would probably kill them.
They wanted me—theyvaluedme—and even if I didn’t understand it, it brought back I’d told Lucifer. I’d do anything to keep them safe, and for the first time, it seemed I’d found people who would do the same in return.
So when the reaper did its version of ‘come at me, bro’, I acted on an impulse so deep inside me, I couldn’t place it, had never fully embraced it. It was like a whisper I’d ignored all my life, a part of me I’d refused to ever acknowledge but that had always been there.
The spark along my back that I’d felt before, when I’d turned into some sort of ghost, spread over me. It was stronger this time, though, and instead of fighting it, I threw myself into it.
That same sensation ran over my skin, through my body, down my limbs until my hands faded away, going incorporeal.
Whereas the last time I’d rejected this, this time I gave myself over to it entirely. I threw away all the worries, all the fears, all the desires I had to be normal.
Fuck normal.
I would be whatever I had to to keep safe the men who had risked everything for me.
I moved faster than I could track, able to pass around the men, my feet never touching the ground.
The reaper stilled, staring at me, and I could see it in a way I hadn’t before, as if I could make out details that had been hidden. The fabric was clearer, and it hung forward over a shadowed face.
It spoke, and while the words were still impossible for me to make out, they no longer hurt. It came forward a few steps, but I lifted my hands.
It was then I realized my hands were shadowed and covered in darkness, like a robe. From my palms, a force went out, knocking the reaper backward.
It hissed, then barreled toward me.
Something stirred inside me, like an ancient whisper from somewhere I couldn’t identify. It spurred me on, and I reached for the same power, for what I’d used a moment before to drive it back, but unleashed all I could.
