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I sobbed, tears stinging my eyes when I realised we weren't covered in the darkness of the snake’s falling body; we were gripped tightly by protective hands, wrapped in shadows fiercely determined to get us safe.
I was so relieved I didn't even throw up when Arkan released us at the edge of the room, his skeletal hand framing my cheek. He peered intently into my eyes, checking I was safe—and sane, probably—before his attention moved to Joseph.
"You can heal this," he said coldly, but I felt his intention to comfort. "You've been through worse. Remember the candlestick?"
Joseph's nostrils flared with fast, pained breaths. His eyes were sharp but glazed, like he wasn't really seeing us.
"Fuck," Taj exploded, rushing across the room towards us. "Fuck. Joseph.Fuck."
"Send power through the circle bond," X suggested breathlessly, joining us. Something settled with us all together, clicking into place. It was the first time I'd really felt the symbiosis of our circle. We were connected, equal, and so in sync that X and I reached for Joseph at the same time.
I took a deep breath and pulled up power, sending it through the bond to my reaper. Through unspoken agreement, the rest of our circle did the same. Weakness moved through my bones for a moment, but there was no end to the power I sank into.
Joseph's screams were so loud that, when they cut out, dying to whimpers and growls, my ears rang.
I drew out of the bond slowly, tentatively checking how much magic I had left—a scary amount; was I literally invincible? It probably had something to do with Eidolon injecting me with demon blood for most of my life, and having a piece of the devil's soul inside me.
"Joejoe?" I murmured, catching his hand between two of mine, rubbing his cold knuckles with a thumb. "Can you hear me?"
He sucked in a sharp breath through his nose and reached up with his free hand to brush away the tears streaking his face. He nodded.
I kept a careful eye on the still-raw burns on his back, and wrapped myself around him, hugging him tightly. He melted against me, his head falling on my shoulder, and a long breath expanded his chest.
"I'm okay," he rasped after a moment. "Is the snake dead?"
"As a doornail," X confirmed.
I turned to check he was okay and jumped at the strange, blue demon standing there. Shit, right, his illusion.
"I've been thinking," I murmured, looking from X to the others. "Why did we go to all the trouble of disguising X when it's obvious who he is? We wouldn't let anyone else as close, and I'm pretty sure I've held his blue hand."
Arkan blinked. Taj groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"We're idiots," Joseph rasped, but there was a tiny twinkle in his green-brown eyes. "But did we get the sceptre?"
Good question.
I peered over his shoulder to the back of the room where the sceptre sat on its podium, the snake collapsed in a labyrinth of scales and skin across the entire room. Warriors and wraiths picked their way around the dead viper to check on their friends, and I winced. People had died today, and that was partly my fault. I hadn't commanded them, but I'd made the decision to bring backup. And Ark, my tortured mate, had issued the commands that got them killed.
I sent a rush of love and understanding to him, and even if the chilly expression on his face didn't shift, his throat bobbed and his fingers flexed at his sides.
"We got the sceptre," I told Joseph after a pause, running my fingers through his hair before I let go and moved back.
"And Eidolon isn't here yet, so let's set the trap," Taj added with violent anticipation.
I nodded, trying to summon a full smile. But there was an oily apprehension that settled in my belly since I first saw this room, with its scales and the snake and—it was probably a coincidence. Right?
Just because Eidolon was a mean, green killing machine didn't mean every reptile in Hell answered to him. Chances were Dev had hidden the sceptre here.
Arkan swept into the spot at Joseph's side when I vacated it, keeping him safe.
Taj grabbed my arm as I moved past him, my gaze set on the podium and the gold sceptre, tracing the sharp edges of the crown on top of it. His grip was rough and inescapable
"There could be another protection on the sceptre," X warned, falling in on my right, awkwardly climbing over the snake's tail with me when it blocked the way.
"I'm ready," I replied.
I wasn't. I was mad and scared and desperate to end Eidolon before any of us got killed for good. ButI'm readywas snappier.
