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"And what does my father have?" I demanded shrilly, flinching when the F word slipped out. No matter how badly he'd hurt me, no matter how ruined I was as a human being because of him … I wanted to deny it, but he was still my father. The worst one in existence. "What did stripping Dev’s power give him? He's got the crown and sceptre now and—"
A cacophony of snarls and barks tore up the stairs, and I flinched into X. Ark exploded into shadows. Joseph spun until he was in front of me, his scythe appearing in his hand as he faced this new threat.
"Stop,stop,"I begged. "I can't watch you die again, I can't—"
I tried to call up fire, but I was shaking too hard to summon it.
"Joseph, stand beside her," Taj growled. Clawed fingers slid into my hair and pulled tight, sending a flash of pain and sensation across my scalp. "You're ours to protect, and you can't change that, Lina. But you're right, I don't know what you went through when we were hurt. I do know there's no way in Hell I'll let you go through that again."
He turned my head so I met his eyes, and I clenched my jaw when emotions made my whole face tight and itchy.
"No sacrifices. No heroics. We fight side by side. Yeah?"
"I can't lose you," I argued, so quiet it was barely audible.
"And we can't loseyou,Aveline. So we're at an impasse."
"Ready," Arkan ordered quietly, his emotions hidden behind a steely wall again.
The vicious snarls grew louder, echoing around the tower and making my whole body tense. I blinked to clear my eyes and nodded at Taj. For now—we were at an impasse.
"But I won't let him hurt you again," I warned him. "And if you hate me for it, so be it."
"You think I could hate you when I love you so much I can barely breathe?" Taj asked. Laughed. Shook his head. "Are we mad at you? Yes. Are we terrified to lose you? Yes. Do I know where I'm going with this point? No."
I choked on a laugh.
"I don't give a shit if the whole world comes crashing down; let it," he hissed. "But you don't leave us, and we don't leave you. Deal?"
"I'll find a loophole," I warned him, "but deal."
"If we hurt, we hurt together," X murmured, the air shuddering around him as he gathered his power. Whoever appeared at the top of the staircase was going to get their dick blown off.
"Should we make a death pact?" X asked seriously.
"No," Arkan snapped. "No death pact, no deaths at all. Whatever this is, we kill it. We didn't find the sceptre, but there are more infernal relics. We find the orb, we kill Eidolon, we go home."
I flinched at the rough rise in the snarls—so, so damn close. We were going to be mauled by wolves, or ripped apart by tiger-demons. I tried to angle myself in front of Joseph; he nudged me back. Impasse indeed.
"Would it give us an edge against Eidolon?" I asked, trying to grasp my fire, or my pain power, oranything. "If we find another weapon—would it stop him, even though he has the sceptre?"
"He doesn't have the sceptre," a crazy-deep voice replied, velvety and soothing.
A small, choked sound came from my throat. Taj let go of my hair and grabbed my shoulder, like he needed to hold himself up.
The vicious, snarling creatures finally reached the landing. All ten of Taj's golden retriever hellhounds swarmed us with barks of excitement. Massy and Terrie found a corner to have a brawl in, teeth bared. Playful—not murderous. They were excited.Happy.
I dragged my stare from them when boots met the landing, and I had to blink rapidly to be sure I was seeing who I thought I was seeing.
My devil stood there, dressed in vicious black armour, spikes all over his shoulders and down his arms, his crimson skin flush with health and his eyes blazing.
"Eidolon doesn't have the sceptre; it was destroyed years ago," Dev repeated.
My mates were so stunned that no one caught me when my knees buckled, and I crashed to the floor with a sob.
33
Iliterallyjuststopped crying,I thought with irritation when sobs choked off my air and shook my entire body. He was—Dev washere.
