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"I thought—you were dead," I whined, curling my hands into fists and gripping so hard my nails bit into my palms. "I was so—so sure you'd never—"
Leather armour creaked as Dev knelt in front of me, pulling me into his arms and scattering kisses over the top of my head. The sliver of his soul that I'd kept and protected all this time shuddered inside me.
"I heard you," he murmured, his lips against my ear. "Every word you said while I was unconscious. I heard you."
Cool, I was a full-time crier now. I should make peace with that.
I let out a sound like a raccoon being dragged away from its favourite trash pile and buried my face in Dev's shoulder, clinging to him like a very snotty but still sexy barnacle. He might not have been as big as a house anymore, but he was still much, much bigger than me even in my demon form, and the comfort being wrapped up in him gave me was enough to make me feel okay for a few seconds.
"What do you mean Eidolon doesn't have the sceptre?" Ark asked, calculation in his voice.
"Who gives a fuck?" Taj demanded, his voice gravelly and rough.
Shit. How had I never realisedthatwas why he'd been more cruel and snappish today? He was scared his dad would never wake up.
I unwrapped one arm from my devil and flapped my hand at Taj. "Cuddle pile. Stat."
The laugh he let out was a touch hysterical. Yeah, he definitely needed some cuddle therapy. He stayed stubbornly standing, though.
"Are you okay?" Dev asked at the same time Taj grunted out the same question. "You were—when I last saw you…" Dev trailed off, his throat bobbing as he assessed his son.
"I'm fine. Perfectly healed."
I made a throaty noise of complaint. "One false move, and you'll split the skin again."
"It's holding for now," he growled, dark eyes narrowing.
I sniffled, and watched Taj’s expression slacken with concern, his eyes glossy and worried.
"How did you wake up?" I asked Dev, greedy eyes tracing over every part of him. He looked good, amazing actually, and I had a hard time reconciling that with the unwell, unconscious man I left in a hospital bed hours ago.
"You woke me up," he replied, a big hand coming up to caress my face. "I felt your … emotions."
"My impending mental breakdown?" I corrected with a smirk that was a little easier to make now we were all back together. "You're welcome. Glad I could be of service."
He lovingly traced my cheekbone with the fine edge of a claw. "I love you, too, babygirl."
I glanced away and swallowed hard. Nodded, all business-like. "Glad to hear it."
He laughed, a soft whisper of breath hitting my forehead before his mouth lingered in a kiss. "Everything will be okay now. And to answer your question, Arkan, I destroyed the sceptre five years ago as a failsafe. It was obvious someone would try to dethrone me sooner or later, but without all three infernal relics, there was no way to do that. Although," he added, his lips pursing, "I kept a shard of the sceptre. To hand it to Taj when he decided to step into the role."
Taj sucked in a breath. "Good to know."
"Do you want to be the devil?" I asked, pushing to my feet and proud when my knees didn't buckle.1
"It's my legacy," Taj replied, a contemplative look in his eyes .
"Yeah, but do youwantit?" I pressed. I knew the answer, even if he didn't. "Do you wanna be massive, and stomp on people when they piss you off? And order people around, and sign all those boring papers your dad has to?"
"I happen to like the paperwork," Dev complained, but he was smiling as he rose, placing a hand on the small of my back.
"Or," I went on, tilting my head to watch Taj, "do you wanna have spare time to spend with the dogs, and play whatever that violent video game was up on Earth, and do your favourite thing?"
"My favourite thing," Taj echoed, a furrow between his eyes.
I pointed two thumbs at myself, and delighted in his groan.
"You want me to stay the devil forever?" Dev guessed, giving Terrie a stern look when she rubbed against his legs, leaving golden fur in between his armoured spikes. "Missing your favourite tongue, are you?"
