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A hand on my forearm had me turning away from Hudson and straight into another kiss with his twin. Jax crushed me to him and kissed me so deeply it was like I was his lifeline and he needed me to survive. I squeezed him back, refusing to pull away, to end this moment.
His fang nicked my tongue, and he let out a heady moan as his tongue tangled with mine. I wished I could show him how much I loved him right here and now, but this kiss would have to do.
When Jax finally pulled back, my haze of lust was almost uncontrollable. I wanted him right here and now, and I didn’t care who saw. But his eyes left mine, darting over to someone beside me.
“Jax… if we don’t make it out,” Nico started.
“No,” Jax shook his head, his body stiffening. “Don’t say anything.”
I squeezed Jax, willing him to reconcile with Nico. This might be the last chance we got.
Nico reached out but seemed to think better of it, letting his big hand fall to his side. “I care about you, Jax. I always—”
“No, Nico,” Jax shook his head. “Alwaysnothing. You didn’t care about me before, and I’m not convinced you do now. It’s too little, too late.”
Nico bowed his head, his shoulders curved. I’d never seen the big guy look so contrite.
“Just kiss Mel like the rest of us, okay?” Jax’s words sounded strangled, and he turned away from us both, pushing me toward Nico.
“He’ll come around,” I whispered, grabbing Nico’s hands.
He let go, and I was afraid he was going to pull away from me again, but instead he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in tight. “I’m in this with you until the bitter end, little witch.”
Nico’s kiss was surprisingly light and chaste, and his tongue never met mine. When he pulled back, his eyes filled with endless sadness. He really didn’t believe we were coming back out alive.
The bag on my back gave a sudden jerk, and the sound of little paws scrambling for purchase met my ears. A moment later, Tempest won her freedom and stood beside us, her stormy tail broad and full of lightning.
Flame ignited inside of her, and her little body lit up again. I was just glad she’d waited until after she was out of my backpack.
I smiled down at her. “It’s good to see you molten again.”
“Stay close to me and do what I tell you if you want to survive,”Tempest’s voice echoed in my mind.
Hudson jerked, his eyes flicking down to Tempest. “Did you—”
“Now that all you numbskulls finally tasted Mel’s vampiric blood, I can talk to you, too, yes. You’re part of her pack, and so am I.”
“Pack?” I chuckled.
“What else would you humans call it?”
Jax gave an exasperated chuckle when I helplessly shrugged. “We’re her coven, little fox.”
“Well, I’m not her coven-mate, so that doesn’t make any sense at all.”Tempest faced the infernal threshold and then looked over her shoulder at us.“Ready?”
“Can you show us the way to my mother?”
“I’ll do my best.”
Chapter Thirteen
Jackson
The demon horde waited until we crossed the threshold before they struck.
We were barely inside the threshold, our backs to the wall, which was still visible, though at a much greater distance than we had seemed to walk from it. I could even see demon hunters on top of it, but I doubted they could see us through the smoke and shadows of the infernal realm.
Hudson and Nico fell into easy fighting stances. Mel let out a battle cry and cast lightning at the nearest hellviper, looking completely unsurprised.
