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I took Jax’s hand and looked from him to his brother, then over to Nico.
“We’re all coming back out of there. Got it?”
Jax pushed back a tendril of hair that had escaped my ponytail, his eyes sliding over to meet my gaze. “Nothing can keep us apart for long, kitten,” he promised before leaning in.
It was a sweet, calm kiss, as if his promise carried over into our lips themselves. Nico’s arms encircled us both, and we both turned toward him.
He leaned in and kissed Jax first. My heart expanded to see the two of them finally putting the past behind them. Nico’s kiss was anything but sweet and calm. He claimed Jax’s mouth, his hand on the back of his head, just below his topknot.
When Jax came up for air, he looked dazed. Then a sweet smile broke over his face. “I love you,” he said, looking up at Nico, then at me. “I love you both.”
“I love you both as well,” Nico said, his expression serious as he gazed into Jax’s eyes. “I wish—”
I rose up on my tiptoes, snaking my hand up behind Nico’s neck to pull him down to me for a kiss. I’d learned a long time ago there was no point wishing for the past to change. My tongue tangled with his momentarily, giving him just a taste before I pulled back.
“We have our lives ahead of us. We can all make up for lost time as soon as we kick Ty’s ass.”
Nico smirked. “You’re right, huntress. I love that you’ll do whatever it takes.” He raised an eyebrow, giving me a meaningful look.
As far as I knew, neither of the twins knew of my pact with Nico. If he lost control and threatened us, I’d promised to put him down. But that wasn’t going to happen, because I was going to kill Ty and the devil first, before anything could go wrong.
A hand on my upper arm pulled me out of Jax and Nico’s embrace. I turned to face Hudson, whose gaze softened as it met mine. He trailed his fingertips across my temple, cupping my cheek in his palm.
“I’m so glad we found our way back into each other’s lives,” he told me. “I love you, Mel.” Then he kissed me, his hands wrapping around behind me to pull me tight against him, where there could be no doubt about how much he loved me — and lusted for me.
By the time the kiss ended, I was nothing but mush in my first lover’s arms.
“I love you, too, Hudson, more than I ever thought possible. We may have fallen for each other when we were young, but our love feels…” I shook my head, discarding a dozen words before realizing one word couldn’t encompass what I felt. “Like it’s finally bloomed into something more beautiful than I ever imagined.”
There was a dark gleam in Hudson’s eye. “Then let’s go show Ty what he’ll never have again.”
“We’ll see if devils can bleed.” Nico’s voice rumbled, and the earth beneath our feet trembled in agreement.
“They’re going to attack the moment we cross again, aren’t they?” Jax asked.
I manifested my favorite green demonfire blade in one hand and a lightning shield in the other. “Probably. Let’s go kill some demons. And then we’ll hunt down their master.”
Tempest let out a confident little yip, and together, we stepped toward the threshold.
Just before we were about to cross, a terrible scream pierced the air — and then cut short.
We all whirled toward the sound, but due to the rolling hills of Charlotte, we saw nothing. Jax and I took off running toward the sound with Nico and Hudson steps behind.
“This could be a distraction,” Hudson warned.
“Tempest?” I asked.
“It sounded like a soul being separated from its body.”
“Fuck,” I said as the sound of chanting reached our vampiric-enhanced ears.
We crested the hill and caught sight of a group of armored demon hunters standing together, facing the threshold. At first, I was shocked, because Preta hadn’t promised us backup. Then I noticed a few other details.
These demon hunters surrounded a handful of witches wearing magic-silencing manacles. As we watched, two demon hunters dragged one of the witches closer to the threshold as she cried and struggled and begged.
“They’re feeding it more souls,” Jax said in horror.
Hudson and I reached out at the same time, and twin columns of lightning and flame consumed the two demon hunters holding the witch, leaving nothing but ash beside her. She screamed, then took off running.
