As he stroked her, the memories returned.
It had taken all his control to allow Shaheen to drag him toward the Pit amidst Lily’s screams. He feared she thought he’d given up again, when that was the furthest thing from true. He’d simply been waiting for his perfect moment. When it had come, he’d taken it.
When the camel had tossed him, he’d hooked his claws on the edge and used his tail to slingshot the beast straight into the mouths of the waiting goraths. Two crunches and the demon camel was gone.
He’d tried to do the same to Paimon, had almost succeeded, but she’d grabbed Lily on her way down. He’d been left clinging to the edge of the Pit, watching his beautiful female, glowing like starlight, fall into the abyss. With wings he wasn’t sure would hold him, he’d dived off the ledge after her.
And then he’d seen Paimon get snagged by a gorath tongue and caught in the death trap of teeth.
That moment…He couldn’t say how long he’d dreamed of her meeting such a fate.
And yet, watching her get eaten hadn’t meant a thing in the face of his fear for Lily.
In that way, the brevity of Paimon’s somewhat-underwhelming defeat was oddly fitting. She meant nothing. She wasn’t worth the hatred he felt for her or the burning need he’d felt to destroy her. She wasn’t worth anything at all.
Mist’s manacles had abruptly disappeared—presumably at the moment of her consumption—and he’d misted past the gorath, snatched up Lily, and carried her out of there as quickly as he could with his ravaged wings. He’d forgotten about Paimon instantly, like she’d never held any power over him to begin with.
After they arrived back on Earth, they’d been greeted by the other demons and Eva, who fussed over them accordingly. Mist had approached Belial, who pinned him with a hard stare, and they’d regarded each other in a weighted silence.
Maybe if they were less proud and more human, Mist might have apologized. He regretted putting Belial in the position he had and rejecting his offer of help. But he knew Belial would hate an apology, and he wasn’t sure he was comfortable giving one anyway.
So he went with his usual choice of words for when he struggled to express himself:Thank you.
Belial had grunted and glared and muttered something about not wasting his time before storming off to the kitchen, but Mist had felt something lighten in the air between them and knew he was forgiven. He was surprised how much that meant to him.
After that, he’d staggered into the shower—the full-size one his wings could fit in—and that was the last thing he remembered, so he must have fallen asleep immediately afterwards.
Through it all, Lily had never left his side.
She stirred in his arms at that moment, rolling off his chest onto her side and opening her eyes. She smiled when she saw him watching her. “Hi.”
He traced the curve of her jaw with his foreclaw, watching her as closely as he could to ensure he didn’t miss a single detail.
Except her soft expression vanished in a blink, and she suddenly sat upright with a gasp. Even stranger, she yanked the bed sheet up to her neck, covering her body from him.
Stiffening, he glanced around, looking for the source of her alarm, but he saw nothing unusual. They were in his bedroom in Belial’s apartment, and everything was just as he had left it.
“Mist…”
He frowned, trying to understand her anguished expression. Maneuvering his wings from beneath him, he pushed into a sitting position, taking a moment to appreciate the lack of pain in his body once again.
“What’s wrong?”
“I have to tell you something. Something I—” She broke off, swallowing hard.
“What is it?” He was certain whatever it was could not be worse than he was imagining.
“It’s about the brands.”
He glanced down at his wrists. The skin was healed over, and while the cuffs were gone, the brands were not. But he hadn’t expected them to be.
“Paimon can’t summon me now,” he explained. “There’s no need to be concerned.”
“No, that’s not it. I—” Again, she swallowed and tugged the bed sheet higher. “I swear it was an accident. I had no idea it would happen. I didn’t even consider it a possibility or else I would never have—”
“I don’t understand, Lily. What happened?”
“Oh, Mist. I’m so sorry.” With eyes full of tears, she lowered the sheet. It took him a second to see anything except her full breasts with those big, pink nipples.
