“Macarons.”
She blinked. Belial was an enigma, that was for sure. “I’ll go talk to her.” She smiled. “Thanks for the soup.”
With a grunt, he turned back to his baking.
Lily hurried over to the sofa only to find Iris already sitting up, rubbing her eyes. She looked out the big windows at the night cityscape and frowned. “What time is it?”
“Almost midnight,” Lily replied, sitting beside her.
“That’s awful. Traveling to Hell is like the worst jet lag possible.”
Lily snorted. “Fitting, really.”
Iris looked at her. “How are you?”
“Good.”
“How’s Mist?”
“He’s good too.”
“How did he take… you know?” She glanced down at the brand on Lily’s chest.
“He said he doesn’t care. He—” Her breath hitched. “He said he likes that we’re connected.” She dragged her hands down her face. “How can he think that? I’m so guilty I feel sick.”
Iris punched her arm. “Bitch, you literally saved him. Give yourself some credit.”
“Ow!”
“I’m serious. You were straight badass. You saved your demon boyfriend from his evil mistress or whatever. You’re a hero. Act like it.”
“All I did was fall in a hole and—” She broke off.
Yeah, some of what happened had been accidental, but the fact remained that she had gone to Hell, faced off Paimon, and survived. She wasn’t going to discredit that or talk down on herself.
She was done apologizing for her big ass and stomach rolls. From now on, she was going to take up some damn space in the world, and she wasn’t going to be sorry about it.
She nodded firmly. “I still wish I could’ve taken the brands away instead of keeping them in a different form. They’re still horrible, no matter who controls them.”
“And you will. I have no doubt about that. Now that I’ve seen what you can do when you’re properly motivated, I’ll never doubt your ability to achieve anything again. And neither should you.”
She leaned her head on her sister’s shoulder. “Thanks.”
“You shouldn’t be thanking me. You should still be pissed at me.”
“I told you I forgave you. And yeah, it might take me a while to rebuild the trust between us, but you’re still my sister, and you still have my back. You proved it when you literally threw yourself in front of Paimon to save me. I know better than to doubt you.”
“Thanks, Lil.”
The eggbeater fired up in the kitchen.
Iris frowned. “What is that?”
“Belial’s making macarons.”
“Belial?” She rubbed her eyes. “That’s so weird, honestly.”
“I think it suits him. He looks like a chef.”
