Shewilltell me, and I swear if she gave them anything but a promise to be careful, I’ll be preparing to tear down the Beyond along with this world.
How many times must I say it… She’s mine, and not evensheis allowed to give herself up to anyone but me.
Chapter 47
Xeraphine
Hours before
“Then you have yourself a deal,” Belial says, crossing his arms and leaning in closer to Proserpina. She has her soft eyes on me, a sense of understanding for my struggles written in her expression. It doesn’t escape me, our likeness, that we are both a mixture of sins.
“Understood.”
I look at Alaric, who keeps his gaze fixed on me. I’d have expected him to be excited about this little arrangement, but there’s nothing but indecision.
This is what you wanted.
I bite my tongue from saying it. It isn’t exactly what he asked for, but he still gains something in the end. As does Belial.
The ones that lose, are the Vayl… the mortal world, and me.
I can’t help but ask myself: Am I trading one set of chains for another?
A knock comes at the door to Belial’s office, and I extend my hand out. “Give me the blade, so that we can leave.”
Belial steps to me, and I tilt my head back to keep him in my sights. “It won’t kill her, as I’ve said, our kind cannot be killed.” He places something into my palm, and I drop my gaze to it. It’s all black, the only color is the worn cloth around the handle. The edges are jagged, but the tip is fine and sharp—I don’t even need to touch it to know that even a minor prick will slice through skin.
“As this is forged here in the Beyond, it cannot be destroyed over time. Corrosion will not occur. It will cease the heart from restarting if placed through it when the host is deceased.”
The soft patter of feet approaches, and Belial steps aside, allowingProserpina to move in front of me. Tearing my gaze from the blade, I look at her. She says nothing as she lifts a hand, gently pushing my hair behind my ear.
We both know what I have to do, but I fear I don’t have the strength to do it.
“Like revenge, fear is exhausting,” she says through a sigh.
Tali won’t come here willingly, I am very much aware of that, and IknowI’ll never be able to do what I need to do to get her here.
Another knock sounds, and I step away from Proserpina to Alaric. He grabs my forearm, and I take one last look at my extended… mother? Calling her my great-grandmother feels odd, considering she looks just as young as I do. The words of‘thank you’linger on my lips, but I don’t say them aloud.
They’ve given me the information I need to at least stop my mother from breeding me—for now. If I can get Archer out of the picture, she’ll be left without an Incubus to do her bidding, forcing her to seek another.
When she nods, I know she understands my gratitude. Even if I had to give so much of myself for this, without her stepping in, I would’ve faced a punishment all too familiar.
The Fallen drags me from the room. I could walk on my own, but the weight of everything makes my legs feel heavier than they are. As the door swings open, I nearly slam into someone standing just behind it.
His bright indigo eyes are foreign and I swear there are specks of gold in them. He has short, black hair, and isdamnedgorgeous. Incubus, without a doubt, and surprisingly has his Vigoro pulled back to showcase his pale complexion.
We are an inch from one another, and he narrows his gaze as though confused as to why I’m here.
After a few seconds of awkwardness, Alaric drags me around and continues us out of the lobby. I turn my head over my shoulder, watching as the Incubus stares at me. It’s only when Belial shouts, “Son, did you gather what I asked for?” that he turns and enters the room, closing the door behind him.
Son… Lucifer?
The information givento me for the deal worked, thankfully. Did I truly believe Belial wouldn’t trick me? Not really. But I put my trust inProserpina, believing she wouldn’t let him get away with lying to me. For someone like me, who barely trusts even sturdy stairs, that’s a lot to come to terms with.
Watching Archer turn his back to me and stroll toward Alaric, it takes everything not to send him off with a parting gift: my fist up his ass.
Rubbing my hand across my cheek, feeling the skin pulling and stitching itself together, I move to Chase, who is being thrown down to the dirt.
