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We’re never going to make it.

“There’s no easy way to do this, cherub, but it’ll be over soon,” Des says against me.

You mean it’s going to getworse?

The thought has hardly crossed my mind when it does in fact get worse. God it does. My skin lights up as I begin to moan. My entire body is getting crushed by the weight of the magic.

I’m just about to let loose the mother of all screams when—

BOOM!

The magic explodes around us, rippling over my skin.

And then we’re through.

I can sense it stitching itself back together beneath us. I glance down at the darkness, unnerved. It was so easy to enter the land of the dead, like easing into a tub, but near impossible to escape it.

It’s as I gaze into the Pit that I see the glint of a pair of eyes, trapped on the other side of the magical barrier. They stare at me for a moment before plunging back into the inky shadows.

A shudder works its way through me. Good riddance.

When we crest the ridge of the Pit, I catch sight of hundreds of fae who’ve have gathered around it.

News of my face-off with the King of Death and Deep Earth clearly spread.

And at the front of them is Temper, who looks immensely relieved.

As soon as the crowd sees us, they begin to cheer, the night alighting with the sounds of claps and whistles and sparks of light.

We land in front of Temper.

She grabs me, hugging me tightly. “Thank fuck you’re back,” my best friend says. “You were gone for too long.”

Des steps up to us, and Temper opens one of her arms. “You get in here too, Desmond. You’re my brother now.”

He steps in with a shy smile, letting my best friend crush him in our embrace.

“Did you kill that motherfucker?” Temper asks, releasing us.

I meet her eyes. “What do you think?”

She stares at me for a moment, then lets out a laugh. “Ha-ha, you badass bitch. I hope you gave him my regards before you blew his ass to smithereens.”

I shake my head, a whisper of a smile curling my lips.

Des breaks away from us to rise into the air.

The crowd, which had been murmuring upon our arrival, now quiets.

My mate’s eyes move over the group of them. “For the last decade, our kingdom has been plagued by the Thief of Souls.” Magic amplifies Des’s voice, and it booms out into the night. “He kidnapped our soldiers, raped our women, and started a war among our world. He destroyed our peace and the sanctity of our kingdom.

“It was only recently that we discovered that the Thief of Souls had raided the Kingdom of Death and Deep Earth and taken the throne by force. Days ago, he took me hostage, keeping me prisoner in his castle.

“When all the world thought me lost, my soulmate—your queen—marched down to the gates of the underworld and faced the Thief head on.”

No one speaks, though I feel all sorts of eyes move to me.

Des gestures for me to join him where he hovers in the sky. Reluctantly, I do.