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“We were trying to protect you,” Sean insisted. “We needed to find a way to break the connection safely.”

“By keeping me in the dark? By letting me think I was going crazy every time I had a flashback or a nightmare?” My voice rose despite my efforts to control it.

“Would you have believed us?” Sean shot back. “If I'd told you the truth from the beginning, would you have accepted it? Or would you have done exactly what you're doing now—trying to tear down that wall out of sheer stubbornness?”

He had a point, which only fueled my frustration. I exhaled sharply, running a hand through my hair.

“Then what the hell am I supposed to do?” I asked finally, the anger draining away, leaving exhaustion in its wake.

Sean's face softened. “For now? Stay the hell away from that wall. We'll figure this out together, like we always do. But Cade...” He closed the distance between us, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Promise me you won't go poking at those memories. Not until we know it's safe.”

I wanted to argue, to demand more answers, but the genuine fear in Sean's eyes stopped me. Whatever was on the other side of that wall in my mind, it terrified him. And that, more than anything, made me pause.

“Fine,” I said reluctantly. “But no more secrets.”

Sean's hand tightened on my shoulder. “Hey,” he said firmly. “We've got this. One step at a time.”

I nodded, though the certainty I wanted to feel remained elusive. The wall in my mind seemed to pulse in time with my heartbeat, the memories behind it pressing against the barrier, seeking escape. The mark on my chest burned with a cold fire, a constant reminder of the connection I hadn't asked for and didn't understand.

But Sean was right. We would figure it out. We always did. And now, armed with the Heavenly Lash maybe we had a fighting chance.

As we turned to head back inside, to rejoin the others and plan our next move, I couldn't shake the feeling that we were running out of time. The last seal was still out there, waiting to be broken. And somewhere, Zeryth was waiting too.

For me.

And that thought terrified me more than anything.

22

HELL’S OPEN DOOR

SEAN

One moment we were standing outside Purgatory, surrounded by the aftermath of demonic slaughter, and the next we were back in my warehouse, the displacement hitting me like a sucker punch to the gut. My atoms screamed in protest, every cell feeling like it had been torn apart and hastily stitched back together. Angelic transportation was never going to be my favorite mode of travel.

“Jaysus fecking Christ,” I gasped, steadying myself against the workbench as my legs threatened to give out. My stomach lurched, and for a second I thought I might decorate my boots with whatever was left of my last meal.

Cade looked equally disoriented, but he was already straightening up, his hunter's instincts kicking in despite the toll of celestial travel. His face was still drawn, haunted by the revelations about his soul and the wall in his mind. I wanted to comfort him, to tell him everything would be alright, but now wasn't the time for lies, even comforting ones.

Skye was already back at their monitoring station, deeply focused on a wall of screens. They looked up as we materialized, grimacing slightly at the effects of angelic transport.

I didn't waste time on pleasantries. The battle at Purgatory still had my blood running hot, and the image of Juno bleeding out in Sterling's arms was seared into my brain.

“What have you got?” I demanded, moving to peer over Skye's shoulder at the screens.

Skye composed themselves, fingers flying over the keyboard. “About fifteen minutes ago, I started picking up strange temperature fluctuations here,” they said, pointing to a satellite thermal image. “Sudden heat signatures appearing around an old church outside New York. Completely isolated location, nothing for miles.”

The pattern was unmistakable: brief flares of intense heat, followed by cooling, in a rhythm that almost resembled a heartbeat. And the timing...

“It's a distraction,” I said, the realization hitting me hard. “The attack on Purgatory, all those demons... it was to keep us busy while they went for the real target.”

Cade's jaw tightened, that little muscle along his cheekbone jumping the way it always did when he was angry at himself. “The last seal isn't in the subway station,” he said quietly. “It's at this church.”

He didn't need to say what we were both thinking. We'd taken the bait, hook, line, and sinker. And people had died because of it.

“Where's Sterling and Hawk?” I asked, my voice sharper than I intended.

Skye glanced up, their expression grim. “Already on their way.”