Page 146 of Alastair

“No!” Lucifer’s eyes blazed brighter, and a blast of magic projected from his body.

Phoenix disappeared right before that blast hit, taking Asa with him. They then appeared between me and Bellamy.

“You fucking idiot!” Bellamy threw his arms around his mate, body shaking. “Don’teverdo that again.”

“I love you too,” Phoenix said, embracing my brother. He nuzzled Bellamy’s jaw before glancing at Asa. “I never thought I’d risk myself to save your sorry ass. But here we are.”

“Do you expect me to say thank you?” Asa curled his upper lip. He was trembling though, whether from the aftershock of the pain Lucifer inflicted or from his relief that it had stopped. “I didn’t ask for any of this. I was minding my own business, eating a platter of very delicious donuts, before being yanked from my bed and brought here.”

“You eat donuts in bed?” Bellamy asked. “Aren’t you worried about the sheets getting sticky?”

“That’s beside the point.” Asa held his chin higher. “And not everyone is a slob like you. My sheets are clean.”

A smirk landed on Bellamy’s lips. “Then you aren’t having nearly enough fun in them.”

Lust always found a way to steer the conversation back to sex.

Asa’s gaze fell to Night Fall at my hip. For a moment, I was worried he would call it back to him—something he was very capable of doing as the holder of the sword. His crimson eyes lifted back to my face. “Take that sword and plunge it into my father’s chest. Make him pay for the hell he’s put both of us through.”

“I will.”

He nodded to me.

Strange… but I almost felt a type of truce form between us in that moment. Our goals had temporarily aligned. We both wanted Lucifer dead. So he couldn’t destroy the world. So he couldn’t hurt us anymore. For selfish reasons too: revenge.

Lazarus stepped up beside me, keeping his eyes on Asa. “Go with Michael. He’ll guard you until the battle’s over.”

“I don’t need to be protected,” Asa retorted. “Even without my powers, I’m—”

“Save it,” I snapped. “We all have our roles in this fight. Staying alive is yours. So swallow your pride and do as you’re told.”

Michael appeared beside him, having used his teleportation ring. “I’ll even be nice and buy you dinner after.”

Asa rolled his eyes. The two of them then vanished. Where? I wasn’t sure, but as long as it was away from the fighting, that’s all that mattered. At least until we completed our mission.

Around us, warriors from both armies clashed. More blood and death. There was only one way to end it.

Clara had said the best time to perform the soul transfer spell was right before midnight, when the energy from the black moon would be at its peak, straddling the timeframe between this year and the next.

“It’s time,”I told my brothers.

Several emotions hit me at once. Sadness. Anxiety. But the strongest? Determination. We had all made our decision, and it was time to fulfill our purpose. We were the only ones who could.

Bellamy tugged Phoenix against him. “This isn’t the end.”

“So why does it feel like it is?” The demon softly whimpered and hid his face against Bell’s neck. “For once, don’t be a hero. Let me teleport you away from this godforsaken battlefield. Away from Lucifer, that cursed black sword, and every goddamn person who wants to hurt you. We can go to that house on the beach where we spent our honeymoon. Fuck the world. Just stay with me.”

“I can’t.” Bellamy petted the back of his dark auburn hair. “But gods, I wish I could. A life with you is all I want. And blowjobs. Lots of blowjobs.”

Phoenix released a gravelly chuckle that rang more with sadness than anything else. “Don’t make me laugh.”

“But I love your laugh.”

“Come here.” Castor pulled Kyo closer and touched the horns jutting from his black hair. His fingertips then danced along the blue-and-green scales along Kyo’s cheek. “Gods, you’re so beautiful like this, little dragon.”

“Don’t do this, Red.” Kyo swallowed hard. “We said we weren’t going to be star-crossed lovers with a tragic ending. We were going to make our own destiny. Remember? So how the fuck am I supposed to let you walk away from me right now? Huh?”

Castor’s tender expression turned pained. “I have no intention of joining the list of tragic heroes. You and mewillget our happy ending. We just gotta hurt a little first.”