Page 157 of Alastair

“I struck a deal with the cursed sons,” he responded with a slight snarl. “Kill Lucifer and they would be granted eternal happiness. My own personal views aside, a debt is owed. And I despise being in anyone’s debt.”

Selaphiel smirked at him. “Are you going to do what I think you are? If so, tonight’s certainly the time to do it.”

“Do what?” I asked.

“Explaining it to you would burn through too much time,” Uriel answered before unfurling his white-and-gold wings. “I’ll return shortly. In the meantime, keep trying to coax out Alastair’s soul. We have a very short window for this to work.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Alastair

It was a strange sensation to be aware of my surroundings but unable to see, touch, or smell. I had sensed each of my brothers escape the stones and return to their mates. Knowing they’d finally get their happily ever afters was a relief.

But not all of them would.

“Why are you still here?”Kallias asked.

I couldn’t see him, but I felt his presence. Once my soul had merged with Night Fall, the telepathic link with my brothers had reformed. Yet, now their threads had been snipped, falling away as each of them left. Only one link remained.

“Because you are,”I responded.

I heard Lazarus beckoning to me from someplace I couldn’t see.

“Your mate calls to you. Go to him.”

Gods, how I wanted to. Even without a corporal form, the desire to be with Lazarus created a deep, gnawing ache. I felt it all over.“Come with me.”

“I cannot. I’ve tried.”

Just as I’d expected. Our love for Kallias was powerful, but only the soul connection to his mate could give him the strength to break the spell.

“Then I’ll stay beside you,”I said. Even if it meant I’d never return to the one who owned my heart.

“Alastair…”

“You were alone in the realm of the lost for so long, Kallias. I refuse to allow that to happen again.”

From that distant place, I heard Lazarus’ voice again. I wasn’t sure how, but I knew he was crying. Could my heart still break if it no longer beat? Hell, I no longer even had a chest for it to beatin.But I felt Lazarus’ pain.

I missed him. Which was a peculiar concept seeing as to how I hovered in a nonphysical realm of existence. No body. Only thoughts.

“Alastair?”

“I’m here,”I told him.

A long pause followed.“I feel myself slipping away.”

That must be what happened. A soul held on to awareness once separated from the body, but after a while, that consciousness began to fade. The longer we stayed trapped, the more we’d forget. How long until we forgot everything?

Kallias felt he was slipping away. As seconds passed, I did too. Or, at least, I thought it was seconds. It could’ve been hours or days. Everything started to fade. Darkness closed in.

“You promised me!”Lazarus yelled from that distant place.

I snapped back to awareness.

“Please, Al,”Kallias said.“Whether I’m here or out there, my mate is gone. However, yours cries out for you now. Go to him. Do it for me.”

As much as I tried to fight it—because I hated the thought of my brother being alone again—the longing for Lazarus was too intense. I belonged with him.“I love you, Kal.”