Page 119 of Bellamy

“A perfect disaster.”

He pulled out and rolled to his side, pulling me against him. The musk of his skin was intoxicating, the greatest kind of high. “Even if that’s true… even if this does end horribly… I’d still choose you. Over and over again.”

Fear welled up inside me. The fear of losing him. I laid my head on his chest and closed my eyes. He kissed the side of my horn. Whatever happened tomorrow, I vowed to be by his side when it did.

Whether he wanted me there or not.

Chapter Twenty

Bellamy

“Fuck that,” Mason said through gritted teeth, taking Gray’s face in both his hands as we stood outside. “Like I’d let you go into battle without me.”

“Masoooon.” Gray rose up on his tiptoes and gently nudged Mason’s jaw. “You gotta stay here and make sure Pen doesn’t hurt Clara. ’Kay?”

“I have no intention of harming her,” Penemuel said. “I’ve been here for days, and the worst I’ve done is burn the chicken for our lunch earlier.”

“That was a crime,” Raiden said. “I felt like crying.”

“Apologies. I’m a writer, not a cook.” Penemuel fidgeted with the bracelet on his wrist. Clara had chosen that instead of a collar, though it would’ve been amusing to see the scholarly fallen angel wearing a leather collar with silver studs. “This thing is a major annoyance. When can I take it off?”

“It’s not hurting you,” Clara said on her way to hand Raiden a plate of lemon bars. “You can still fly and be your merry self. You just can’t leave this barrier.”

“It’s scratching my wrist.”

Sirena stepped forward, her spear in hand. “Whine one more time and I will remove your hand. That will stop the itching.”

A giggle burst from Clara’s lips. She quickly recovered and cleared her throat. When her gaze met mine, I smirked. The eye color Lust made her see was the same shade as Sirena’s. She had it bad for the Caribbean bombshell. A bit frazzled, she muttered an excuse to go back into the house.

“Hey, babies,” Raiden said, rubbing his hands together before diving into the lemon bars. He’d been hungover that morning from the barrels of booze he’d downed last night, but our healing powers were amazing hangover cures. We usually only had a slight headache, maybe a bit of nausea, and then it passed within the first half hour after waking up. He was definitely back to his gluttonous self as he tore into the dessert, moaning as he chewed.

Titan watched him and sucked in a small breath as Raiden moaned again. Lust sensed his arousal. But even without my sin’s power, it was obvious.

“You’re not going without me!” Mason’s voice boomed around the yard. “That’s the end of it.”

Gray pouted up at him. “You used your scary voice.”

Mason exhaled and pulled my brother into his arms. “I’m sorry, angel. But don’t ask me to stay here. Because I won’t. I go where you go. End of story.”

“Sounds familiar,” Phoenix said from my left. “You and I just had that same argument for the millionth time.”

“And my answer is still the same.” I turned to him. The afternoon sun brought out the lighter strands in his auburn hair. I brushed his bangs aside and let my fingers linger at his temple.

“Stubborn asshole,” he said, leaning into my touch.

Our life forces weren’t joined like my brothers and their mates. If I died, Phoenix would be okay. I didn’t have to worry about falling in battle and taking him with me.

“That’s not fair to him,”Alastair said.“Even without completing the bond, if you die, it will kill him too. Just in a much crueler way.”He stood beside Lazarus, who had arrived earlier that morning with a few dozen angels. They were finalizing battle plans. Half of his attention was on me though.

“Get out of my head.”

Surprisingly, he did.

“How will you be traveling?” Phoenix asked.

“A transportation stone. A round-trip ticket there and back. It’s like a portal, but it can only be used once.”

Lazarus had given us one when we’d gone to the underworld to rescue Simon and Castor last year. Once it was used, the stone cracked, breaking the magical runes.