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CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

T he sprite suddenly screeches, but I don’t have time to do more than spin around and see Lorcan with his hand on Eden’s wrist before they disappear. Fuck.

Of course, it’s this exact moment that everyone starts fucking attacking, but the one person I don’t see? Zenith. Double fuck. I search the area frantically, Ash catching my eye.

“Track her!” he yells. “Go! We’ll hold the others off.”

I glance between my brothers and the chaos around us. Leaving them to fight this battle alone feels wrong, but Eden needs me.

“Go!” Torrin shouts. “We’ll keep them back. Save our girl!”

Not needing to be told twice, I turn to run after her but find myself pausing for just a moment. Ash is seemingly struggling to fight against the magic of a few witches, but as a demon, he should be so much stronger. It shouldn’t be a difficult task to fight against a witch or two, especially when they’re not trained in dealing with demons. He’s almost a little sluggish.

Possibly drugged or poisoned somehow?

Well, it seems like he’s holding up enough to not get himself killed, so it’s something we’ll have to figure out. Once Eden is safe. Torrin and Daion can watch his back for now.

I activate the tracking through her bracelet’s counterpart, a plain silver chain tightly attached to my own wrist. There’s a tugging sensation as it resonates with hers, both at my wrist and in my mind. I head off in the direction the bracelet is leading me, feet pounding over the grass and dirt. They can’t have taken her far, and I find myself scanning my eyes around constantly as I run, even with the bracelet leading me forwards. There’s no sign of any activity on this part of the land. No witches, no signs of struggle, no Eden. I keep moving forward.

As I get closer to the point it’s tugging me towards, something happens that has my blood turning cold. It pushes me to run faster, ignoring everything else around me. I have to get to her. Now. My heart is pounding hard in my chest, and I know it isn’t just the physical exertion causing it. I never told her the real purpose of the bracelet or of all the things it can do. Other than it being a useful tracking device, that is.

If her life is close to ending, the bracelets heat up, the silver metal turning red as it burns . The sensation of it heating against my skin is unmistakable, and I refuse to accept what that means. I won’t let it happen. I have to get to her first. The bracelet’s pull leading me just ahead. She’s so close. I vault over the wooden fencing, landing in a big open field. No crops or plants, just some large rocks scattered across the green area.

Where the hell is—there.

When I finally lay eyes on my Hellfire, the bracelet's red glow makes sense. In the worst fucking way possible.

She’s been strapped down onto one of the large rocks for some kind of dark ritual. I can guess at its purpose, given why they’ve targeted her. I keep moving, but she’s right across the large field, and they’ve encased her and themselves inside of a protective barrier. It’s been quickly thrown up, so I’m sure I could take it down, but the seconds—minutes it would take, it would delay me for too long. I quickly realise there’s no chance I can reach them in time to save her and her baby. Not with Zenith and Lorcan hovering over Eden, chanting as they slowly raise their daggers in perfect synchronisation, ready to end her life.

I stop running as the reality of the situation suddenly hits. There’s only one option left, because even if I somehow get there in time to tear through the barrier, it won’t be enough. There’s a chance I could stop the bleeding and save her life, but if her baby doesn’t make it…if Eden loses her child, the one she’s fought so hard to keep safe, she’ll never forgive me. I would never forgive myself, either. That baby, her baby, deserves to live, and they deserve to grow up knowing what it feels like to be loved by Eden. She will get the opportunity to be an incredible mother. I’m making sure of it. My only regret is that I won’t get to witness it for myself.

Decision made, I close my eyes, whisper the activation incantation, and brace myself. Strangely, activating the bracelet’s kill switch is the easiest decision I’ve made since the moment that raven-haired witch stepped into my life and blew it up.

I smile when I feel the surge of energy passing through both bracelets. Though I clench my teeth, biting back a hiss of pain as my back then slams against the rough slab of rock a second later.

Above me, the power-hungry morons with their daggers raised, now over my body instead of hers, are both staring up at the sky as they reach the final verse of their chant. A traditional appeal to deities above to grant them success in their spell. I can’t help the satisfaction I feel at knowing they’ll be disappointed when they see it’s all for nothing. When they fail to get their hands on the unfathomable power supposedly inside of Eden’s unborn child.

I turn my head to the side, spotting a very confused Eden standing where I was a moment before, grasping her empty wrist in the opposite hand. The bracelets have melted off, destroyed in the overload caused by the process of switching the two of us. I hope she’s not too mad about my ruining her birthday present. I’m sure the others will give her a replacement once this is all over.

As the daggers are turned downward, I finally lock eyes with the woman I love. Her lips part, tears filling her eyes as she realises what I’ve done. She takes a step forward, towards me, and I only have enough time to shake my head, silently pleading with her to run. There’s nothing she can do now. She shouldn’t waste her chance to escape feeling guilty over me.

I chose this, and I would die for Eden and her baby a thousand times over if I had to. I’ve accepted now that if I didn’t owe her for my mistakes, for letting her down, I still would have switched our places. I’ve never felt this way about another person, finding them so profoundly infuriating but captivating at the same time.

My feelings for her, even when it was still only grudging attraction, felt like a complete contradiction, but Eden is a contradiction given life. Spiteful, sassy, and maddening, but also fiercely protective, funny, and surprisingly kind. I may not have deserved her, but she was mine, even if it was just for a little while.

“I love you,” I whisper, despite knowing she can’t hear me. I also hope she might actually love me too, that she felt the strange connection between us I had initially resented from the very beginning as?—

The first dagger plunges into my abdomen, cutting off my train of thought as my world explodes into pain. Within less than a second from the first, the second dagger plunges into my chest, narrowly missing my heart only by the virtue of my torso being longer than Eden’s.

Despite the overwhelming agony caused by the daggers now impaled into my flesh, I smile when I realise I’m crying not because of that pain, but because I’ll miss her.

I’ll miss her, and I’ll miss my brothers, along with the rest of our family, who always cared despite me making it difficult. I also regret not getting to meet Eden’s child, but I know they’ll still be loved without me, and it’s enough to know they’ll get that chance because of me.

A face above mine flickers between utter surprise and growing fury.

I can’t contain the dark laugh from bubbling out of my throat, along with my blood, despite the sharp rise in pain it causes. The blood dribbles down my chin as Zenith’s eyes widen, realising who she’s stabbed. Realising that she’s fucking failed.

To think, the moment I laid eyes on Eden, my first thought was to kill the impossibly beautiful woman, and here I am now, dying for her. You’re not dying today, Eden, I promise her silently. My girl is safe.

“What the—” Zenith’s words are cut off by an earth-shattering scream which steals my thoughts.

The pain in her voice…the ache so clear in her soul. If there wasn’t a dagger practically splitting it in two already, the sound would break my heart.

“Mm…sorry…Hellfire.” The blood drips on my chest, the beat of my heart slowing almost to a stop, but I won’t let my eyes fall shut until she’s safe. It’s getting colder, though—harder to keep fighting.

“No!” Eden screams again as two massive wings burst from behind her back, tearing through her shirt. The black feathers look as if they have a soft white glow around them, only making them more striking. Eden’s eyes turn a terrifying shade of red as her wings propel her closer with a powerful beat as she lunges forward.

I’m imagining her as the Angel of Death. Does this mean I’m dead already?

“How fucking fitting,” I grumble. The tang of blood in my mouth makes me choke for a moment. No, that's wrong. My lungs are filling with fluid.

I’m drowning in my own blood…

I spit and cough as a strange energy surges, and the Angel of Death, who’s wearing Eden’s face, reaches me. She kneels at my side, tears streaming down her cheeks, her red eyes glowing.

“S-stop…” a weak voice begs behind me, but I can only see Eden.

“D-don’t do this. They’ll kill you for this!” a woman wails, her words turning to sharp screams as Eden pulls the dagger from my abdomen before gripping the handle of the one in my chest.

“Wait…is she safe? Is her…baby…” I choke, the blood filling my mouth, forcing me to spit, even as the Angel of Death tries to shush me. My mind conjured the perfect replica, sass and all. “Is her baby safe?” I finally manage, but the angel chokes as well, her sobs consuming her for a moment.

“Rio, stop talking, please…I can save you. I have to save you. You can’t leave me!” she demands, confusing me. My hands have been freed, so I struggle to reach for her. It takes a moment, but my shaking hand caresses her cheek with the last of my strength.

“I’m always with you in your heart, Hellfire. Don’t forget me…” My eyes fall shut, hand dropping back to my side.

“No! Rio, open your eyes. Look at me, Rio? Rio?!”

Smack!

I blink, realising my cheek stings. Dead people don’t get stinging cheeks, do they?

“You slapped me?” I ask the angel that looks like my Eden. “What the hell?”

“You do not get to fucking leave me here after you made me fall in love with you, Rio. I need you. I fucking need you. Stay with me, please. Don’t close your eyes…” Eden cries, swiping at her tears angrily as she looks around us. She settles on something behind me, but I don’t know what it is. She must make her mind up because she yanks the dagger from my chest, pressing her palm to my skin as blood gushes from the wound.

“So pretty when you yell,” I murmur, smiling as I watch her, even if she’s only in my mind. In my dying mind. “Fuck, I’ll miss you,” I confess, more tears falling from my eyes as the pain in my chest suddenly intensifies.

Searing lava rushes through my veins, and the scent of burning flesh fills the air around us. “Argh!” I cry out in a rough scream, back arching as my heart thumps like it’s being physically squeezed into the action, pounding against the agonising wound just below it.

“Fight for me, Rio. Come back to me, please. Don’t leave us…” Eden begs, forcing my eyes to meet hers.

“It hurts…too much.” I shake my head. This is worse than being stabbed.

Fuck, what is this hellish angel doing to me?

“Fight for me, Rio!” Eden demands this time, her tone becoming bossy even if the words are still choked up. There’s another surge of fire through my veins, passing through my stomach and chest with a blaze that jolts my entire body.

“Oh, fuck me!” I shout as my heart stumbles back into a steady, though accelerated rhythm once more, and I sit up like I’ve been electrified. “Fuck, woman. What was that?!” I demand, touching my fingers to my chest, still covered in blood, but the stab wound is sealed shut now. I barely noticed the wound in my abdomen compared to the one in my chest, but it’s healed too. Only a pair of tiny red scars remain to prove it had really happened. Well, the blood covering my body is pretty damning too.

“You fucking bastard!” My feathered hellfire launches into my arms, and I groan, the ache in my chest still intense. Despite the pain, I wrap my arms around Eden, burying my face in her neck as she sobs. “Don’t,” she cries, sucking in ragged breaths, “ever…fucking…do that…again!” Her entire body quakes in my arms, and I hold her tight as she cries for me.

I can’t hide the smile that stretches my lips. “You saved me,” I whisper.

“Me and the baby…I didn’t know what to do until I felt their vitav. It…” she trails off, leaning back and looking down at me, her hands resting on my shoulders. “I felt it, like it was on the surface of them, rather than deep inside, needing to be drawn out. I think their creepy power-stealing ritual actually made it easier for me to take it in the end.” Eden glances behind us, looking at the two human husks. The effect of stealing every last bit of their magical energy has left them almost mummified.

“Oh, ew,” I hiss, wrinkling my nose at the nasty sight.

“At first, I just wanted them dead for what they’d done, but then instead of pulling their energy into myself the way it usually happens, I felt…it’s hard to explain.” She pauses, taking a deep breath. “It was like a pushing of the flow coming from inside me. It shoved the power away from me and towards you. I think the baby was showing me how to use the vitav to heal you,” Eden murmurs the last part of her explanation, like she’s worried I’ll be offended by it.

My eyebrows shoot up as I turn back to her and question, “So, they helped save me too?”

Eden bites her lip as she nods in silent answer.

I set one of my hands on the top of her large rounded belly, leaning closer to whisper, “Thanks for the save, little one.”

She settles her hand over mine as she sniffles loudly. We stay like that for a moment, taking the chance to process and take comfort in the fact that all three of us are still alive.

“We need to go and help the others,” she eventually says. It feels too soon to carry on after what happened, but she’s right; we can’t leave my brothers and everyone else on our side to keep fighting without us. They also need to know Eden’s safe, as I know they’ve all got to be losing their minds right now.

“Okay,” I agree, glancing at her wings. “You think you can stow these bad boys? I’m not complaining, but the demon haters out there might, and they do draw a lot of attention.”

“Sure, I’ll try.” She climbs off my lap but refuses to take her hand off mine as I manage to get to my feet. She shouldn’t look so worried; I feel pretty great for having been stabbed. Twice.

“Hey.” I tug her back into my arms and then whisper, “I’m okay now. They’re both dead, and we’re all alive.” She looks up at me with sad eyes, tears still falling down her cheeks despite my words. “I’m sorry you had to go through that, but I need you to know there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you and this baby. If I have to die a thousand times over to keep you both safe, I will.”

“I don’t want you to die for me, you moron,” she snaps, glaring at me through her tears, glowing red eyes turning back to her normal shade of blue. “I swear I’m tying you up in a basement the second this mess is over.”

“You can try.”