Chapter 17 Cinder
CINDER
“Dad?” Ash stepped toward the rift, tears welling in her eyes. “Dad, come home.”
She reached a hand toward him, but Chaos caught her arm. “Do not touch the veil. The energy is volatile at best. At worst, it could kill us both.”
“But he’s right there.” She cut her gaze to me, her eyes round and accusing, silently demanding I answer the unspoken question, How could you leave our father in Hell?
I opened my mouth to explain, but Ember strode straight toward the rift. “I’m getting Dad.”
Mayhem caught her around the waist, lifting her feet from the ground so she couldn’t do her classic deadweight drop and kick. Smart man. It almost felt like he’d sparred with her before.
“I won’t touch the edges.” She swung her legs, but he held her firmly. “Dad! Step through the rift.”
“He cannot cross over without Lucifer’s blessing,” Mayhem said.
“Cinder and Mom made it just fine.” Ash tried to pull from Chaos’s grasp, but he shook his head in warning.
Discord gave me a questioning look, as if he wondered whether I would try to dart through the rift too. I most definitely would not. I’d had my bones liquified and resolidified once, and that was more than enough for one lifetime, thank you very much.
I raised my hands. “We only made it through because you had the amulet. If you’d summoned Discord without it, I would have died. I almost did the first time.”
Mayhem whispered something in Ember’s ear. She relaxed, and he slowly let her go.
The ground shook. The trees around the clearing groaned with the shifting earth. The rift tore wider, the edges sparking and crackling like live wires as the low vibration of Hell spilled into our realm and the horde of demons in the distant hellscape marched closer.
“You have to mend the veil,” Dad said. “You have to do it now.”
“You have to cross over first,” I said. “Did you give the amulet to Hecate? That was your ticket home.”
“Indeed, he did.” The celestial voice echoed around the clearing a moment before a flash of silver light blinded me.
Hecate’s high vibration wove through the energy leaking in from Hell, almost balancing it, and as her light dimmed and my eyes adjusted, the goddess stood before us, her sparkling gown flowing in a nonexistent breeze.
The amulet hung from a golden chain around her neck, the red stone catching the light of the shredding veil, pulsing as if it were alive.
Mom appeared beside her, looking younger and more refreshed than should’ve been possible, and she strode toward the rift, the sadness in her eyes making my chest ache.
“Marshall.” She laid a hand over her heart. “I’m so sorry I left you behind.”
He sob-laughed. “It’s okay, my dear. You had no choice.”
“Come home, my love.” She held her hand toward him, palm up.
The hellscape rumbled, the sky flashing shades of fiery orange and red, and a fissure formed beneath Dad’s feet. He scrambled to one side, widening his stance to steady himself. “I can’t.”
“Why not?” I snapped my gaze to Hecate. “We released you from prison and found your precious amulet. What more do you want from us?”
The goddess inclined her chin, looking down her nose at me in warning. “A trade. Lucifer will allow your father safe passage once his demons are home.”
No. My heart plopped into my stomach, and both organs threatened to fall through my pelvic floor and splatter on the ground. The moment I’d been dreading since the first glimmer of love for Discord registered in my psyche had arrived.
It was time to say goodbye.
Discord pulled me to his chest, and I caught a teary-eyed glimpse of his brothers embracing my sisters. My heart pounded, hard and fast against my ribs, and all the blood in my head plummeted to my feet. The world spun. I could hardly breathe.
“There must be another way,” Discord said, his chest rumbling against mine. “We are bound. If I cross over, Cinder will go too.”
I sniffled, holding him tightly and shifting my gaze to the goddess. “He’s right. We bear their marks. We can’t be separated.”
“Then you must dissolve your tethers,” Hecate said matter-of-factly, as if breaking the bond with my soulmate wouldn’t shred me to ribbons in a heartbeat. “Say your goodbyes and end this. The worlds will not survive if you don’t.”
Discord clutched my face in his hands, his expression fierce, determined.
“I love you, Cinder. Every fiber of my being, every shred of my soul, is entwined with yours. Removing the bond will not change my feelings for you. It will not change anything. I will love you wholly and ferociously with every piece of myself until the end of my existence.”
I choked on a sob. “Ditto.”
“I will find a way back to you.” He tucked my hair behind my ear. “As long as the realms exist, I will search for you. We will be together, no matter the cost.”
My chest tightened, my throat thickening as tears spilled down my cheeks. This couldn’t be the end. After everything we’d been through…the adventure, the lessons, the love…I couldn’t just stand here and watch him walk away.
“I love you,” I whispered, and I crushed my mouth to his.
He kissed me back, wrapping his arms around my waist and holding me tightly.
His breathing shallowed, and his heartbeats thrummed against my chest as he drank me in.
I closed my eyes, letting the world slip away for the briefest of moments and memorizing the way his full, soft lips felt against mine, the way his strong arms felt wrapped around me.
He parted my lips with his tongue, and I opened to him, tasting him, feeling him, sharing my magic and my soul. His essence warmed me from the inside out, mingling with mine until I couldn’t tell where I ended and he began.
We were one. Not even two halves of the same whole. Just…one.
“This isn’t fair,” I sobbed.
“Fairness won’t matter if you don’t fix this now,” Hecate said. “The world is unraveling. We will all cease to exist unless you remove your bonds.”
“Go.” Ember shoved Mayhem’s chest. “Just go. I can’t handle a long goodbye.”
“Let the world die.” He grabbed her shoulders and stared into her eyes. “I would rather we all meet a violent end than live a single second without you. I love you, Ember.”
“I love you too, but I can’t do this.” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “We already removed our bond, so go, please.”
He crossed his arms, widening his stance. “I will not.”
“You will.” She dropped and spun, kicking out her leg and making him stumble. Before he could catch himself, she shoved him…hard.
Mayhem careened backward toward the rift, and Ember turned on her heel to storm away. But the second his foot crossed the threshold, my sister let out a blood-curdling scream.
Her right leg turned to vapor below the knee, and she dropped to the ground, rolling back and forth and clutching her thigh. Mayhem lunged for her, his body resolidifying as he stepped out of the rift.
“Holy shit.” Shade backed away, dragging Miles with him as Mayhem fell to his knees beside my sister.
“What the actual eff?” Ember shot to sitting, and her leg reformed before our eyes. “We don’t have a bond anymore. What…? Why…?”
We all looked at Hecate, who arched a brow. “Interesting,” was all she said.
Ash opened her mouth to speak, but Ember held up a finger, cutting her off. “I don’t need an I told you so right now, Ash.”
The world rumbled again, and the veil tore even more as low, demonic energy poured through the rift. Hecate inhaled deeply, pulsing her own energy around us. The temperature plummeted, and my arm hairs stood on end as she attempted to restore the balance.
But even the goddess of magic couldn’t mend it on her own.
“You must perform the time spell,” Chaos said. “Rewind the veil’s state.”
Hecate’s nostrils flared. “You cannot counter dark energy with more darkness, demon. Only light can achieve that feat.”
“We have to channel her.” I looked at Mom.
She nodded. “Like we did in the cave.”
“All of us.” I gestured for my sisters to join, and I stood on Hecate’s left side, while my mom took her right.
Before we could link hands, a commotion rumbled across the veil. Dad’s scream drew my attention to the rift. Two shedims had slipped past Lucifer’s barrier, and they circled my father, saliva dripping from their massive maws as they prepared to have him for lunch.
“Marshall!” Mom screamed, drawing the beasties’ attention to us.
They snarled, baring dagger-like teeth, their muscles coiling beneath their charcoal skin.
My dad jabbed a knife into one’s side, and it wailed. The second shedim grabbed him and launched itself toward the rift, dragging my dad with him.
Dad screamed as they crossed the threshold, and they hit the ground in front of us, rolling over each other before the shedim shot to its feet, leaving my dad lying in a lifeless heap in the dirt.