Chapter Forty-Seven #2
“What is this?” August grunted, twisting his shoulders like he could dislodge himself from the invisible grip.
But none of us could move.
We were being arranged.
It didn’t take long to realize that we were in a perfect circle—our final sibling, Prudence, lowered into place at last.
“You did this?” The veins bulged in Barron’s neck, his voice full of rage.
I turned my head—barely—and saw who he was glaring at.
The Devil.
Luke’s mouth had returned to normal, and he wasn’t looking at Barron at all.
He was staring at me.
“Don’t look at her,” Barron snapped. “Look at me.”
Luke turned slowly. “I know you’re all there. Every one of you.”
And on the last word, he lifted his head—and roared.
The sound shook the ground as Payne dove from the sky, teeth bared, wings slicing through the air. My stomach twisted, not from fear of what Luke—no, the Devil—might do to me, but from a sudden, irrational panic for him.
And then…for Payne.
In the blink of an eye, the Devil shifted. One second, he stood as Luke—then he was above Payne, a replica of the dragon.
Not just any dragon. Payne.
Flames spewed down from his snout, a torrent of heat, followed by his massive jaws clamping around Payne’s back leg. Payne roared—not in fury, but in pain.
The Devil had pierced his flesh.
I didn’t think anything had ever broken Payne’s skin before.
“Stop!” Joy screamed.
“Don’t, please!” I cried out, voice cracking.
The Devil dropped to the ground mid-air, shifting again. This time…into Nova.
An ungodly sound tore from August’s throat. “You better leave her alone!” he bellowed.
“I will,” the Devil said smoothly, “as long as she doesn’t try anything.”
His arm lifted—Nova’s arm—hovering above Payne. The threat was obvious.
“I know she’s close. I know they all are,” he went on, voice disturbingly calm. “I can end him—and the rest of you—before I die as her.”
His gaze swept the clearing.
“Jackal,” he murmured, “you are my creation. I can do to you as I did to Harvest. Isabella—you’re depleted. No shields can save them if they act. And don’t think you can take me, Soul Reaper,” he finished, eyes tracking like area, waiting for the marked mates to reveal themselves.
Tears spilled down my cheeks.
I didn’t dare look at any of my siblings.
My mate had all of us in the palm of his hand.
He knew.
He told me, repeatedly, that we couldn’t win.
I hadn’t realized how impossible our odds were until now—at the very edge of fate.
“Step out where I can see you,” the Devil ordered, voice calm and cruel. “And don’t try me.”
With the last word, he shifted back into his true form.
The mates stepped from behind the trees one by one, moving to stand beside Payne. Nova’s expression was a war zone of restraint. Her hands fisted at her sides, shoulders taut as she locked eyes with August. The fury in her dark eyes crystallized—ice-cold and deadly.
Don’t do anything foolish, I begged silently.
But then again…
What else is left? Just wait for our end?
We were desperate.
And the Devil knew it.
The moment he spotted Nova, he vanished—then reappeared behind her.
She barely had time to turn before he blew something into her face.
She collapsed instantly.
“What did you do to her?” August snapped, body locking up like a bowstring drawn too tight.
“I kept her alive.”
His tone was flat, almost tired. “It’s something I wouldn’t have done if she tested me—and we both know she would have.”
Luke’s eyes scanned the others, landing on each mate. His shoulders sagged. “It’s not enough that I say I’ll kill Payne. You’re going to try something.”
I didn’t know who he was talking to, but Sebastian seemed to think it was Isabella.
“Don’t Isabella—” Sebastian started, but his words were lost in Jackal’s roar.
Shepherd shifted into his reaper form and lunged—slipping through Luke’s body as if to strike him from within. But the second he passed through, he collapsed, shuddering violently before going still.
I didn’t know what had happened to him. I didn’t know how.
Then Jackal shifted mid-stride into a massive bear, snarling and charging full-force—but Luke was faster.
He dodged with an unnatural grace, then tossed the same powder into Jackal’s face. Within seconds, Jackal crumpled beside Shepherd.
Next, the Devil turned toward Isabella. Her magic snapped into a shield around her, a dome of light fracturing with every breath. Luke sliced through each barrier like tissue paper.
One.
Two.
Three.
All gone.
She dropped to her knees with a quiet sound—not a cry, not a word, just silence—then slumped over, unconscious.
“Don’t hurt them,” Joy whimpered behind me. “We’re the Reapers. Not them.”
Luke dragged a hand down one of his horns and let out a long, weary breath. “I didn’t hurt them, even though they wanted to hurt me.”
“They wanted to stop you,” I muttered, my voice cracking as tears clung to my chin. “They’re trying to save their mates. I know that’s hard for you to comprehend.”
The Devil’s reddened gaze brightened. “Don’t I always save you?”
My heart nearly jumped out of my chest. Something about the way his voice softened—genuinely softened—confused my already battered heart.
Maureen snorted, always ready to ground me in reality. “I think my sister knows exactly where your interests lie.”
And as if I needed the reminder, the Devil’s eyes slid toward the crossover. The vortex was fully open now, winking and swirling with wild, beckoning magic. An omen. A warning. A promise.
“We don’t have much time,” he muttered.
Before any of us could process what he meant, he stepped in the middle of the circle, and it was like my body was slammed backward with a sudden force.
But it was only my head tilted back, and I looked to the darkened sky as a string of purple fog seeped out of me.
It couldn’t be my essence since I was mortal, then what?
The cloudy substance floated above my head and continued to drift higher until it connected with another mesh of colors.
My eyes widened. Each color matched my sibling’s essence, but what?
Oh, Hades. Was he stealing our souls before we faded?
“What are you doing?” Joy whispered. “Why do more to us when we can’t do anything?”
The foggy colors in the sky burst in different directions and whatever control the Devil had over us snapped when it did. My arms fell to my sides, and I locked eyes with the Devil as I stood on shaky limbs.
“What did you take?” I asked.
“A curse.”
More confusion seeped into my bones and muddled my thoughts. He removed our… curses?
“Sebastian!” Joy’s anguish had me snapping my head in their direction. Our oldest brother was still on his knees, clutching his stomach. He was completely translucent again, swaying on his knees.
No. He was fading.
I saw the crossover, then the Devil… my Devil still watched me. He couldn’t cross. I didn’t know how I would do it with no sword, but I had to try. So, I ran toward him.
“This was the only way,” he said the moment I stopped in front of him.
With a ragged breath, full of a hundred pleas I wouldn’t dare speak, I whispered, “No…you could have chosen me.”
He cocked his head slowly, the corner of his mouth lifting into the softest, most devastating smile. The edge of his fangs showed, but it wasn’t cruel—it was sad. Tender.
“Oh, Kitten,” he murmured, “I’m surprised you haven’t figured it out.”
“That you’re evil.”
“A necessary evil,” he had to say.
“I told you I’d get what I want,” he whispered, stepping closer—but his eyes weren’t on me. They were locked on the swirling crossover behind me.
“Last chance. Do you want to say anything to your family?”
Again with the goodbyes.
I lunged to shove him, to stop him—but my hand passed right through him. One glance down and I saw my shirt slipping off my shoulder, the fabric hanging from a body that barely existed.
Oh, Hades.
The breath I took rattled in my chest.
It was over. I couldn’t stop him.
He watched me.
“Your father made sure I could never reach you,” the Devil said suddenly, quieter now, more solemn.
I blinked, stunned. “What?”
“Grim’s power would have kept me from physically being near you.”
He let that sink in, eyes searching mine like he wanted me to see it—whatever it was. When I said nothing, he continued.
“Letting Harvest run wild with his crazy ideas was a necessary evil.”
I stared at him in disbelief.
“Necessary evil? Your goal has killed millions. And once you crossover—” My voice cracked. “—it will get much worse.”
He took a slow breath. “What part are you not hearing?” His voice dropped to a whisper—one part rage, one part raw truth. “You were out of my reach. And I. Didn’t. Like. That.”
I froze.
The intensity in his crimson stare ignited something in me—a memory, a realization, a thousand fractured pieces snapping into place.
His protection. His fury. The way he always came when I was in danger.
My heart stuttered.
“You—” I started but didn’t know where to end the thought.
“Don’t be afraid,” he said quickly, hand lifting toward my face even though we both knew he could no longer touch me.
“I’m fading,” I whispered, the truth tasting like blood in my mouth.
“And the man who’s supposed to be my mate is still confusing me.” I blinked away tears. “It didn’t have to be this way.”
The Devil’s gaze softened—not entirely, but enough that I saw the part of him that had always been mine.
“Grim would have never let me near you,” he repeated, and this time…
This time, I heard him.
Not a complaint.
Not an excuse.
A warning.
A truth.
It wasn’t about the war. It was about me.
He didn’t destroy the world because he wanted power.
He did it because he couldn’t get to me any other way.
A rumbling erupted behind me. Gasps rippled through the air, and when I turned, I knew why.
The crossover was shutting—slowly, like a sleepy eye. And the Devil stood there, staring at me.
I didn’t dare speak. If I asked, he might realize what was happening. But he had to know. And still… he stayed.
“Eyes on me,” he whispered.
I jumped when his fingers slid down my arm—because I hadn’t expected sensation.
Oh, Hades.
My body was solidifying. The crossover was closing, and Luke wasn’t moving.
“I fear I’m going to anger you one last time, Kitten.” Dread spilled into my stomach. My gaze snapped behind me again. The vortex was nearly closed.
I thought maybe—maybe I could hold him.
Hold him back.
But then he grabbed my chin and turned my face toward him again.
And once he had my full attention, he stepped back several feet…and stayed there.
Those few seconds…
That distance…
By the time I realized what he was doing, the crossover had sealed behind me.
A gasp caught in my throat as magic rushed back into me—my powers snapping into place like the first breath after drowning. I was whole. I was safe.
And he was—
My shoulders sagged, but only for a moment. Suddenly, a giant black web erupted from the ground, twisting around Luke’s forearms.
He didn’t flinch. Didn’t blink.
Just kept staring into my eyes as more strands curled around his torso, legs, and neck.
“No,” I breathed. My feet moved on instinct, running to him.
I summoned my blade mid-stride and slashed at the webbing.
It didn’t cut.
Panic gripped my chest.
I clawed at the strands around his neck, trying to pull him free with my bare hands.
The ground beneath us cracked and buckled—splintering like glass under his feet.
And still, he didn’t try to escape.
Instead, he leaned forward, resting his forehead gently against mine.
“I will be good—so good to you after today.”
Warmth bloomed in my chest.
Real.
Devastating.
Because I knew it was true.
Just as I knew—I still loved him.
Even when I shouldn’t.
“He didn’t cross,” Sebastian said somewhere behind me.
“Get away from him, Kitty. He’s being imprisoned.” Barron added, voice sharp with urgency.
“Kitty!” August was the one who yanked me back, dragging me away from Luke as the earth continued to quake.
And still, Luke smiled.
He never stopped looking at me.
The ground caved in beneath him.
And just before he fell, I heard him again—in my head.
“Have you said your goodbyes yet?”
My breath caught. My eyes widened.
Oh, Hades.
Goodbye.
Every moment, every word…it was never about leaving me. It was about choosing me.
The stubborn idiot had never chosen power. Never the crown.
His choice had always been…
Me.
A laugh bubbled up, broken and wet, as I shook my head, heart cracking open. The ground swallowed my mate. The earth sealed shut.
And it was over.
I turned back to my siblings, eyes burning with tears but spirit strangely still.
“It’s okay,” I whispered. “I’m—”
I never got to finish.
Because a giant hand tore out of the ground and dragged me screaming into a deeper Hell.