Chapter 4 #2
Dante nipped my lower lip before releasing me. “If that happens, I won’t make the same mistake twice. I’ll venture into the afterlife and find you, Lily. I’m never letting you out of my sight again. Not in this life, or the next.”
I blinked at him, shaken by the certainty in his words.
“I’d better not die then,” I said.
Dante gave me a wink, then went to work gathering our weapons for the journey.
He fished out a new halter, one with a silver collar and a velvety red fabric that reminded me of blood.
With it he collected a set of leathers suitable for traveling with elegant matching red silk layers. I raised my eyebrow at the outfit.
Dante smirked. “Courtesy of your mother. She said that when you ventured into Hell, you should look the part as its princess.”
I chuckled. “Then where’s my crown?”
Hendrik snapped his fingers and a silver crown materialized. What shocked me more than its appearance was the reminiscent style.
“I’ve seen that before,” I said, plucking the crown from its position where it hung in the air. It felt lighter than a feather and I placed it on my head. It was the same one that had come to me in the fog when I’d faced Cole.
“She said you would,” Hendrik told me. “It’s a Hell Crown, a rare artifact imbued with Angelstone dust. It won’t be as powerful as the Angelstone that we’d gotten from your mother.”
I tilted my head. “Whatever happened to that, by the way?” The plan had been to trap the Dean when she had been the Conduit, but then I’d gone and died and royally fucked up that plan.
Dante gestured to the space all around us. “It helped us merge Fortune Academy with Monster Academy and prevented Lucifer from destroying us all.”
Hendrik nodded, his dark eyes glittering. “It brought in another realm that helped us establish the barrier—the Enchanted Forest.”
“The place with the unicorns,” I clarified.
“That’s the one,” Hendrik confirmed.
Uni chirped his approval. I reached around and scratched underneath his horn.
I sighed. “Well, I feel silly just walking around with a crown on my head. Plus, if this thing is composed of Angelstone dust, it could be used against us if it fell into the wrong hands. Can you dismiss it to whatever realm you hid it in before? At least until we need it again.”
Hendrik waved his hand and the slight weight on my head disappeared.
“Sonya entrusted it into my care, so I can summon it at will. It doesn’t take much magic to hide it in an alternate realm where it’ll be safe until called upon.
” He grinned. “So be nice to me, pet, if you want to see your little trinket again.”
I chuckled. One Virtue wanted to worship me while the other held my crown hostage. That sounded about right.
With that, Dante finished collecting various weapons into straps. He supplied some to Hendrik who rested his hand on the blades until their runes glowed. I watched the pair silently work, fitting each other with all types of blades.
Then they turned to me.
I still had the magicked dagger Hendrik had given me, a powerful one imbued with the energy of all my bonded Virtues.
He offered me a strap to secure it around my thigh.
“It’s the only weapon you need,” my Dark Mage said, his tone one of pride as he traced the hilt of my blade. “It’s my best work yet.”
“Is that so?” I asked.
Dante rolled his shoulder as if recalling a past injury. “I can attest to that.” He gave me a wink when I blushed. “Hendrik can charge it and if we have to, I can help him refuel it whenever there’s a need. So use it when you need it. Don’t hesitate.”
“Hey, I’m all for sharp, magical stabby things.” Smiling, I studied the dagger, the power of it resonating up my hand, singing to something deep inside me. I placed it into its sheath at my thigh.
Dante gathered another set of materials, holding out a larger strap that seemed too big for me.
His gaze landed on my wings. “Oh no you don’t,” I said, backing away.
My Hunter presented the leather with a stern look on his face. “You proved today that those wings of yours are a liability, Lily. If you cannot use them, then you need to make sure they can’t be used against you.”
Binding my wings seemed like a sin, one that I couldn’t forgive myself for, but I knew he was right.
The thought of failing any of my Virtues simply because I’d been too stubborn to do what was necessary ran through my mind and I curled my fingers into fists.
“Fine.”
It wasn’t fine. But until I understood my angelic powers, my wings would only be a liability, just like my Hunter said.
I squeezed my eyes shut as he wrapped the straps around my wings. Something small and furry hissed and abruptly, I had my arms full with an angry Uni-Hare.
“Sorry, little guy,” I murmured. “Dante’s right. Until I can use my wings, I can’t risk letting them get in the way.” Even if it did disturb his favorite sleeping spot.
Uni gave a full-body shake, dropping from my arms and turned away, presenting me with his puffy-tailed butt in clear disapproval.
“Be that way.”
Dante chuckled as he came around me, pausing long enough to crouch and scratch Uni between his ears, carefully avoiding his horn, before giving my wings a once-over.
Uni hissed and Dante had no idea how close he’d just come to a gruesome death.
He was lucky Uni liked me enough not to maul my Virtues.
“How does everything feel?” Dante asked me, referring to my bound wings.
“Confined,” I said.
He shrugged. “That’s the point.”
Uni hissed again for good measure.
I stiffened and looked down, seeing him swiveling his little head around, clearly searching for something. He wasn’t just upset about losing his sleeping spot.
“Outside,” Dante said, grimly. “The inhabitants of the forest here can sense things even before we can. He feels something.”
Uni bolted and I reached out a hand to stop him, but it was too late. We hurried through the halls and eventually stumbled outside, the air charged with a heaviness that made me feel battered. I locked my knees against it, searching for Uni.
He was only a few yards away when I finally spied him in the gloom.
He flinched and wheeled around, racing toward me. Instinctively, I held out my arms and he leaped for me, cowering against my chest. I hugged him protectively just as a bolt of lightning, red as blood, shattered the air beyond the barrier.
When I opened my eyes, heated energy blazed where it had landed—straight through the heart of the Enchanted Forest.