His question shook me to my core. I was so taken over by grief that I hadn’t thought to check the bond. We all closed our eyes and dove into our souls, searching for that golden string of our bond we’d felt the day it appeared. Right there, in the barest slip of our souls, was a thin string, moments away from snapping forever.
I opened my mouth to demand what we should do when the Creator said, “All of you need to grab it and yank it back. I will do the rest.”
We did as he said. I could feel my brothers with me, each placing a hand on her golden thread and yanking it with all our might. Our eyes cracked open as we stared down at her, waiting for her to move or respond… to just give us something.
The Creator hovered His hand over her feet and ran it up to her head before He snapped his fingers. Her eyes flew open, and she flung herself upright, gasping for breath.
“Oh, thank fucking God,” I said before I realized what I was saying.
The old man winked at me. “You’re welcome.” He stood and stepped back, letting us crowd around her.
A second later, Lucifer showed up and shoved us all away from her with a wave of his hand. “My Lily Bear!”
He hugged her like he never wanted to let her go again. I kept the growl that was in my throat from spilling out because hewasher father, but fucking damn it, I was her mate, and my heart and soul needed to touch her, hold her, make my mind understand that she was alive and okay. We all were.
He suddenly pulled her away with a scowl. “What the fuck did you think you were doing? Standing in front of them like that, taking in all that power! You are not invincible, you know!”
She blinked at him a few times before she lifted her hand. His face lit up when she reached out to him. But then she placed her thumb and forefinger around his nose and pulled. She exploded into a fit of giggles as she wiggled her thumb between her first and third finger.
“I got your nose!” she said in the loopiest voice I’d ever heard.
We all just stared at her with shock as she continued giggling. Lucifer was the first to break his silence. “Lillian, are you—”
The Creator’s booming laughter came out as he held his stomach like a fake Santa Clause. We looked at him for guidance as he said to her, “Oh, Lily Flower, are you a little power drunk?”
She started to giggle again, her eyes swirling around as she tried to look at all of us as she sheepishly said, “A little.”
Lucifer turned to her and gasped. “Lillian Morningstar! What do you think—”
Lillian scrambled out of his arms, barely making it to her feet on unstable legs. She swayed like a drunk person, pointing her finger at her father. “This is alllll your fault!Youhired them.Youmade me come home.Yougave me Hell’s crown. You. You.You!”
She exaggeratedly waved her finger in front of her father’s face as she slurred every other word. “Don't you dare start to Lillian Morningstar me! I got mates now, just like you wanted, and guess what, Dad? We have sex. Lots and lots ofsex.”
Her eyes widened as she expanded her arms, emphasizing when she said “lots'' the second time. Then she pushed her face forward, not paying attention to Lucifer's horrified face as she continued in a loud whisper that echoed in the cave. “And sometimes it's alllllll together. In alllll of my ho—”
“That's it! Don't youdaresay another syllable, young lady!” Lucifer screamed, horror written clearly on his face. A piece of me was a little smug that he would probably be scarred for existence by that, because he was the one who started this whole thing. I would always be appreciative of him for that, but seeing him reap the consequences for his actions once was a little sweet.
Lillian shook her head, crossed her arms and rolled her eyes at him. Her eyes caught on us and she fully turned our way, looking at us with love and relief before she turned red and bashful. She unfolded her arms, tilted her head to the side as she bent at the hips and waved her fingers at us like she had a school girl crush.
“Hhhhiiii.”
A huge grin lit up my face as I looked her up and down, a craving for her body taking over now that she was alive and well. A flash of a body surged forward, and Fame was before her, crushing her face in between his hands in a fierce type of way.
“You are to never ever do that to us again. Do you hear me!?” His body shook with his rage, but I could tell it was fueled by his fear. His fear that we would lose the only woman we had ever loved and there was nothing we could’ve done to prevent it, nothing for him to control. I couldn't fault him for his intensity… Just maybe not in front of her father. Lucifer looked like he was one step away from blasting him into pieces, mate or not.
She smiled in her drunk, knowing way, playing with him like always. “So I rattled your cage, Dom Dom man?”
His face was right in front of hers, nose to nose as he breathed out to calm down and loosened his grip. “Yes, princess. You rattled it more than I ever care to have it rattled again.”
She threw her head back and laughed, and he laid his cheek against her collarbone, just wanting to be near her to calm his pounding heart.
“No promises, Dom Dom man,” she whispered in his ear as she lovingly ran her hands through his hair.
Before the growl could make it past his lips, she grabbed the sides of his face and kissed him. It was sloppy, just like any drunk kiss was, but I could tell by the dopey grin on his face when they broke apart that it was the best kiss Fame had ever received in his whole life.
When her gaze focused on him, she gave him and the rest of us a pointed look. “I promise not to kill myself ifyouall promise not to kill yourselves either.”
She had a serious tone that made me look up at her. While she was smiling and laughing, I could see the pain and heartbreak she felt still lingering. She remembered what it felt like to be helpless to save someone you loved. She remembered what it felt like when we professed our love to her as we were dying, destroying the future that we had just started to get her to understand and get on board with. The future that we’d promised her.
