Sam’s heart started hammering even more and his trembling increased.
“Fine.” snapped Zephaniah.
Tally solemnly shook his head. “I want your word, Zeph.”
Zephaniah made a noise of exasperation. “Fine, I swear I will take the soul from your body and ensure no one from Hell ever upsets Sam ever again.”
Tally smiled and closed his eyes. Sam watched, aghast, as a faint shimmering mist rose from his chest, swirled for a moment in front of him before drifting over to the Hell door and vanishing into it.
Sam couldn’t stop his whine of terror. Zephaniah released him, but Sam didn’t care, it didn’t matter. Without Tally, nothing would ever matter ever again.
Tally opened his eyes and grinned at him. Blue eyes sparkling. Sam fell to his knees and sobbed with relief. It had worked. Dimly he heard the Prince of Hell gasp in surprise, followed a few short moments later by a deep, amused chuckle.
“Nicely played,” said Zephaniah, and Sam couldn’t understand why the demon wasn’t furious.
“I love the privileges of being prince, fucking hate the job side of it. You got me off the hook nicely,” he chuckled again. “Be happy.”
Sam glanced up and found himself alone in an alley with Tally. Zephaniah, the portal and the hellhounds had all vanished as if they had only ever been a figment of his imagination.
Tally came over and kneeled in front of him, throwing his arms around him. Sam held him tightly, still shaking like a leaf.
“It worked!” exclaimed Tally happily.
Ice clutched at Sam’s heart, “What? You said you were one hundred percent certain it would work!”
Tally patted his back reassuringly. “I didn’t want to worry you.”
Sam sighed and squeezed Tally tighter, he needed to feel every inch of Tally, needed to know in his bones that he was still here.
“I was pretty certain that with the changes caused by the summoning spell, with being caught in between for a while, and a prince of Hell swearing to take him to Hell, that Benji would be able to go. But it wasn’t definite,” explained Tally.
“He definitely wanted to go?” asked Sam for the hundredth time.
“Yes, I described Hell for him and he said it sounded dope,” replied Tally patiently.
Sam started sobbing and couldn’t stop, great wracking sobs that heaved his shoulder. Relief, the remnants of fear and intense joy, causing a storm of emotions he just could not contain.
It was over. Tally wasn’t going to be dragged back to Hell. Benji was no longer caught in between. Tally was here to stay. With him.
He kneeled there in an alley with Tally kneeling in front of him, holding him and had never been happier.
Chapter 31
Thebarwaspacked,and even with Deirdre and Roger helping to serve customers, Sam was still rushed off his feet. He felt a sense of pride that the bar was doing so well. He might even have to employ more staff soon.
He took a second to glance over at Tally, who was in the middle of his show. His black silk and lace outfit looked stunning, clinging to all the right places and setting off nicely against his vibrant pink hair.
His hair was a little longer now and the extra length really suited him, making him even more gorgeous than before. Sam had helped him choose a shade of hair dye, as Tally had said he wanted to stay with the pink. The color suited his personality, and in some small way it was a gesture that honored Benji.
Sam tore his gaze away and got back to work, whilst trying to settle the butterflies in his stomach. He caught Deirdre’s eye, and she gave him a knowing wink. He grinned back and wondered what he had done to deserve such a perfect life.
Six months ago to the day, Tally had erupted into his world and made it a million times better, in every way. Now Sam was convinced he was the happiest man on the planet and as long as Tally was by his side, nothing could ever change that.
Good friends and a thriving business were lovely, but Tally was the only thing he needed.
He knew that Tally was as happy as he was, which was the source of most of his own joy. The only dark cloud in their life was that Jinx had disappeared. He hadn’t shown up the night Zeph had tried to take Tally back to Hell, and there had been no sign of him since.
Tally had looked, but without his powers there wasn’t much he could do to try and track the young demon down. Tally had even tried asking Zeph, but the prince had just shrugged his concerns off, saying that Jinx ‘Was likely just being a little shit somewhere.’
