Water dripped onto my hand, and I realized I was crying. Mere stroked my hair, a silent comfort.
“The last time I was here, he asked me to snap his neck. I should have done it. At least he would have had a quick death. All those years of friendship, and I couldn’t even give him that.”
“I’m so sorry, Vas.”
I stared at my friend. He’d talked about taking the next adventure without me. I hoped he was with Meghan.
“Have his kids been notified?” I asked.
“I’ll find out.” Meredith slipped away, and I held on to Dean’s cold hand.
“That last flight… You knew it would be the last time. That’s what you told me when we landed. I didn’t take it seriously. I thought we’d have a few more years. I thought I’d bring Mere to you one day and she’d charm you the way she charms everyone. You should’ve had those years. And I’m the reason they were stolen from you. I’m sorry, Dean. I’m so fucking sorry.”
The murmur of voices outside went silent. A few moments later, a hand clamped around my shoulder, and I looked up into Samael’s eyes.
Mere had obviously ensured he was notified. There was a portal nearby. Danica stood on my other side, her eyes cold in a way that told me she was mentally planning to hurt Daimonion before he died.
“Mine,” I reminded her, and her eyes went colder. Then she finally nodded.
“Yours.”
Mere knelt next to me and slipped her hand into mine. “Tell us about him,” she said, tears rolling down her cheeks.
The words came slowly at first. My voice hoarse. But they listened as I told them about Dean. About the trouble we’d gotten into as teenagers. About the time I met Dean’s parents, and they merely sighed becauseof coursetheir son had made friends with a demon. I told them about how we’d played tricks on his teachers and chased after girls together. How he’d been the one to teach me to drive—right after he’d learned himself. And how even as an old man, he’d never stopped being my friend. Never felt a hint of resentment that he would one day move on and I’d stay behind.
Then I told them about when Meghan died, and I’d seen how love could destroy a man. How Dean almost drank himself to death, until his daughter Jade called and begged me for help. And how I dumped him at a rehab facility, drunk off his ass.
How he didn’t speak to me for three months.
But when he did, he thanked me, because Meghan would have been so disappointed in him if he’d left their children alone when they still needed him.
I told them about how I’d taken him for one last flight, and how even knowing I’d lose him one day, I didn’t regret a single fucking moment.
My friends—my family—listened to me talk. And together, we grieved my best friend.
* * *
Meredith
Danica and I watched as Vas oversaw the removal of Dean’s body.
Samael had put the fear of the underking into every human in the vicinity. The floor had been evacuated when Dean was found, and it was staying that way for now.
Daimonion could have slaughtered everyone in this place. But he’d chosen to only kill Vas’s friend. Leaving the other humans alive wasn’t an act of mercy. After all, they weren’t involved in Daimonion’s war. And he’d wanted to make sure Vas would immediately know who was responsible.
My throat ached, and I took a deep, shaky breath. “Why didn’t he burn him?” I murmured to Danica.
“Less shocking that way. This tells Vas that Daimonion was up close and personal. He was in Dean’s face as he choked on his own blood. Dean died knowing it was Vas’s enemy who killed him.”
I closed my eyes at the thought. How much more could Vas suffer before he was a shadow of the man he’d been?
Vas was standing outside Dean’s room, speaking with Samael. His face was almost gray. A blond woman walked in. Her face had been ravaged by tears, and she clung to the tall guy walking by her side. “Uncle Vas?”
Danica smiled for the first time since she’d arrived. “Uncle Vas. Who would’ve thought?”
Vas went tense. Then he strode over to the couple. “Jade, Bryan. I’m so sorry.”
She gave him a look. “I know you’re not going to blame yourself.” Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks, and Vas looked like someone had gutted him. “Dad’s with Mama now. And you know as well as I do that he’d never blame you. The blame lies with the demon who…who…”
