He smiled, flashing those fangs. “Nothing will change. In the end, you will stand by and watch me claim my destiny. You’ll be powerless to stop me.”
His words felt like tar clinging to my insides. I couldn’t believe the words I blurted, “But you have more than one destiny.”
Luke’s body locked up. “More than… One?”
“You have…” Hades, even all the bravado in the world couldn’t erase the heat burning my cheeks. My mouth went dry. The air between us turned electric. But still—I lifted my chin and straightened my spine. “Me.”
He shook his head, a sudden eeriness blanketing his features. “There’s nothing you won’t try or do to save your family and the humans.”
“I had every intention of embracing my marked mate before I learned it was you. I think it’s quite simple, in fact. If you gave your loyalty and affection to me, I could do the same. What’s so good about ruling over a world in ruin, anyway?”
“Enough!” he shouted. “I’m the fucking Devil. I know what I look like, how you see me. Your lies infuriate me. Your presence irks me. Everything about you pains me.”
“Then stop with this and let us meet when the time comes!” I yelled back.
“I can’t.” Veins protruded from his forehead, and he looked miserable as he said, “Not seeing you would kill me more.”
We both froze. A wild flush erupted over my skin. Luke turned away. “I shall allow you to travel in and out of my domain for a few hours each day. You can return on your own, or I can force it with the bracelet.”
“Thank you,” I said, sliding off the table.
He continued into the darkness. “Don’t thank me. This is your last chance to say goodbye. Use the next few days wisely. You’re running out of time.”
So was he. Only, he hadn’t realized it yet.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Kara
As I stepped into my dad’s castle, melancholy clung to me like wet clothes. It soaked through my skin, crawled into my bones, and settled in my soul. Every breath felt heavier. Maybe it was because Luke sounded so damn certain he’d win in the end. Maybe it was because…I believed him.
One thought kept echoing through my head, steady and cruel. I didn’t think I’d see this place again.
The stone halls, the torches lining the walls, the faint scent of pine and iron—every piece of my childhood home suddenly looked like a goodbye. A lump clawed its way up my throat.
I should have told Dad goodbye.
He tried. Shadow tried. Even Luke—bastard that he was—tried to force farewells out of me.
Tears blurred my vision.
I’m never going to see him again…am I?
Sensing most of the family in the infirmary, I wiped my face with the back of my wrist and faded there.
And chaos greeted me.
Strapped to a bed was Barron, his red essence flooding across the floor like a spilled flame. He wasn’t even trying to contain it. One minute he sobbed, and the next he snarled at our brothers to let him loose.
August stood nearby, holding up a ghost child by the back of his T-shirt like one would hold a misbehaving cat. The kid kicked and wailed, “Let me go!”
August didn’t even blink. He glanced at Sebastian. “I’ll try this time.”
That’s when I heard a faintsizzle, low and constant.
Turning to the right, I spotted Maureen seated on a medical bed, steam rising from her skin. It curled around her like smoke off a dying fire. She was burned nearly head to toe, her injuries severe and still healing, eerily similar to the ones I’d sustained after passing through the portal with Sebastian.
She clutched her chest, exhaling shakily. Jackal sat beside her, one hand rubbing slow circles on her back. His body coiled tight, like he was one wrong word away from shattering.
