“What did you do to her?” August snapped, body locking up like a bowstring drawn too tight.
“I kept her alive.”
His tone was flat, almost tired. “It’s something I wouldn’t have done if she tested me—and we both know she would have.”
Luke’s eyes scanned the others, landing on each mate. His shoulders sagged. “It’s not enough that I say I’ll kill Payne. You’re going to try something.”
I didn’t know who he was talking to, but Sebastian seemed to think it was Isabella.
“Don’t Isabella—” Sebastian started, but his words were lost in Jackal’s roar.
Shepherd shifted into his reaper form and lunged—slipping through Luke’s body as if to strike him from within. But the second he passed through, he collapsed, shuddering violently before going still.
I didn’t know what had happened to him. I didn’t knowhow.
Then Jackal shifted mid-stride into a massive bear, snarling and charging full-force—but Luke was faster.
He dodged with an unnatural grace, then tossed the same powder into Jackal’s face. Within seconds, Jackal crumpled beside Shepherd.
Next, the Devil turned toward Isabella. Her magic snapped into a shield around her, a dome of light fracturing with every breath. Luke sliced through each barrier like tissue paper.
One.
Two.
Three.
All gone.
She dropped to her knees with a quiet sound—not a cry, not a word,just silence—then slumped over, unconscious.
“Don’t hurt them,” Joy whimpered behind me. “We’re the Reapers. Not them.”
Luke dragged a hand down one of his horns and let out a long, weary breath. “I didn’t hurt them, even though they wanted to hurt me.”
“They wanted to stop you,” I muttered, my voice cracking as tears clung to my chin. “They’re trying to save their mates. I know that’s hard for you to comprehend.”
The Devil’s reddened gaze brightened. “Don’t I always save you?”
My heart nearly jumped out of my chest. Something about the way his voice softened—genuinelysoftened—confused my already battered heart.
Maureen snorted, always ready to ground me in reality. “I think my sister knows exactly where your interests lie.”
And as if I needed the reminder, the Devil’s eyes slid toward the crossover. The vortex was fully open now, winking and swirling with wild, beckoning magic. An omen. A warning. A promise.
“We don’t have much time,” he muttered.
Before any of us could process what he meant, he stepped in the middle of the circle, and it was like my body was slammed backward with a sudden force. But it was only my head tilted back, and I looked to the darkened sky as a string of purple fogseeped out of me. It couldn’t be my essence since I was mortal, then what? The cloudy substance floated above my head and continued to drift higher until it connected with another mesh of colors. My eyes widened. Each color matched my sibling’s essence, but what?
Oh, Hades. Was he stealing our souls before we faded?
“What are you doing?” Joy whispered. “Why do more to us when we can’t do anything?”
The foggy colors in the sky burst in different directions and whatever control the Devil had over us snapped when it did. My arms fell to my sides, and I locked eyes with the Devil as I stood on shaky limbs.
“What did you take?” I asked.
“A curse.”
