More confusion seeped into my bones and muddled my thoughts. He removed our… curses?
“Sebastian!” Joy’s anguish had me snapping my head in their direction. Our oldest brother was still on his knees, clutching his stomach. He was completely translucent again, swaying on his knees.
No. He was fading.
I saw the crossover, then the Devil… my Devil still watched me. He couldn’t cross. I didn’t know how I would do it with no sword, but I had to try. So, I ran toward him.
“This was the only way,” he said the moment I stopped in front of him.
With a ragged breath, full of a hundred pleas I wouldn’t dare speak, I whispered, “No…you could have chosen me.”
He cocked his head slowly, the corner of his mouth lifting into the softest, most devastating smile. The edge of his fangs showed, but it wasn’t cruel—it was sad. Tender.
“Oh, Kitten,” he murmured, “I’m surprised you haven’t figured it out.”
“That you’re evil.”
“A necessary evil,” he had to say.
“I told you I’d get what I want,” he whispered, stepping closer—but his eyes weren’t on me. They were locked on the swirling crossover behind me.
“Last chance. Do you want to say anything to your family?”
Again with the goodbyes.
I lunged to shove him, to stop him—but my hand passed right through him. One glance down and I saw my shirt slipping off my shoulder, the fabric hanging from a body that barely existed.
Oh, Hades.
The breath I took rattled in my chest.
It was over. I couldn’t stop him.
He watched me.
“Your father made sure I could never reach you,” the Devil said suddenly, quieter now, more solemn.
I blinked, stunned. “What?”
“Grim’s power would have kept me from physically being near you.”
He let that sink in, eyes searching mine like he wanted me toseeit—whateveritwas. When I said nothing, he continued.
“Letting Harvest run wild with his crazy ideas was a necessary evil.”
I stared at him in disbelief.
“Necessary evil? Your goal has killed millions. And once you crossover—” My voice cracked. “—it will get much worse.”
He took a slow breath. “What part are you not hearing?” His voice dropped to a whisper—one part rage, one part raw truth. “You were out of my reach. And I. Didn’t. Like. That.”
I froze.
The intensity in his crimson stare ignited something in me—a memory, a realization, a thousand fractured pieces snapping into place.
His protection. His fury. The way he always came when I was in danger.
My heart stuttered.
