She closed her eyes, no doubt trying to hide how wet they were becoming, and her foot began its mindless tapping against the cushion. “Everything has just gotten out of control. I’m—I’m …” Tears finally seeped out from her tightly shut eyes.
I reached out to gently wipe them away and told her, “It’s safe. You’re safe. Talk to me if you can, baby. We can go slow. Whatever you need.”
She blew out a hard, wet breath and shook her head. “I don’t know what to do. I feel so lost and alone, Dante. I feeltrapped. I’m a bother to everyone I thought loved me. My dream is—is awaste. I have nothing to offer the world. I-Iamnothing.”
The confession practically tore my heart to pieces until I felt like there would be nothing left by the time she was done talking. I hated that she felt this way. I hated how much pain she wasin, believing that her life was worthless. I wished she knew how valued and important she was.
An idea struck me then. Wordlessly, I called shadows to wrap around the two of us, and in an instant, I transported her to my world—Hell. The realm of demons was different, depending on where you landed. It wasn’t actually a physical place one could walk around, but rather, an infinite space of places you could end up, depending on what you were looking for.
We now stood in an empty space of total darkness, the two of us completely alone. Even with the pitch black lighting, I could see her clearly in the dark, her silver hair turning every which way as she searched the place I’d brought her to.
“Dante?” she shouted in panic.
Her voice echoed with a haunted quality in the desolate space, and the longer we stood here, the more despair seemed to blanket the very air we breathed.
“I’m still here,” I answered, standing a distance away.
She turned in my direction, though her human eyes couldn’t find me where I stood. “Where are we?”
“Hell.”
Her eyes widened, and her pale face looked around slowly. “Hell?”
“More specifically,myHell.” I joined her in looking around the cold, empty, dark place. Distant shouts from men, women, and a child screamed or shouted curses about being a monster that deserved to rot. “It’s a look inside my head. Or my heart. Maybe my soul. Fuck, it could be all three. The point is, this is me.”
She wrapped her arms around herself as a shiver shook her frame. A white cloud puffed out of her lips when she whimpered, “It’s cold.”
I nodded. “Mhm. Cold. Dark.” My eyes pinched in barely contained misery as I looked around the endless nothingnesswhile the voices and shouts grew louder until they practically rang inside my skull.
Vile demon.
Obey your new God.
You’re a demon and a stain upon the world. A spawn of Hell deserves this much. You’re amonster, and no one could ever really love a monster.
I squeezed my eyes shut and continued, “It’s vastlyempty. And it’s been this way for a very,verylong time. No one wants to be here.” I let out a rueful chuckle. “Not even me. I hated this existence, and Ihatedeveryone.”
Her gaze tried to find the source of my voice, and she whispered, “Dante—”
A small light appeared in the distance and caught her attention. As that finite sparkle drew closer to us, I also approached Serenity’s side. When the glow was a few yards away, Serenity gasped.
“And then you appeared,” I breathed out, a warmth gripping my chest tightly.
The light was no longer just a shapeless glimmer but an image of her made up of a thousand twinkling stars. The closer the figure drew, the quieter the screams and chants about hating a demon like me became. The white stars depicted her as the beautiful vision that had stolen my ability to think—the first time I saw her. Short skirt, shoulderless top, bow pulling back part of her hair, and the sweetest hint of a smile on those perfect lips. The starry outline image stopped right in front of us, and that whisper of a smile in the glowing memory grew.
The glittering girl reached out her hand, and I met that gesture until the tips of our fingers touched. The image burst in a bright flash, and when that blinding light faded, the dark, cold, and miserable abyss we’d been in had changed. Millions of stars littered the space above, around, and below us. Purple, green,and blue light reflected around the twinkling silver lights in all shapes and sizes as though we’d been plucked out of Hell and sat right in the middle of the most spectacular galaxy known to man.
Serenity looked around while her trembling hands covered her mouth, and tears filled her eyes. “It’s so beautiful.”
I looked down at her, my grin softening. “It’syou.”
Lurking in the constellations were different depictions of Serenity as I’d seen her in various moments—her head thrown back in a laugh, her sitting with a capybara, her face bent over a book, her laid back and naked on my bed. The room glowed with every beautiful image, spinning slowly around us with its marvel.
She seemed to spot all of the little visions of herself, because her watery eyes met mine.
“You saw this horrible place that no one else wanted,” I explained softly, turning to face her fully. “You saw it and made it your home. You brought light into my world, and I need you to hear me when I say this.” I cupped her cheeks in my clawed hands and leaned in close to her. “The world is so much better with you in it.Myworld is better with you in it.”
She sucked in a strangled breath and leaned into my touch.
