“What if I’m not the only one?”I asked as the tears made their way out of my eyes.
“What if I’m too late, what if we?—”
“Over my dead body,” Endor said solidly.“We will find your body.”
“What about him?”I asked.“What if he’s out there...”
“If he’s as tied to you as you are to him, Mercy, we’ll find him.”
Her words soothed me in a way that should not have been possible.
They gave mehope.
I nodded against Endor’s chest as he ran his fingers through my hair.The motion reminded me of the way my mother used to do it when I was little before she put me to bed.
“Rest, sweet Mercy.We have a long journey ahead of us.”
I didn’t have to be told twice.Exhaustion took me as Endor held me, shielding me from the monsters within myself.
CHAPTER7
Endor
The warmth stokedbetween Mercy’s body and mine was more comforting than anything I’d ever known.
My parents hadn’t exactly been the comforting type, being demons and all.I didn’t have a terrible childhood, not like one would think, being bound to Hell, but I supposed it wasn’t anything like what humans like Mercy experienced.
It was just very...isolating.
Everything in Hell was designed to uphold its ranks and productivity.We were born to work, and work was quite literally, our lives.
And being as death was mostly obsolete, the monotony of being another cog in the machine didn’t leave much for demons to engage in anything deeper than our basic primal needs.
Sex was not just a means to an end for a demon.It was entertainment.It was a way to work out our stress and emotions because those things weren’tneededin Hell, and they certainly weren’t needed to keep the flames flickering.
My parents were good, loyal demons who didn’t question shit, and did as they were told.They fed me.They clothed me.They took care of me until I was old enough to take care of myself.
But I didn’t know if theylovedme.I never questioned if they loved me before, but with Mercy in my lap like a kitten, suddenly, I found myself wondering about such things.
Because suddenly, I realized howeasyit was to love.
I knew even if it didn’t make sense, I was falling in love with Mercy.
But not in the way one might expect me to.
She was pretty, of course.All mortal women were in one way or another—after all, they were designed to be tempting to angels and demons alike—but I didn’twanther.
I was so angry when the wolves took her.Partially, I was angry with myself for not being able to protect her, not being able to keep her safe.
But it was more than just anger.
I felt like I’dfailedher, and the determination not just to get her back because it was my mission, but to get her back because Imissedher and her kind heart...
I needed her.
I needed her warmth, her sweetness, her kind eyes and soft touch.
Mercedes may have been a lost soul, but her power over me was irrefutable.
