He needn’t have worried. Seconds later, the ward vanishes with a gust of wind, and all eyes turn to the front of the room.
Fuck. Zoe stands immediately to Thorn's right, with Dion, the panther, on his left. Six women in total. Including the one I failed to save at Loup Noir. They are all dressed in identical white silk sheaths that leave nothing to the imagination, and wear the same blank stares.
My heart, which I did not think could shatter any further, turns to dust. We wasted too much time in the celestial realm. Three days? How could I expect her to fight him for three days? I killed her. I did not break her mind, but I killed her all the same.
I can almostheareach piece of my soul crumble and fall until Thorn starts to speak, and his voice...it still holds sway over me, even after all these centuries.
“Welcome all,” he says with a flourish of his hand and a small bow. “This will be a night you will surely remember for all of your existence. Six of you—well, seven—“ he says with a nod at Mad and Killian, “—have procured the use of my exquisite creations. In just a few moments, I will release their minds, and you will have until dawn’s first light to doanythingyou desire with them andtothem. I have only one rule. They must still be alive when you return them to me.”
A massive demon with deathly pale skin stretched so tightly over his muscles I am surprised he can move, huffs in displeasure, but the rest of the crowd is silent.
“Those of you who were not fortunate enough to garner a winning bid may observe. Individual playrooms are on the upper floor, all warded to prevent the women from escaping. My mark,” Thorn says as he grabs Zoe’s arm and spins her around, “is what will stop them, so please do not destroy it.”
Rage consumes me, drowning out all other thoughts, all emotion. He branded her, beat her, and bloodied her. The gown’s plunging back reveals the wounds, barely healed, and in the lights bathing the dais, the faery tattoo shimmers and flares to life.
Turning her to face the crowd once more, Thorn grins, revealing his sharp, yellowing teeth. “Who shall be the first?” he calls out.
Zoe raises her head a fraction of an inch, and her hands clench into fists. She is fighting him, and my rage turns to hope. If there is anything of her left, our plan may still work.
A dozen Bureau agents wait outside the building, and I am about to call for the attack when Zoe’s gaze locks onto mine. A hoarse sob escapes her throat, and Thorn pulls her against him as he scans the room.
“Ah, Sinclair, my old friend. I hoped you would join us. Where are you?”
Zoe’s bright green eyes have gone dull, her mind once again under Thorn's control. He will root through her memories, caring little what damage he does, until he sees me as she did. I cannot let her suffer any more than she already has.
“Right here.” Pushing through the crowd, I stand only feet away, and Regina quickly appears at my side.
“You will not move,” she says, her voice as sweet and compelling as I remember. But my love for Zoe breaks the mental chains she attempts to use to bind me. I have a reason to fight now, and I will die before I give in. Before I lose Zoe.
“Fuck off.” I let my wings unfurl, send her flying back into the crowd, and sprint towards Thorn until the silver blade in his hand catches the light.
“Not another step, Sinclair, or I will destroy her.” The tip of the blade presses to Zoe’s breast, and blood stains the white silk.
Zoe cries out, first a tiny whimper, then a scream, and with one final, long look at me—one filled with sorrow, determination, and love, her eyes roll back in her head, and she and Thorn crumple to the ground.
Thirty-Two
Zoe
Fusing my consciousness to Thorn's is the most painful thing I have ever experienced. Far worse than the centuries I spent being remade, time I now remember in excruciating detail.
Seraphiel kept me locked in a prison of my own body while he chipped away at my mind one memory at a time. Each one was precious to me, and though I’d been human for only weeks at that point, I remembered what it was tolive. Until he took that as well.
Now, I will never live again. The descent to the Underworld is dizzying and faster than I anticipated. I hold Sin’s face in my mind—what is left of it anyway—for Thorn has had centuries of life lending him strength, where I have not even managed two years.
He struggles against my hold, cursing me, trying to tear my consciousness to shreds, but while whatever made me...me...will soon be gone, I was created for this purpose alone. I have the power to hold on long enough for the fires of Hell to surround us.
They’re getting closer now, and I marvel that I can feel them as if I still had a physical body. Opening my eyes, I gasp as I see that somehow, I do. In a way. We’re more like ghosts now. Echoes of what we once were. The first tongues of flames lick along our feet, and Thorn screams.
All around us, there’s nothing but endless suffering, and I can sense Lucifer’s presence looming just ahead. The devil laughs, almost gleeful. “How nice to see you again, you pathetic twat. You escaped right under my nose the last time, but now...you will be forever mine.“
“I freed myself once. I will do it again,” Thorn hisses, and I tighten my hold on his immortal soul.
“Not if I have anything to say about it,” I manage.
“You are nothing but a weak, pathetic human with a single touch of the divine, bitch.”
Lucifer chuckles again. “Hardly. She is a daughter of seraphim, and the bond she formed with you is unbreakable.”
