SIX
Kai
I’d never been so desperately in love before meeting Lilith. She was my bloody reason for existing at this point, and I finally understood where Aziel was coming from with his undying devotion. Having Lilith and then losing her…it was like having the air sucked out of my lungs, and my life force drained as I crumbled to dust, because without her I was nothing.
We’d played right into King Zelek’s hands. Aziel gave us so much grief afterward, and he’d teleported somewhere with Titan. Thaddeus, Blaise, and I went to meet Brann and Oren to take over guarding the gate.
Because that’s all we were bloody good for right now.
Bitterness coated my tongue and I swallowed. Lilith was our number one priority, and being away from her broke me. I didn’t want to protect the bloody gate. All I wanted was to protect her. I was useless to her in Hell, and we’d been daft enough to enter into a blood oath with her father—who I was damn sure didn’t have her best interests at heart.
Why didn't we think this sodding blood oath through? We were trapped and held prisoner by our own doing. Aziel and Titan had both warned us, but we were too desperate to listen.
The red glow of the clay walls pulsed with intent as we approached Brann and Oren, who leaned against the gate with bored expressions. As soon as they realized we were there, they strolled over to meet us.
“It’s been fucking dead,” Brann said, and Oren snorted.
“Yeah, ‘cause we’re in Hell. Everything’s dead.”
Brann rolled his eyes before looking at us. “Seriously. Ever since last night there have been no souls trying to escape.”
We shared a look. It must’ve been Carmilla’s influence on the souls making them escape to use them as abandoned in the living realm, and with her and Viktor obliterated, the number of souls trying to escape must’ve decreased significantly.
Blaise’s arms crossed as he grunted an acknowledgement, and Thaddeus started pacing the length of the gate, not replying to the twin hellhounds at all.
Forcing my fingers through my hair, I heaved a sigh. We were all a fucking mess. Blaise still had his shirt ripped open with blood all over him. Dust and grime covered Thaddeus and me from the fight. We hadn’t bothered to go to Lilith’s room to wash up. Something about going there without her made my stomach clench into knots. It was like going in there would make it real, like we had to accept she was gone, and we were alone.
We’d stay in the room she had made for us until we got her back.
“What the fuck is wrong with you guys?” Oren tilted his head.
“You look like shit.” Bran scrunched up his nose.
“Can I talk to you both?” I spun on my heels and walked down the hall a good distance from the guys. They were so fucking out of it they wouldn’t be much help right now.
Brann and Oren came to a stop behind me, and I faced them again. “Gabriel took Lilith.”
Their eyebrows shot up, and concern marred their features. As fucked up as these two were, I knew they cared about Lilith.
“I’m sorry, what the fuck did you just say?”
I huffed out a breath. “You bloody heard me. We obliterated Viktor and Carmilla. She was working with him, and then Gabriel took Lilith to Heaven.”
They blinked. “Why the fuck did he take her there?”
I went to explain, but nothing came out. Fucking hell. My face twisted in anger before I took a calming breath. I wished my powers worked on my own emotions. “King Zelek has us under a blood oath.”
Oren muttered a few curses under his breath.
Brann stepped forward and landed a swift punch to my face. “Why the fuck would you do that?”
My nose crunched under the pressure, and blood gushed from my nostrils. I staggered back, shooting daggers at the hellhound. “We were desperate, and he said we could see Lilith.”
“So you did a fucking blood oath with a King of Hell? Makes perfect fucking sense.” Oren shook his head.
“We didn’t know!”
“And what did Aziel do?” Brann asked with a raised eyebrow.
