“Leave it alone, Zac,” I say, watching as the demons she’s battling with play out in her eyes.That’s okay, Natia. I have ones of my own that will dance with yours.
“But—”
“I said, leave it,” I grind out, not taking my eyes off Natia.
Zac pushes back from the table, the chair flipping over. “Fine.” He points at Natia. “But if you die, I will resurrect your ass and murder you myself.”
She blows him a kiss. “Love you too, Zacy.”
“Fucking baby goddesses with martyr complexes. Fuck my life,” he mutters as he storms into his room and slams the door closed.
We run over a few more logistical details, locations of armies, timings, and hazards. Lucifer makes Marsha point out all the weak locations in his castle and covers them with trusted demons. At eleven pm we plug in the bugs and settle down for a different play on the battle ahead. Natia makes a stand against us as we attempt to keep her from the battlefield and out of Zeus’s evil clutches. She plays her part well. Living up to the martyr Zac accused her of being, and feeding the demon in me that demands I tuck her away in my realm until this is over. Everything is wrong—I wouldn’t let her out of this room had I believed that Natia was about to kill herself—again. It’s unbelievable, but Zeus is arrogant enough not to consider it a ruse.
“We march at dawn,” Natia shouts as she sashays over to our bedroom. She grins over her shoulder at us. “I’ve always wanted to say that.”
Zee rolls his eyes and drags her in for a hug. “Be safe,” she whispers as he releases her.
He winks. “I always use protection, babe, you know me. I don’t want any mini hybrid Zee demons running around.”
She presses her lips together and shakes her head. “I love you,” she mouths to him.
I look between them. That’s the second time she sounded like she was saying goodbye. Fuck no, not again. Never again.
38
Chapter Thirty Eight
Natia
Taurus: I will walk through the fires of Hell for you and make the demons dance to my tune before destroying all that threaten us.
Silence stretches between us as I lay in Archan’s arms. His gold eyes haven’t left mine in hours. Neither of us attempt to sleep and it occurs to me we’ve never really just slept together. No hankie pankie, just being held like we are the only two people in the world. I close my eyes and try to imagine us away from here. If I wish it hard enough, will we disappear?
His finger pushes back a tendril of my hair from my cheek. “Penny for your thoughts,” he murmurs.
I allow myself the daydream. “I want a house, not a mansion, one with a white picket fence and a porch swing. Fridays we will cook on the barbecue for the gang. Zac can act like he doesn’t love having a family and Zee can chat up the neighbors. Saturday nights will be just for us. We can watch corny movies with happy endings, before we spend the rest of the evening lost in each other. On Sundays, we can lie in bed until midday and make lazy love. I’ll bake pie as you mow the lawn and play with Garry.”
“Garry?”
“Our dog, he’s a spaniel.”
“Nonsense. Our dog is a golden retriever called Florence. What kind of pie?”
A smile creeps across my face. “Apple.”
“Sounds perfect. Be prepared to live that life, Natia. After this, you deserve some peace.”
I inhale a huge breath. We both know we might get a weekend a month like that. The rest we will be dragged into otherworld drama. Could I be happy living a ‘normal’ life? I think I could.
“It’s happening,”Zee tells us.
I jerk upright in bed. Archan slings his arm around my waist and pins me to the bed. “Stick with the plan,” he whispers.
“I’m okay. But damn, these demons could do with a shower. Too stingy to provide some soap down here in Hell, Lulu?”
My lips quirk up as Zee bitches about demons and scores their kidnapping skills on a scale of 1 to 10. Then all goes silent. I dart a look at Archan.“He’s no longer in Treachery, and I’ve disabled the bugs,”Lucifer informs us.
I fling the comforter off, dart from under Archan’s arm and rush out the bedroom door. The dark sitting room is empty. Nothing is out of place, and there are no signs of a disturbance. I frown and spin around as the connecting doors open and the gang spills into the room.
