“Did I hear her correctly?” I had to ask. “Did she say goodbye?”
“Ha! Hahai!” Alec made strange sounds. “Yes! Fuck yes! In your face, fucker. Buuuuuuurn. Literally.”
A grin stretched my lips as I looked at her in awe. Isabella Ferro was the most dangerous, most powerful, most beautiful being I’d ever met.
The look on Damien’s face was invaluable. Finally, the Devil lost his hold on her. Finally, she was truly free. Finally, she—
Damien turned into his demonic form, snarling like a wounded beast. “Do you think after all the trouble I’ve gone through to have you, after all these years, I’d just saygoodbye?” He gave an evil laugh. “There is no goodbye between us, darling. Ever.”
Abruptly, he grabbed her arm and gave a hard tug, pulling her into his filthy arms.
She yanked at him. “Let go of me!”
“Never,” he roared. “You are coming with me and never leaving again.”
I held on to her. “You are not going anywhere with her. She chose us. Go back to Hell, you disgraceful failure.”
“The disgraceful failure will butcher you and your disgusting offspring, if you, for one second, think you can steal and impregnate my bride.”
“Damien! Stop!” she yelled, and he dragged her, pulling her with all his force.
The three beasts clattered around him, freeing her arm from his grip, and shoved her toward me. “Take her and go!” Kayden said.
I caught her in one arm, holding her protectively against my side. “Are you sure?”
He shook his head and beckoned for us to leave with both hands. “Just go.”
The three charged at Damien, roaring and braying, keeping him occupied and distracted, holding him back until I got her up in the sky out of the Devil’s grasp.
“Run all you want, Isabella. I will find you, and I will kill that Lightborn if it’s the last thing I’m ever going to do!”
As the Devil’s threats ripped the sky, Belle clung to me, resting her head on my chest, looking down at the battlefield with sore sadness. “Goodbye, Damien.”
Chapter 35
Belle
My eyes wandered back and forth. “This looks oddly familiar. Is this…the same cloud we…?”
“We first kissed?” Zavariel smiled. “Yes.”
“How could you… It must have moved for miles. I mean, are we even still in Oregon?”
“It has your scent, and I might have been keeping an eye on it since.”
“That is…”
His smile vanished. “Silly, ridiculous, too sentimental for your taste—”
“Sweet. Even for me.” Laughing under my breath, I shook my head. “Staying with you isn’t gonna be easy, Zava. We haven’t even started and you’ve already made my dominant side dormant enough to likesweet…from anangel.”
“Why is it so hard? Because you like your dark side more?”
“Because I’m gonna struggle with my sides again. With Damien, in Hell, I don’t have to. It’s a one-track soul, no burdens, no guilt, only pleasure. It’s much more fun.”
“Do you regret your choice, Belle?”
“No.” For once, I did the right thing. “As much as I love my dark side, as much as I love Damien and the freedom being with him gave me, once I wore the crown, I was no longer me. I was too cold to enjoy even such liberation. I didn’t like it.” I took off the damn thing and stared at it for a while, feeling its darkness seeping out of my pores one black spot at a time. “I know I chose well. Doesn’t mean it’s not going to hurt, though.”
