Can’t dothis. Losing Anya.
Pain wrapped around my throat, choking me. I almost doubled over from the force of it. It was too much. Far too much to bear. It ripped through my heart, shattering it into a million pieces. I couldn’t do this. It was unbearable. All I had to do was let the darkness take control again, and I could have a few more moments where I didn’t have to feel all this wrenching, unyielding pain.
“Please don’t leave me, Eva,” Sarah whispered. “I need you.”
I shivered, swallowing hard. And all the broken pieces within me found a way to stay together. As much as I wanted to retreat, I couldn’t. It wasn’t fair on anyone else, least of all Sarah. She couldn’t be left to face this all alone.
“Okay,” I mouthed. “I’m here.”
Her eyes filled with a fresh wave of tears, and I felt the emotions rising within me to match hers. A million different memories started to flash through my mind. Anya’s smiling face. The three of us huddled up together on our empty living room floor when we’d first moved into the apartment. Pizzas spread out around us. A Netflix marathon on Sarah’s laptop.
Wings thundered in the air above our heads. Instinct drove me to shove Sarah behind me and hold up my dagger at the new arrival. I expected to see a swarm of cult demons attacking our group. They’d hit me where it hurt and now they’d take the rest of us out.
A tall, muscular demon landed before us, his pristine suit rippling in the wind. He held a redheaded girl in his arms, one I recognized from the news reports. Mia McNally. And her husband, the legendary Asmodeus. The First Prince of Hell.
I sucked in a sharp breath.
“Az.” Caim’s mouth dropped as he rushed toward his old friend. The two collided against each other, fists pounding backs. The rest of the Legion joined them, a bundle of muscle all wrapped up into one thundering mass.
But Caim hurriedly interrupted the reunion. He yanked Az toward an open door that led into the bar where the unmistakable stench of blood drifted into the night. “Hurry, Az. Please. She’s in here.”
A strange sensation curled in my gut as I trailed after them. “Wait, what are you doing?”
Sarah gripped my arm and tugged me back. “You don’t want to go in there, Eva.”
“Yes, I do.” I narrowed my eyes and tried to wring her off. I knew I shouldn’t see what the cult had done to her, but a part of me needed to know it all. So that I could know exactly how brutal to be when I ripped them all to shreds.
Phenex thundered in front of me, blocking my way.
I growled up at him. “Move, Phenex. I deserve to know what happened to her.”
“You can see her in a few minutes. Just...not right now. Not when she’s like this.”
“A few minutes won’t make any difference,” I shot back, pushing at his immovable chest. “Let me see her.”
He grabbed my hands and held me steady. “A few minutes will make ahellof a difference, Eva. Don’t you know what Asmodeus can do? Don’t you know what one of his powers is? He can heal others so long as they’re not dead.”
All the blood drained from my face as I stared up at him. Hope poked up its head in desperation. “She’s...she’s still alive?”
“Just barely. But it’s enough for Az to save her.”
My knees buckled, and I fell to the ground, sobbing in relief.
33
Eva
Ihovered in the doorway of Az’s office, watching the steady rising and falling of Anya’s chest as she slept on his leather sofa. Her dark lashes flared against her pale cheeks, and a hint of blood was still caked to her hair. Asmodeus had managed to heal her enough to save her life, but she wouldn’t be back to her normal self for a few days. He’d brought her back from the brink of death, and for that, I would be forever grateful to the First Prince of Hell.
Sarah sagged against me, still trembling. The terror and pain and charged adrenaline of the night had left her battered. After what she’d witnessed, she’d need time to heal, too. I would as well.
I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and held her tight. “I’m so sorry, Sarah. I never should have left you two unguarded. If anything, I should have been there with you. My fear of letting the darkness inside of me take control meant you weren’t protected when you should have been.”
“Stop blaming yourself for everything. We weren’t unguarded. That shifter just didn’t stand a chance,” she whispered back. “Besides, there was no way for you to know this would happen. They set a trap, one we all fell for.”
“Traps,” I said bitterly. “They set them. We walk straight into them. It’s time we made it the other way around.”
She pulled back to glance up at me. “What are you suggesting?”
