“It’s okay,” I said, smiling at the warmth that flooded through me, a sensation I could have sworn came from the monster inside. “I think I’ve learned how to live with it. Withher. We’ve come to a bit of an understanding.”
Confusion rippled across his face. “That’s not how it works.”
“Maybe not for you,” I said firmly. “But it’s how it works for me.”
“Alright,” Az said slowly, striding forward to give me a nod. “If that’s what you’d like to do, Eva. In the end, this is your choice.”
Caim frowned. “You can’t seriously be agreeing to this.”
“It would make our lives infinitely less complicated. Think about it, Caim. This Cult of Lilith problem would be completely over.”
“Hmm,” Caim said, still not convinced.
“Does she not look in control to you?” Phenex asked with a grunt. “Hell, it’s the healthiest she’s looked in a very long time.”
“How does your rib feel, Eva?” Caim asked.
“Fine,” I lied.
I knew I shouldn’t. Eventually, he’d have to know the truth. My rib still ached as much as it always had, even though I swore I felt the strengthening, healing powers of the demon inside of me. Something was very, very wrong with me. But right now, we needed to focus on curing the cult.
“Alright,” he said with a nod. Guilt flickered through me. I’d have to tell him at some point but just not right now. I would cross that bridge when I came to it. “But let’s get this done fast. We can’t give any of these demons a chance to heal.”
With a smile, I held up the vial of the demon cure. “Time to make those cult members human again.”
38
Eva
It was a time for celebration. After we dragged all of the cult members into the cages beneathInfernal, we administered the cure and Az healed their wounds. They were still unconscious. Az said they’d need some time to rest. So, we left them in the cages and returned to Caim’s apartment with champagne. The next morning, after they’d fully healed, we’d deliver the cult members to the authorities.
But for now, we would let down our hair and have some fun.
As Sarah stumbled over to the speakers to fire up her playlist, I followed Caim up the hidden stairs to his rooftop. We wound our arms around each other and stared out at the twinkling city lights. A lightness had settled in my bones, a feeling I hadn’t had in a very long time. It finally felt like things were going right.
Obviously, there were still a few problems I needed to deal with. My boss and my job for one. I owed Alana a story, and now maybe I had one that wouldn’t reveal the Legion to the world. The story of the Cult of Lilith. They’d believed in immortality. They’d even donned wings and pretended to fly.
Most of it would be lies, but it would keep the truth safe.
The Legion could keep on keeping on, protecting humanity from the hidden supernaturals of the world.
A community I was now very much a part of.
Caim sighed and dropped his chin onto the top of my head. “How did you manage to do it?”
“Do what?” I asked, although I had a pretty good idea where this conversation was going. He’d told me so much about his own struggles that my relative easy transition had probably caught him off guard. I knew a part of him had liked that we’d had something so bone-deep in common. The struggle with the darkness.
And now he knew that wasn’t true.
“You know what,” he murmured back. “Your control over the demon.”
The truth was, I had a sneaking suspicion that my experience wasn’t normal. Becausecontrolwasn’t the word I would use. It just felt like we’d become one. The demon accepted me, and I accepted her, and there was no need to fight. That creeping anger and madness was gone.
“To be honest, Caim, I don’t know,” I said, dropping back my head to gaze up at him. My heart squeezed tight at the look on his face. He almost seemed...sad. “The struggle just went away. Isn’t that what you wanted? If I’d taken the cure, the result would be the same.”
“Of course that’s what I wanted.” But his eyes still flickered with pain. “You have no idea how glad I am that this has gone a different way. I just worry it’s not what it seems to be, especially when I look into your eyes and see something else hiding behind your gaze. She’s still in there, Eva. The demon hasn’t gone away.”
And so there it was.
