“What? No. Andi was my best friend. I knew her for ages before Cole...”
He took my face in his hands. “Listen to me. Andi never existed. Unlike Cole, so I suppose in that sense your mother is kinder than me. But in either case, she was nothing more than a ruse. A way of luring you into a false sense of security and revealing your deepest, darkest secrets so that they could then be used against you.”
The sense of betrayal I felt was absolute.
“Why would she do that?”
“Well... for me.” Lucifer looked uncharacteristically uncomfortable. “I never claimed to be a good man. Just your man.”
“Merri, we need to take her out. She’s the only one still standing.” Malice’s voice wasn’t as calm as I’d expect from him, which told me things had progressed while I’d been out of it.
I followed his gaze to the hilltop that looked a lot like the one from the illusion she’d pulled me into. Famine stood there, proud and haughty, her hair billowing behind her like a bloody cloak.
“How am I going to get through the demons? There are too many of them.”
Sin took my hand. “We’ll do it together. They may not have souls, but they do have an essence we can take. Use your power, feed until they fall.”
I’d practiced this so many times now, but for whatever reason, I couldn’t seem to latch on to that part of myself. Whether it was the revelation about Andi and the further proof of my mother’s evil cunning, or maybe just the pressure of everyone counting on me, I couldn’t say. But it didn’t change the truth. I was fucking everything up.
Another hand slid into my free one, and I looked over at the woman who’d practically raised me standing at my side. “You can do this, pet. I’m right here. We can take them down together.”
Her words were an echo of Sin’s, but they hit me differently. Here I was, devastated that the woman who’d given birth to me had mistreated me so badly, but the truth was, she wasn’t my mother. She never had been. She was a parasite. The person who’d taken every good thing I’d ever had away from me.
But Lilith? She was probably the first real friend I’d ever had, and definitely the closest thing to a true mother. The person who not only took me in, but had helped me find all the best things I had in my life—including my mates. She taught me control. She taught me how to embrace every piece of myself. She taught me to love and believe that I was worthy of love in return.
With that in mind, it was suddenly much easier to latch on to my power.
As a unit, the three of us sucked what barely amounted to souls out of the demons until all that stood between Famine and us were piles of ash in the shape of people. Lilith released my hand as Sin took the lead, transporting us behind Famine in the blink of an eye.
“Now,” he whispered as I pulled the weapon free and raised it.
Famine spun on her heel, reaching for the handle of the axe. Her fierce rage made me falter, and it was enough of an opening for her to grab my arm and stop me from landing a blow. I dropped the weapon as she broke every bone in my wrist with the force of her grasp.
“Ow, fuck,” I winced, tears pricking my eyes at the pain.
“Now that wasn’t very nice, was it?”
“Fuck you,” I hissed.
“That definitely wasn’t nice.”
I don’t think I’d ever hated someone I barely knew, but I loathed this woman with every cell of my body.
“What did you think you were going to accomplish? Did you actually expect that to work? You were going to. .. what? Take me out with some sorry excuse for a weapon? As if. I’m Famine. You’d think with horsemen for mates you’d understand what that means, but apparently your education has been severely lacking. We are eternal, daughter. That means you cannot harm me, no matter how badly you might wish to do so.”
Grim’s shadows wrapped around her, restraining her for a few seconds. Long enough for me to use my uninjured arm and snatch the axe from the ground. She broke through his hold, and he grabbed her again. I swung with all my might, missing by barely an inch.
“You can do this, Red. Focus.” Chaos was behind me, his words a comfort even though I was frustrated beyond belief.
“I can’t hold her long,” Grim said through gritted teeth.
Chaos wrapped his arms around Famine from behind. “Allow me. I’ve always hated this fucking bitch. The only good thing she’s ever done was make you.”
“Hurry!” Caleb shouted, his voice frantic. “They seem to be waking back up.”
Famine cackled. “See? I told you. So long as one of us lives,allof us live.”
“We are running out of time!” Caleb shouted, his hands around his mouth to amplify his message as if I hadn’t heard him the first time.
