He wanted me to go through the process of changing my soul, stealing my wings, and severing my cordistella bond. It was the deal we had made from the beginning. A deal I had agreed to. But a deal I no longer wanted to go through with.
I may have scorned the cordistella bond before. I had pushed the hellion away because of it. Yet the mere thought of the bond being stripped from me pooled in my stomach like scorching liquid ore and solidified around all my organs.
A vehement response sat on my tongue. The wrong one. The one I couldn’t say to the King of Hell, who owned my soul. But I was going to. If I opened my mouth, I wouldn’t be able to say anything else.
So I left.
“General?” Lucifer spat, jerking me from the memory.
“Your plan for the infection. Lilith’s death clearly didn’t stop it. What are your orders?”
His pale face reddened. The tendons in his neck tightened, his nostrils flaring.
Did my question anger him?
He grabbed my collar and jerked me forward. “You must train them all and find a cure before it spreads.”
Then he shoved me away and slammed the door in my face.
It was already spreading.
Chapter
Six
Lucille
The first thing I did when I woke up wasn’t seeking out Ronen, despite my need to lay eyes on his body and inspect every inch. I would know if something had happened to him. Well, I’d at least know if he was dead. As for wounded, I wasn’t sure with the block on our bond. I hoped MJ or Alexei would inform me. I also didn’t seek out Aspen. Those two were the last people I wanted to see. I couldn’t think, breathe, be around them without feeling—just too many things.
Alexei said I could be selfish. This was me prioritizing my own needs over theirs.
However, I think the most selfish thing I did in the morning wasn’t avoiding Ronen and Aspen or sending Rune away, but dodging my father.
I think he’d been bitten. I didn’t see the male’s teeth connect, but my father had bellowed as if they had. I should be seeking him out. But what could I do? I wouldn’t be able to help in any way. And the thought of losing another parent, no matter how big of an asshole he was to me last night, shut me down. Between my pain and Aspen’s, I couldn’t cope with anything else. I could barely think about it. So I didn’t.
I convinced myself Sam would help him. Then I went to the healers’ wing with a large platter of lemon bars and plopped myself down in a chair beside Oliver.
“You really need to wake up, Oli. I need your wisdom. Maybe your humor.” I slumped back in the chair, staring at the angels on the ceiling. “Or for you to tell me everything will be okay, because nothing feels okay anymore.”
I told him everything then. I didn’t sugarcoat or skim over anything—the disaster of my mother’s funeral, all my bottled-up feelings about Ronen and Aspen, my fears, my heartbreak. All of it slipped off my tongue and into the ears of my unconscious best friend. It felt… good. A piece of my grief lifted from my chest as I unburdened my heart to the only person I completely trusted.
“Do you want me to beat them up for you? Or would you rather we find some kind of repellent?”
The platter of lemon bars clattered to the floor as I shot up. “Oliver?”
“No,” he rasped, his eyes still closed. “Your other best friend waking up from a coma.”
I threw myself on top of him, unable to help myself, and squeezed him tight. My nose smooshed into his neck, and I didn’t even care that he smelled like musty feet, blood, and… fire?
He groaned. “You’re strangling me, Luce.”
“Suck it up.” I held him tighter.
Oliver laughed, then coughed, and I finally pulled back. He tilted his head, his moppy two-toned bangs shifting away from his beautiful,opengreen eyes. “If I’d known I was going to get that kind of welcome, I would’ve said something the moment you spoke.”
My mouth dropped open. “You were conscious the entire time?”
He smiled and lifted a shaky arm. Seeing how hard he struggled to move muddied my joy. After a moment, he brought his sleeve to my face, capturing my tears. “I promise you, everything will be okay, eventually.”
