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“Nova, you know me. Wake the fuck up. I won’t fight you, even though you deserve a serious bat bash for making me say this with you still inside me and your ex-bitch watching,” I whispered at the man above me, whose confused expression dawned the minute I spoke. “This is just a stupid fucking dream—the ones you know she can make. She’s not the woman you love.”
I refused to plead with him that I was the girl he’d said he loved. I’d never let myself be that desperate. I’d regain control, and I’d do it my way.
Nova’s red eyes glowed, and his jaw clenched until I thought the jerk might break teeth. “I guess even half-breeds are capable of demon seduction…” he mused quietly before his blade sunk in deeper, and I tensed against the pain of it.
I really loathed how not feeling pain wasn’t one of the demon blood perks, out of all the cool bonuses this half-breed bitch got. But even if it was, I was confident Lucifer would make sure I felt it here, anyway.
My gaze dropped to the dagger cutting into my chest, doing quick math to figure out how long I had to get Nova to come to his senses.
Probably five minutes, tops.
Bastard really deserved a good bash to the head to reorganize his thoughts a bit, but that’d play directly into Lucifer’s plan to pit us against each other. She wanted carnage and emotional turmoil. I didn’t want to give her either one, but pleading with Nova was necessary. I needed to break whatever hold she had over him.
“Pretty sure you’re the king of seduction, but whatever. I can’t help that you’re captivated by my ceaseless wit and bat-bashing brutality. Even I’m not sure what you see in me,” I said through clenched teeth, determined to get through the speech I was presently throwing at the jerk cutting a new hole in my chest.
I have terrible taste in men, for real.
Lucifer came away from the door, dressed in her usual lace and tight-as-fuck corset dress. It was all the rage for the evil and soul-sucking. My evil doppelganger’s porcelain skin beamed under the low lights, and every sharp stiletto step was calculated to enthrall her victims. But all she’d get from me was the urge to vomit.
Nova’s shoulders tensed the closer she got, and I silently wondered if it was out of fear or lust. Call me an optimist, which I never was, but I got the feeling he wasn’t exactly elated to have the evil bitch close.
“A part of you remembers, Nova. You know she’s bad news and just her father in a pretty, evil-identical-me package. Which is gross. The bitch isn’t half as cool as I am, and she knows it. It’s like Lucifer is my bootleg version or something.” I trailed off, grumbling to myself because I was trying to ignore how scared I was that bullshit ramble wouldn’t work.
I’d never admit it out loud, and if I survived this, I’d pretend it never happened, too. But for now, I let myself marinate in fear.
“But all that vengeance to get back at this crazy Hell-ruling bitch is in there somewhere. Just get your head out of your ass and start thinking for yourself, asshole,” I demanded angrily, hissing when Nova’s hand clenched around the handle, impaling the blade deeper.
Any deeper and I was in trouble. It was already halfway in.
I ignored how many sexual innuendos bounced around my head. Fable wouldn’t let that one go untouched, much like anything he could get his hands on. I silently rued the angel for ruining this moment with his lame joke-grabbing influence. But at least my sense of dark humor was still intact.
Couldn’t go toe-to-toe with the Queen of Hell without a few jokes. It’d be a disservice to all the crazy, violence-loving vigilantes out there.
“You’re a strong one, I’ll give you that. It’s too bad you can’t be persuaded, but your little revenge ends here,” my bootleg version growled at me, enunciating each word to an obnoxious degree. “You either kill him or die. Either way, I win because you’ll never escape this place.”
I didn’t say anything. Instead, I turned my attention to Nova whose expression was confused and conflicted. The dagger hadn’t gone any deeper, but it wasn’t far from doing me in. And for a second, I wondered what would happen if either of us died here. Would I carry the wound on my actual body the same way I did here? Would he? Could I risk it?
I’d gone into this entire thing knowing I could die, but I wanted to take Lucifer out with me. How did I do that without risking Nova’s life?
“Don’t worry. I’m more than willing to die to put you on the throne, and I don’t expect you to fall in love with me. Perhaps it’s better if you don’t.”
His words resonated in my head, and I sighed loudly to the surprise of the other two in the room.Too late, jerk.I was already so deeply in love that the mere thought of fighting back in this fear dream bullshit made it impossible to sink my own blade in.
This was my story, my vengeance, and I’d do it the same way I had from the beginning—with no interest in negotiating with terrorists and all on my own fucking terms. I’d get the bitch, and I’d save Nova while I did it.
Closing my eyes, I did what Fable taught me to do with my power. I centered myself and called on every feeling of pain, loss, fear, hope, and love. Then I pushed it out through my arm into my hand. The glow started in my palm, flickering and sparking, then brightening, and I threw my arm out, aiming it directly at Lucifer.
When the heavenly light burst out in a jet stream, Nova’s dagger sunk into my chest and the excruciating pain nearly made my attack falter. But I’d take the bitch with me even if I died here. Even if I never got to reap the rewards of destroying the Wicked Witch of the West. Even if I never got to explore the feeling of love with Nova.
With Nova and Fable ruling over Hell, maybe they’d cut me a break on the afterlife torture. A girl could only hope.
My attack hit its mark, and the world went white.
32
Just Deserts
THE WORLD AROUND ME WAS a blur, and it took a second to get my head clear. I wasn’t in the club anymore. There were towering ceilings and glass depictions of heaven and a few saints all around me, raining moonlight down where I’d been left on the floor.
