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It didn’t feel real. I expected Lucifer to crawl out of a hole somewhere and attack, but I’d watched her body become ash with my own two eyes. Still, if I was honest, I really hadn’t expected to survive, and I didn’t know what came next. Or if I even wanted what was next.
My body was weak after using my power, and the blood loss was definitely taking its toll. Whatever that dagger was, it wasn’t normal. I typically healed faster than this. Thankfully, I managed to stay upright and walking as I followed blondie into the church.
But we didn’t make it very far.
Both men came swooping in, their expressions perfect matches I’d tease them about later. Unfortunately, my legs gave out the instant I saw they were okay. Like I’d been keeping my strength long enough to know they hadn’t kicked the bucket and turned to ash.
“I was only waking up when she screamed. I can’t believe you actually did it!” Fable threw my arm over his shoulder before Nova manhandled me out of his hold.
The blonde chick who I still hadn’t gotten the name of grumbled under her breath. “Yeah, it’s not like we helped or anything…”
Nova’s eyes expressed the intense guilt he felt over what occurred in the fear dream, and I already sensed a gross speech coming. “Lady—”
I tutted at him, already regretting how mushy I’d gotten in the dream. “Don’t. You weren’t yourself, and I’m fine. Probably.”
I’d barely finished my grumbling reply when Nova dipped down and kissed me so fiercely it got a whistle out of Fable. “I don’t deserve you, but I will work hard to become worthy of you so we can return balance to the world.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I mumbled, heart hammering despite my angry tone. His kisses always got to me, and it was ironically getting worse with time. “Heal me first, asshole, thenmaybeafter a week of sleep we’ll talk about all this worthy and balance bullshit.”
I wasn’t the girl who wouldeversay “I love you” or “you’ve claimed my heart,” but I felt like me begging him to see reason and not killing him in the fear dream said enough—I was willing to die for him. Plus, not killing him was far more generous than the devil-may-care chick I was when he met me.
The glow in Nova’s emerald gaze, the same glow his eyes had when he told me he loved me, and the terribly lovesick smile tilting his mouth suggested the fallen angel was plenty aware I loved him.
Bastard.
“Your wish is my every pleasure, Lady.”
I couldn’t eyeroll hard enough.
When I finally turned to look at the angel on the other side of me, I caught Fable’s licentious grin and knew trouble was coming. On fucking cue, the angel bent down and landed his mouth on mine in an equally passionate, soul-stealing kiss.
These bastards were lucky I was weak and couldn’t whack them with my bat.
“Does this make me your far sexier than Nova boy toy? Or maybe your sexy little side piece? No, wait, you’re getting ready to make me your second boyfriend-in-waiting?! Don’t toss my heart about, sweetheart. You know I’ll say yes, so stop playing coy,” the angel asked rapid-fire before getting smacked by the blonde who’d escorted me into the building.
Grateful that I wasn’t the only one who found him obnoxious, I leaned on Nova and ignored the overexcited angel. I didn’t have the patience or physical strength to deal with Fable, and I seriously doubted anything I did would derail that runaway train. So, I let him get chewed out by blondie.
If anything, she did it better than I could’ve. He actually seemed defeated when she was done with him.
It was an odd sort of feeling that came over me with Lucifer finally dead. I expected vengeance to satisfy me when the time came, but the people I’d lost still weighed down on me. I’d gotten the bitch, but I couldn’t bring them back. I couldn’t see them again, not really, and the empty void they left wouldn’t be resolved with any amount of vengeance I got.
It made me realize that no matter how much I tried to bury the pain of their absence, I couldn’t. That kind of loss wasn’t something you could push down, even when you were the meanest bitch on the streets.
Calling on my emotions in the fear dream opened a box I’d never close again. I felt it all. I suffered their loss in those moments after killing the person responsible, and I’d always wonder what would’ve happened if I just followed Nova that first night.
Would they all still be alive?
I closed my eyes and blamed the wound on my chest for the tear taking a path down my face. Blamed anything that wasn’t excruciating sadness and despair. Then I lifted my head and let the other three work their magic to fix my injury.
But even with everything I’d lost, I was still Lady of Hell and Fury. I’d make damn sure evil men—and women—got their just deserts.
Epilogue
Is This the Beginning of the End?
The pain of a thousand bad choices—ones I’d promised to never make again—came down on my head the second I opened my eyes and brutal, unforgiving sunlight caught my straying gaze.
Fuck that hurts.
