Page 204 of The Bonds of Indigo

What he doesn’t understand is I’d come right back for him the moment Amarah is healed.

I’ll never not chase after him again.

Then, after a silent argument in our eyes, he turns back to his mother. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” She smiles. It’s a mixture of sad, proud, and resigned. “Your destiny isn’t here, son. I love you. Now go.”

I’m grateful when he spins back toward me, grabs my arm, and tears open a slice in reality, dragging us back through the gates before anything else can attempt to take her from us.

Our exit is anything but pleasant—more like being hurled through a hurricane. I can’t keep my footing and stumble forward, momentum ripping me off balance, and I hit the ground hard. I manage to tuck my shoulder, taking the full force of the fall so Amarah doesn’t.

Lucifer slams into the dirt beside me. His wings fold tight behind him as he scrambles to his knees in front of us. The moment his large hand touches Amarah’s cheek, I see the trembling in it as he drags it down to her chest, searching—desperate—for any sign of her.

It’s like I can feel his Vigoro’s rage; it’s why it hasn’t pulled back. It wants to stay in control.

“Give her to me.” I’ve heard her voice before, but it doesn’t make it any less jarring. Vendra. “Who did this to her?”

I don’t think lying to a God is the smartest thing, but is telling her the truth better? What would she do the moment she found out that Belial has nearly killed her conduit.

“Where do I put her?” I ask instead of giving her the answer to her question.

“Place my child down, gently.” There’s a panic in her voice she’s trying desperately to hide, but I feel it, deep down in my chest. She’s hurting for her conduit… just like I am.

I do exactly as she instructs, lowering my girl to the ground with as much care as my shaking hands will allow. Lucifer helps, sliding his hand beneath her head and easing it onto the soil. We’re still in Demour—or at least somewhere covered in Ashspyte. I can smell it thick in the air.

“I’m sorry…”

I look up at Lucifer. His eyes are glossy, not just with tears but with pain and grief twisted together. I can feel the turmoil in him, every jagged shard of it.

“I should’ve sent you both back the moment I saw you.”

My gaze returns to Amarah, her lids now at half-mast and a fog shrouding the irises.

“I… lost control in there. He attacked us, and I was blinded by the rage. By the need to hurt him the way he hurt me, hurt you, and was going to hurt Amarah.”

I take one of her hands and hold it between mine. Her heart is still beating, faint and fragile, and it feels like mine is pounding harder, trying to force strength into hers.

I release a heavy sigh, shaking my head. “This isn’t your fault, Luce. It’s mine.”

She wouldn’t be like this if not for me. If not for everything I pulled her into. The moment I saw her I should’ve let her out of the deal.

I should’ve found another way that didn’t involve using the woman I care for beyond my own life.

Suddenly, thin, bright green vines sprout from the soil. In a place like this, a land choked by death, their color is too vibrant and wrong. They curl upward, winding gently around Amarah’s throat.

Then more follow, twining over her arms, her waist, her chest. Claiming her.

“You will tell me who did this, now.” There it is—her rage. A Demon shouting is one thing, but her voice hits harder; every word rolls through the ground like an oncoming quake.

I look at Lucifer, whose eyes are wide in shock. “Vendra?”

“You filthy fucking demon. You kept her away from me for months, and bring her back on the brink of death!”

The ground behind me cracks open, and as the world around us shifts, so do our positions.

“Vendra, wait! It wasn’t him. It was Belial!”

“Then I shall do to his son what he has done to my child.”