Page 49 of She Who Holds My Wrath

His emerald eyes meet mine, something like an apology in his gaze. As if he’s reading the panic and disappointment in mine.

My eyes go to Maelkar. “You?”

He props his hands behind his head, flexing his biceps. “I can use the Celestial Gates… alone. If I try to drag any of you out, the curse tears you to shreds.”

I let that settle, the shape of the Hell-shaped prison clicking into place. “So, we’re boxed in. The rulers can come to us via Gates, but we can’t go to them. The doors are locked. The only person who could leap us over the realms is, dead.” I choke slightly on that last word.

“Correct,” Velentha says quietly. She frowns, her eyes going distant as if she’s seeing something nobody else can. “Unless we make a new road.” Every head turns to her.

“I saw a spell,” she continues, reaching for the leather-bound book at her hip. She lays it open, and the air itself seems to lean in with anticipation. “In the grimoire. ‘Blood Passage Between Light.’ It stitches a temporary pathway across leylines when the Gate refuses you.”

Lucifer’s brows arc, a feral grin on his face. “Sounds bloody.”

I roll my eyes at him as Velentha keeps going. “It is. Literally. The passage requires the blood of a god or god-bound. Enough to convince the ley that you are worthy to move. It also needs an anchor from the realm you’re traveling to. Something born of it, to call the path true. A sigil works.” She taps Kaelith’s scroll. “We have the wax seal. That’s a strong anchor.”

Aran’s jaw flexes, a sharp tick in the muscle that tells me everything I need to know. He’s already panicking at the thought of Velentha being involved in any part of this, or placing herself in danger for my sake.

“And, the risks?” he asks, though his voice sounds like instant regret.

Velentha doesn’t sugarcoat it. “If the line collapses mid-step, you’ll be flung into the gap. No air. No time. Just... nothing.” The words swallow the room.

Lucifer’s fingers have even stopped drumming against his goblet, and Maelkar’s usual lazy smirk fades entirely, his hands coming from behind his head to rest in tightly curled fists on the tabletop. I glance at Aran and see he’s gone completely still.

“If the blood runs thin, the path rejects you. If someone is actively blocking the line from the far end, you could arrive… wrong. Scattered.”

My stomach drops. This time, images, I definitely don’t want, flash through my mind. Bodies torn apart across realms, and pieces of existence flung into the void between worlds. The idea of simply… ceasing, of dissolving into nothing without even the dignity of death, makes my skin crawl. Silence presses in from all sides.

I can feel Aran’s gaze on me before I even look at him. Velentha watches too, her expression unreadable, though something tight lives in the corner of her eyes. Lucifer leans back in his chair, studying me like I’ve become far more interesting than ever before. Maelkar tilts his head slightly, shadows coiling around him, pulsing with a nervous energy as every person in the room awaits my answer.

My pulse hammers so hard it makes my vision throb. Fear floods my veins. There are too many possible outcomes, and not many of them seem to be working in my favour. My brain is screaming at me to say no. To choose safety. To let someone else handle it. Old Daisy is reaching through. College Daisy. Who wouldn’t even speak against her classmates. She’s begging me to sit down and be quiet and just stay the fuck alive.

But then I remember Aurora’s Veil could be burning. I remember the message desperately scrawled by Kaelith. And I remember the weight of the crown sitting on my head, whether I want it to or not. If I don’t go… who will?

I sit with that. Feel the way my pulse hammers as I drag in a slow breath, forcing air into my lungs that suddenly feel too small. I let the terror exist. But the hero complex inside me takes over, making the choice for me. “Then, we use it.”

Aran’s eyes flash to mine, the emerald in them filled with alarm and fear. “Daisy—”His voice breaks slightly on my name, like a desperate plea to change my mind. But I just softly shake my head to stop him.

“If Aurora’s Veil is begging for help and I hide here behind a curse and a crown, we lose more than a realm,” I say with my head held high. “We lose the fragile trust the others just started to give me. I don’t know much about war, but I do know we can’t afford that. Not now.”

Velentha’s gaze tips towards mine. “I can open the passage there using my blood. You’ll need to use yours to open it back. On arrival, make note of where the Gate opens. It will need to be the one you return in. Make sure you have an anchor from Hell. And guard it like your life depends on it. It just might.”

“I’ll go with her,” Maelkar says, nodding once towards me.

“So, you’re about to tell me I’m stuck here babysitting the Pits whilst my…” Lucifer clears his throat, and I swear I see a blush crawling up his neck, staining the pale skin beneath his collar. “He, prances through Auroras Veil?” Lucifer huffs, folding his arms across his chest.

My brows lift. Oh. Ohhhhhh. The way his gaze flicks for just a fraction of a second towards Maelkar. The way Maelkar’s mouth curves into a soft grin. Gods. I have suspected it for a while. The charged silences. The way they seem to have a gravitational pull towards each other. The biting comments that always feel more intimate than hostile. Yup. This is confirmation.

Lucifer, ruler of Gehenna, Lord of Torment, embodiment of elegant cruelty… is pouting because he doesn’t want to be separated from Maelkar.

I bite down hard on the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling. Because if I laugh, I might actually die. I can already feel Lucifer’s death stare on me. I have to hide my grin behind my hand, lowering my gaze as if I’ve suddenly found something very interesting on the floor. My shoulders shake slightly anyway, traitorously betraying me.

It’s kind of adorable. Maelkar, for his part, doesn’t even try to hide his amusement. He lounges back in his chair like a cat watching chaos unfold, dark eyes gleaming with smug satisfaction.

“Relax, devilbaby. I’ll be back before you know it.” Maelkar winks at Lucifer, utterly unbothered.

Lucifer makes a disgusted sound, but there’s no real bite behind it. “Do not call me that in front of other people.”

“Noted,” Maelkar replies, clearly not noting it at all.