Page 174 of Devoted

Run.

The world paused as I peered up into my brother’s face, hope blooming for one impossible second before the darkness reclaimed him. Luca’s warmth bled away, leaving only the cruel, ancient thing staring back at me.

I hadn’t imagined it.

Luca was still in there. My brother was alive.

Better yet, our connection was wide open, although what was on the other side… I shook my head at the noise, some muddled mix of deep tapping and insectile chittering sounds.

My hand slipped off the hilt of my knife, horror bubbling in my stomach at what I’d very nearly done. Throwing up a prayer of thanks to whatever gods were watching over us, I stepped back, breathing fast, debating what my next move should be.

“You always were good at speeches, niece, but words won’t save you today.” Giovanni looked past me, through the ruins and toward the dock, his face lighting up. A whisper of sound was punctuated by frantic shouting behind me, and at the same time, one of the guards pulled out his gun, and I braced myself as he fired…

Not at me… at Nico.

Who tumbled backward in the belfry tower, disappearing from sight.

Then another quick shot—straight into Gabriel’s chest, leaving a smoking hole in what remained of his bloodied shirt.

“Iron pins,” my uncle explained as the whisper of sound turned into the clicking of talons approaching across stone and gravel. “I’ll leave you to your fate, then. I imagine they’ll make quick work of you.”

With that, he vanished, taking Luca with him.

I swallowed and turned to find the boats had been opened up, and a horde of Drax raced toward us as if they… smelled us.

I squeezed my still-bleeding hand closed, trying to stem the flow of blood, but it was too late.

We were so totally fucked.

Even if Nico wasn’t dead, with the iron pins, he and Gabriel couldn’t dematerialize, and I wasn’t leaving them here. The Drax closed in as Dante’s arms went around my shoulders, Gabriel kneeling in front of me, hands cupping my face. Dante made no move to leave his brother, and neither of them bothered to face the incoming horde.

Why bother, when there were two hundred more Drax than any of us could ever hope to fight.

We were going to die here, and Luca would remain a prisoner. A worse fate, now that I knew my brother was still trapped inside his own rotting body.

Still aware.

The reek of them preceded their arrival, a choking thickness on the air I could almost chew.

“Come here, bella,” Gabriel murmured softly, pulling me down into his arms. Curling his body around me so I couldn’t see so much as a sliver of light. “No matter what happens, I won’t let you go. Keep your eyes closed and know that we love you with everything we have. We should have had more time.”

I couldn’t see what was happening, but my next breath tasted like smoke and leather and Dante.

Fire roared, heat skating over me as his fire demon took control, and I could just imagine what he looked like, a solid wall of flame, standing between us and those beasts, charging up through the ruins. Outside of Gabriel’s protective arms, my husband was facing the horde alone, fighting for us. Just as he would fight, I knew he would fall, and then we would follow.

“I love you, too,” I whispered. “When we reach the other side, you’d better still have your arms around me.”

The Drax had to be practically on top of us, mandibles clicking so loud, I felt the vibrations in my teeth, and then the air grew colder, frost—not fire—prickling my nose.

“I’ll never let you go,” Gabriel promised, then something wet fell and tracked down my cheek. Death was inevitable, but was there any regret as bitter as this? Of being cheated out of the glorious future we had fought for and deserved, snatched away by a petty little piece of shit who didn’t deserve to draw air.

Cold stung my skin now, like the very air was made from razor blades, carving fine lines in my skin. Everything even smelled different. Cleaner.

I cracked open an eye.

I couldn’t see a thing, but not because I was crushed against Gabriel.

Because all around us the air—the entire world—had turned darker than night. We could have been adrift in a void in the heavens, but the sounds… I focused not on the eerie flapping all around us, like a million raven wings churning the air, but on my uneven heartbeats, my jagged breathing.