told her. I kissed Sabrina’s and Kevin’s heads and Lia’s cheek. “We’ll be fine.” Still embracing them, I glanced at Devon. “What’s the plan?”
“I’ll help you pack, all of you, and you hit the road,” he said, his tone firm. “The sooner, the better. If we all work together, we should have you on the road in about an hour. Don’t you think?”
Lia startled. “Run away again?”
I frowned, my thoughts matching hers. “I’m tired of running.”
“But if you don’t run, Slater and his demons will come back for you,” Devon reminded me.
I glanced around, a little worried about the nosey neighbors listening to us talking about demons and powers.
“Can we talk about this inside your house?” I asked.
Devon nodded and gestured to the front door.
Once we were all inside his living room, Devon turned to me. “Why don’t you want to run?”
“Because if we run, they will come after us anyway,” I explained. “There’s no safe place for us. We’ll be on the run forever. Because of me.” I glanced at Lia and the kids, who were standing close beside me. “I can’t do this to them.” I lifted my chin, trying to be stronger than I felt. “I want to face Slater and his demons once and for all.”
“What?” Devon shrieked.
“I’m strong, but I can’t do it alone,” I told him. I glanced at Owen, who seemed like a statue in the foyer. “I know it’s in the warriors’ interest to stop the D’Ingur Order. We need to find a way to kill Ingur.”
“We can’t kill it,” Owen said.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Ingur is too strong even for all of us combined,” Devon said. “We can’t defeat him, only lock him away in that chamber.”
Understanding fell over me. “So, when I die, hopefully of old age this time, I’ll eventually be reborn and they will come after me again.” Devon nodded. Shit. “The more reason to defeat the order now. We kill them all, and put an end to this. There will be no more order to try and free Ingur. In time, he’ll be forgotten.”
“She’s right,” Owen said.
Devon glared at him. With a heavy sigh, he returned his gaze to me. “Even if I agree to this, we need to send Lia, Sabrina, and Kevin away.”
The three of them protested, but I nodded.
“I’ll call the other warriors,” Owen announced before disappearing into thin air.
I stared at the spot he had been. “You can do that?” I asked Devon. Despite knowing him from centuries ago, I had never understood the scope of his powers.
“Some of us,” he said. “But not me.”
Kevin walked closer to Devon and blinked. “So, you’re an angel?”
He and Sabrina were taking all of this way too well. I had expected Lia, who knew about demons, not to be too surprised by warriors, but the kids were another matter.
Instead, Kevin batted his eyes at Devon as if he was a superhero.
Devon’s lips curled up. “Not exactly.”
I squeezed Lia’s shoulder. “How about we all have a snack while we talk about where the three of you will go?”
Lia nodded at me, then steered the kids to the kitchen.
Devon crossed his arms and faced me, his eyes hard again. “I don’t like this.”
I walked to him, until I was a foot from him. I ran my hands over his tight arms. “We can do this.”
“We can, but I would rather you left with Cecilia and the kids.”
I rose on tiptoes and leaned closer, aiming my mouth to his. “Don’t you trust me?”
His gaze flickered to my lips. “You know I do. That doesn’t change the fact that I want to keep you safe, no matter what.”
“For now, just hold me,” I whispered. “And believe we’ll be fine.”
His arms wrapped around me. His hands splayed on my back, pressing me against him very tight. “We’ll be fine,” he repeated, as if he needed to say it out loud to convince himself.
I too had to believe we would be fine this time.
Present
Kenna
I didn’t want to run, but that didn’t mean I wanted Lia, Sabrina, and Kevin here while we fought Slater. At first, Lia argued with me, saying she wouldn’t leave me. But after telling her about the past, who she was to me, who the kids were, she started crumbling. Many years ago, Sabrina and Kevin had been her kids too. It had been her duty to make them safe, and I was hoping she felt the same way now. Thankfully, she did. But she felt that way