angel, half demon, have crazy bickerin’ birth parents, two demon mates, I’m one third of a set of triplets, my hair went purple, and I sprouted wings,” I say with a laugh and a shake of my head. “Oddly enough though, it’s all just...settlin’, like these things were always supposed to be this way. And I dunno, I could just picture myself bein’ with you two and becomin’ a Gate Guardian. But I gotta be honest...I’m not sure how I feel about this new information Delta told us yesterday. I knew there was somethin’ they hadn’t told me yet. I mean, Morax wouldn’t want us so bad otherwise, but I didn’t expect that.”
Alder and Flint both nod. “I have to admit, I thought they were going to tell us that you were a Gatekeeper. It fit with the scythe and why Nefta would’ve hidden you. But...you’re something even more special,” Alder tells me, his voice still radiatin’ his own surprise and awe.
Annulus.
That’s the bomb that Delta dropped on us last night after our parents and their armies left. Nefta’s bloodline is the last of our kind. I can’t be a Gate Guardian to help the guys sustain their portal. Instead, my kind has the power to reset or annihilate everythin’, from souls to the Hellgate itself. To say that was a soberin’ revelation is puttin’ it lightly, and I still can’t even really fathom what the hell it all means.
“Are y’all upset?” I ask, chewin’ on my bottom lip as I voice the question that’s been blowin’ around like a tumbleweed in my head ever since yesterday.
Flint and Alder both look down at me. “Upset? About what?” Flint asks, dark brows pullin together in a frown over his rock-like face.
“Y’all assumed that I’d be able to become a Gate Guardian with you. But now you know I’m somethin’ else. I might not be able to help you the way you thought, and not just that, but it’s dangerous to be my mate, maybe even more so than it is to be a Hellgate Guardian. Look at all the stuff that’s happened to Delta. Seems to me that Nefta kept this all a secret for good reason, but despite her best efforts to protect us, Morax knows and he’s comin’ for us. I hate that I put you in a position where you’ll be at risk because of what I am.”
I feel fingers curl on my chin as Alder pulls my face toward him. “We wouldn’t change any part of you,” he tells me sternly. I try to drop my gaze, but he taps my jaw with a finger to make sure my eyes stay on him. “You being an Annulus is not a curse. It’s a blessing. I think you’re exactly what our realms need to fix this shit once and for all.” He lets his hand drop to take my hand, threadin’ our fingers together.
“That’s right,” Flint tells me, his hand squeezin’ my thigh. “The Hellgate has been fucked up for centuries, ever since the Gatekeepers died out. Fuck the Ophidian. We’ll end him, and then you and your sisters can help us reset the damn Hellgate and reinstate the balance. We can actually make it so no one passes through who shouldn’t, just like it’s supposed to be. You’re better than just a measly Gate Guardian.”
I give him a grateful smile.
“The Gods knew what they were doing when they led you to us,” Alder says. “You’re exactly where you’re supposed to be, and you’re exactly who you’re supposed to be. We’re blessed, not burdened, in claiming you as ours.”
Emotion wells in my chest, and I turn my head to place a kiss on both of their cheeks—one stubbly, one smooth as granite, both of them one hundred percent mine.
“I love y’all,” I blurt out, and as soon as I say the words, both of their eyes widen. “I don’t care if that’s too soon to say, I’m sayin’ it anyway, and I won’t take it back, so y’all can just deal with it,” I say sternly.
A grin curls over Flint’s mouth, and that’s the only warnin’ I get before I’m tackled to the ground where he pins me beneath him, my wings plastered against the padded floor as he fuses his lips to mine. “Say it again,” he orders, nippin’ at my bottom lip.
I shift my hips up to press against him, earnin’ a groan. “What, you got cotton in your ears? I said it once, and I