fortified by the immense boost of life I’m feeding into Toreon.
Finally, with one last surge, the strings that are reeling from his palms stop, like they’ve been snipped by scissors. His arms slump down beside him, his power finally finished with its task.
I drop to kneel beside him, my wings flaring out as my darkness surrounds us like a physical cocoon, blocking out any demon that tries to intrude. I feel it every time someone tries to enter our bubble, but the black light shoots through them, ending them immediately, protecting me and Toreon like a rabid guard dog.
“Toreon?” I ask as I place my hands on his face. After a beat, he groans and cracks his lids open. My heart swells, and relief washes through me so strongly it would bring me to my knees if I weren’t already there.
There’s uncertainty and confusion in his weary, bright golden gaze until his eyes land on mine. “Sable?”
Solace settles in both of us, and then shock lights Toreon’s eyes as he looks up at the massive, light-churning portal above us. “Holy shit…” he says in shock, like he’s seeing the portal he made for the first time, and he’s astonished that he’s alive to see it.
He looks back at me, awe in his golden gaze, and he reaches up and wipes a tear that snuck down my cheek. “I almost lost you,” I confess quietly, the pain hammering against me and making my inside feel battered and bruised and coated in sadness.
“You didn’t. You found me instead,” he says simply before he pulls my lips down to his.
The kiss is fast but deep, showing me his gratitude and love and strength. I kiss him back just as fervently, topping his soul off with all the life it needs to heal him from the inside out, because we still have work to do.
In the short second we have, I drink down his silent promises and offer them right back. I seal our mutual vows with my tongue and then nip at his lip before pulling back. Without saying a word, we promise each other for more, for a future. And we’re going to fight to make sure we have that.
On the other side of the darkness that’s protecting us, we can hear the fighting going on. Toreon and I get to our feet, looking around as if the battle will break through our cocoon any minute.
“Vudu is coming,” Toreon tells me. “I can feel him in the bond.”
My heart constricts, both in relief that Vudu is okay, but also with worry about him being thrown into the melee. I can’t decide if I want him here with us or far away and safe, but I have to shrug my worry off and focus.
“Ready?” I ask.
Toreon rolls back his shoulders and gives me a resolute nod. As soon as he does, I call the darkness back to me, and it immediately soaks into my body, ready and waiting to come out again when I call.
As soon as our barrier is gone, I’m able to see the absolute chaos that’s erupted around us. Demons waste no time rushing at Toreon and me, but I make Monster sing, ashing any of them that come our way. Toreon takes down one by pure hand to hand combat, and in a flash, he’s knocked the demon out with an elbow to the face and pilfered his sword.
I look over at his weapon of choice curiously. “I trained with a sword my whole life. Can’t fight with a scythe when you’re trying to hide what you are,” he explains, and I nod with understanding, tightening my grip on my own weapon.
Ahead, I can see Lucifer and the Sins closing in on Morax, but the snake-haired bastard keeps a line of demons between them as he inches toward the portal for a way out.
Coward.
There’s not a chance in Hell that we’re going to let him escape though. I’ll cut him down inside the Pearly Gates if I have to, but this is going to end once and for all. I quickly turn to Toreon. “Can you close the portal? I need to get to my sisters and help,” I shout out over the noise all around us.
Toreon takes in the doorway that leads from Hell into Heaven. “Yes, it will take time though,” he answers with a curious spark in his eyes. Surprise? Eagerness? I can’t put my finger on it, but a smile takes over his full lips,