to stay here in your Matron’s palace? In Hell?” I venture.
Ire tips his head. “I did. But last night, and even this last week has shown me a lot.”
“Like what?”
“Like the fact that you and Toreon—and by extension, Vudu—will never be completely safe here,” Ire admits, his bright blue eyes blazing. “There is still unrest in the Rings, and the Ophidian’s followers are not completely gone. Every time you try to leave the palace, it would be a safety concern. And even the founding Seven Sins have skewed views and ideas of what you owe to Hell because of what you are.”
“So what are you saying?” I press.
“We’re saying,” Toreon begins, drawing my gaze over to him. “That we talked, and we want to know what your feelings are about living in the Mortal Realm.”
I sit there, stunned, looking between their three faces. They regard me carefully, even with a little worry shining in their eyes.
“We thought you would like to be closer to your sisters,” Vudu puts in.
Toreon nods. “Plus, being in the Mortal Realm will be safer. Because once you work your Annulus abilities on the Hellgate, I fully intend to step in and use my Gatekeeper powers to stabilize it once and for all. If it’s stable, it limits who can enter the Mortal Realm, which limits who could give us trouble there. It’s not a perfect solution, but it would be safer.”
I’m gobsmacked.
Completely and utterly on a mind bend. So many thoughts are swirling around at the same time it’s difficult to latch onto any one thing.
“You’d do that?” I ask, emotion starting to rise up my throat. “You’d actually offer to sacrifice your power to sustain the Hellgate? Even after everything that happened to your family because of that very thing?”
Toreon swallows, but he gives me a resolute nod. “Yes.”
“Why?” I ask incredulously. Honestly, I wouldn’t blame him if he wanted nothing to do with any of it ever again.
“Because it’s my duty,” he says simply. “But mostly because it will help to keep my mate safe. Once you go to the Gate today, you and your sisters will reset it. It will be like it was in the beginning, and I can stabilize it from there. It will be like new again, and I understand better now why it’s such an important part of keeping demons in Hell where they belong.”
I’m overcome with the sacrifice Toreon is willing to give. I reach across Vudu to give his hand a squeeze, hoping the gesture and my expression show him just how proud I am of him, how thankful I am. He squeezes my hand back and lifts it, pressing his lips against my knuckles before he releases me.
“If you like this plan, we can move forward,” he tells me.
I bite my lip. “But...none of you have ever lived in the Mortal Realm before,” I point out.
“No, but you have,” Ire replies. “And we’re up for a little change of scenery. A place we can claim as our own.”
“Where would we stay?”
His lips curve. “You’ll see. Now let’s go fix a Hellgate!”
“Oh my God, how did you get the top on? I still to this day can’t manage it, but you totally did,” Delta hoots as peals of laughter come pouring from her mouth at my expense.
I was right about the sister thing, wrong about this being a Hellgate requirement.
“You look so hot though,” Delta adds, rocking back on her heels.
I give her a glare, mostly because she’s in comfortable leggings and a tube top, while Medley is in short jean cutoffs and a corset that zips up in the front. I really could’ve used that zipper this morning. You know what neither of them are wearing? Leather.
And I found out this material squeaks. A lot.
“What? You do,” Delta says with a grin, and I reach over and pinch her before she can get out of my reach. “Ow!” she whines before she darts behind Rafferty. “Iceman, protect me from Sable.”
Her blue-skinned mate glances down at her where she’s clutching his arm. “What do you want me to do? Shoot ice at her?”
Delta’s gray eyes gleam. “Would you?” she asks excitedly.
“No.”
I snicker, and Delta sticks her tongue out at him.
I look down at myself. “It was a pain to get on, but now I think I kind of like it. The top is probably my favorite,” I declare.
“Really?” Medley asks. “I mean, I did get on board with the pants, I will admit that much. My