Inferno of Darkness (Divisa Huntress #2) - J.L. Weil Page 0,9

likely to never see again? If I was lucky, Ashor and I might see each other four times a year, during the solstices and equinoxes, which wasn’t precisely relationship worthy. Four nights a year, and that was if we could find each other.

I could circle around the pros and cons on an endless loop, the scales tipped neither one way nor the other, leaving me feeling unbalanced. Something had to change. I had to change.

It was easy to say the words, even mean them, but to actually change… that was the difficult part. My mind continued to harp on Ashor and the dream, even as my arms were piled with gifts and trinkets that my credit card would groan about.

Shopping had always been my therapy. Some people paid to lie on a couch and unload their problems, their deepest, darkest secrets to someone with a degree framed on their desk. There was nothing wrong with that. I actually was a little bit envious of those people. But what worked for me was retail therapy.

Or, it used to work for me.

That little trick no longer seemed to quiet the noise in my head or the wisp of shadows curling in my blood, because after we left Little Bundles with packages in tow, that purged feeling I expected never came.

I stepped outside into the bright sun, inhaling the afternoon January air, but damn it all, my heart was still heavy, my soul still splintered. This feeling of being incomplete was never going away, not as long as Ashor and I were apart.

Damn him for altering my life forever.

Damn him for forcing me to live without him.

Damn him for being who he was.

Just damn, damn, damn.

Cursing Ashor was becoming my new favorite pastime.

“What are you going to do?” Angel asked. My mind was elsewhere, as it had been most of the day.

“Huh?” I replied, tilting my head to the side so I could see her face. “What do you mean?”

Her pretty features grew serious. “About Ashor? I know you, Lexi. And I know you’re hurting and confused. I know what it’s like to be separated from the one person who is literally like your other half. You won’t ever stop thinking about him, so what are you going to do about it?”

Shrugging, I kicked at a rock, watched it skip out in front of us. “What can I do?”

“Bullshit. You’re fucking Lexi Winters,” she said fervently. “You don’t give up, not when you truly want something, and whether you are ready to admit it or not, you want him. Or at the very least, a chance to know if you want him. For Christ’s sake, you made it your personal mission to kill every demon who had a hand in Colin’s death. And you did and then some.”

“What are you saying? That I should go back to the underworld?”

“If that is what you want. But why does that have to be the only option?”

“What are you suggesting?” I asked.

“That we find another way to solve your problem. There has to be some way for you to be together without having to sacrifice your life.” Angel, the beacon of optimism.

I racked my brain for other answers and only came up with one that made sense. “You want me to break Ashor out of Hell?”

She lifted a brow, mulling over the idea. “If anyone can, it’s you. You’re a goddamn Winters. We don’t give up.”

The wheels in my head were already turning. Could it be done? It wasn’t just breaking Ashor out of the underworld. He was bonded by an oath to the Wild Hunt. I wasn’t even sure if him living in the mortal world was possible as long as the oath was in place. So the question was, could the oath be broken? There was only one way to find out.

Hell, yes, I was doing this. A slow grin spread over my lips. “This is why you’re my best friend.” For the first time since I’d come home, I finally had a purpose, a reason to live, to keep on fighting.

It wouldn’t be easy breaking him out of the dungeon his mother held him in, but I had the advantage of having spent time there myself.

We stepped down from the curb into the street, heading toward Angel’s car. We had parked near the bakery. “Obviously.” She followed up her statement with a big yawn, putting a hand over her mouth. “Sorry,” she apologized with a tired grin. “This being pregnant thing is really