he is more powerful than me because he isn’t. The power is mine now, not his.”
“We can’t rule out that he still has every ounce of that power. He never died. Your grandfather imprisoned him with his full power still available to him. Consider that the power of Hell didn’t so much transfer as expanded to include the new ruler in his absence.”
“Bring the box back,” I grit out.
“No, not until we have a definitive plan. One where I know you can beat him.”
“Dad will help me, if I need it,” I point out triumphantly, having landed on this suddenly.
“Not a solid enough plan if Lucifer gets to you first,” she says stubbornly.
The frustration wells up in me and I clench my fists.
“Where is Dad?” Shax asks suddenly in the dark silence that has fallen. “He should be back by now.”
“Back from where?” I ask.
“He was the one that rescued me,” Shax says with a frown.
“Yes, your little mind-fuck friend came to me after he spoke with Shax,” Mom says, surprising me completely. “It was a trap for you to start the Apocalypse. You couldn’t go, so Dashel went to get his son back from those assholes.”
“Sid?” I ask, feeling the betrayal. “He came to see you instead of me?”
“Mm,” she says. “Killian, be a dear and go and check on my husband, would you?”
“Uhm,” I interject before Killian can respond. “You don’t order him about.”
“It wasn’t an order,” Killian says and feels the wrath of my gaze as it lands upon him. “She asked and, yes, I’ll go.”
He steps forward to kiss the top of my head. “I’ll be right back.”
“No…”
“It will give Hell a chance to adapt to having only Xavi here, if only for a few moments,” he whispers to me, lifting my chin up. “Trust me, Princess. I will return shortly. I won’t leave you, no matter how dire this situation gets.”
“If you aren’t back in five minutes, I will come to find you and fuck Armageddon, got it?”
“Got it,” he says with a soft smile that I have never seen cross his face before. I find it a massive turn on that he has that side to him. I grip his shirt and tilt my head back expecting a proper kiss even though my mother and brother are standing right here.
He obliges me briefly and then with a bolt of lightning that singes the carpet in the hallway, he’s gone.
“He had better come back,” I spit out at my mother.
“They can’t touch the Horsemen,” she says, with a wave of her hand. “They are inevitable.”
“Humph,” I mutter. I look at Shax. He looks completely beaten. “I’m glad you’re back and safe.”
“Thanks,” he mutters. “Have you seen Shadow?”
I frown at him. “Yeah, the Guards found her dead outside and brought her to me.”
“Dead?” he croaks out.
“Oh, she’s fine now,” I add, probably belatedly. Maybe, I should have led with that. His face went a sickly color of gray and the penny drops. “You knew she could Shift into a human, didn’t you?” I ask.
“She’s fine?” he asks, ignoring my question.
I nod. “She was dead, but when I touched her, she came back, then she ran off back outside. I dunno how or why. Shax?”
But he is off down the corridor before I can stop him.
I flame out and appear in front of him. “You can’t go out there. With the lockdown and the climate change, Darius is on the rampage for offenders. You go out there, he might tag you. He already nearly killed Aleister. I can’t let you leave here.” I put my hand on his chest to make my point.
“I’ll be fine,” he dismisses my concern. “I need to find Shadow.”
“Nooo, you need to stay here where you are safe.” My eyes bore into his. He has to realize that if he gets hurt so do I now that he is back. Yes, our blood might be the cure to the briar poison, but what if he dies before he gets back to me?
“I’m going,” he states and shoves me out of the way.
“Shax!” I call after him, but he has vanished in a flurry of black feathered wings.
I’m about to follow him when I suddenly just lose all the fight that’s in me.
“Fuck this,” I comment and flame out.
I land in my bedroom. I’m tired and the weight of Hell on my shoulders has never felt so heavy.
“Hey,” Xavi says, startling me. She is sitting on my bed, her legs crossed, wearing an