“You’re soulless, demon,” Zuri told him. “You’re not even a man. You’re simply a means to an end.”
Shelly saw the second Osiris made his decision. She moved even closer as she shook her head. “You don't have to do this,” she practically whispered. “You don’t have to be what people say you are.”
“He will never be anything but what he is,” Zuri said as her eyes met Shelly’s. “The destroyer of souls. Without care or mercy.”
Osiris shook his head. “You’re wrong.” He glanced down at Zuri, and his eyes seemed to soften for just a minute. “I can have mercy, and I’m offering it to you.” His blade slid across Zuri’s throat so fast Shelly didn’t even have time to make a sound.
Osiris turned back to her as he gently laid Zuri to the ground. His eyes held hers as he spoke. “I’m not the devil you think I am, little one.”
Shelly’s eyes dropped to Zuri as blood pooled around her. When Shelly looked back up, Osiris was right in front of her. “I’m worse,” he said as he wrapped an arm around her waist. “And I’m tired of not having what I want.” Shelly heard Ra’s voice calling her name as she looked over her shoulder and found his horror-filled eyes just before Osiris took her.
“She said I didn’t care,” Shelly heard Osiris whisper in her ear. “She was wrong. I care, but only about what I want and about you.”
Tears slipped down her face. “I’m not meant for you,” she said as they suddenly appeared in the room she remembered from her first time in hell.
“I thought I could let him have you,” Osiris said as he released her. He lifted his hand and wiped her tears away with a gentleness that shouldn’t have been possible from the demon who had just slit Zuri’s throat. “But I’m a demon. Coveting things is what I do. And I’m not just any demon, am I? I am the serpent of old. I am the great deceiver. I am the roaring lion who devours his prey. And I will take what I want when I want. And you, Shelly Smith, are what I want.”
Shelly whispered words that Ra had said to her only the night before as he’d held her in his arms.
“What did you say?” Osiris asked, leaning closer to her.
Shelly raised her chin and narrowed her eyes at him. “I said, my name is Shelly Nasir.”
Chapter 20
Gabby heard screaming, roaring, as a matter of fact, but it wasn’t until Liam grabbed her face and forced her to look at him that she realized the noise was coming from her.
“We will get her back,” Liam’s lips read because she certainly couldn’t hear him, not above her banshee-like wails.
Liam gave her a firm shake and growled. “Gabby.”
The surprise roughness snapped her mouth shut, and finally, she could hear what he was saying.
“We will get her back,” Liam said again. “She’ll be all right.”
Tara ran over, shoved Liam out of the way, and wrapped Gabby in a tight hug. Gabby didn’t even hesitate to hug her friend back. Because that's what Tara was, her friend. One of her best friends, in fact.
“I’m so sorry,” Gabby said softly as Tara pulled back and wiped at the tears running down her dirt-covered face. Gabby could see Elias hovering a foot or so behind Tara, obviously fighting the need to snatch her up into his arms.
Tara shook her head. “Shelly’s tough. She’ll be fine.”
Gabby nodded. “Of that, I have no doubt. I will do whatever I can to help get her back.”
Tara gave her a watery smile. “You're a badass, so I’m betting on us to win.”
The sound of a struggle caused Gabby’s defenses to go up, as did the others’. All of them dropped into fighting stances and turned to see where the threat was coming from.
As her eyes roamed over the clearing that had been a battlefield only moments ago, she saw only the remnants of the fight.
The light elementals that had helped fight with the light royals were helping gather the bodies of the fallen. The sound she’d heard was actually Ra roaring out a battle cry as he and Aviur flung fireballs at one another.
“This is not good,” Tara muttered as they watched Ra form massive balls of fire in each hand.
“Ra Nasir,” Aviur bellowed, “I order you to stand down.”
To Gabby’s shock, the normally quiet and stoic Ra threw his head back and laughed.