The Devil's Kiss - By Stacey Kennedy Page 0,46

Magnus. “You helped me?”

“They would have been a continuing threat if they had not been destroyed. You never asked if I planned to assist you. It was my intention all along to give you aid once Pye was destroyed.”

“So, you knew it wasn’t a private meeting?” I ground out between clenched teeth.

“I am the Lord of Underworld,” he said without remorse. “I do what I have to to get what I want. If you knew, you never would have agreed.”

Wasn’t that the truth. I sighed, deep and long. “I’m tired.” And I really was. I tried to give myself a little healing, but it only came out in little flickers. I didn’t have enough to fully revive me.

Magnus ran his hand across my face. “You are incredible,” he whispered.

I sighed deeper. “Not this again. If you even think of kissing me, I’ll find it in me somewhere to punch you. Got it?”

He laughed boisterously and the demons followed suit. “You don’t have the strength to give me the kiss I deserve. That will come later.”

I ignored that comment, wanting nothing more than just to get the hell out of there. “So, you are going to return Dante’s soul, right?”

He nodded, before lifting me into his arms. “It has already been done.” He began to walk out of the room. Apparently, he was allowing me to go home.

Being in his arms felt all too weird but I took it as an immediate invitation. With the only power I had left in me, I read into him. He smiled down at me, knowing what I was doing, but didn’t stop me. He opened himself up so I could understand his world.

The visions came quick. What I saw was far from what I expected.

Magnus was a leader and this was just his world to protect. Demons were indeed soul-takers, but it wasn’t innocent souls they were taking. The souls they took were ones given freely by humans who wanted something in return.

He never used the Black Magic against others to hurt them, nor did he push others to do so. He wasn’t looking to kill, only to keep his world alive. Human souls are what fed their magic. The choice was the only one.

It was definitely a rude awakening. I misunderstood the evil that dwelled here. Black Magic was from a dark source—that was undeniable—but it was just another source. Did it turn some to evil? Of course it did, but there was evil that came from the Otherworld too.

Was it something to fear? Absolutely, but not all who held this magic was out to kill. They were doing what they needed for survival. Did Magnus stop evil ones from taking innocent souls? No. To him it gave his world strength. That is where the Underworld differed from the Otherworld. We stopped evil from consuming the Earthworld. The Underworld didn’t.

Just because I understood it more didn’t mean it still didn’t scare the crap out of me, and made me damn glad that I wasn’t going to be a part of it.

When the visions stopped, a thought occurred to me. “Why did you draw the darkness from me?”

He was the reason I didn’t succumb to it, his hand on my stomach was the connection needed to draw it away. “You could have just let it take me and kept me here in this realm.”

His gave a clever smile. “Time will soon answer that question.”

Chapter Ten

When I landed back in Foyer, strong arms scooped me up immediately before I could even hit the ground.

“Zia,” Talon shouted. A second later, she was there, reaching out and gave me an oomph of healing.

Two breaths passed before I felt brand new again. Lord did it feel good. Having your magic drained is the equivalent to having the swine flu—horrible all around.

Willow’s rough tongue met my hand. “I’m glad to see you in one piece, but it was a stupid move. Very, very stupid.”

I smiled at her and patted her head. “It was a close one, that’s for damn sure.”

She nodded and purred into my embrace.

My gaze left hers as a body knelt down in front of me. I glanced up. Dante wore an expression of immense gratitude. “I owe you my life. What you did…” he smiled, “…was brave.”

“It wasn’t brave.” I shook my head. “It was right.”

Valor joined Dante then leaned in and kissed both my cheeks. “Consider your debt repaid. You are never to feel it necessary to do that again. Understood?”

I laughed, relieved that this