Another snap, and the unfamiliar trio disappears. I pinch the bridge of my nose and try to breathe in and out slowly. This is making me want to scream in anger while simultaneously shredding my heart to ribbons.
“Hmm. How about—”
“STOP! Just stop! They fucking died!” I scream, the first onslaught of furious tears escaping despite how hard I’m trying to fight them. “They died trying to protect me, and it’s all my fucking fault!” My voice rings out, silencing every single demon in the room. They all look at me like I’ve gone fucking berserk.
But does that stop Taz? Nope. The motherfucker—literally—snaps his devil damned fingers again, filling the room with so much steam, it looks like the inside of a sauna.
I turn away in disgust, hating him for putting me through this. I grip my scythe, ready to rage until I manage to destroy this room like I did my own kitchen.
But then I hear four familiar voices say my name at exactly the same time, and my blood turns ice-cold, freezing me in place. “Delta?”
7
My head snaps up, and I stare at the four demons that my head and heart know well.
Is this a trick? How are they here?
My feet feel like they’re fixed to the floor as I stare at them, scanning them for injuries or evidence of the fight I saw go down with my own eyes, but they look...fine. Perfectly okay. It doesn’t make any sense. I watched Jerif go down. He was overrun. And yet he stands right there looking as sour as ever, not a scratch on him.
“How?” I ask on a choked sob.
And then all at once, I decide it doesn’t matter. They’re there, fifteen feet away from me. I don’t care if they’re dead somehow and able to be called into the Center Ring of Hell because of some Abdicated power. For the moment, I don’t care if there’s some other explanation, because they’re here.
I sprint toward them, closing the distance between us in a blink. I ignore what appears to be a speedy new ability as I flash forward, instantly wrapping my arms around the first demon I slam into.
Jerif’s skin is warm and soothing, and he smells exactly like I remember. If this is just a spirit or a hologram, it’s a good one.
I feel bodies press in all around me until I’m wrapped up in a giant demon bear hug circle. I squeeze Jerif with all my might, so relieved to see them that it trumps every other emotion. I can feel the tears and sobs sitting in my chest like they’re waiting their turn, but right now, all I can focus on is touching them, looking at them, being with them again.
“I didn’t see her going for Jerif first,” Echo grumbles.
“Same. I always thought we were her favorites. Maybe it was a trajectory thing? He just happened to be closest?” Crux adds as he pets my shoulder.
“That’s probably it,” Echo agrees, talking over my head. He places a kiss on my hair before his eyes land on my wings. “When did you get all feathery, Swampy?” he asks, and I feel them step back from me.
I laugh and shake my head as I look around at the four of them. Jerif gives me one more bruising squeeze before he sets me back down on my feet, but he does it slowly, like he doesn’t really want to let me go. My heartbeat is racing so hard that it sounds like horse’s hooves pounding on a track. His fiery eyes are filled with the same relief I’m wearing, and I get lost in them for a second. This...this is the intensity I always knew was in Jerif, but instead of the asshole side, all of that intensity is filling me with molten heat that has nothing to do with anger.
“Are you really here? Are you dead?” I demand, terrified that they’ll confirm that they are, in fact, dead, and this reunion will only be short-lived.
“We’re not dead,” Echo tells me, but I can’t quite believe it. I have a stranglehold on hope, because if they disappear, it will ruin me.
“Where are we?” Iceman asks, and all of them finally look away from me and take in our surroundings.
“Ho-ly shit.” Crux’s wide green eyes land on the group of Abdicated, and he drops to his knee and does this weird hand-over-heart, head-bowing thing.
One by one, Echo, Iceman, and Jerif all drop into the same bow.