The Lure of the Devil (The Demons' Muse #4) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,84

not," Bel grunted.

That made Nick chuckle, but it was weak, proving that he was just as exhausted as the rest of us. "You're just low on aether, Bel."

"They all are," Ron said. "Sia?"

She dipped her head just a bit to catch my attention. "Here," she breathed.

And then she began to push. I sucked in a breath, bracing for the searing pain, but this was a soft, comfortable warmth. The same kind as always, not the intensity of whatever had just happened to her. And yet, I could feel my energy coming back quickly. Maybe too quickly. As soon as I felt I could stand on my own, I reached up for her wrist, gently easing her hand away.

"You need to do that with all of them," I reminded her.

"I..." She paused to scrunch up her face. "I kinda have a lot."

"Not surprised," I assured her. "You drained most of Mac's - not to death. I got you out of there before that could happen, but you did."

She nodded. "And I'm tired. Not drained, but just worn out."

"Fill up the others, pumpkin," I told her, easing myself back.

And she did. Sam went next, then Bel. Nick wanted Ron to go next, but the love of my life shook his head, saying he was fine. She hadn't been able to pull from him, after all, so he'd regulated what he'd used. Nick gave in, but he only let Sia give him so much, and the whole time, his eyes scanned her face as if he couldn't believe she was still with us.

Not that I blamed him. I had a feeling that all of us were right there with him. I was. Seeing her body so lifeless, with her neck clearly broken? That was something that would stick with me for a very long time. But when I looked at the others, they met my eyes with the same thought. We didn't need to tell her about that. She didn't need to know.

Because there were some things that Sia wasn't quite ready for yet. No, we wouldn't lie to her about it, but that didn't mean we needed to dump it on her either. Before she could understand the insanity of her revival, we needed to figure it out ourselves. Right now, it was just a good thing. Something to be relieved about.

But I had a feeling that there was a lot more to this. No human had ever done what she just had. Not even Jesus. His miraculous recovery was thanks to Michael. The guy had been in a coma, slowly dying, when he'd been interred. His father had slipped into the cavern with him, healed him, and then helped him to get out. It was no different from the millions of children I'd healed instead of reaped. We all did it.

What had happened to Sia, though, had been out of our control. We had not saved her. She'd saved herself, taking from us - and everything around us - to make it possible. She'd simply refused to die.

But what did that mean for the next time? Because if something as stupid as slipping on a spilled drink could kill the most powerful Muse in history, then I had a feeling that there could be a next time. No matter how careful we were, we couldn't stop all the accidents in the world, and too many times, she'd come too close to being a casualty of one.

Then again, most of them had been started by angels. This one, however, hadn't been. This had been nothing more than sheer bad luck. This had been the only thing we hadn't prepared for - yet she'd still refused to die.

And that meant I had questions.

20

Satanael

Sam carried Sia into the cottage to put her to bed. Bel announced that he was going to reap because we all needed aether, and he didn't want to take any more from her. I thought about going with him, but Ronwe stepped up first, saying that he was still fine but would gladly help Bel collect enough for the rest of us. Luke opened his mouth to protest, and Ronwe gave him a look that said he should know better.

"You and Nick have things to talk about," Ronwe said. "Do that while reaping if you must, or trust your legion to take care of you."

Bel chuckled at that. "I will take care of your first lover, Luke. You talk to your second, and Sam can tuck in your third."

The grin