Page 111 of Ruled By Fate

“No,” she whispered, touching a finger to her cheek. The angel looked on helplessly in the background, but for once, she didn’t need his help. She spoke again, louder this time. “No.”

Without a moment’s pause, she lifted Rashida’s hand and placed the pendant between their palms, lacing their fingers together so they were holding it between them.

“What are you going to do?” Cameron whispered.

Brie’s fingers tightened. “The same thing you do when you need something. Pray.”

She bowed her head and closed her eyes, asking with all her heart that her friend, her wonderful new friend who did not deserve this violence, be put back together and given the life that had been stolen. She repeated the silent plea over and over, kneeling there for what felt like a long time, but was really only a harrowing minute. Then, all at once, her earnest request was interrupted.

“Girl, what the hell are you doing? And what happened to my sweater?”

Her eyes flew open to see Rashida staring up at her, those beautiful eyes wide with confusion and concern.

“Oh, thank goodness,” Brie cried, throwing both arms around her neck. “I thought it wasn’t going to work. I thought… I thought we’d lost you.”

“Lost me?” Rashida repeated, attempting to pull herself free. “What in the world are you talking about? Brie, what is this? What worked? Why am I all sticky?”

Brie merely tightened her grip, her eyes closed in relief.

Cameron was simply astounded and perhaps borderline sick. When Rashida held up a bloody hand, lips parting in alarm, he reached quickly for her arm, putting her to sleep as well.

“Would you stop doing that?” Brie exclaimed when her second friend went limp in her arms. “Don’t you think we should keep her conscious? Since she just, I don’t know, died?”

Cameron looked around the parking lot. “I’m not saying you don’t have a point, but…”

She followed his gaze. “Oh.”

They stood up and turned together in a slow circle. There were enormous hoofprints embedded in the asphalt, bullet holes where the ricochets had pierced cars and walls, and a giant circle, still glowing like magma, burning around the place where Brie had sent Mammon back to Hell.

Brie shook her head, exhaling a slow breath. “What happened?”

Cameron looked at her, astonished. “You don’t remember?”

She shook her head. “The last thing I remember, Sherry hit the wall, and I screamed…” She trailed off, unable to recall a second more. “What killed her? What did you do?”

There was a beat of silence. “What did I do?”

She turned to him, annoyed. “Look, I’m sorry I didn’t see your glorious moment of triumph or whatever, but I was busy blacking out from all the unspeakable trauma I’ve experienced over the last week, and frankly, I don’t think it’s fair that you… Why are you looking at me like that?”

He took a step closer, eyes burning with intensity.

“Seriously, what’s wrong?” She threw a glance over her shoulder, aware of the very real possibility that one of the daughters of Hell had come back to life. “Are you hurt? Do you hear someone coming? Why are you staring at me like that?”

He crossed the distance between them, looking rather wild. It was an expression she had never seen before, one that caught her breath and stirred her blood at the same time. He was so close she could feel his heart beat faster and faster, could see as deep as she’d ever seen into the oceanic pools of his dilated eyes. Her heart ached; her limbs felt weak and light all at once. Time would have stopped, if it hadn’t already. They hovered on the agonizing edge a moment longer, waited to play the note they knew would ring forth forever and challenge their destiny.

Then they made a fateful choice.

His hand brushed lightly down her cheek. She lifted without thinking onto her toes.

“I should have done this a long time ago,” he murmured, slipping a hand into her hair.

She froze instinctively, forgetting to breathe, gazing up at him.

“I should have done it every day since.”

He leaned closer, so close she could feel the warmth of his breath, and before either could resist, their lips pressed into a delicate, passionate kiss.

It escalated without warning, without restraint. And once it started, it became abundantly clear: there was absolutely no stopping it.

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