Page 89 of The Devil's Dilemma

“Don’t kill him, please. He did it for love, the same as you would.”

“I can’t let it go, Austin. I won’t let your death go unpunished.”

I nodded, understanding his reasoning. If the devil was seen to be lenient, the meagre hold he had on the world would be stripped away, and he’d be left with nothing.

As much as I hated he was right, it had to be done.

I sighed. God, I was tired. A glowing light flickered to my right, and I smiled, knowing who it’d be.

“Momma?”

“Oh, my poor boy, I couldn’t tell you this part of the prophecy, but you are your father’s son, and he would have stolen the moon and stars for both of us and sacrificed himself.”

“Can I come with you? Is it my time?”

“Austin, don’t you fucking leave me.” Dante brought me back to the here and now, and the light faded into the distance.

“Momma, don’t leave me.”

“It’s not your time. You’ll know when the time is right.”

The light disappeared completely, and slowly the pain returned, more severe than before. I coughed, droplets of blood landing on Dante’s pale hands.

“Am I dying?”

“Not if I can fucking help it, you’re not. I can’t see anything with this knife in the way.”

Before I could tell him you should never remove a knife, he pulled it out of my chest and threw it across the ground away from us.

He frowned. “What the…?”

“What’s wrong?”

He barked out a laugh. “Well, fucking fancy that.”

Slowly but surely, my strength returned, and I was able to breathe easier, although the pain in my chest persisted.

“That sneaky bastard. He knew exactly what he was doing.”

What the fuck was he talking about?

“The amulet the shop owner gave you. The one we hung around your neck to protect you from me before we completed the bond. The knife must have hit it.”

“But there was so much blood.”

My once grey shirt was soaked in my blood, so why on earth wasn’t I dead?

“I don’t fucking know, but there’s definitely a hole where it’s been pierced. Let me take a look.”

He removed the chip from around my neck and showed it to me. Yep, definitely another hole in it. I put my hand to my chest and touched a bump with my fingers, fingers that came away red with blood.

“There’s a small scar there as if you were stabbed months ago, yet we both know it just happened.”

I sat up, weak but alive.

“Where is everyone?” I looked around. The only person still with us was the man who had stabbed me in a fit of passion. Everyone else had disappeared.

“I don’t know, but it feels strange. I think you should go back inside. Can you stand?”

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