Page 68 of Insatiable

When we’re done, he looks like the most bedraggled angel ever—but he fooled the fake hellbeast. Maybe it'll work again.

I hold my breath as we step back, watching for any sign that the disguise will hold. If it doesn’t, our only option is to retrace our steps all the way back to George and beg for mercy. Mercy that he has never shown.

The beast stares at Dade, its teeth bared. Dade is made of stronger stuff than I am. He’s an inch from the snarling jawof the beast—close enough for it to ruffle his hair and yet he holds steadfast. He’s magnificent, his wings outstretched. The pressure he must be under, but he’s like a rock, staring into the red eyes of the beast, willing it to submit.

Finally, the beast lowers its gaze, and I let out a slow, shaky breath. I make a move forward, but Tate’s hand grips my arm, holding me back in warning.

Dade hangs there for a heartbeat, motionless, then steps toward the beast. It's as if a spell has been broken. The beast snaps out of its trance, lunging forward and striking at Dade. His quick reflexes save him, but not fast enough. The creature's jaws clamp down, tearing into his chest with a vicious bite.

I know I’m screaming. After hours of near silence, the sound of my voice echoes off the walls, sharp and piercing. Every instinct in me screams to help him, to pull him back, but I’m frozen, paralyzed. My mind fixates on the life growing inside me. Fear locks me in place.

Suddenly, a flash of white cuts through the chaos. In my frantic state, it takes a moment to register what I’m seeing. Tate. She’s somehow managed to slip into the white dress we had discarded earlier, her body now between Dade and the beast. She’s tall—standing on her tiptoes, she nearly reaches Dade’s height.

The beast pauses, confused. I follow its gaze, trying to understand. Tate, with her flowing white-blonde hair, the ethereal dress, and Dade’s white wings draped around them both, looks like something otherworldly—like an angel descending from the heavens.

And the beast seems to believe it.

It stops growling, its ferocity melting into submission as it lowers its massive head to the ground, like a work of art unfolding before my eyes.

"Wow," Juliette whispers, her voice filled with awe.

I snap back to reality, grabbing her hand and pulling her forward. But my heart pounds in dread as I glance at Dade—he’s losing too much blood.

Between Juliette, Tate and I, we manage to hold Dade up, almost carrying him around the beast and finally bolting through the door at the opposite end of the room, slamming it behind us before the beast comes to its senses.

“Dade!” I whimper as he crashes to the ground.

He looks up at me and smiles. “Everything is healed between circles remember,” He huffs out. I’m momentarily confused until he nods to another set of doors. Elevator doors. The words ‘Third Circle’ are printed in gold above the double doors.

Tate rushes over to the elevator and slams her hand on the call button. We’re here. We’ve done it!

We’ve managed something I never thought possible. Disbelief turns to excitement as the doors open. It takes us a couple of minutes to haul Dade to his feet and get him in the elevator, but between the three of us, we manage it. Cerby trots in behind us and I mentally add ‘stealing a hell dog’ to our list of crimes.

The exit to hell is in our reach and it takes everything I have not to press the button for the lowest circle. We only got out of here because of Quinn. We can’t leave her in Hell on her own. Besides, getting to the inner circle of Hell puts us face to face with Lucifer himself and none of us have prepared for that.

There’s a palpable charge in the air as the elevator descends, an electric tension that makes my heart race. The red velvet wallpaper and the strange painted walls depicting the nine circles are oppressive, but there’s a feeling of joy too. When Dade shifts his shirt aside, revealing the once vicious gash from the Hellbeast miraculously healed, I can’t contain myself. A burst of joy propels me forward, and I fling my arms around Tate, pullingher into a tight hug. The relief, the sheer victory of it all, washes over me.

I turn to Dade next, hugging him fiercely despite the sticky mess of blood still on his chest that smears across my dress. But I don’t care. "I knew we'd get that baby of yours to safety," he whispers in my ear, and I smile up at him, warmth flooding my chest. Who would’ve thought the brooding, mysterious Dade had a heart underneath all that darkness?

I spin around, ready to embrace Juliette in my elation, only to freeze in place. My eyes widen as I take in the sight before me—Juliette’s lips are locked with Tate’s. Or maybe Tate’s lips are on hers. I’m not even sure who initiated it.

My mouth hangs open in shock, the adrenaline in my veins now twisting into something completely unexpected. The soft ping of the elevator doors opening snaps me out of it, but Tate and Juliette remain entirely oblivious, lost in their moment.

“Ahem,” I clear my throat, feeling the heat of embarrassment creeping up my neck.

Tate pulls away slowly, her face smug, like the cat that got the cream. Juliette, on the other hand, looks stunned, her eyes wide with shock.

“Maybe we should get out before the elevator decides to take us back up?" I suggest, trying to restore some sense of normalcy to the situation.

Tate struts out confidently, her long white dress trailing behind her, now smeared with Dade’s blood across the front, looking like the goddess she is. Just like Dade, she has healed completely, the scars on her legs vanished.

“Are you coming?” I smirk at Juliette, who still seems too stunned to move.

“She kissed me,” Juliette hisses as we trail behind Dade and Tate.

I glance up at the pair, striding ahead like royalty, their presence larger than life. They move with the kind of grace that feels otherworldly. Dade had shrugged off the white cloth he’d worn in the elevator, but Tate is still rocking the bloodstained white dress like some kind of warrior goddess.

“I hugged Dade. So what?” I shrug, still feeling the adrenaline. “Emotions were high. I probably would've kissed Tate too. I mean, she did save us.”

---