Page 45 of Mastering Mayhem

She stared at me, not saying a word.

I rested a hand on her shoulder. “Your team needs you to do this without us.”

“You’ve gotten used to the extra power boost,” Shade said, “but once they’re gone, you’ll have to live without it. Might as well get used to it.”

Ember’s neck stiffened, her shoulders drawing inward slightly. She tried to mask her reaction to Shade’s words knifing her heart, but she could not hide her feelings from me. Anger at his callousness simmered in my chest. This was what Ember meant about delivery. Shade had stated a fact about which there was no dispute, but his choice of words and tone of voice had caused my witch unnecessary anguish.

I was tempted to plant my fist on his jaw, but I refrained. Acting on my instincts in such a way would only make our quest harder.

“Shall we, brother?” I motioned toward the door before I lost my ability to abstain.

Chaos stood and rested his hands on Ash’s shoulders, bending to kiss her cheek before following me into the kitchen. “We’ll be downstairs.”

We left the witches to their scrying and descended the steps, stopping in the library. He picked up a stack of tomes and carried them to a bookcase, but he didn’t put them on the shelf. Instead, he set them on the floor and retrieved the feather duster lying haphazardly in the middle of an aisle.

“How did you and Ember stop us all from fighting in the cemetery? Even I felt the urge to make peace when you channeled her magic.” He swiped the feathers across the shelf, making dust billow in the air. Frowning, he dropped the duster and opened a cabinet containing cleaning supplies.

“We mimicked you.” I shrugged and paced in front of the desk. “She held my hand and focused her magic into my mark. It mixed with mine, and I sent it outward. Same as you and Ash.”

My brother sprayed a fine mist onto the shelf and used disposable towels to wipe away the dust. “We can only affect one person at a time. What you did was nothing short of impressive. Good work.”

I opened my mouth, ready to retaliate with a quip, but I closed it again, turning on my heel and pacing away from him. I couldn’t remember a time when he’d paid me a compliment. I had no idea how to respond.

“We must find a way to return to this realm after we mend the veil,” I said. “I cannot exist without Ember. She is as essential as the air I breathe.”

Chaos lined the books on the shelf. “I’ve been considering our options for weeks.” He sprayed another shelf with cleaning fluid and wiped the dust. “The outcome will be grim at best.”

“There must be something we can do.” I continued pacing, clasping my hands behind my back. “The witches belong to us. With us. Fate would not send the missing pieces to our souls only to rip them away. Perhaps Lucifer…”

Chaos laughed dryly. “We’ve been away from our posts for too long. We’ll be lucky to receive his blessing to bring Cinder back.”

My heart sank. “I know.”

Silence descended upon us, only the sounds of my brother’s cleaning and my footsteps filling the room as the gravity of our predicament pressed harder on our shoulders.

If the fate of our eternal happiness rested on Lucifer’s whims, we were…as Ember so eloquently put it…royally screwed.

“I believe he’ll allow Cinder to return for the simple fact that he wants the veil to remain intact,” Chaos finally said. “I highly doubt he’ll allow their parents safe passage. They made a deal with a demon and must face the consequences.”

My stomach soured. “Cinder did as well. Ash and Ember too.”

Chaos stopped cleaning. I stopped pacing. We stood there, our gazes locked, each of us waiting for the other to spout a brilliant solution. My heart sank deeper and deeper, taking a swim in my stomach until the vise yanked it back to my chest, clenching it until I was certain it would burst.

I peered at the floor, willing an idea…or even an inkling of one…to form in my mind. Aside from dropping to our knees and begging Lucifer for mercy, I had nothing.

“I love her.” I forced the words over the lump in my throat.

“I know.” He tossed the towels into a trash bin and sank into the desk chair. “I love Ash too, but the only solution I can think of is taking them to Hell with us.”

“Ember would never agree to that.”

“Neither would Ash. I already asked her.” He opened the drawer and pulled out the small, rolled parchment Cinder had sent across the veil. He used two fingers to unroll it, but he let it go, allowing it to return to its previous state.

“I am sorry for the Cerberus incident,” he said, “and for joining Discord in mocking you. You’ve shown immeasurable restraint in this realm. Your strength is formidable, and I’m proud to call you my brother.”

Again with the compliments. My gut reaction was to throw an insult his way, but I had noticed a change in him as well. Being in this realm had changed us both.

No, the realm had nothing to do with it. “Ember makes me a better man.”

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