Page 146 of Living Legend

"Dani?" Nicholas asked, but it sounded so far away.

I blinked over to him, then down at where his hand wrapped over mine. "Don't beat yourself up. You couldn't have prevented it."

"I know. I just hate it."

"Always trying to be the hero. None of this is your fault, so we can just skip the whole 'you feel bad because you should have done something' bit, alright?" I raised an eyebrow at him. "We both know you have no idea how to fix any of this, but we also know you want to try."

Nick smirked softly. "You think you know me already."

"I'm surprised you didn't tell your precious leaders about your sudden lack of souls to bring back."

He shrugged and rolled his shoulders. He tapped his fingers on the top of my hand. "We can't really linger too long, so Reese wanted us to get a move on. No one had mentioned anything when we came back, and no one mentioned anything long after it happened. I was going to, because I remember thinking that shit like that just didn't happen, but the Animus Seeking takes a lot out of you. I just went to sleep and didn't think about it. Yes, I know that sounds like a load of shit."

"I wasn't going to say it sounded like a load of shit, but I mean, what exactly would have happened? A new war breaks out over two measly souls? It just sounds like a quick way to make a mess."

Nicholas bit his bottom lip. "Well, I didn't say anything and another kind of war is breaking out anyway, so in the end, I guess it didn't really matter." He threaded his fingers through mine casually. I found myself liking this side of him, even though it was slightly sad and a little unforgiving in a situation that wasn't his fault.

"Fair enough."

Nicholas squinted at me suspiciously. "You seem to be taking this way too well."

"How would you like me to take it? I could be freaked out, which I am. I could be shocked, which I am. I could even act unsurprised, which…I am. Lilith does a lot of weird shit and I'm sure Natalia told you there isn't anything you can do to fix it.”

Nicholas hummed next to me. "What she did was fucked up for sure, but an angelic-demon hybrid isn't unheard of. There hasn't been one in forever, like a really long time, so long that I'm a little unsure if it's actually just a myth. They were super powerful…" His voice trailed off as I took in what he said. His words started to muddle together and suddenly, his voice became Daya's voice. Her words started to bleed through his own and then, all I heard was her story. A demon and an angel created a child, a natural born symbiotic being of the two creatures, and it died because of what it could have been.

I had already summed up that Lilith was the culprit of it all. Jonah's father wanted power, but as much as they wanted to believe it, I don't think he would have gone to those depths to remain on his throne of angelic hypocrisy. From the way Daya put it, Jonah's father's real issue was with Moira, while Moira simply tried to maintain the peace. That child would have been the connection between angels and demons, and Lilith would have had to deal with the two worlds colliding in a way she wasn't comfortable with. It would be a world she couldn’t control, so she took matters into her own hands and created the chaos she practically orgasmed over. Who would want to be working with her now?

My chest started to heat as I thought about it. If I was Lilith, I would be boiling over at the idea of a child who could be more powerful than me. Lilith had time to sit and plan, when Oculus was shattered and demons and angels were at each other’s throats. She had time to encourage those Enchanters to want out of the confines that Natalia's mother was forced to put them in. She had plenty of time to realize the same thing I was realizing now.

Could a created hybrid be the same as a born one? Maybe the idea of one wouldn't be so maddening if it was her own.

Along with that thought came the idea that she suppressed my angelic side of myself. How in the hell was she planning to get me to regain my hold over it?

I was right to say I was a dangerous pawn. I just didn't know how dangerous.

"Sorry, am I boring you?" Nicholas snapped his fingers in front of my face. I rapidly blinked a few times and almost opened my mouth, but all the stuff about Daya's family just seemed too personal for me to share. Nicholas reached his hand up and slowly ran his knuckles over my jaw.

"No, not boring. It's just…Nick." I grabbed his hand so it was away from my face and I could breathe again. "I'm gonna be honest and say I've always thought something was off about myself, but aside from that, being a demon has felt okay. I'm good at it."

He gave me a puzzled expression, the scar under his eye standing out even more. "Yeah, because Lilith wanted you to be."

"Yeah, but being a demon isn't the worst thing in the world. It may not be the best home in the entire world, but I had a life there…Ihavea life there. It's hard to picture life anywhere else. Yeah, I mean, I had ideas that something bigger was meant for me, but I had people who grounded me."

He slid his tongue over his top row of teeth, looking down at his comforter, his legs, and then up to my face. "You have no idea what being an angel is like; you could love it."

"You say that like I would be welcomed here with open arms. That's laughable. This is one thing we both know will end with me going back to Purgatory and you being here, doing whatever the hell you do."

Nicholas let out an exasperated sigh. "You don't know that."

I snorted. "Oh, but you do. Again, the hero act is very hot, but it won't work this time." I reached up to slide my fingers through his dark hair. "Telling me was super noble, but the situation is still the same. Knowing this doesn't change how we approach anything, unless Natalia has some way to understandthis." I waved my hand over my body.

He lifted his eyes to watch my hand move. "Natalia is a lot smarter than we think.”

I stuck my tongue between my teeth. "Your optimism is cute."

He tugged my hand away, but kept it clasped in his own warm one and tugged me

a little bit closer to him. "A little optimism of your own would be great, you know. It's like you actually want to go back to that place."

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