Page 17 of Legendary

“She has a point.” Nicholas added, shrugging his shoulders. “We should all be on guard going in.”

Elise let out a disgusted sound and stalked over to Natalia. I watched Zane bristle a bit at her proximity to the High Priestess. Natalia simply watched as Elise stopped in front of her. She pushed out her bottom lip in a pout. “I’m so fucking touched by your concern, but lets be honest, there is norealfool proof way to keep your wits about yourself in that place. I’m sure every Enchanter down there is now ten times as crazy since we’ve probably lit a fire under your little girlfriend’s asshole.”

“For fucks sake, you don’t have to be such a raging bitch.” I pointed out, watching as she slowly turned her head towards me. “How about you save all that energy for someone deserving of it and spare us the sound of your fucking voice.”

Both Zane and Nicholas stepped forward to potentially break up any fight that might occur. I didn’t want to fight right now as much as my body would have loved it. The shadows inside of me were practically whining to get some action as of lately. I would do what Natalia wanted though. I would be smart about my movements, but as much as I hated to admit it, Elise had a point. You could have the best laid plans in the world, but Purgatory could swallow you up if you weren’t prepared for its mind fuck capabilities.

Elise let out a loud, cackling laugh. “She wants us to be fucking smart. We’re bringing two angels into Purgatory, while trying to destroy Lilith of all entities. I wouldn’t call us smart. Most people would think we all have death wishes.”

“Didn’t you agree to this plan of having us come along?” Reese said.

“Lilith and I have the love of chaos in common. I want to see the looks on your angelic baby faces when you finally see that the clusterfuck that’s disguising itself as the perfect realm you have here is nothing compared to my home.” Elise stretched her arms out above her head.

“We get it, Purgatory and Heaven’s Gate are different. That’s not new logic.” Nicholas informed, readjusting his sword that sat behind his back, his tone just hovering at the level of exasperation.

Elise sighed. “Yes, Nicholas, but Purgatory has never pretended to be something it’s not.” I noticed Nicholas flex his hands and fingers as he tried to keep his cool.

“Okay, I’m with the Soul Seether on this, I’m tired of hearing yourfucking voice so can we please go.” Reese took a skinny hair tie from around his wrist and started to put his long hair into a bun.

Natalia cleared her throat. “I can open up a portal to Purgatory but I’ve never been there so I can’t tell you exactly where you’ll land…” She was cut off by Elise who walked up next to Nicholas.

“I know where we’re going.”

I gave her a skeptical look as I approached where they stood. “You do?”

“I told you guys before that I had a place we could stay, but of course, just like before no one fucking listens to me.”

“And it’s safe?” Nicholas questioned, fingering the portal key around his neck.

Elise scrunched up lips together, thinking. “Don’t ask stupid questions. This is the best and only option you have, so deal with it, pretty boy.” She reached out her hand towards him, palm up.

Nicholas peered down at her empty hand and then returned to her face. She started to tap her foot impatiently. “What are you waiting for?” I asked her, confused.

“His key,” she said smoothly.

“So first you want us to follow you into some place that only you know of and now you want his key? You sure you aren’t turning on us already.” Reese probed, the distrust in his voice as clear as day.

Elise narrowed her gray eyes at him. “Blondie, I need his key to open up a portal to where I want us to go. Unless you desire the little witch here to drop us into a pool of angry demons. Would you like that?”

Nicholas cut his eyes to Natalia, almost as if he was looking to her for permission to hand his key over to anyone else. Her eyes sparkled with warmth. “It’s your personal key, Nicholas. There aren't any restrictions on it, so do what you want.” A petite Enchanter cautiously walked up to Natalia tapping her on the shoulder and speaking softly in her ear. The High Priestess nodded with a kind smile, and the Enchanter scurried away.

“I’m afraid my duty calls me away, but I do want to see you off. Remember that I am here to guide you if you so wish.” She walked over to where we all stood, Zane right at her heels.

Nicholas hesitantly unclasped the key from around his neck and dropped it into Elise’s waiting hand. He pressed his lips together and then let his brown eyes land on Zane. “Take care of my dad, okay.” His voice was steady, but I could tell his anxiety was through the roof. I could smell it, along with every other emotion the rest of them were feeling. Nicholas had a way of becoming the thing that went to the forefront of my mind and I really needed to figure out how to stop that shit.

Zane’s usually rough glare softened a bit. “Of course, Nicholas.” Natalia placed a hand on his massive bicep as she added some comforting words of her own. “We both will.”

Elise started lifting the key in the air, but I reached out to grab her wrist. Her shoulders stiffened. “Where are you taking us? We both know it’s not to afriend.” We deserved to know where the fuck she was having us stay.

She ripped her wrist away from me, rolling it. The key dangled from her fingertips. “And we both know I don’t do friendships.Trust, Dani.” She wrinkled her nose at me. “It’s what this all boils down to, right.”

This bitch really had theaudacityto expect me to trust her. A growl sat low in my throat as she shrugged away from me. Maybe being in Purgatory would get her talking or at least make her feel at home enough to be honest with me. Natalia wanted me to hear out Nicholas, but did that mean that I also had to be as open to hearing out this sadistic asshole? I shook my head, letting my curls dance around my shoulders and then settle against my chest again.

“One rule when we get there, you psycho. Keep thatfuckingtail to yourself,” Reese said each word as if he wanted them to sink in. I observed as each word hit her hard exterior and she smiled.

“No promises,” Elise said, looking coyly at him. She lifted her arm back up and started to make a circle to open up the portal.

Zane took Natalia by the shoulder and led her back a few steps. Natalia gazed at me and gave me a friendly nod. We had spoken earlier before we went to Nicholas’s house to pick them up. It was more of the same, more of her mother hen type nature, but she continued to implore the same thing to me over and over again. She was worried about me, but I didn’t really understand why. I could handle myself. I always had…I was designed to be able to fuck up anyone who thought differently. Natalia didn’t know much about Purgatory, but sometimes it caught me off guard how correct she was about certain things. Her words from the prior conversation still haunted me.Damnher.

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