Page 51 of Live Like Legends

That’s what he meant by ‘came back to life.’

“The ripple was you.”

“Lilith wanted to come see you, but well, you know all about her little confinement issue. A Son of Hell, now, with a little determination I can travel wherever I like, especially when it’s for things that I want. And I wanted to be right here.”

“For what?”

“To bring you home.”

“No fucking way.” I shot out my shadows towards his face, willing the light to stand down for now. I didn’t want to cause some kind of mass explosion while there could be potential lives at risk. I darted for the door but felt a hand grab my wrist and throw me into the wall near the bathroom door.

I tried to shove him off of me, but he grabbed me by my shoulder and shoved me back again. His tattooed covered hand grabbed my neck and deep red shadows cinched around my wrists and every time I made an inch of movement it burned. It wasn’t like a regular burn, no, this was burn with Hellfire. It was debilitating if you attempted to suffer through it. I’d seen Dimitri burn demons from the inside out by making the shadows into a ball, forcing them to eat it. I overlooked his sadistic nature because well, I rarely saw it. He did it behind closed doors, but there were moments, few and far between, when I was a witness to it.

Every single dark power I had disintegrated when it met Dimitri’s. He had the power of Hell on his side. I wasn’t prepped for this. I was prepared to use my newly balanced powers on a larger scale, not in the confines of my boyfriend’s bedroom. “I really don’t want to make a mess, so I suggest you stand down. If you make this difficult, I will do what I should have done in the first place and make you watch me rip your little pathetic angel limb from limb and then burn all the remains along with this entire realm, which really would ruin all my plans. Is that what you want?”

I fought against him, but he pulled me away from the wall, throwing back against it, my back aching from the pain. “Your powers weren’t made for the use of angels, so why do you let them confine you? You have the power fit for a queen.” He grabbed the restraints at my wrists and tugged. “Let’s go. We have so much to discuss.”

He moved his hand in an eloquent circle until a dark portal opened up. I yanked against his hold, the burning bite of his restraints eating into my skin. “I’ve been tortured by Lilith before; it doesn’t scare me.”

He pushed me in front of him, placing his lips at my ear. “Lilith isn’t the one you should be worried about.”

“however vast the darkness, we must supply our own light”

TW: severe panic attacks, physical assault, mental abuse

Ihuffed out an annoyed breath when I opened drawer after drawer to find a tiny carved wooden arrowhead that Reese had kept with him since his first time ever successfully using a bow. He’d asked me to snag it for him when we came back to the room before heading back to Oculus. I didn’t quite understand it, his need to keep that tiny thing in his pocket like it truly gave him additional luck. He could survive without it, but I remembered him being the most nervous I’d ever seen him when we started really practicing for our assessments at The Skies.

It was a training bow and arrow, but nevertheless, he treated that weapon like his life depended on it. He’d used that bow to pass all the tests but retired it when he got a shiny new one that was sleeker and more elite. He’d kept the arrowhead though. He would say it was his first look at what he could do, even with the fragile wood and unreliable structure of the older bow. He kept it with him for nearly every single thing we did, even if I was the only person who ever knew about it.

I shook my head as I closed my fingers around the lucky charm, placing it in my pocket. A long dark ripple caught my eye at his window, but this one wasdifferent. This one felt more aggressive than the rest, it felt closer. That darkness felt like it was right in front of me, circling around Reese’s room and there was nothing I could do about it. I had this odd feeling that I was being watched, but this time it wasn’t from other sentries or Ariel himself. This gave me goosebumps so intense that I found myself swiping my hands down my arms.

I ran a hand through my hair as I opened up Reese’s door and walked back down the hall to my own room. “Are you all ready?” I asked, looking around to find an empty bedroom. I furrowed my brow, stepping into the bathroom and finding that free of Dani as well. I ran to my bedroom door, swinging it open, looking from side to side before slamming it closed.

She wouldn’t have just left without me, especially since she didn’t have any means of transportation to Oculus. She did have her wings, but her flying on top of all the chaos with Ariel wasn’t the smartest move.

I was gone for five minutes tops…she couldn’t have just disappeared.

I felt dumb looking under my bed as my heart started to speed up to the point that I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I did a circle around my room as if she would appear somehow and proceeded to check my bathroom for what felt like the tenth time. “Where the hell are you?” I muttered to myself, the panic starting to set in.

I looked down, noticing something small and red, like the tiniest charred pieces I had ever seen. They were dusted around the floor near the bathroom door. I placed my fingers into the mess, feeling how warm the particles were. I didn’t have to bring it too close to my nose to smell brimstone.

I didn’t understand, where would she go? My chest felt tight when I rose from the ground, dipping my hands into my shirt for my key. She had to be somewhere safe, she justhadtoo. There was a simple explanation, and I just needed someone to tell me that I was overthinking, that this was all some joke.

When I’d stepped through my portal, I realized that I’d managed to make it into Natalia’s foyer. One of the Enchanters walking by yelped at my sudden presence, but I didn’t pay her any mind. My eyes locked with the honey-colored ones of the High Priestess when she appeared from around a corner, hurrying down the stairs.

“Finally. We’ve been waiting for you both.” She searched around me, confused. “Where’s Dani?”

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. She didn’t know where she was either. My throat felt tight and I rubbed my hand along my neck, hoping to ease some of the pain.

“Nick.” Her voice was steady, but cautious. She subtly held her hands out, almost as if she thought I might fall. Her eyes flared with this look of understanding. “Nick, what happened?”

My voice came out small and hoarse. “I don’t know. I—I don’t know.”

Her hands finally touched my arms, steadying me. “Zane!”

The large Enchanter, followed by Reese, Elise and everyone else hustled down the stairs, all of them flanking me from every side.

“Your Highness, what’s wrong?”

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