Page 77 of Each Their Own Devil

Don’t worry, the Third whispered.I have always liked you, Lady of Wrath. I will make sure that it doesn’t hurt.

She managed to open her eyes again, but the world was dark.

Yourfoolof a husband, the Third snapped.

Aleja had never actually hada white knight—or in this case, the devil atop a shadowy black horse—come to rescue her. She was jostled, and it was a relief to feel any physical sensation. This seemed to distract the Third enough to allow her to take a gasping breath and realize she was on the back of another Umbramare.

“How?” she breathed. Aside from Nicolas’s arm around her waist and the movement of the Umbramare’s muscles against her inner thighs, there were no other sensations.

“The Messenger. She’s not the magician Val is, but she suppressed the Third’s influence on you for a few minutes.”

A few minutes?Aleja thought desperately, but in a world of pressing issues, this seemed relatively low on the list. “Amicia?”

“We’re looking for her.”

The darkness was so heavy around Aleja that she couldn’t tell whether her eyes were open or closed. She wanted to ask about the Authorities, but it was too hard to keep her teeth fromchattering. Her mind was still muddled, even though there were a thousand things she wanted to voice.

“I love you,” she muttered.

“Stop it, dove. We’re not saying goodbyes now. If the Third found a way into you, then there is a way out. Listen to me,” Nicolas went on. “My magic is nearly spent. I’m not going to be able to hold this darkness for much longer.”

“The Authorities…”

“I know,” Nicolas said grimly. “Garm is faster and more maneuverable than them. He’s agreed to draw them away so we can find Amicia and retreat.”

That isn’t going to work, Aleja wanted to say. The Authorities had already spotted her. They might not yet understand that she had averted the Avaddon, but when they did, they would be bent on revenge. The Hiding Place wouldn’t withstand their onslaught.

“We need to go back,” she whispered.

“We can’t,” Nicolas said. “There are too many. All we’ve been able to do is keep them distracted, preventing them from reaching the wards and giving our armies time to prepare on the other side. Even the fucking Messenger has disappeared—ran off without a word.”

“We have to stop them. Turn around, Knowing One.” It was the most Aleja could muster, but she felt Nicolas’s breath as his chest moved against her back.

“I saw what your fire did to you,” he said.

“I’m not. My fire, it’s—it’s?—”

Though she couldn’t say it, she knew Nicolas must have understood. The black, cold fire—it had been pure death.

“You’re asking me to do something that I can’t, dove.”

“Our duty is to the Hiding Place. Get me back to the Authorities.”

“I will not let you die. Not again. Once, in our nameless kingdom by the sea, I lit a black candle and made a bargain with the Knowing One to save your life. Don’t think I’m not above such desperate measures now.”

“If you love me—” Aleja gasped. “Do it.”

She felt his breath hitch, but the Umbramare finally swerved in the opposite direction. Nicolas’s firm hand on her stomach brought a wave of strength. She needed a plan, but her brain could barely yank her thoughts out of the darkness.

“Nic, listen… There is an injured Avisai; I already told Garm. He knows where to go. And Val is still hiding in the First’s chamber.”

“Save your strength, Wrath,” Nicolas said.

And Aleja found she no longer had a choice. The cold was returning, as if the Messenger’s magic was wearing off.

There was too much she wanted to say to Nic.You’re going to be angry at me for what I’m about to do, but I love you beyond time and space. If I can, I will find you again, even if I have to wait for every star—with its secret name—to explode and for the universe to be reborn. This is a gift for both of us. And while I can’t stand the thought of you loving someone else like you love me, please don’t let yourself be alone.

The purpose of the marriage bond was clear in that moment. She knew Nic had heard her. She knew he understood. And with that understanding came a wave of grief, anger, and pain—one of the first things she had truly been able to feel since the Third had taken root inside her.

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