Page 17 of Lords of Ruin: Cherished

I reach for him, my fingers curling around his wrist. He’s burning up, everymuscle wound tight.

“Cast,” I whisper. “I’mhere. I’malive,” I say, pressing his hand harder against me. “Right now.This second.And I know it’s bad, but we have options. We can fight this.” I don’t believe what I am saying, the odds are slim but I’ll believe for Cast. Fight for Cast, until my last dying breath. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you tohurt,” I continue. “But I should’ve. Because you’re the one person who never lets me give up.”

He exhales sharply through his nose, and then—hemoves.

One second he’s staring at me like he’s barely holding himself together, and the next, his hands are in my hair, his lips crashing against mine. I fall against his chest, exhaustion taking me over.

The kiss is rough, desperate, like he’s trying to anchor himself to me, to make sure I’m reallyhere.

I clutch at him, fisting his shirt, matching his intensity.

He pulls back just enough to press his forehead against mine, his breath hot and uneven. “Didn’t I tell you?” His voice is a rough whisper, thick with emotion. “You’renot allowedto die on me.”

The elevatordings, and the doors slide open.

I blink up at him, my lips tingling, my body still trembling from the way he kissed me, from the way heneedsme.

I manage a small, shaky smile.

“Yes, sir.”

6

DAMIEN

Ican admit this here, but if heaven is anywhere, it’d be with Willow.

The soft glow of white lights blurs in my vision as my body stirs awake, stiff and weighted. I take a breath—my first conscious one in what feels like forever. The lights stretch into a hum of the ethereal, and I know—I know—I must be dead.

It makes sense. The pain is gone, the noise of life quieted into this serene, humming nothingness. And at the center of it, resting like the only good part of me has been carved out of my own damn soul, isher.

Willow.

She’s slumped in a chair, barely more than a breath of a thing, curled in on herself like she’s spent years waiting for something that never came. The sight of her, so still, sotired, creates knots deep inside me. Her black curls spill in wild waves, framing her face, the last remnants of her pink highlights barely clinging on. She looks smaller, wrapped inexhaustion, her pale skin kissed by the soft light surrounding her.

My breath stirs in my chest, shaky and unsure. Is this real?

No—no, it can’t be. I’ve done too much, taken too many wrong turns. Heaven isn’t for men like me. And yet… she’s here.My troubling angel.

The words form on instinct, slipping past my dry, useless lips. My arm feels like it’s made of lead, but I force it up, reaching for her like she might disappear if I blink too long. My fingers skim her cheek—warm, so warm—and a soft sound catches in my throat.

“You snuck me in,” I rasp, my voice nearly unrecognizable. “Trouble… what did you do?”

Her lashes flutter. A small inhale.

Then her eyes crack open—dark and stormy—and when they land on me, she gasps. “Damien?”

Despite the groan of my body, I cup her cheek in my hand. “How did you sneak me into heaven, Trouble?”

“What?” She whispers her cold hand wraps around mine as she weakly pulls me closer to her.

Her fingers clutch at mine, small and trembling, but real.Tooreal. And it’s then that the certainty I’m dead begins to waver. Because heaven should be untouchable, weightless. But she’s here, and she’spulling me closer.

Her lips part like she wants to argue, but I don’t let her. My grip weakens, but I still manage to guide her toward me, just enough to press my lips against her forehead. The effort takes everything, but the warmth of her skin against mine, the way she shudders at the contact, makes the struggle worth it.

“Angel,” I murmur, my breath ghosting against her skin. “I knew you’d find a way to bring me with you.” She makes a sound between a laugh and a broken sob before she crumbles.

Tears spill from her hazel eyes, slipping down her cheeks. She grips my wrist tightly, pressing my hand against her face like she’s afraid I’ll disappear again if she lets go.

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