Page 99 of The Devil and His Goddess

What was the good in being a demon if I couldn’t even save the person I loved?

“I don’t know what to do,” I whispered weakly.

A small footstep into the room had us all looking up at the doorway. Iyla hesitated at the entrance, her sad brown eyes locked on mine. She worried her lip for only a moment longer before crossing the room to me. She joined Xander in front of me and took one of my clawed hands in both of hers.

“You don’thaveto do anything,” she answered. “Just … Just be there for her. Having someone there,” she glanced at Zagan and held his gaze for a moment before meeting mine again. “Having someone there that cares means more than you realize. Sit with her in the silence. Listen when shecanspeak. Hold her when she needs it. Cherish the moments when sheispresent. Remind her that she isn’t facing the storm alone.”

I stared at Zagan’s bond, who released my hand andhuggedme. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and squeezed me tightly. My eyes widened as I stiffened in her hold, but she didn’t let go. She squeezed harder, and the three demons around me followed. Xander pulled my head down to wrap his arm around my head, burying my face in his neck while Dante gripped my shoulder and Zagan held my back.

Suddenly, the tightness that had been my constant companion all this time broke. I let go. I released the agony and helplessness. I sagged and leaned into all of them as tears silently fell from my eyes.

I’d never cried in all of my years on Earth. To be honest, I didn’t even know I could cry. Yet the tears fell freely now, and the weight on my chest eased with them.

All I had to do was continue being there for Harper. It sounded so simple and like it wasn’t enough, but maybe it was really all she needed. She needed to know she didn’t face the darkness alone.

Just as I didn’t, either.

“THERE YOU GO,” DANTE SAID as he helped me sit on Zagan’s couch. His dark eyes looked me over, and his frown deepened. “When was the last time you ate?”

“I’ve been asking that for at least a week now,” Xander noted as he studied me with narrowed eyes.

Zagan appeared with Iyla, who offered me a glass of water.

I accepted the drink and downed all of the refreshing beverage before finally answering, “It’s been over three weeks.”

“Three weeks?” Dante yelled disbelievingly. “No wonder you look like shit. You need to eat.Now.”

“Yeah,” I chortled gruffly. “I’ll get right on that.” Letting out a deep sigh, I looked at Zagan. “I’m sorry for distracting everyone. You called us here for something?”

Everyone faced our band’s leader, who nodded slowly, like he, too, just remembered that fact. Dante and Xander sank down on either side of me while Coldin leaned against the adjacent wall. Zagan stood near the coffee table while Iyla sat on the edge of the arm chair and fiddled her hands in her lap.

“Is this about Babette?” Dante asked.

I raised a confused brow. “Babette?”

“He made a deal with her, so Iyla chased him to Hell with my assistance,” Dante answered like it was no big deal.

“What?” Xander and I boomed at the same time, looking between the trio in question.

Zagan rolled his eyes and massaged near his eyebrow piercing. He quickly caught Xander and I—apparently the only ones who didn’t know what the fuck was going on—up on the events of the past two days.

In an effort to save Iyla’s little sister, who knocked on death’s door, Zagan made a deal with the Bargainer demon, Babette, who saved the human in exchange for Zagan. In a wild turn of events, Iyla followed them into Hell and just barely managed to get Zagan back.

Xander let out a low whistle. “Didn’t know you had it in you,” he said to Iyla with an impressed smirk.

Her cheeks grew pink. “Me neither.”

“That brings me to a couple of things,” Zagan said, drawing our attention back to him. “One: Hell’s Gate is searching for new management, because I had Coldin kill Babette.”

“Nice,” Xander snorted.

“Coldin killed her?” I asked with a glance at the impassive drummer. “Then that means—”

“Drake will have to wait another month,” Zagan finished my thought for me with a nod.

Letum demons who were under lock and key couldn’t kill freely. If they could, the world wouldn’t have anything living left on it. All those demons thought about, all theydid, was torture and kill. They were bringers of death and destruction.

To contain them, they were either kept locked up in Hell or in some sort of contract on Earth. Coldin was of the latter group. He was under a contract that allowed him to wander around with us, though it came with restrictions. He could only kill once a month and with our permission.

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