Page 17 of Her Twisted Sinners (The Seven Sinners of Hell's Kingdom 5)

I see everything differently. The shapes and darkness around me morph into silhouettes of souls, and they squirm and growl. They fight and try to break free of my control over them. I listen as they berate and degrade me, threatening me with eternal torture the second they escape. It’s enough to ignite a rage inside me, and I fling my hands out, sending the Heaven and Hell power through the realm, blasting every unwanted soul in the process.

Colorful light explodes in the air as if I set off a hundred fireworks. I finally open my eyes, looking with my vision instead of my mind. I watch as the energy flickers around us in starbursts decorating the air. The dark souls turn to light, sparkling as if the air itself is made of glitter. The devils shift on their feet and look around, their expressions just as amazed as mine.

I suck in a breath, watching as the glittery light circles around me, and a shock of electricity blasts into my chest. The new energy pours into me like a tidal wave of emotions. I scream out in pain, the shock of absorbing this incredible energy burning me to my very core. My hair lifts around me with static, and the devils react and close in. Zade shouts my name, and I can feel his cooling presence stealing the heatwave. He takes some of the burdens from me, and Micah whispers words of encouragement in my mind, reminding me not to let the power control me. The power is mine to control.

“Raven, remember how we tethered the energy before. Imagine another stone. Manifest it. It must be larger this time.” Kase strokes his hand over mine, trying his best to calm my tense body.

I hold my palms together, imagining a giant multi-faceted gemstone in my hands. I imagine the cool and hard texture and how it will sparkle unlike anything I’ve ever seen before as long as I can manipulate the souls into it.

The density weighs my fingers down as I summon a stone as big as a basketball. The black color shines in the sparkling light, and I force the energy pouring through my veins into my arms and my fingers, setting the stone aglow in rainbow light.

My body trembles and my knees weaken. It takes everything in me to force the overwhelming energy out. My body burns. Hellfire licks across my skin only to have angelic light put it out.

“That’s it, Ray. You’re almost there. Release that last bit.” Lucian places his hands on top of the stone, using his own power to help suck the energy from me.

Ice freezes me, and the light and fire vanish. The world spins. I can’t hold onto my consciousness much longer. It’s too much. It’s as if I just got rid of the one thing keeping me stabilized in this plane.

I open and close my mouth, but only a whimper escapes my lips.

The plane collapses around us, leaving me on the pavement in the Mortal Realm. Brilliant wings envelop me.

I let myself go.

***

I stare at the dazzling, colorful field of flowers stretching toward an endless blue sky. I don’t know how long I’ve been sitting here, staring, but I know that this isn’t the Mortal World. It’s a dream that I can’t seem to get myself to wake up from.

“Your body needs to rest, little hellion. You’re safe and the crack has been sealed. Just let me help you now.” Andre’s soft voice comes from beside me, and he rests his hand on my bare knee.

I feel bad about not saying much to him. My mind almost made me forget he was even here, but I’m just so exhausted. I can feel it even in my sleep state. He’s right about how hard manipulating the planes was on me physically. Mentally. And losing the energy that I had just gained? It feels as if I lost my soul all over again, despite it being grounded to me. It’s so strange.

“How are the others? Is everyone okay? What about Micah?” The questions spill from my mouth as I managed to grab hold of my awareness and turn away from the colorful flower fields made especially for me. Shifting, I rest my legs over Andre’s and grab his hands, linking our fingers together, just needing to feel him and be close on this level.

“Micah is tough. He knew that he would eventually have to take the tether. He is happy to do so for you. The other devils are currently cleaning up Hell and getting things back in order. Everything will be okay.” He offers me a soft smile.

“Why don’t you sound so sure?” I pout my bottom lip.

“It’s not that, little hellion. I’ve never been more certain about getting through this.” Andre slides his arm around me and pulls me onto his lap. He kisses my shoulder and waits for me to turn to him completely to meet his lips. Even in this dream state, I can feel his hard-on for me. It’s never-ending, and the others always tease him about it being completely eternal. I can’t help squirming on his lap, my focus re-directing to the lust rising inside me, enchanted by the pheromones he releases.

It’s enough to distract me from my worry, but I pull myself away from thinking about it to look into Andre’s eyes. “Then what is it? Don’t think you can distract me with that massive sex stick you have trying to poke my being.” My dream might be seconds away from a fantasy, so I need to get him talking while I still can.

He chuckles, his face lighting up with a smile I’ve missed. I hadn’t noticed until this moment that he hasn’t been smiling at me as much lately, but I know it has nothing to do with me. I know it has to do with the weight of the universe weighing heavily on all my devils. This is truly testing their power.

He wags his brows, flexing his cock beneath me. “Are you sure about that?”

I shove him back, straddling him. Grabbing his wrist, I force his hands over his head and lean over, pressing my big pregnant belly into his taut chest. “Yes. Because I’m going to sit here and pin you down until you tell me. I’m not against torturing you, my lustful devil.”

He play-growls deep in his throat, and his eyes light with hellfire. “Careful, little hellion. You know you’re my perfect brand of torture. I crave it. I crave you. Always.”

Hunching forward, I try to kiss him, but he has to meet me halfway because I just can’t get over the size of my belly to do so. I laugh against his lips and nuzzle my nose to his. “Nice try. You’re going to have to romance me harder than that. Or you can just tell me what’s on your mind, Andre. You don’t have to keep any secrets because you’re afraid of something. I’m here for you. I know how hard things are...well, things that shouldn’t be hard.” Straightening my back, I reach behind me and stroke my fingers across his raging boner resting on my back.

He groans in his throat. “You are something else. Getting me to open up to you on this level, but it doesn’t make me feel vulnerable. I feel stronger.”

I bite my lip between my teeth. “Good. So tell me, and then I will reward you.”

“You make a hard deal, but I accept. I’m just struggling over what needs to happen and what I want to happen. We’ve talked to Cassius.” Andre doesn’t continue, letting me fill the blanks because he knows that I know. Cassius wants to take me away from them to help train me. I don’t even know if I can survive hanging around him for more than a couple of minutes at a time.

“Oh.” I’m not sure what else to say. I don’t want them to feel bad if they agree with Cassius. I know deep down that if he can help me control my new plane, then it’s worth trying. But the thought of losing any time with my devils freaks me out. What if something happens and I deliver early? Not being able to have every second possible with them makes it feel as if I die inside already.

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