Page 51 of Her Twisted Sinners (The Seven Sinners of Hell's Kingdom 5)

I cry, the pain and anguish overwhelming me. This can’t be happening. How am I supposed to be brave when I know what lies in my future? I’m losing everything, and there’s nothing I can do about it. It’s as if I’m being punished for just loving the devils. I’m being punished for creating the most powerful, breathtaking beings the universe has ever seen. I’m being punished for an angel falling in love with me in a past life I don’t even remember. I’m being punished because of who I was before.

“This isn’t fair.” I gasp and turn my attention to the rest of my body, watching as the doctor wraps up a baby and hands her to Elias.

“It’s a girl,” Elias says, his voice cracking with his words. “Raven, our angel baby is a girl.”

I already knew. Arabella showed me a glimpse of the future I will never have, as if she was trying to help me through this agony.

Dante and Kase move for Elias, and he sets Arabella on my chest. I look into her squished face for the first time. I’ve never seen an image so beautiful. So pure. So mine. She radiates with heavenly light even now, capturing the best things in the universe and bottling them up for me to savor in this moment. And then she squeaks out the softest whimper of a cry.

My heart breaks.

It shatters into a million pieces.

“I’m so sorry, Arabella. I’m so sorry that I won’t get to know you how I want. I’m so sorry that I had to bring you into the world this way. You are so special and so incredibly powerful. I want you to know how much I love you. And how much I love your dads. They’re going to take good care of you. I promise.” My eyes burn, and my tears blur my vision.

“Raven, this isn’t over. You’re not going to make those kinds of promises. You’re going to take care of our babies. I swear on everything that we will get you back. Heaven cannot have you. I will destroy everything!” Kase roars, his devil form stealing away his humanity.

I can’t respond as another intense cramp shudders through me.

“Get him back. We need to deliver the second one,” the doctor snaps at the devils, and they kick into action.

Dante and Lucian envelop Kase in a hug, squeezing him until he returns to his mortal façade. Growls of frustration coming through the air make it hard for me to breathe. It’s as if a heavy weight crushes my lungs.

The world turns dark.

I find myself standing in the nursery once more, but this time I realize it’s only in my head. This isn’t the future I get. The power in the bassinets isn’t really there. This is my mind creating what I want from the future. A future I will never have.

“Please, let me in. Let me get her soul. You can’t do this to me. You can’t do this to us. I’m sorry for turning my back on you all those years ago. I’m sorry for not remaining as a savior. But you have to understand. This was our destiny. We were always meant to meet at this point. You can’t take her from us now.” Elias’s voice drags me from the nursery and back into the delivery room in the mansion. The brightness of his wings silhouettes him as if his whole body is haloed in light, and he kneels in front of what looks like a ring of dim light.

“Try harder. We have maybe a minute. If you don’t break through now, we’re going to lose her.” Cassius stands behind Elias. “You can do this. Concentrate. They can’t lock you out.”

“I’m fucking trying! It’s not Heaven. Something else is cutting me off.” Elias growls with his words, summoning an orb of heavenly light and shooting it at the fading portal.

“You’re not! I swear if you don’t break through right now, I’m going to cut off your fucking wings! This is your goddamn fault! This is all of your faults! You should’ve fallen the second you laid eyes on Raven again. You should’ve jumped. Had you done so, she wouldn’t be dying. We are going to have to raise those babies without her. What are we going to fucking tell them? How are we going to explain that we failed their mother? That we failed them?” Dante hollers with his words.

The room heats up with hellfire, all of the devils on edge.

A strange peace washes over me, and it’s as if my body numbs to the pain. The doctor shouts commands at me, telling me to push, but all I can do is stare in silence as the world crumbles around me.

“Elias, Dante. I need you. I need you to stop. I don’t want to die without you by my side. It’s over. It’s up to you...all of you to ensure that all of this wasn’t for nothing. Don’t let the angelic army destroy humanity. Now, please. Come hold me. I’m scared.” My voice whispers the words, my whole body cooling, and my eyes continuing to stream tears.

I can’t leave this world knowing that my devils and soulmate will go to war with each other. I need to know that they will stand together always. I need to know they will take care of our babies and everything we have worked so hard to save.

Eight pairs of hands touch my body, and just the pressure of everyone touching and holding me, surrounding me and pouring their love and strength into me brings me a peace I never knew existed.

It’s in this moment that I know everything will turn out how it’s intended to be, regardless of where I land in the universe. This was never supposed to be about me. This was always about them. About their power and what they can create in the universe. This is about the balance of humanity. I have served my purpose. I have reunited them and brought the brethren back together.

“Almost there, Raven. You should see all of this beautiful hair.” Cassius’s voice remains soft as he rests his palm on my knee.

“Must take after me,” Dante teases, a smile crossing his mouth despite the tears shining in his green eyes.

“You fucking wish. That’s all me.” Kase grins and shakes his shoulder.

“You two are both wrong. That little devil has to be Andre’s. He’s a fucking knotter. I bet it was him to knock our soul up. It would make sense.” Lucian wags his eyebrows at Andre, the anger fading from his expression.

“As long as it’s not yours is what matters.” Zade chuckles with his comment, making Lucian growl.

“It doesn’t matter. They belong to all of us. We are their family. They are created from the best of all of us through Raven.” Micah rubs his hand over my leg. He cradles Arabella in the crook of one of his arms. I hadn’t realized he had taken her from me. And seeing her so quiet and content, radiating with light that doesn’t burn him fills me with something indescribable. “Isn’t that right, you sweet angel Arabella?”

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