Page 8 of In the Devil's Shadow

Azazel ignored Ares’ outburst and switched his gaze to Michael and Desmond. They were talking in hushed voices. The rapport between them was professional, as they got straight to the point. I couldn’t help but notice how Michael was slightly uncomfortable in his stance. I guessed being in a room with three demons and a mentally unstable god was off-putting to such a goodie-two-shoes angel. He turned to address all of us, commanding all the attention in the room.

“I have a strong suspicion that Diana is immortal. Please don’t ask me to explain why. I need our combined magic to bring her out of equilibrium. We need to let her die and reanimate. Then we can work on unblocking the rest of her powers,” he instructed.

“Unblock her powers? They already broke through,” I said. “Unless you know something we don’t.”

“You seriously can’t expect us to not ask you why you think she’s immortal. She’sa witch–there’s no way she’d have immortality, unless Bash is right, and you aren’t telling us everything?” Mal questioned. He was almost as bad as I was with his need to know everything; he hated unknowns. “How did you know her powers were blocked to begin with? This is super shady, especially for an angel.”

“Archangel. You must be the hellbound, Malcolm Knight?” Michael asked.

“Yes. And as a hellbound, you should be aware that I’m already depraved and soulless and won’t hesitate to hurt you if you so much as harm a hair on her head,” he growled. “I’m not sure I’m comfortable risking her life on yourassumptionthat she’s immortal. She could die if you’re wrong. Why don’t we power-share with Azazel so he can heal the wound?”

“I wish we could, but that’s not going to work. She was on the brink of death when she came to me, and I was lucky to be able to force her into equilibrium with just my magic,” Azazel lamented. He sighed, pulling on his top bun in thought. His t-shirt had short sleeves, showing off how his muscles flexed. “I thought about this for two days before calling Michael and couldn’t come up with another solution. If you four have any ideas that are less risky, please share.”

All of us were silent for several minutes. Desmond paced the room. Ares sat on the floor next to Diana’s head, carding his fingers through his curly hair in deep thought. Mal and I stood in place, throwing each other furtive glances. Mal shifted on his feet, his eyebrows dipping together.

I don’t think there’s another way,Desmond mindlinked Ares, Mal, and myself.

Ares took Diana’s hand, staring into her passive face.I can’t lose her,he linked us.

I have a good feeling about this. I think we should trust him,I responded.He obviously has ties to her too, or she wouldn’t have hopped to him. I don’t think he would hurt her.

A weight settled into my stomach as I swallowed my nerves. This was such a risky move, but it was the only way to save her. I walked over to Diana, moving her from the couch to the floor in the middle of the room. Mal followed me with her pillow and placed it under her head. The six of us created a circle around her and held hands. We were putting a lot of trust in Michael, and he wasn’t as forthcoming with information as I wanted him to be. I closed my eyes, allowing my power to flow through the points of contact between us all. As our powers met, I could feel their overwhelming surge rise and bubble within me, as if I were a conduit for an electric catastrophe waiting to happen.

Michael started talking in a strange language. It wasn’t Latin, or anything I could recognize. After repeating the same chant for a couple of minutes, the lights flickered. The ground started to shake, causing all the furniture, paintings, and decorations in the room to vibrate. Diana’s body began to softly glow. I felt her power swirl around the room, in a tornado of magic that touched from the ceiling to the floor, until it completely died out. Her chest stopped its strained rising and falling. The lights were steady again, and the tremors stopped. After a few minutes, Desmond broke away to bend down and check her pulse. He shook his head, indicating that he didn’t feel one. We all held our breath as we started the waiting game.

She was officially dead.

Chapter 4

The darkness I existed in faded, giving way to a light that seared my eyelids. My head pounded, and the pain radiated all the way back to the base of my neck. The coldness settling into my joints made them ache. My chest hurt so badly that it felt like Gordon Ramsey yelled at it to death and called it an overcooked disaster. A suffocatingly thick fog blocked my ability to remember anything. What in the dick and balls was going on? I tried to open my eyes or move my body, but I was frozen in place. I just laid there, drowning in pain, wondering what the actual fuck had happened to me. Was I alive or dead? Was this Purgatory? If so, I would be extremely disappointed. I thought there would be a chair here for me to sit on, or maybe a fire to keep me warm at the very least.

I had no clue how long I’d been here like this. Minutes, hours, days, or months? Slowly, the pain dulled as a blanket of warmth covered me. The headache lifted first, giving me the relief I needed to focus. My joint aches and the searing pain in my chest faded like a bad memory. I could finally move my fingers. Everything flooded back like a dam bursting as each memory appeared in rapid succession.

Bash betraying me.

Running through the woods.

Ares branding me.

Mal taking me to the airport.

Red attacking us.

When Mal stabbed me in the heart, I felt the betrayal at a molecular level. I knew he was possessed, but it didn’t make it hurt any less. Saying goodbye to each of my guys hurt almost as much. It ripped me apart to die in Desmond’s arms. Watching Ares cry as he told me he loved me–despite how angry I was at him–ruined me because I thought I would never feel that love again. Bash’s devastated face as he begged me not to fly away… I couldn’t take it. A tear slipped from my eye. I never got to say goodbye to Azazel. I tried so hard to fade to him before I died, even if I only got to see him for a few seconds, but I never made it.

I never reunited with my family.I miss them–Angie, Nonna, Charlie, and Oscar. Would I ever see them again?

The simultaneous fear, sadness, and anger I felt as my life drained away was just as painful as dying. When darkness swallowed me whole, I almost thanked it because the painfinallywent away.

A spark lit inside me, spurring me toward the light. My life wasn’t over yet. As long as Satan was still breathing, I had unfinished business to attend to. I would see my family again. I’d be with my guys again. When the time came, I would end Satan and put his ashes overmymantlepiece.

When my eyes opened, I saw a smooth, white ceiling. The light in here seemed natural, lacking the harshness of fluorescent bulbs. Maybe this wasn’t Purgatory… Did I end up upstairs? I had no clue how I ended up in Heaven after fucking around with demons and the God of War. Maybe God was more forgiving about premarital sex than people let on. Or maybe the Almighty felt bad for me.I hope they have unlimited hors d’oeuvres and Cherry Coke up here. And Netflix. I can finally catch up on Stranger Things and watch that romance movie-porno-thing with Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome that Charlie had constantly raved about while I was alive.Wait a minute, no. I wanted to live, not go to Heaven.

“Moons and stars! Her eyes are open. Little Goddess, you’re alive!” Ares’ voice assaulted my ears, confirming that I was not in Heaven and that he still had zero volume control.

His huge body barreled into me, lifting me off the ground and cradling me in hairy, muscled arms. The momentary disappointment about not being in Heaven faded, because I was alive… I could see my family again. Satan hadn’t murdered me. I still had a chance to fix all of this.

“Ares, put her down. She’s never died before. She’s probably disoriented,” Bash said as Ares seated me on a sofa.

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