Page 80 of All the Devils are Here

Trin’s bed was directly next to the water in his room, and Laurent made sure enough of his arms were touching it.

I didn’t even realize I was crying until Ban turned me toward him and wiped them off my cheeks. “Come.”

“I can’t leave him like that.” I went to him, and Ariel moved out of the way. Trin was paler than normal, and I didn’t like that he was so still. Already I knew his lively movement and teasing smirk. And he was like this. For me. Because of me. “Can I touch him?”

“Gently.”

I knelt beside him and ran a hand through his damp hair. What did I do? I couldn’t stop myself—I placed my hand over his heart simply to feel it beating. Before I remembered he had no heart. It was stolen. But my mate was breathing. He was alive. “Come back please,” I whispered. “I need you to be here with me.”

Ariel’s hands curled around my arms and guided me up. “He’ll be fine,” he whispered into my hair. “I promise.”

It still didn’t feel right to leave Trin alone like that, but I let Ariel guide me away and back to the living room. He sat me down on one of the soft couches and Ban was there in his feline form, curling behind me and giving me his warmth and comfort.

“Trin will live,” Ariel said. “I can’t say I’ve seen injuries this bad, but I have seen him regenerate. He’ll come back.”

“We’ll keep an eye on him,” Laurent said, still standing in the hallway to Trin’s room. “He’s going to be just fine.”

I nodded.

Ariel took my hand and kissed the back of it. The purple power was up to my wrists. “I thought it wasn’t supposed to take me again so fast.”

Ban growled, and it wasn’t the sexy kind. It was feral and angry, and it made my hair stand on end. “Prospero angered it.”

“How?”

His tail twitched angrily. “He made something and took it to the heart of the island. I watched from where I could. He taunted it, and told it Meg was at fault, then he threw it at the heart in the mountain. I’ve never heard a sound like that.”

Ariel stood and groaned. “No fucking wonder it took you.”

“At least he has no power,” Ban chuffed out a breath. “He tried to force me away, and it was nothing.”

“I’ll be back,” Ariel said, and began to disintegrate.

I reached for him. “Wait. Where are you going?”

“I’m going to remove whatever he has in that mountain. He used it to harm you, so it’s fair game.” His smile was dark. “He needs to feel helpless for fuckingonce.”

“Be careful.”

Ariel raised an eyebrow before grinning. “Worried about me?”

“Yes. Of course I am.” I pointed at Ban, who also had teeth marks that Laurent had bandaged. “I have two injured mates, and I don’t want a third.”

He disappeared from where he was and materialized in front of me. “I like that you’re worried about me.” His smile was there and gone. “But I’ll be back. Promise.”

“Okay.”

Ariel’s kiss brushed my temple, and he disappeared, the breeze he left behind moving my hair.

I looked between my two remaining mates. “What do we do now?”

Laurent smirked. “That’s the golden question, isn’t it?”

“I will rest,” Ban said, touching his chest. “So when the time comes, I am ready.”

“For what?”

He smiled and purred. “You’ll see.”

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