And with tears streaming down my face, I plunged my knife straight down and into Rose’s heart.
I collapsed on the ground beside her, watching as the blood oozed from my sister’s body. I felt as dead as she was, and even the scent of blood didn’t entice me. I simply lay there, lost, the depth of my failure weighing heavy on my heart.
Beyond Rose’s body, Kiera twitched. Then kicked. Then sat up. Her fingers went to the knife wound, her eyes going wide as she looked down to find it healed.
I sat up, my heart pounding. I held my breath, afraid to hope. Afraid to believe.
But then she looked at me, and I saw it in her eyes before she even said a word. “Lily?” my sister asked. “What happened to me?”
Relief flowed through me, warm and thick like a blanket. I looked up at Deacon, because I really didn’t know the answer. All I could do was crawl across the floor to her side and draw her in close to me.
“I pushed her out,” he said. “I pushed her out, and while I held Johnson inside her old body, Rose found this new home.”
“And Johnson?”
He looked up into the air. “His essence is still out there. I’m guessing he’ll find his body and put himself back together.” He met my eyes. “Right now, though, he’s not a problem.”
I looked up at Deacon through tear-filled eyes. “Thank you,” I said. “Thank you.”
But it wasn’t over. Because even as I clung to my sister, the whirlwind picked up speed, finally bursting open to reveal not Penemue, but Gabriel.
“Now it ends,” he said, thrusting out his hand and conjuring a force that yanked me across the room and into his waiting arms.
TWENTY-EIGHT
Gabriel held me tight, his grip strong, his massive body giving off wave after wave of energy. My chest was pressed up against his side, and though he held me with only one arm, there was no way I was getting free. He had me, and he had me good.
“Dammit,” I said as I struggled. “What do you want with me?”
“What do I want?” he asked, his voice low and rumbly, like an oncoming train. “Ask what it is I do not want.”
I stopped struggling, his words both curious and worrisome. “All right,” I said slowly. “What is it you don’t want?”
“Look,” he said, pressing his free hand to my face and staring deep into my eyes. “And see.”
The shock of the vision overtook me immediately. There was no barrier, no struggle. He wanted me inside his head, knowing what he knew. Seeing what he saw.
And what I saw was horrible, awful, and oddly, strangely, terribly enticing.
A thousand demons. No, more. A million. Millions upon millions.
All gathered at the gate. All waiting for the convergence.
It was coming . . . coming . . . and they were primed to burst through.
Closer and closer with each tick of the clock until, yes, the stars aligned, the dimensions shifted, and the way between hell and earth was no longer blocked.
They could cross.
They could ride.
They could come and wreak havoc upon the world.
Except they did not, because the gate was thrust open by one who held the Oris Clef. The one who controlled it, controlled them. A figure, hand raised high, and a knife to draw the blood and press it to the Oris Clef. To draw the power and claim the right as holder of the key.
The holder of the key was royalty, a demon among demons. A legend among the dark.
And as the horde passed through the gate—as the millions descended—each paid tribute with a bow and a promise of loyalty to the keyholder who stood tall and proud in front of them.
A woman.
A queen.
And she was me.
“No!”I jerked out, breaking away from the vision when I saw the image of me. “That’s not right. That’s not true. It can’t be true. The third relic was destroyed! Deacon destroyed it!”
But Gabriel was not listening to me. Instead, he moved away. But I wasn’t released. Instead, I was trapped within the same swirling mist that had brought him to this temple.
“Stop it! That’s not me! Dammit, listen to me! I’m not fighting for the demons. I’ve been working against them. All this time, I’ve been working against them. Deacon, tell him!”
Deacon, however, didn’t say a word. Instead, his face was a mass of concentration, and I soon realized why—he was the one preventing the swirling mist from taking me away.
Deacon had kept more than his past hidden from me. He had some badass powers, and he was calling on them now. And as I watched, trapped and helpless, I realized why I hadn’t been privy to these powers before—because these were demon tricks, and that was something Deacon wanted to get away from. Far, far away.