by Leia Stone
I popped up just in time to see the Brimstone demon swipe out at me. Fire licked along my face as his fist crashed into my jaw. Searing hot pain erupted along my skin, and I knew I needed to act quickly. Marx would awaken soon, and with the two of them and no weapons to defend myself, I’d be dead.
With a grunt, I threw myself forward, slamming into the demon and sending us both crashing backwards into the TV. The Brimstone demon’s back shattered the thin plasma screen—a gift from James. Without hesitation, I grabbed a shard of glass and shanked him repeatedly in the neck.
Dark oily blood sputtered out of the wound and spilled onto the floor, but I kept going. I had a better chance of killing him if I took off his horns first, but I didn’t have the time or weapon for that. I just needed to weaken him enough to get away. When he finally collapsed at my feet, I wasted no time in leaping over Marx and bolting out the door, sucking my wings into my back so as not to alert anyone lingering in the hallway to what I truly was.
I just needed to get outside and then I could fly the hell out of here, something Catia and James couldn’t do. Wiping the demon blood on my jeans as I walked, I passed a few neighbors, who just raised an eyebrow. A lot of dark shit happened in this city, so a little demon blood wasn’t going to alert them too much.
The moment I burst through the apartment front doors and was outside, I readied my wings to come out and take me home.
Then my phone buzzed.
No one important to me had this number. I should have just snapped out my wings and left, but something, intuition maybe, nagged at me to check it.
Maybe James was alive, maybe he needed help. I could fly him out of here, or Mathew.
I pulled my phone out and read the text from an Abrus demon broker I knew.
Westside Abrus: Someone named Bernie Maximus dropped off two pretty female slaves for you.
My heart crept into my throat slowly, pounding, throbbing until I couldn’t breathe.
Bernie. Maximus.
It was too close a call to be coincidence, right?
Noah? Shea? Chloe? Could it be…? Brielle?
What. The. Hell?
My hands shook as I slipped my phone back into my pocket.
I eyed the skies, my wings pulsing in my back, begging to be freed. There was nothing more I wanted than to be free of this shithole before Marx woke up and killed me, but…
Bernie Maximus.
That wasn’t a coincidence. Someone from my old life was here.
I took off running down the street towards the west side of town, and closer to who I hoped was someone from Fallen Academy.
Whoever they were, I needed to get them and myself out of this city before the big-ass Abrus demon I’d just knocked out awoke.
Chapter Fifteen
The Abrus demon who ran this slave cell chatted my ear off at the door. When he told me the girls had come in last night, I’d nearly punched him in the face for not telling me sooner. When he told me one was a redhead and the other had brown skin, I thought maybe it was Chloe and Shea. What the hell would they be doing here? After me no doubt. Dammit, what had I done? I’d never forgive myself it they got hurt trying to find me.
After finally prying myself away from him, I stepped down into the old train station, which was now converted to a black-market slave-trading post. Among other things … I needed to get my hands on a weapon.
The second I stepped out onto the platform I saw a glass case full of nice-looking knives and daggers. Some looked spelled. The other knives I’d collected were back at my apartment under my bed.
“How much for this one?” I tapped the glass, indicating a large twelve-inch hunting knife. I was going to have to kill the guard at the cage, and free the girls before flying them both out of here. Hell, I was done with this place now. I’d free every single person in there.
“For you? Two hundred,” he mumbled.
I was digging in my pocket to see how much cash I had when I heard commotion behind me, deeper on the platform.
“Lincoln!”
My entire body tensed. I ceased breathing; the room swam with my pumping adrenaline.
Brielle. Brielle had just called my name.
I’d finally lost my mind. The mental breakdown that had been knocking at the doors of my mind had broken down the walls, and now I was hallucinating her.
Still … I turned.
What I saw had me gasping for air; my heart threatened to burst from my chest.
Brielle, wearing fake red hair, was in a fight with two demons while Shea created a portal inside a slave cage behind her.
She was alive.
Alive.
In that moment, I didn’t think, I just reacted.
“Brielle!” The sound of her name on my lips felt foreign.
Letting my wings free, I burst forward, hearing the gasps of the surrounding demons as I flew across the platform, and dropped right behind the Abrus demon who’d just stabbed Brielle in the stomach.
No!
This wasn’t happening. Our reunion wasn’t supposed to happen like this. I’d imagined it countless times, lying awake in bed. I’d have Shea open portals, and finally on the thousandth time Brielle would be there, weak and injured but alive. Shea would pull her through and I’d call for Raphael to heal her, never leaving her side. Then the Dark Prince would come for her, and I’d slice him to a million pieces, lighting each piece on fire when I was done.
Not like this.
Not where I was fighting the Abrus demon, killing him quickly only to be tasked with taking on the Grimlock demon as well. All while Brielle stood in shock, holding her bleeding stomach.
I could smell her and it knocked the wind right out of me. I’d forgotten what she smelled like. She was alive, she was here.
When I’d killed both demons, I looked up to see Brielle had a whip in each hand. One black and one white, she was fighting the advancing hoard of demons and demon blessed. I quickly tucked her behind me before realizing a Succubus demon was crawling towards us. No. Not one, a group of them.
No … not like this.
I hadn’t even said a word to her, hadn’t held her, kissed her.
This was all wrong.
“Succubus,” I mumbled, in shock.
“Get behind me!” she growled. Brielle suddenly jumped out in front of me, tucking me behind her.
I watched, awestruck, as she mowed down a crowd of demons, and demon blessed, with some new power I couldn’t even explain. She immobilized them with a … plasma shield that shot out of her bare hands.
Something had changed in the woman I’d fallen in love with. Where she was once sometimes timid and unsure of herself in battle, now she stood a fierce and determined woman. Hell had hardened her and that saddened me a little, but I had changed too. Maybe we’d be okay, maybe we could still be together if we’d both changed. I definitely wasn’t the same man she left.
When I saw that the threat had been contained, I knew we could wait no longer. Marx and his men would be after me by now.
A quick glance to my left told me that Shea had gotten everyone out, back to Fallen Academy through the portal, I presumed. She’d wisely closed it so the demons couldn’t make their way through it. Shea knew I wouldn’t let anything happen to Brielle. Never again.
Wasting no time, I pulled Bri flush against my body, before taking her into my arms.
Feeling her warm, soft skin against mine felt too good to be real. I was in the Twilight Zone, still in shock that she was alive, was in my arms. I took off running, up the stairs and out of the building, where Marx and his men were waiting for us, as I thought they would be.
“Stop!” Marx shouted.
Like hell.
Kicking off the ground, I took off to the skies, holding Brielle so closely I thought I might break her.
Shots were fired, but I flew faster and harder than I ever had before. I had everything to live for now. I wasn’t going to lose her again.
As she sobbed in my arms, I vowed t
o never let her go.
Ever.
Not now that I had her again. Every single piece of darkness that I’d fed while she was gone withered away at the light that shone inside my soul.
Brielle was my way out of the darkness.
I’d never loved anyone more, and I’d be whatever she needed me to be. Whatever she needed, to keep her safe.
After flying a good bit out of the city, I landed, taking her to the stashed car James had told me about in case of emergency.
I set her down and the first thing I did was look to her gut where she’d been stabbed, but it was no longer bleeding, so it seemed to be a light graze. Thank God.
My gaze then fell to her chest, no Devil mark, and then to her neck. There was a fine white scar where he’d cut her. Reaching out, I stroked her hair, and then placed my hand over her heart to make sure it was beating. This was real, she was alive.
“How?” I breathed, afraid I wouldn’t be able to say anything intelligent to this woman for months. I couldn’t believe she was alive.
She mumbled something about a healer demon, but I couldn’t concentrate. Her eyes, so blue, the two freckles across her collarbone that I’d forgotten. How had I forgotten them? These fine details were what held my attention, not her words. I wanted to grab her, kiss her, and never let her go, but I also didn’t want to scare her. I wasn’t the same man she fell in love with.
What if she didn’t want me anymore? What if we’d grown too far apart from each other to come together again?
“Brielle, I’ve dreamed of this day a thousand times, and now that it’s come … I fear I’m not the same man you left. Your disappearance … it changed me.” My voice was husky with unshed emotion.
At my declaration, fierceness flared in her eyes. This was the Brielle I remembered and loved. You tried to take something she loved from her, and she’d fight you to the death. I could see that fight ramping up inside of her. She was going to fight for me, and it made my knees go weak.
“Then I’ll fall in love with you all over again.” She threw herself forward, wrapping her arms around me, pressing her entire body against mine.
My heart hammered against the walls of my chest as my resistance broke down, and the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding rushed out of me. I’d tried to push her away, warn her I was different now, but I should have known she was too loyal for that. She’d never leave me; never give up on me, no matter how much I changed. That was the kind of person she was and why I fell in love with her in the first place.
I couldn’t hold back anymore. Reaching around her, I cupped her butt, pulling her up onto me as her lips crashed onto mine. Pressing my lips to hers, I kissed her with a feverish desperation, inhaling her scent while tasting her.
I loved this woman so much that it hurt.
Part of me wanted to ask her to tell me everything right then and there. I wanted to know what she’d been through, if that evil bastard had hurt her. But I didn’t want to ruin this moment.
Something clicked inside of me then, a wholeness. Brielle was my better half, and I realized in that moment that I didn’t want to live without her. My mom always told me when you met the one, you just knew it. I’d known for a long time Brielle was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, but now I didn’t want to wait. I couldn’t wait. She was young and I didn’t want to push her, but I’d go out of my mind if she didn’t agree to marry me right this moment. I was never letting her out of my sight again.
“Your absence made me realize how much your presence has made me a better person,” I told her. “I don’t ever want to be without you again. Ever.”
“Neither do I,” she whimpered, as I pulled her in for a hug.
When I pulled away from her, I knew without a doubt that I wanted Brielle to be my wife. Forever. “Marry me. Tomorrow. Right when the courthouse opens,” I begged.
The grin that lit up her face made my chest pinch. She nodded, bursting into laughter.
This was what I loved most about Brielle. After being held captive in Hell for a year, she could still smile as brightly as the sun.
She was the biggest dose of good in the world that I’d ever seen, and I was one lucky man.
Chapter Sixteen
After getting back to Fallen Academy late last night, we’d briefly seen Noah, Shea, Chloe and Luke. We told them of our plans to marry and then passed out in my trailer. I spent half the night tossing and turning, waking up in panic that this wasn’t real, that Brielle wasn’t there, only to find her snuggled up to my chest.
When Shea, her mom, and her friends, came to take her to her “bachelorette party” that morning, I’d called Noah over. We’d shared a brief hug the night before, but I knew there was a lot of unsaid shit between us that needed to be patched up soon. I’d also given him Catia’s full name and asked him to call the Paris Fallen Academy, and see if she and the girl she’d followed, had made it out alive.
After I showered and dressed, there was a knock at the door. “Come in!” I called out, standing awkwardly in the hallway.
Noah was my best friend in the whole world, and I’d been a total piece of shit to him the past year. I shut him out because I was hurting, and now I didn’t know how to fix it. The healer walked into my trailer, shutting the door behind him. A small piece of paper was clutched in his hands, but I didn’t ask what it was. I wanted to get something off my chest before we spoke about anything else.
Looking at the floor, because I was too much of a pussy to meet his eyes, I cleared my throat. “I know I don’t deserve it, but I hope I can ask your forgiveness for being such a shitbag to you the past year. I was a horrible friend and a—”
I was cut off when he slammed into me with a big bro hug, tapping my back a few times before letting go.
Finally, I met his eyes and saw that he was smiling. “You have my forgiveness. I’m just glad you’re alive, dude. You scared the shit out of me.”
This guy was gold. I didn’t deserve him. Running a hand through my hair, I sighed. “I scared myself. After losing my parents, then Brielle … I got lost, man. I didn’t want to lose you too, so I figured pushing you away would be easier.”
Noah grinned. “Damn, dude, I feel like we’re in therapy.”
I chuckled, feeling light and happy for the first time in so long. “Can you believe she’s alive? She’s in one piece?”
Noah nodded. “I can, but I can’t believe she’s agreed to marry your sorry ass.”
Just like that, everything was back to normal, and it meant more to me than I could ever tell him. He wasn’t going to talk about my dark times; he was going to let me put it in the past where it belonged—like a true friend.
“Speaking of, Shea finally give you an answer?”
We’d both fallen in love with younger women, but the time stamp on a Fallen Academy soldier’s life was short. If you wanted to get married and start a family, you needed to do all that by thirty, and hope you lived long enough to see your kid grow up a little. I was in my mid-twenties, prime time for marriage, but I knew Brielle was a little young by societal standards. Although she said she didn’t care, I hoped I wasn’t rushing her.
Noah grinned. “She said yes, but we haven’t set a date.”
I clapped him on the back. “Congrats, dude. We both snagged some amazing women.”
Noah nodded, holding up the paper in his hands. “That we did. Although I think mine is a bit more of a pain in the ass than yours.”
Laughter erupted out of me. God help the man who tried to control Shea. She was as stubborn as they came. “You might be right.” I grinned.
“Speaking of women, I found this Catia girl.” He raised one eyebrow, and I knew he was wondering if I had been romantic with her in San Francisco.
I chuckled. “She’s gay. So, is she alive?”
Noah nodded. “Very much so, and teaching classes at the Paris Fallen Academy.”
I beamed.
She made it out.
Thank God
. It had been at least a month since I’d seen her on that plane.
“And the Mathew kid? He was undercover with James Willow.” I’d also told him to look into that.
Noah nodded. “He made it out as well. Got into some trouble at the border, is injured, but will fully recover. Michael has personally delivered him to his family.”
Relief crashed through me. It’s what James would have wanted, and I was so damn glad to hear that he’d gotten out okay. I would never forgive myself if I had let anything happen to him.
“Why don’t you give her a call while I grab the boys. Get ready for the bachelor party of the century,” Noah told me.
I frowned. “Really?”
Noah grinned, shaking his head. “No, dude. I had no time to plan. It’s going to be beer and video games.”
A smile pulled at the corner of my lips, and I found myself wondering if this was the most I’d smiled all year. I’ll bet it was. “Sounds perfect.” I’d tell him later that I’d given up drinking, and instead of beer I’d be having water.
Noah left then, and I sat down at my table with a temporary cell phone Raphael had left for us last night.
After taking a deep breath, I dialed the number. It was about noon, so that should be night for her in Paris. Hopefully, it was not too late.
“Hello?”
Hearing her voice made relief spread through me. I hadn’t truly believed Noah until I heard that voice.
“Excuse me, ma’am, but I live next door and your TV is too loud!” I faked the voice of our old annoying neighbor in San Francisco, and Catia burst into laughter.
“Lincoln! I can’t believe it. When your friend called I was so shocked. How are you? How’d you get out?”
I could hear the emotion in her voice and it was mutual. We’d shared something special. We may have not been romantic, but I loved her. She’d filled a part of me that was empty, the part that had longed for family.
The part my sister used to fill.
“Well…” I didn’t know where to begin. “You were right. Brielle is alive.”
She gasped. “Oh, Lincoln…” I could hear the tears in her voice. She was crying.