Chasing Fate: A Reverse Harem Romance
Page 10
Then there was Edwin, my rock and unmovable foundation. His fist was the righteous power of judgment and his heart shone with a light that would never go out.
Each bond, unique and precious, was not something to be sacrificed or severed. Whatever this creature had done to become death incarnate, she’d lost all touch with what it meant to be a Keymaster and a woman. I allowed my deck to flutter to the ground. All the cards fell face-down, and only the key remained hanging in the air as the realm shuddered with a new spell.
I chanted the low, ancient words that came to me by instinct.
Death’s eyes went wide, the void sparking with recognition. “No,” she hissed and lashed out at me again, but her scythe hit against the immovable wall of my resolve. It ricocheted and clattered to the ground.
I grinned and released my spell. A thousand tiny golden orbs pierced into her body and shredded her from the inside. Death had no place in this world, not when it wasn’t its time.
“Leave death to its natural cycle,” I commanded as she screamed and flesh ripped from bone, leaving behind the structure of her body which was all magic and glittering stars. She was cosmos made flesh, but I would make sure she was sent back to where she belonged.
“You don’t know what I’ve done,” she whispered, her words a guttural struggling effort as she melted before my eyes. “I wasn’t the cycle of death you feared. I was its caretaker, and now you’ve set it free.”
The witch’s warning didn’t sit right with me, even well after she was gone. I didn’t have time to ponder what she meant. The realm buckled and broke the moment she whispered out of existence and the heavy weight of death’s power evaporated from the realm. I found the portal sputtering and dove back through it before it closed permanently.
Epilogue
The occult shop was hopelessly littered with demons and blood by the time I returned from the pocket-realm. The portal closed behind me and sunlight immediately drifted through the shattered windows.
Demons whispered away, scurrying through their own portals while rings of hellfire blazed all around them. Devon roared after them, only whispering away his portals once all the demons were gone. “And don’t come back!” he shouted after the beasts. He turned to me, blood streaked all over him and slash marks marring his beautiful face. “They’re terrified of me.”
Jeffery flashed to my side and steadied my arm that had begun to shake. “Everyone’s terrified of you,” he agreed. “Nothing scarier than an angel of hell with an outfit like that.”
Devon frowned, but before he could defend his hopelessly shredded leather garb, Edwin stepped into my sight and stole my breath away.
All humanity had stripped away from him and now he was a member of the Legion. Long, graceful wings made of silver and sunlight drifted from his back, seeming to steady him as he took one last, long look for signs of the enemy. Then his crystal gaze fell on me and I held onto Jeffery for support.
“Good,” was all Edwin said. He gave me a final nod before spreading his wings. “You survived, and so have we. For now, the battle is won.”
He stepped out of the shop and lifted off, disappearing with the blur of his brethren that blocked out the sky until he was gone. I gasped when the bond between us strained, stretching and bowing as if it might snap. “What is he doing?” I cried and clutched at my chest.
Jeffery held onto me and turned me into his chest. “He’s an angel of heaven,” he said matter-of-factly. “And, he’s not so good at goodbyes.”
When I lifted my head from his chest, I spotted Devon staring at me with such longing that I wanted to run into his arms, but Jeffery held onto me tight.
Then he smirked and gave me a wink, and my heart plummeted to my feet. “You’re leaving too?”
He gave Jeffery a nod. “I’m not like Edwin. I can show some class.”
Jeffery released me and I sped to Devon. I wrapped my arms around him and held onto him so tight that I was sure he’d never be able to pry me off. “You’re not going anywhere,” I demanded. I’d just fought death and fucking won. What kind of prize was this?
He kissed my hair and swept low, tantalizing circles across my lower back. “The worlds are fragile right now. I can’t stay long, or hell itself will break through and come to claim me. I can’t put you in that kind of danger.”
In spite of his words, he held onto me just as tight as I was holding him. He peered out the shattered window and watched the sky. “The Legion made sure Edwin came with them right away when they figured out what was going on. They would have destroyed this entire city if he’d even hesitated.”
Growling, I parted from him just enough to glare at the empty skyline. “Bastards.” I’d find the strength to find him and punish those who thought they could rip my heart out and get away with it.
He laughed. “There’s my girl.”
I turned my focus on him and frowned. “Why didn’t you warn me this was going to happen?”
He stroked my cheek. I hadn’t realized I’d started to cry. “Would you have fought so hard to save the world if you knew that we couldn’t be in yours?”
My fingers dug into the remains of his leather jacket. “Will I ever get to see you again?”
He smiled. “Death has a cycle every thousand years. There’s that.” When I balked, he gave me a long, sensual kiss. “You’ll find a way to reunite with us sooner than that, if you’re half as stubborn as I think you are.”
Flames licked across his tongue as he kissed me again, then he backed away and somehow, I unlatched my fingers from him.
Pain wrecked me, but the confidence in his gaze told me that just because I’d fought death and won didn’t mean the battle was over. I had to find a way to reunite our worlds again, and damn heaven and hell, that was exactly what I was going to do.
Flames ignited and Devon stepped into them, disappearing a moment later in a crash of thunder.
I turned, half-expecting Jeffery to have disappeared too, but he was waiting for me and offered his arm.
“Let’s go home.”
Numb and suddenly tired, I slipped my fingers over the bulge of his muscle and allowed him to guide me through the mess of Fortune Street.
That’s when the final slip of my nightmares revealed themselves. The echo of memory that had always faded away just before waking.
Where there is life, there is always death. But where there is love, there is life, and that is something even death can never take away.
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The End
Read Next in the Blood Stone Series: Succubus Sins
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Also by J.R. Thorn
Chasing Fate is a standalone story and introduction to the world of the Blood Stone Series! All my books are written in the same world with events in sequential order. Even when you start a new series with new characters, the world will be familiar and favorite characters will make brief reappearances. Fun, right?
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Want to find out what happens next? Great! Read Succubus Sins and experience the first wave of calamity that’ll bring the world to its knees, as well as a whole new harem and a succubus who kicks some serious ass!
My name is Sonya and I’m about to make the seven deadly sins my bitch
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