“No problem.”
I took a step back.“I guess I’ll see you around.”
“I hope so,” she said, then watched me as I spun and ran like I was running from something, something terrifying.And I was—the version of myself that had just made a mistake like charging onto crow territory without warning, then opening myself up and making a fucking spectacle of my bleeding heart.I didn’t know who this version was.Not anymore.I was altered in a way that had me untethered.I felt like I was floating away.
When I hit the street, I reached out again, for whoever Bram had sensed out here.Hellhound.Fender to be precise.He stayed concealed, and I was fine with that.I didn’t want to talk either.Whatever his reason for being here was none of my business.
Instead of heading into the city or the asylum, I changed direction and strode along the street.The Thornheart cemetery was just down the road, and just past that, Jasmine, Mags’s cousin, lived with her fox-shifter mate, Ren.Beyond that was an open field, then more forest.No one would come looking for me here.In fact, this was the last place anyone would come looking.
I strode through the field, through wildflowers, until I reached the middle and sat.I flopped back and stared up at the sky.The moon was huge, and there were so many stars here.I liked this view as well.Not as much as the one from my window in Hell, but it was a close second.
Could the angels see us down here?Did they look down with disgust?Did the humans provide them some kind of twisted amusement?
Was Silas looking down now?
Why couldn’t I get him out of my head?He wasn’t even here, and he was tormenting me.I opened the small jar.Forgetting him was what I needed.Pretending he didn’t exist, that I didn’t exist, was all I wanted.
I looked up again, as I tipped the capsules into my hand?—
Something streaked through the sky.A glowing bolt of fire, like a comet, plummeting fast and heading for earth.
The ball of glowing heat hurtled from the sky at sound-breaking speed.It was going to land somewhere in the forest.Tossing the capsules aside, I jumped to my feet and started running, even as I told myself it wasn’t what I thought it was—who I thought it was.
Sprinting across the field, I burst into the forest.
I looked up again as the glowing ball of fire disappeared behind the trees.
The impact came a minute later, so fierce, the ground shook, and a wave of sound, an echoingboom,blasted through the forest, almost knocking me on my ass.Birds burst from the trees, animals startled awake.The humans would think they’d just had an earthquake, the demons in this city, and especially in the forest, would know otherwise—the knights as well.
They’d already be on their way, and they had wings to get here quicker.
Because it was him.It was Silas.
I dug deeper, running so fast the forest was a blur.He was mine.Silas was fucking mine.He must have pissed off the angels if they’d thrown him out again, but that wasn’t my problem.I told the knights what I’d do if I got to him first, and I never went back on my word.Ever.
Elation filled me as I got nearer.I could feel him.I wasn’t excited to see him, I was excited to get my revenge, that’s all this was, nothing more.
Bursting through the trees, I skidded to a stop.Trees were laid flat for half a mile around a crater deep in the ground.I bounded across fallen trees, one after the other, until I reached the edge.Someone yelled in the distance, the knights were closing in.
Without pausing, I kept going, digging my heels into the loose earth, skidding, sliding down into the scorched and smoking crater.
It took me a minute to see him.He was covered in dirt and char, and as I got closer, I could see he was bleeding and bruised.
I swallowed thickly, trying to harden my heart.He did this to himself.This is what happened when you aligned yourself with angels.Still, I crouched beside him, a pained sound sneaking free when I saw his hair had been hacked off and the open wounds on his back where they’d again sliced off his wings.
“Ursula!”Chaos called.
I looked up and saw the knight silhouetted against the sky, his huge wings outstretched.
Wrapping an arm around Silas, I threw up the other and opened a gateway to Hell.Gritting my teeth, I dragged him through, knowing they couldn’t follow.Chaos landed, Zenon with him.
“Hand him back through the gateway, Ursula,” Zenon growled.
“Not happening.Silas has to answer for what he did.”
“Ursula,” Chaos barked.
I closed the gate, shutting them out.They could have what was left of him when I was done.