Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 111353 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 557(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111353 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 557(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
“It’s okay, Charlotte.” Ronin slowly, then firmly drew me into his arms. “I know you’re feeling right now like you were fooled and taken advantage of, but you weren’t. You outsmarted Lucifer again.”
“How can you say that?” I cried into his chest. “I didn’t outsmart anyone!”
“Sure, you did. You seduced the prince of sloth and got him dancing to your tune until he summoned an angel to hell to get you both back home where you belong,” he dropped. “How much smarter can you get? That winged fucker didn’t see that coming.”
I snorted, a little giggle escaping me. “I don’t know about seducing but...” I tipped my head, giving him the smile I swore he’d never see again. “Thank you.”
“Do you love me yet?”
I giggled again, even as I rolled my eyes. “You really are shameless to the very end.”
“Hmm. That wasn’t a yes, so let’s see if this does it.” Ronin reached in his pocket and pulled out a small vial of clear liquid. “Permanent glamour potion”—he held it out to Dora—“and it’s for you. No one can make you mortal again, but I can make you look like a mortal. No red eyes. No black tinge to your skin. Your glamour will make you look and age like everyone else, but underneath, you’ll still be a hot, young demon brimming with dark magic—so not a bad trade off.”
Dora didn’t smile at the joke. Taking the vial, she gazed at it with an expression I couldn’t read. “But I won’t be able to... give birth, will I?”
Ronin’s teasing grin faded. “No,” he replied, skipping the sugar-coating. “Demons don’t reproduce. Nothing can change that. Not even magic. Life can’t come from the dead.”
She sniffed, her face hidden behind a curtain of hair. “It’s okay. I understand.” She said that, but her hand shook as she stuffed the vial in the pocket of her black maxi dress. “Thank you, Ro-Ro, for all of it. Everything.” When she raised her head again, she was smiling. “I’ll let you two say goodbye in private.”
Goodbye?
“Is this really it?” I whispered. “I leave now and never see you again?”
Ronin’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “That’s the plan. That day in your bedroom, after the mutt and I rescued you from Lucifer’s ritual, the only thing you asked of me was that I help you without asking for anything in return. So, that’s what I did,” he confessed, widening my eyes. “The sub bond, pretending I didn’t believe in the hallows, and all-around being an asshole. I did all that to keep up the ruse for Lucifer’s spies. Being too interested in the hallows, or too in love with you, might’ve made Lucifer see me as a threat. I didn’t want him scheming to separate me from you, until I could separate you from him.”
My breaths shortened with every word. “I can barely take this in, Ronin. This was your plan? All this time, and everything you said about me being yours and belonging to you,” I said. “And the whole time, you were planning for me to leave.”
“Uhhh.” Ronin shrugged his mouth. “Actually, the plan was for Samael to take your sister and only her back to earth. My original plan absolutely included you staying here with me forever.”
Of course it did.
“But that day in the hall,” Ronin continued, his teasing tone fading, “when you smiled that head-tilting, eyes-sparkling, nose-wrinkling smile... I knew I could do it. I knew I could let you go because that smile gave me everything I needed for the rest of my afterlife.”
I warmed under my Peter Pan collar. My heart was racing so fast, I was in danger of fainting again.
“Just one question,” I said softly. “Santino... was killing him an illusion too?”
“Of course,” Ronin replied. “I didn’t kill him in that tunnel, I just trapped him inside.”
My fuzzy, rosy feelings vanished in a blink. “What?! Is he still there?”
Ronin blinked. “Course he’s still there. The fucker wouldn’t stay away from you, and he couldn’t say no to you. I couldn’t have him messing things up.”
My jaw dropped. “Ronin! You have to get him out of there, it’s been six weeks!”
“Yeah, sure, but it’s not a big deal,” said the still-a-fucking-work-in-progress. “It’s not like he can suffocate or starve to death in there.”
“Get him out,” I gritted. “As soon as we leave, go straight to Abaddon and get him out of there.”
He sighed like I was being impossible. “If you insist.”
Tossing my head, I went over to Samael and Dora, falling in on Dora’s other side.
“Your last question is about the leech? Really?” Ronin’s voice stopped me in my tracks. “You’re not going to ask about breaking the sub bond?”
I was quiet a beat, then said, “No. Everyone’s already hinted at the terrible price of breaking the sub bond, and I’m not interested in either one of us paying it. Besides, I kind of like the idea of us being linked across two worlds and two lifetimes.” Turning around, I beamed at him—eyes shining, nose wrinkling and head tilting. “Because I love you.”