Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

FERN

“I’m gonna need you to tell me why we’re going back to the crone’s cottage, Tink.”

Relic strode beside me through the forest, and for the first time, I wasn’t hopped up on my courage potion or freaking the fuck out. I also realized I’d have to share some more with Relic if I wanted him to help me drag an unsuspecting demon through the forest and hand them over to Agatheena as an offering.

Sharing wasn’t something I was used to doing or felt comfortable doing, but the more time I spent with Relic, the less terrifying it was becoming.

He hadn’t used anything I’d said against me, and he’d taken care of me last night. He’d made me feel good, and I’d touched him. I liked touching him. Sweet Lucifer, the way he’d looked, lying on that bed—so strong, muscles straining, staring at me like … like he truly wanted me, like he truly cared about me—I’d never forget it. I never wanted to forget it.

“Remember, I told you that I’d only recently discovered I had soul collector DNA? Well, that wasn’t all.”

He glanced my way. “Yeah.”

Gods, he really was beautiful.

I cleared my throat. “Agatheena, well, it turns out, she’s my great-grandmother, and she has some information about me that could help me—a lot. The type of information that could mean I don’t need anyone to protect me anymore. But in exchange for information, she expects an offering.”

“What kind of information?” he asked, frowning.

“It’s hard to explain. I don’t fully understand it myself. I could potentially have some untapped powers, and she might be able to help me … uh, un-tap them, I guess.”

He curled his fingers around my arm, stopping me. “What kind of powers?”

“I honestly don’t know. But I …” I forced myself to say it. “She said I was a triplet, that I was the only one who survived. My siblings died while my mom was pregnant with us, and Agatheena said … well, she said I absorbed their powers. Only I have no idea how to tap into them.” I licked my dry lips and made myself keep going. “I don’t want to feel afraid and helpless and out of control anymore, Relic. And if Agatheena can help me stop feeling that way, I’ll do anything she asks.”

“You feel helpless?”

I dug my nails into my palms when the urge to start counting and tapping filled me. “All my life.”

The muscle in his jaw did that little jump that said he was clenching his teeth. “Don’t fucking like that, Fern. Don’t like that you were so scared that you felt you had to make a deal with a hellhound to feel safe. And I don’t fucking like that someone hurt you, that they put those scars all over you …”

I flinched, and he held up his hands.

“Not asking you to tell me where they came from, baby, not if you’re not ready to share, but if seeing the crone will help you with all of that, then I’m on board.”

I really liked this guy—like, a lot. Yes, it was dangerous to let myself feel things for him because this relationship wasn’t real. Whatever he thought he felt for me was warped by our deal, but still, I couldn’t help it. It was impossible not to like him.

“Thank you.”

“Never need to thank me, babe. That’s what I’m here for.” We started walking again. “So, you were telling the truth when you said you were a witch?”

“My mom was Agatheena’s granddaughter, but her demon blood skipped over my grandmother. As for my mother, well, it was there, but there was no outward sign. Then, my mom mated a soul collector, and I was the result.”

“What did her coven do?” he asked, his gaze sliding back my way.

I didn’t talk about this. The first time I had since it’d happened was in Agatheena’s kitchen. “When they found out about my father, they killed him before my mom knew she was pregnant. Her family forced her to marry someone else. Then, I was born and eventually, my eyes, they gave me away.”

“What happened after that, Tink?”

The words kept coming while goose bumps prickled all over my skin from the memory. “One night, Mom came into my room and woke me. She carried me downstairs and hid me under the hall table. A male walked through the kitchen door. He scared me. He was saying all these things to her I didn’t understand. Then, my dad walked in … well, the male I thought was my dad. I remember thinking, It’ll be okay because Dad will make the monster go away . But he didn’t stop the monster. My dad didn’t even try, and then she was gone.”

Relic’s lips peeled back from his teeth. “Tell me what your dad did after that. What happened to you, Fern?”

Memories filled my mind—memories I tried to avoid—and I flinched again. “Bad things,” I choked out. “Really bad things, Relic.” I turned away, looking into the forest around me, the dappled light filtering through the trees. For once, it looked pretty, and the shadows didn’t scare me because I had Relic, because Relic was with me. “They experimented on me, poisoned me … they hurt me. I escaped, but they want me back, and they won’t stop until they have me.”

He growled low, and I wrapped my arms around myself.

Fighting down the feeling of being utterly laid bare, I turned back to him—

He wasn’t there.

“Relic?” I scanned the forest, but there was no sign of him.

Someone moved in the undergrowth.

“Relic?”

They stepped out of the trees.

“Hello, Essie.”

Grady.

I stumbled back. He’d followed us.

“Relic!” I screamed.

* * *

RELIC

One moment, I was standing beside Fern, and the next, I was in Hell with Rome and Fender.

“Fucking hate when he does this,” Rome growled out.

Lucifer had summoned us. He’d fucking called us back here without warning.

“Fern,” I snarled. “I abandoned her in Oldwood Forest.”

Fender bit out a curse.

Snatching out my phone, I tried to call her. Nothing. No answer. No messages or missed calls. I shoved it back into the pocket of my leather vest and yanked it off. Then, with a roar, I exploded into my hound form, scooped the vest up in my jaw, and tore off, running as fast as I could through the caverns. My brothers’ roars echoed behind me as they shifted as well, following me.

Lucifer had dumped us on the other side of the fire pits because this was where he obviously wanted us, but I needed him to fucking send me back to Fern. It was going to take too fucking long to get to his quarters, even with us running as hard as we could.

Fuck. She’d think I’d abandoned her. Left her all alone. She’d be so fucking scared.

I wanted to tear everything around me to pieces and throw the fuck up at the same time.

Time moved differently down here; in Hell, minutes translated to hours on Earth, hours to days, and she hadn’t called or texted since I’d left her in that forest. Not once.

Something was seriously wrong. My mind was instantly filled with horrific things, so many awful fucking things.

Only Lucifer could send me back to the same time, back to the moment I’d been dragged away from her.

“They experimented on me, poisoned me … they hurt me.”

I’d heard it all before I was torn away.

Whoever had done that shit to her, enough time had passed on Earth, they could’ve already found her. They could be hurting her now.

I roared again, the sound bouncing off the stone walls. Rome and Fender howled behind me, letting me know they had my back, but the only thing that could help was getting to Fern. I was close to madness by the time we reached Lucifer’s quarters.

Shifting back, I pounded hard on his door, and I kept pounding so fucking hard that the hinges started to loosen.

It swung open, and Roxy stood there, frowning, her long blade in her hand. The frown dropped, and her eyes widened. “Relic? What’s the matter?”

“I need to see Lucifer. He needs to send me back,” I snarled and strode in, searching the room. “Where the fuck is he?”

“Lucifer?” Rox asked.

“Yes, fucking Lucifer. Where the fuck is he, Rox?”

She blinked up at me; my lack of respect had thrown her. No one demanded to speak to Lucifer that way, and I’d never talked to her like that ever in my entire life, but right now, I was past control.

“He’s not here,” she said.

I spun and slammed my fist into the wall with a snarl, panting hard, trying and failing to keep it together. “Where the fuck is he, Roxy? I have to go back; he needs to send me back.”

“You need to back the fuck up,” Ursula said, her eyes flashing. “You’re pissed. Be pissed, but you don’t get to yell at Rox. Lucifer isn’t here, and he isn’t coming back for whatever this”—she waved her hand at me while I snarled and panted and fought not to shift again—“is about.”

Roman stepped forward. “His female—she’s in trouble. When Lucifer summoned us, they were in Oldwood Forest.”

Roxy frowned. “His female?”

I dragged in another breath before I fucking self-combusted. “My mate, Rox. When Lucifer summoned me, I left her alone in a demon-infested forest. She’s in danger.” The last sentence came out in a roar—a combination of terror and fury.

Her eyes widened. “Oh, no.”

“I need Lucifer,” I said again, shoving my fingers through my hair. Without him, I was fucked. Without him, I couldn’t go back to the precise moment he took me from her.

Ursula cursed. “He’s incommunicado. He’s journeying, checking on the rest of his lords after Faron’s disappearance. It was a last-minute thing. He took Maddox and Gus, which is why he summoned you that way.”

He usually gave us more warning if he planned to summon us back or gave us time to get here on our own. Hell was vast, he could be gone for fucking weeks.

“Go,” Rox said. “Go to her.”

“I’ll explain everything to Lucifer when he returns. Go find your female,” Ursula added.

“I’ll text Loth, let him know what happened,” Fender said, pulling out his phone.

I spun and sprinted away, back through the caves.

Fern could already be dead. She could already be fucking dead by now.