26. Rylan

Icrumbled to my knees at her one-word answer. Jett began to shake uncontrollably, and I wanted to comfort the pup, but I felt my entire world crumble around me. I met Lucifer’s eyes, and he swore. He turned back to God to scream at the unfairness of her decision, but I tuned him out.

He knew that as soon as Evangeline left this world, we would, too, with or without his help. Kase continued to beg Evangeline to change her mind as I gazed at my mate, committing every nuance of her body to memory. I would find her again in another life. I had to believe that, and when I did, I wanted to make sure I recognized her immediately. I didn’t want to waste a single second in our next life without her.

“Do you love her?” a voice asked.

I turned to see Asteria standing a short distance away.

“Yes,” I croaked.

“How much?” she asked, moving closer. “Enough to tie your lives to hers?”

“We would do anything to save her,” I replied, a glimmer of hope sparking within me.

God scoffed. “I won’t bear witness to this.”

“You created the loopholes, albeit inadvertently,” Asteria replied. “I merely use them.”

“If you do this, her soul and yours will be damned for all eternity,” God warned.

“After their interactions with you,” Lucifer drawled, “I’m pretty sure they’re willing to take their chances with me.” His eyes moved to Asteria when God left. “Make this right without any funny business, and I’ll overlook your involvement.”

Asteria paled but nodded. “Before I do this, you must understand what you’re agreeing to. Your lives would forever be tied to hers as well as each other. If one of you dies, you all die.”

“That is already true,” I replied. “We’re a pack and wouldn’t want to outlive each other.” Kase and Jett nodded their agreement.

“You understand that you will forever be giving up your true mate? Evangeline was never meant to be your mate. Somewhere out there, your true mate lives and breathes. If you do this, that potential bond will be forever broken.”

“Evangeline is the only mate we want or claim,” Jett growled. “She is who we want, not some stranger.”

“She’s the only mate I will ever accept,” Kase stated.

“I’ll never let her go,” I said when Asteria’s eyes moved to me.

She nodded. “Then let’s save your mate’s life.” She pulled a bowl and an athame from her bag and approached me first. “Do you freely give your blood and life to be forever linked to those of your mate and your pack?”

“I do.”

She took my left hand, sliced my palm, closed my fist, and held it over the white bowl for the blood to drip into. When she had enough, she released me and went to Jett and Kase to do the same to them. Asteria then bent over Evangeline and removed the amulet she had given her.

“We’re done with that now, child. As you have refused to accept God’s grace in exchange for your mates, I will assume you give your consent for us to save your life.” She lifted Evangeline’s hand and cut it, adding her blood to the bowl. Setting the bowl on the ground, she mixed our blood with the athame while reciting an incantation. When she finished, our blood had a silver smoke rising from it.

She took a length of string from her bag and soaked it in our blood. “Rylan, take her left hand in yours. Jett and Kase, stack your hands on top of hers,” Asteria ordered.

We did as she said. She removed the string from the bowl and wrapped it around our joined hands. Her hand hovered over ours as she closed her eyes and spoke another incantation.

I hissed as the string caught fire and burned to dust. I held my breath as I watched Evangeline’s face for any sign of life. Please let this work. It had to work!

Evangeline suddenly gasped as her eyes flew open. I looked at Asteria nervously as Evangeline sat up and continued to gasp for air.

Asteria smiled reassuringly. “Give her a minute. Coming back from the brink of death takes a lot out of you. Your mate will live.”

“Thank you! I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to repay you,” I rasped.

“You won’t need to, will he?” Lucifer said, glaring at Asteria.

“That one was on the house,” the witch agreed quickly. “I’ll take my leave now.”

Lucifer smiled down at us before kneeling and cupping Evangeline’s face. “You did good, little dove,” he praised. He kissed her forehead and stood. He sighed as he looked at the carnage around us. I also looked around and realized that hounds, demons, and angels surrounded us to watch what was happening. Beyond them, bodies littered the island, so thick in places that they were stacked three feet high.

“Take your mate home. You can have a few days off until she’s recovered from her ordeal. Then we’ll talk about what the road ahead looks like,” Lucifer said. “I’ll clean up this mess.” He took only two steps when Lilith appeared before him and slapped him across the face.

“You bastard! How dare you survive and not tell me!” she screamed.

Lucifer chuckled as he wrapped his hand around her throat and pulled her in for a savage kiss. “I love you, too, Lilith,” he said when he broke the kiss.

I shook my head and gathered Evangeline in my arms, happy to see her breathing had evened out. Her head fell against my shoulder as I stood. “Ready to go home, angel?”

Evangeline nodded, and I teleported us home with my pack behind me.

Later that night, I lay in bed, watching my pack sleep. Evangeline’s energy quickly returned once we got home, and we ordered a mountain of food for dinner. We were all ravenous after our day, not just for food. They had all fallen asleep rather quickly, but try as I might, I couldn’t find sleep. I was content to watch them for now, grateful that we were together. Today had been far too close for me, and now that our lives were tied to each other, I was even more determined to keep my pack safe.

Evangeline stirred and opened her lavender-gray eyes. I swear, every day, they become more vividly purple. “Can’t sleep?” she whispered.

I shook my head. “I almost lost you,” I whispered back. “It’s a hard feeling to shake.”

Evangeline smiled softly and lifted an arm for me to lay with her. I slid down in the bed and rested my head on her chest. My eyes closed as her fingertips drew patterns on my head. “But you didn’t lose me. I chose you, and it all worked out in the end. I’m not going anywhere, ever.”

I clung to her as she spoke, focusing on her voice and her touch, letting them soothe the desperate agony that still filled my chest whenever I thought about her dying body.

“I love you, Rylan. You’re the best mistake I’ve ever made, and I wouldn’t go back and change it for all the riches in the world.”