Chapter 2

Isaac

A s Abby flies away, I have to resist the burning need inside me to go after her.

"Are we just going to let her go?" Luke asks. "We have to go after her."

"No," I answer, turning my attention from her fading frame to him. "If we try to stop her from whatever she's going to do, she's just going to resent us. She needs to at least try to get Zed back, or she's going to spend the rest of her life burdened by the fact she didn't do everything in her power."

"But what if she gets hurt? We can't just sit by and let her do this on her own. If she's going to do this, we need to do it as a team. We're her mates," Noah states.

"I know." I nod, taking his hand in mine. I bring it up to my lips and kiss the back of it, not caring who else is around. I don't like the agonized look on his face right now. I know it's killing him not to go after her. I don't feel too great about it either.

My brother is dead, and I never got the chance to truly get to know him. I've been too weighed down by the hate my father instilled in me as well as some lies I told myself.

Zed was—is—a good man. I hope Abby finds a way to get him back, because maybe then I'll get a second chance. But even if I don't, as long as Abby get's her mate back, that's all that matters.

If she truly loses Zed, it will kill her, that much I know. Her body would still be here, but she would never be the same, just a shell of who she was. I believe that's how it would be if something were to happen to Leo too. Maybe even Frankie, Luke, or Noah.

I wouldn't want to be the cause of that, I wouldn't be worth it.

Sadly, that's not how things work because losing a mate is the worst thing that could happen. That's when our fathers started to change. I get it, it's tempting to give into that darkness when you've lost someone who was the light of your life.

Only my father let it consume him until he was no better than the beings he despised.

I know he was aiming for Lucifer, but he killed my brother instead, ripping his heart out so damn easily. And I didn't see any heartbreak. There was no agony when he realized it was his son's heart that was wrapped in the palm of his hand.

He never cared about Zed, never loved him. And despite the things he's said to me, he never loved me either.

And now he's dead too. Only, we don't know if he's going to be brought back.

God has the power to do it, but that doesn't mean he will. He didn't bring back our mothers, said it was their time and it was the way of life.

So was it really my father's time? Or will God bring him back because he's one of his closest, top ranking angels and not just a regular Pure Blood.

I wonder if God's taking requests, because I'd really fucking like to put one in for him to not bring back my father. I think we can all agree that no one wants him back. The world is a better place without him.

It hits me that both my parents are dead. Two people with the power to live forever are... gone.

Funny how we're immortal yet it doesn't promise immortality.

"Isaac!" Luke shouts, pulling me from my inner thoughts.

"Sorry, what?"

"We're leaving," Frankie declares.

I glare at her. "What makes you think you can just come in here and start making decisions?"

"I'm her mate," she snarls. "And I'm going to be by her fucking side."

Right. Fucking hell, how could I forget about that. Of all the fucking people she could have been mated to, why the bitchy blood sucker?

"Where is everyone going?" Leo asks, brows furrowed as he searches for Lucifer and Megan.

"Lucifer did some magic stuff and poofed himself and my mom away," Libby huffs angrily, storming her way over to us. "I think his plan is to go to Hell and leave us behind."

"Not happening." Frankie shakes her head. "We're going to Hell, and we're going to find Abby. She needs us even if she doesn't think she does.

"So, that's it? We're going to Hell?" Leo asks.

Luke's eyes widen. "Do we have to?"

"What? You afraid?" Frankie asks.

"It's full of demons! People who would most likely want us dead when they find out who our fathers are," Luke panics. "Literally a whole underworld of beings who are able to kill us."

"Perks of being mated to the Princess of Hell, it grants you immunity. No one will touch you because they know it means they will end their own lives. And as much as they might want to get your blood on their hands, they're not going to risk their own lives to do so. Demons are very selfish beings, they only care about themselves."

"And does that go for you?" I ask. "Do you only care about yourself?"

Clearly, she doesn't. I see how much she cares about Abby, and I fucking hate it. My guys and I are just getting our time with her and now we have to share it with her? I don't like it.

Plus, add on this stuff with Zed. Life is literally about to be hell. Fucking awesome.

"I'm a vampire, not a demon." She rolls her eyes. "Anyway, how about we stop playing with our dicks and go get our girl, huh?"

"You don't have a dick." Noah blinks. Oh, my sweet boy. I think he's still in shock over everything that just happened.

"Trust me, honey, I do." Frankie gives him a wicked grin as she steps up and leans in. "And it's much bigger than yours." She winks.

"I'm coming too," Libby interjects, bringing all our attention to her. Frankie goes to say something, but Libby holds up her hand. "I don't want to hear anything about it not being safe enough. He is my brother, and Abby is like a sister to me. I need to be there for them."

Frankie deflates, sighing as she nods, then turns to us. "I'm going to help Libby pack. We will meet you in a half hour. If you are not at the portal by then, I can't guarantee you will have access to cross over. With everything that just happened, security is going to be tight and Leo's demon status alone isn't enough to get him through."

"And yours is?" I ask, crossing my arms.

"Sure is, buddy." She grins. "Because I'm one of the top ranking soldiers in Lucifer's army. My father is one of his top men. I have the highest clearance, next to Lucifer himself.

"Whatever," I mutter. That just makes her grin wider.

"You hate me—that much I know. But you better get used to me, angel boy. I'm not going anywhere."

"Neither am I, blood sucker," I spit.

"We will be there." Leo steps between us. He shoots me a look. "Let's go."

Biting my tongue, I listen to him. Noah's wings pop free before he grabs Leo around the waist and shoots into the sky.

Frankie and Libby are heading towards the house, dismissing us entirely.

"I don't like this, Isaac." Luke shoots me a look that's pure unease.

I step up to him and take his face into my hands. "We're going to be fine. Abby is going to be okay. She's a badass, and she's going to bring Zed back. Then we can come home and figure out where to go from there." I purposefully ignore the fact that Lucifer said there's a good chance that what comes back won't be Zed.

"And what if it's not okay." Luke's eyes flick between mine, frowning. "The idea of Abby hurting, being in pain... it hurts me too. All I want to do is make it better, to take that pain away, but I can't."

"No, we can't. But we can do our best to help it hurt less. And we need to start by going to Hell and getting our girl."

"Fuck," he groans. "We're really going to Hell, aren't we?"

"Yeah." I chuckle. "We are." I press my lips to his, swallowing his groan. "Now, let's go."

We fly back to the house and go in search of Noah.

"Leo's upstairs packing. I suggested packing for Abby, but he said there was no need. Makes sense. I'm sure there are still a lot of her things back home," Noah starts talking as soon as we enter the room, sensing it's us behind him.

He's mindlessly grabbing things, shoving them into a suitcase.

"What does one bring to Hell?" he asks, holding up a pair of swim shorts.

"Noah," I say his name softly, grabbing the shorts from his hands. He's spiralling, and I hate it. "Breathe."

"No time to breathe, Isaac!" His eyes well with tears. "We have to be there for Abby. If she can't bring him back..." He closes his eyes as he takes a shuddering breath. "I don't want to know what it'll do to her."

"Let's stop thinking about the what-ifs. We will deal with things as we go." Normally, it's him trying to hold me together. It's not a good feeling to be the one in his shoes. I feel like shit that I made him in charge of putting me in my place for so long.

He doesn't need to be put in his place though, he needs a fucking hug.

I pull him into my arms, and he falls apart. Tucking his face into my neck, he lets the tears fall.

"When she screamed out it was in pure agony, Isaac. I felt it in my bones, down to my core. I felt her pain, her worry, her absolute devastation."

"Shhh," I soothe him, rubbing my hand up and down his back. From the corner of my eye, I see Luke standing there watching, his arms wrapped around himself. He looks broken, like a little boy who lost his best friend.

I've never seen them so lost. Opening my arms, I invite him in. He comes willingly, wrapping his arms around Noah.

We stand there, reveling in the comfort of each other's embrace. What happened tonight was a lot for all of us.

I felt what he did. I think we all did, apart from Frankie because she isn't bonded to her.

Hearing her shatter like that changed me. Everything inside me shifted, and I don't think I'm the same person I was before. Maybe that's for the better, because who I was before wasn't good.

I was filled with so much hate and resentment. I wanted the world to burn with me. I said and did some horrible things I can never take back. I treated my mate like she was nothing to me, when inside I knew she was everything.

My old self died right alongside my brother. Only there's no resurrection for me.

Once everyone has calmed down and had a moment to breathe, we pack. None of us are sure how long we're going to be there, so we pack the basics.

"Got everything?" Leo asks when we meet him by the door.

"Guess we're going to have to hope for the best."

He nods. Leo's been quiet for the most part. I can see he's in pain, doing his best to keep it together.

Out of all of us, Leo has the strongest connection with Abby. She's his best friend, the person who's been through it all with her.

"She's going to be okay," I reassure him, patting him on the shoulder.

He gives my hand an odd look but doesn't try to push me away. "You don't know that."

"No. You're right, but I have to try and believe it. What else can we do?"

He narrows his eyes. "Who the hell are you? And what did you do with the raging dick?"

I can't help but grin. "He's gone, I guess."

"Huh," he huffs. "Hope that's a permanent thing."

"Me too."

When we get to the portal, I'm happy to see that Frankie is still there. She's not alone, Libby is there too... and so is her mate.

"So we're bringing stragglers along too?" I ask, raising a brow.

Okay, so maybe not everything about my old self has died. I still can't stand Frankie.

"No offense," I tell Zack.

"None taken?" he says it more like he's not really sure.

"Yes, he's coming. And I don't want to hear it from you. He is my mate, and I want him by my side."

"Fine." I raise my hands. "If he becomes demon chow, don't come crying to me."

"Demon chow?" Zack squeaks.

"Don't listen to the big dummy. You're going to be fine."

"She said that Abby's mates are off limits. No one said anything about mate's sisters and their mates," Luke points out.

"Everyone, shut up. We're all going to be fine," Frankie huffs in annoyance. "Now, if we're all good, let's fucking go."

Frankie starts walking towards the main gate. There are guards swarming the place. But she's right, as soon as she lets them know who she is, they let us all right in.

I fucking hate to admit it, but she comes in handy.

We follow her the rest of the way until we get to a big glowing portal. It almost looks like it's a swirling vortex of flames.

"Ready?" Frankie asks.

"No," Luke groans.

"We got this." I grab his and then Noah's hands.

Frankie goes first, followed by Libby and her mate, then Leo.

"Fuck it. Let's just go!" Luke runs towards the portal, pulling me and Noah along with him.

Next stop, Hell.