Chapter 5

Frankie

A s I help Abby undress, all I feel is the need to take her pain away, to make it better. If I could, I'd have dove down into that pool of souls with her to find Zed.

But I can't. Honestly, I don't even know how Abby was able to go down there and make it out alive.

I've heard whispers here and there about that place. The water should have frozen her to her core the moment she touched it, but she found a way around it, my clever little mate.

She stares at the wall behind me, no emotion on her face. I hate it. She looks numb, like a shell of herself. I refuse to see this break her.

I can't imagine what it feels like to lose your mate. Seeing them disintegrate before your eyes, after seeing them get their heart ripped out, there's no coming back from that.

Zed isn't my mate, but he's like a brother to me. He's the only person in my life that I've ever been close to.

The pain I'm feeling is deep; it hurts, so much so that it's hard to breathe. What Abby is feeling has to be a million times worse.

She's either in shock, or has blocked everything out to cope.

Whatever it is, she's not herself.

"Sit." I place her down on the toilet seat, my heart breaking as she just sits there naked, blinking as she continues to stare off at nothing.

Filling the tub with warm water, I wait until it's full before going to help Abby in.

Just as I get her standing, Leo walks in. His eyes snap to Abby, relief filling them at the sight of her, seeing she's okay. Only she's not okay, and his face falls when he notices.

"What happened?" he asks, joining me on her other side. He helps me get her into the tub and sits down.

"She went into the pool of souls."

"And?" he asks, seeming to understand what I'm doing here and helps me lower Abby down to get her hair wet.

"What do you think?" I shoot him a blank look.

He looks down at Abby, worry and pain twisting his features. "She couldn't find him."

"No. But she won't stop until she does."

He sighs heavily. "No. She won't."

"What if it kills her?" I can't help but ask.

He looks up at me. "We let her fight to find him as long as she's able to handle it."

"What if she doesn't listen to us?"

"Then we make her." He looks down at her as he puts some shampoo in her hair. "If we have to protect her from herself, we will. She's not thinking straight. I don't think she understands the pain her other mates will feel if we end up losing her. She's too consumed by her own grief, her determination to get Zed back. Maybe it would be different if she didn't know a way to do so. But that knowledge is something she's holding on to and won't let go."

Once we're done washing Abby, we get her dried off and changed.

Once she is safely sleeping in her bed, Leo cuddles up to her, stroking her hair in a comforting way. I leave them to find Lucifer.

He might be the king of hell, but right now, I don't fucking care.

Abby is down there risking her life when he can just easily snap his fucking fingers and bring Zed's soul back.

I don't get it. Why can't he do this for her? Why can't he just fucking help her?

"You!" I shout when I see Beelzebub slipping out of a bedroom.

He freezes, groaning as he turns around. "You again," he sighs. "What do you want now?"

"Nice to see you with clothes on this time." I cock a brow. "Have you seen Lucifer?"

"Unless he was in the room with me while I was getting my cock sucked, the answer would be no."

"You know, for his right hand man, you suck at your job," I scoff, crossing my arms..

"Hey. No need to be mean," he mutters. "Lucy is dealing with his own drama right now."

My brows furrow. "What does that mean?"

He gives me a slow smirk. "You don't know?"

"Know what?" I ask growing annoyed.

"Oh, this is good." He laughs.

"Listen here, you little shit." I get right up in his face, my hand wraping around his neck as my fangs snap out. "I'll rip your fucking throat out if you don't start fucking talking."

"Damn, Frankie baby. Do you know how sexy you are when you go all murderous? You sure you're only into pussy?" I hiss at him, and he sighs. "Look, if Lucy isn't in his office, try the library. It's on the west side of the castle in the basement."

"The library is on the ground floor on the east side."

"Not that one. He has his own personal one where he goes to hide when he wants to get away from everything."

I let him go, giving him a push back before speeding away. I make it to the basement door in seconds. Thankfully, the door isn't locked when I go to open it. Jogging down the stairs, I hear shouting.

Brows furrowed, I speed towards the sound and end up walking in on my father and Lucifer in a screaming match.

"Ah... Am I interrupting something?"

Both men's heads snap in my direction.

"Frankie," my dad says. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to talk to this asshole," I hiss, pointing to Lucifer."

Lucifer's brows shoot up, blinking at me in surprise.

"Francesca!" my dad scolds me. "Watch how you talk to the king! You know better than that."

"So, you can yell at him, but I can't?" I cross my arms and raise a brow.

"She has a point," Lucifer chuckles. "But do you mind telling me why you think I'm an asshole?"

"Really?" I look at him like he's a dumbass. "You're joking, right?" He just cocks a brow. "Your daughter just lost a mate. Your mate just lost her son. You have the power to bring him back, yet, you won't. So your daughter is determined to get him back herself."

Lucifer sighs. "She's still trying?"

"Trying? She went into the pool of souls herself in search of him."

"She did what!" His booming voice shakes the room. "Is she okay?" he asks, voice panicked.

"As okay as she can be," I tell him, frowning.

"Fuck." He starts to pace. "I can't believe she would risk going in there. All it takes is one soul to latch on to her before they all try and end up dragging her down until she can't get the fuck out. How could she be so reckless?"

"Because she's in love. She's hurting. Her mate is dead." I stare at him like he's an idiot. "She knows there's a way to bring him back, but the only one that knows how to won't fucking help her so she's doing it herself."

"She's going to get herself killed trying," he shouts.

"Then help her!" I scream back.

He shakes his head. "If I bring him back, there will be nothing left. She needs to be the one to bring him back."

"What do you mean?"

"If she wants a chance at even a part of him being revived, her bond and love for him would be the answer. Zed needs to want to come back, to have a reason to fight his way out of that pool. If I bring him back, he will be just like all the other monsters. If she does it, there's a chance for his humanity to return along with his soul."

"So... what? She keeps going back inside until she finds him? What are her chances of doing that?"

"Next to none. That pool might look small, but its depth is endless. Millions of lost souls are down there. She could spend thousands of years searching and still not find him."

"What will happen if she keeps going back in?" I ask, worried about the answer.

He shakes his head. "Nothing good. I'm guessing she was able to go in there with hellfire?" I nod, remembering the sight of her covered head to toe in red flames. "That will allow her to be in the pool. But her powers won't last forever, over time it will take a toll on her. She will find the length of time she's able to hold her powers growing shorter and shorter."

"I don't think she cares."

"I know," he growls. "But, Frankie, that's not the only thing. Every time she goes down there, a little bit of her soul stays behind in the pool. If she goes enough, she might look like our Abby, but it won't be her."

"So what the fuck do we do?!" I shout, feeling helpless.

"I don't know," he yells back, growing angry with me. "I might be the Devil, but I'm not God."

My eyes widened at his admission.

All I can do is be there for Abby, make sure she's safe doing what she needs to do.

I'm about to leave when I ask. "What were you fighting about when I came in?"

My dad looks at Lucifer. "Nothing," he says.

"Nothing?" Lucifer growls. "Oh, it's something. This fucker thinks it's okay to mate with my mate."

"What?" I blink over at my dad, wondering if I'm hearing things right.

"I don't have a fucking choice!" my dad growls. "It's fate. It's out of my hands."

"Bullshit!" Lucifer spits.

"What do you want me to do? Reject her?"

"No," Lucifer snarls. "Because that would hurt her, and if you hurt her then I'd have to kill you. You can just stay away."

"I'm your head guard," Dad sighs like they've been at this for a while.

"I'll replace you." Lucifer shrugs then looks at me. "With her."

"Ahhh, I have my own shit to worry about, I don't have time to do that. Sorry, I respectfully decline."

"You're no help." Lucifer glares at me.

"Right back at you, buddy." I raise a brow, then look at my dad. "So, mated to Megan, huh?" Dad almost looks... shy? Holy shit. He nods. "Not going to lie, I'm not mad about it."

"You're not?" Dad frowns.

"I am!" Lucifer cuts in. I just wave my hand at him in dismissal, and he gapes at me like how dare I have the nerve to treat the king of Hell like that. In my defence, I'm at my wit's end with him; Abby is the only thing that matters, and he would never hurt me. The big bad Devil doesn't envoke the same fear he once did. I still respect the guy; he's my boss. But right now, I don't like him.

"Megan is an amazing woman. And all I ever wanted was for you to be happy."

"He doesn't even know her!" Lucifer butts in. "He caught her when she tripped. Then she ran away from him in horror."

Dad glares at Lucifer. "Not in horror, in shock!"

Biting my lip, I try not to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Lucifer demands.

"Do you know how Abby found out she was Zed's mate?" I ask him. "She tripped, he caught her. That's all it took." I step over to my dad and pat his shoulder. "It was meant to be. Congrats. Don't let this one scare you away, he needs to learn to share." I shoot Lucifer a look.

"Make her stop," Lucifer orders my father.

I just snort a laugh and turn around, leaving the two of them to work out their shit.

I have my own problems to worry about. Like filling everyone in the best I can.

"SO, WHAT? WE JUST LET Abby go back until she finds Zed?" Luke asks.

"Or until she dies trying?" Isaac growls.

"No." I take a seat on the end of the desk in the room the three guys are sharing. "We stand by our mate's side while she does what she feels she needs to do. We keep an eye on her, and when it gets to be too much, if she's not willing to back down on her own, we make her."

"She would end up hating us if we did," Noah sighs. "But if we don't we will lose her."

I nod. "As much as it would kill me, I'd rather have Abby hate me, than her end up dead."

"This fucking sucks," Isaac curses as he paces back and forth. "So he can't bring him back?"

"He can. But he wouldn't bring back Zed. Just an evil shell of him with no humanity. The only one who can bring back even a hint of his true self back is Abby because of her love for him and their bond."

"But there's a very low chance she will find him." Luke frowns.

"Yeah." I scrub my hand down my face. "It's a lose-lose if you ask me. But I don't know what else to do."

"All we can do is be there for Abby," Isaac reiterates, pausing in the middle of the room. "I just got her to stop hating me. I can't risk fighting her on this. But that doesn't mean I'm okay with it. If she keeps going into that pool, she will continue to lose parts of herself. Does she know this?"

"I don't care."

Abby's voice has us all spinning around, finding her standing there in a robe. She looks tired, her hair a mess.

"Abby." Isaac rushes towards her, but she holds up her hand. I don't miss the hurt look on his face as he stops.

"If the price I have to pay is to lose a piece of myself to get him back, then it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make."

"But you're risking your life," Luke urges. "What about us? How is that fair to us, Abby? We're your mates too. We love you. Seeing you hurt is hurting us."

Abby's face flickers with pain as she swallows hard.

"I know," she says softly, her voice filling with emotion. "And I'm sorry. It hurts me that I'm hurting you. But I know that if I don't at least try to get Zed back, it will eat away at me until there's nothing left. The endless what ifs and maybes would become my whole life. All I will ever think about is what could have happened if I tried harder. None of you deserve that. I don't want to be that way."

Isaac shocks me as he steps forward and pulls her into his arms. "We're here, we'll help. But please don't kill yourself trying because what you feel right now with losing Zed is what we will all feel if we lose you."

The sound of her sobs as she locks her arms around him breaks my heart. He looks over at me helplessly.

I know exactly how he feels.

All we can do is try, wait, and see.