Chapter 7

Abby

S lipping out of bed, I immediately miss the warmth of my mates' bodies. Taking a moment, I watch them as they lay there sleeping peacefully. Leaning over, I kiss each one of them goodbye on their foreheads.

Even Leo slept in the room with us last night, taking the foot of the massive bed.

Hoping they don't get upset with me for what I'm about to do, I head to my room. Grabbing a change of clothes, I put them on and turn to leave.

Frankie is there, her tattooed arms crossed, her eyes almost as red as her hair as she glares at me. "I swear, Abby, if you were about to leave without a word..."

Guilt hits me in my stomach hard. "If I don't make it out of that pool, I didn't want you all to be standing on the sidelines watching me die, waiting for me to come out."

Frankie steps forward. "You don't get to make those choices for us. You are going to go back into that room and wake up the rest of your mates. We do this together or not at all, do you understand me?"

"Yes," I whisper, realizing now just how stupid my plan was. Of course they would be pissed off if I did this without them, and hate the fact that they never got to say goodbye if I didn't come back.

I feel like a scolded child as I follow Frankie. She's already dressed, head to toe in her work uniform. Her wild red hair is tied up in a tight bun. She must have been on patrol.

"You look sexy like that," I tell her. She shoots me a heated look like she doesn't know if she wants to strangle me or kiss me. Soon, as soon as I know Zed is okay, I'm going to bond that woman and make her mine forever.

The guys are awake when we step into their room. They look all cute and sleepy.

"There you are," Isaac says, his voice thick with sleep. "You're already dressed?"

"Are we doing this now?" Noah groans, stumbling to pull his pants on.

"Yes. It's better to get this done and over with," Frankie says, her eyes flicking over to me with a small frown.

"So, we're just going to pretend that we're not sending our mate down into a pool of souls that could drag her down for all of eternity again for the millionth time this week. Cool. Awesome. Sounds fucking amazing," Luke mutters as he walks over to the bathroom and slams the door.

I hate that I'm putting them through this, but I need one more chance. Tears sting the back of my eyes as I think about the very good chance I'll never see Zed again. I'll never hear his deep rich laugh, those three words of his feelings for me. I'd kill to hear him call me his Little Bird again.

It's not fair to my other mates. To see me hurt, obsessed to the point of risking my life. Even after all that, I still can't bring myself to stay home. To not walk out of this castle and go back into that pool.

"You know what I don't get?" Leo starts, looking adorably sleepy. "How did your mom's place not have more than two bathrooms, but every room in this castle has one attached to it." Leo blinks over at Isaac.

"Really?" Isaac blinks at my mate. "That's what's going through your mind? Not the fact that Abby is about to go back into that death pool, lose yet another piece of her fucking soul, and maybe never come out again."

Leo frowns, looking away.

The tension is thick, and no one is happy about this. It's almost enough to make me rethink it. Almost.

The walk to the cave is filled with silence, everyone too pissed or worried to talk. I hate it, it leaves me too much time to let my mind wander and over stress.

"One last time." I turn to face them as we all stop a few feet away from the pool's edge. "If I can't find him." I swallow hard, these words breaking me. "Then I'll accept that he's gone." Or turn to plan b and not rest until my dad at least tries to bring him back for me. The selfish part of me doesn't care if Zed doesn't come back as himself. It only wants to see him again. That maybe it would be enough.

Frankie steps forward, cupping my face. "You better come back to me, Princess," she commands. "I just got you. Our story isn't over, it's hardly begun. I want to sink my teeth into this tempting neck and bond your soul with mine for the rest of eternity," she whispers, bringing her lips to mine.

I moan as she kisses me, unable to help loving the electric charge I get every time one of them touches me.

Noah is next. "Please come back to us, Hellcat," he begs, kissing me so deeply I can feel him in every inch of what's left of my soul.

After him, Luke steps forward. "I'm mad, really fucking mad. But I get it. As much as I hate it, I get it." He cups my face with both hands and kisses me hard. I'm dizzy by the time he steps back. "Go be that badass Spawny I know and love." He bites my lower lip before stepping back and letting Leo take his place.

"Hi." I smile up at my best friend. This man has been so kind, so patient with everything that's happened between us. He's been by my side for everything, including this, even though I know how much he hates every moment of what's happening.

"Hi, Starlight." He tucks a piece of my hair behind my ear. "I'm gonna need you to come back, okay? I can't lose you. I can't lose my best friend."

I give him a watery smile. "I'm gonna do my damn best."

He nods. I step into his arms as he wraps them around me, holding me tight as I snake mine around the back of his neck. We kiss, slow and sweet, savoring the way our lips feel together. I memorize his taste, his smell, everything.

Breaking the kiss we stand there for a moment, foreheads pressed together.

Then it's Isaac's turn. He's been oddly calm since coming here. Not how I've expected him to react to everything that's happened.

We stand there, toe to toe for a few long, intense moments, his eyes boring into mine.

My eyes widen and I gasp as he reaches out, slides his hand into the back of my hair and grabs a handful. Making a fist, he tugs me close to him, bringing his lips to mine so that they touch when he talks. "You will come back," he growls. "You are Abigail fucking Morningstar. You killed an archangel. This is not how you go out."

Our kiss is explosive, raw, emotional, and dirty. He pours everything into it before ripping his lips away from mine, leaving me panting, my body humming. "I love you. We all do."

"I love you too." I lick my lips, taking one last look at my mates before turning to face the pool.

Power hums in my veins, their love and support giving me that extra boost I think I'm going to need.

Closing my eyes, I call my power forward until flames blanket my body.

The dive into the white, glowing, murky liquid below sends a chilling shock to my bones despite being covered in hellfire.

Slowly, I make my way deeper and deeper as my eyes scan my surroundings. It's so hard to see what's in front of me, I'm afraid that there could be a chance I've swam by him before and missed him easily.

I swim by soul after soul, but none of them are him. I'm not sure how long I've been down here before my body screams at me that it's time to go back.

Refusing to believe it's over, that I will never find him, I push myself a little harder and continue to swim, taking a lot longer than I should as I travel up to the surface. Drifting off to one side, I swim that direction for a while before allowing myself to continue to surface. Then I go the other direction doing the same thing.

My body is in pain, my powers flickering. I know my time down here is done and devastation crashes into me.

Tears spill out and mix with the pool's water. I make out someone's form looking over the pool's edge as I'm just about to break the surface.

Then I feel it, a hand wrapping around my ankle. My eyes widen as the soul gives me a hard tug, pulling me down.

Someone above me screams my name as they reach their hand out for me. I scream back, the sound muffled by the water as I reach back.

Fear races through me as I look down to see that my flame isn't as bright as it should be. My powers are waning, and if I don't get out of here now, I'm going to die.

One after the other, souls grab on to me, pulling me down.

I kick and thrash as I try to fight my way out of their hold.

I'm weak, my power is almost out, and I'm about to die.

That's when I feel it, the flicker of our bond. Then it gets stronger and stronger. Zed. He's here, he has to be. Frantically, I search for him, but I don't see anything past the souls that are crowding me.

A bright light flashes and high pitched wails of pain have my ears ringing. The souls scramble away from me. From the painfully handsome ebony haired dark angel.

"Zed!" I call out his name in a sob of relief, my smile so wide it stretches over my face as I reach for him.

He reaches back, swimming closer and closer. His body flickers in and out of form like a staticky image.

It's him. I found him. And when his hand meets mine, it's like everything snaps into place. A powerful wave of energy travels through me, giving me that boost I need to get out of here.

He smiles that sexy grin, his bright blue eyes flashing back at me before his form flickers out again. But I still feel him, he's here.

Turning to face the surface, I kick my feet and use my free hand to swim to the top, pulling him with me.

So many emotions fill me, my heart pounding, lungs burning, body aching as I reach the surface.

I gasp for air, coughing and choking as I struggle to pull Zed up.

Just as I get his hand above the surface, someone helps me pulls him out of the water.

Now that I have both hands, I pull myself out.

"Zed." His name comes out raspy as I continue to cough. My head whips around, searching for him, but I don't find him. "Zed!" This time it's panicked. "Where is he?" I ask with wild eyes, my mates stare at me with pale terrified faces. "I had him!" I scream. "I pulled him out. I did," I sob. "Where is he?"

"I sent him away."

My father's voice has me spinning around. "You what?" I ask in confusion.

"I sent him to a cell. A cell warded with my powers."

"Why the fuck would you do that?" I shout, feeling out of sorts, exhaustion hitting me hard. My head spins as my vision blurs.

"Because we don't know what you just pulled out of that pool." He's too calm, how can he be so fucking chill about all of this.

"I do," I croke, coughing again. "It was Zed. My mate. I saw him with my own eyes. I felt it in my fucking soul!" my voice cracks. "I felt his hand in mine. I know my mate."

"I'm not saying the soul you pulled out wasn't Zed. But what he is down there versus out here are two completely different people."

"You don't know that," I pant out, bending over to put my hands on my knees as I struggle to stay upright. I'm still dripping in the pool's water, no one can touch me, but I can feel how much my mates want to.

"I do. I've brought souls back before, I know what I'm doing, Abigail."

"Where is the prison? I need to go to him." I stumble forward, trying to walk but my knees give out.

My dad catches me before I hit the ground, the warmth of his hellfire like a comforting blanket.

"You stubborn girl," his voice is thick with emotion as he looks down at me, cradling me in his arms. "You could have died. What you did was reckless and stupid."

"You would have done it for me. For Megan," I manage to whisper as my eyes flutter closed.

"I know," he says softly. "Because I love you. You're my whole world, Abby. If you died in there, I'd have brought you back, even if you weren't you. Guess I'm a hypocrite," he chuckles.

"I guess so," I sigh, relaxing into him before the exhaustion wins.