Chapter Thirty-Two

August

“This is good news,” Dad announced as he stood between Barron and Sebastian.

We stayed near Dad, prepared for any decline in his strength, as we led him to the cellar with various prison cells. The cell with the magical boulder containing Harvest loomed in front of us.

Dad clasped his hand over my shoulder. “So, why do I have three depressed sons?”

He barely finished saying the words when his hand disappeared. The weight left my shoulder, and then the right side of his face faded.

“ That is why,” I explained, pointing toward the missing half of his face. “This is more than being transparent. You’re disappearing.”

A sigh escaped Dad’s lips. “If we don’t win this fight, this is what will happen to me.” He glanced at me and then at Sebastian. “The same will happen to every single one of us.”

“We know,” Sebastian muttered.

Dad cocked his head. “Then why act surprised when it’s happening? I know your life’s not been easy as my children. Your mother and I wanted you—all of you. Because of that, we gave you the gift of immortality and the burden of what comes with it at birth. What I am is what you all are. This might seem like goodbye…” He gestured toward his face. “But it doesn’t feel like it. I believe we’re going to be okay. I believe we can save what’s left of the human world.”

“We don’t have a choice,” Barron stated as his red essence moved erratically around him. “Heavens already trying to take Gwen from me every time we’re mortal. We must show the angels this isn’t the end yet.”

“Go to your mate.” Dad patted Barron’s shoulder. “One of your brothers can take the first shift watching Harvest.”

Barron didn’t put up a fight. His essence slowed down as he nodded and faded from the cellar.

The fine lines on Dad’s face sharpened after Barron’s departure. “Watch over your brother because he will lose her.”

The stern expression nauseated me.

“Dad—”

“You’re going to be mortal more than ever before ,” said Dad. “If I’m gone, no matter what happens, I need you to stay strong. The angels can be cruel, but they always fix things later.”

“You’re not making any sense,” I said.

“I’m making perfect sense! Just keep him alive until we can get Gwendolyn back. And protect each other. Fading away is one thing, death is another.” Dad took a deep breath, as if to calm himself. “Now, about Kitty.”

“Is this about the Devil?” Sebastian asked.

Dad nodded. “I’ve always tried keeping Kitty in the woods because of the Devil. I didn’t understand back then, but after what Nova said, it makes sense.”

“You mean he’s come for Kitty before?”

“After the curses, he kept coming back when she was a child . I think he was trying to kill her before she got older.”

I frowned.

“If the Devil knew of a way, it’s surely why he came for her. I thought he was trying to hurt us by doing something to Kitty. The last time I caught him in the woods, I called upon all the power I had within me to protect her. I slept for a week straight after what I did, but my power worked. The Devil couldn’t step foot in my territory again, even if the woods were inside his world.”

I thought we protected Kitty because of the time Harvest kidnapped her. We’d been through a lot since then, especially my sisters.

“You should have told us and Kitty,” I said. “She deserves to know why she’s been under lock and key her whole life.”

“I was afraid that if I mentioned the Devil, she would start searching in the wrong places for the shadows she held onto as a child. I didn’t want to spark her curiosity because she has always had a laid-back nature and understood the need for protection.”

“Oh, Dad ,” Sebastian said, rubbing his temple. “Remember how you kept the truth from Joy, and it exploded in your face? Keeping things from us, thinking it’s for our own good, isn’t the way to go. This is going to backfire.”

“I need you to do the same thing I did in the past,” Dad said quickly. “Before I fade, I need you guys to—”

His head rolled to the left, then slumped forward as he swayed. Sebastian caught him before I could. Dad was fading fast. He could hardly stay awake and move around. I didn’t know how long we had with him.

“Take him back to bed before he’s so transparent you can’t touch him at all,” I told Sebastian as I helped lean Dad against his shoulder. “I’ll take first watch down here. Will you let Nova know?”

Sebastian nodded. “But August, what do we do? We don’t know what Dad did to keep the Devil out?”

“I don’t know, but we need to figure it out. Maybe he used his very essence as a shield around the woods?”

“It would make sense because Dad believes the protection will fade when he…” Sebastian couldn’t say the word.

“Fading is one thing, death is another,” I repeated Dad’s words. “We got to keep our shit together. We have one more battle. It’s game over for real if the Devil walks through that portal when it opens.”

“What about Barron?”

“We’ll handle it when it happens!” I snapped. “Please, just lay Dad down and let him rest with Mom. Spend time with Isabella.”

“Fear keeps us strong,” Sebastian muttered, squeezing my shoulder as he held Dad up against him. “I know you feel it too, and it’s okay.”

“I know, but let us have this small victory,” I whispered as I pulled away from him. My voice cracked as I leaned against the cell holding Harvest. “I got Nova back. There are so many things to worry about. But right now, I want to get through this watch and return to my mate’s side. I want to fucking hold her and not have to think of everything else, okay? So, enough. Let’s take our win and pretend, if only for a day, that we’re not losing.”

“Everything’s going to be all right,” Sebastian said with a little pep in his voice. “We can still save the humans after we stop the end. The humans that are left will need us. As long as we’re needed, it’s going to be okay.”

I wiped my face after Sebastian faded with Dad, then dropped to my ass. Minutes passed by before Nova came to the cellar. Her curls were frizzy, which meant she had probably taken a brush to them. I would have to find a proper routine for her gorgeous hair when we had stopped the Devil. No one was more stunning than Nova, even with her untamed mane. The lights hanging from the ceiling cast an orangish glow on everything. Yet my mate looked like a sensual siren. Her dark clothing gave her the appearance of a Reaper. My chest swelled with pride. Nova was mine.

“You look like you belong to me, too,” she stated as she kicked my leg with her foot. When I parted my legs, she dropped between them, leaning her back against my chest.

So, my little mate was still in my thoughts. I wrapped my arms around her, inhaling her hair. “This is what I needed.”

Nova was silent a while before she finally said, “Capturing him seemed too easy.”

“It’s why we’re going to take turns watching Harvest.”

“I know what I want to do with you when this is over,” she murmured, rubbing my arms.

“Yeah?”

Nova nodded. “I want to build a sanctuary for people like Sofia and anyone else at risk of being kidnapped because of what they are.”

“I like that idea.”

“Me too. I think I’m powerful for a reason. Like you and your family, I can save people now that I’m free.”

“Saving people can often mean hurting others.”

“I know,” she blurted. “There’s always going to be evil to fight, and I’m okay with destroying anyone to protect peace.”

I chuckled and said, “Like I said, you were always a Reaper.”

“I can feel Harvest with us,” Nova whispered. “He feels like a disease against my skin.”

My laughter died off. “You don’t have to stay down here with me. You’ve been around Harvest longer than anyone else. I can find you when my watch is over.”

“No.” Nova gripped my arms. “We’ve been apart long enough. Any amount of time away from you feels like a crime.”

“Don’t I know it.” I kissed the tip of her ear, causing her to shudder. When her arousal flooded my senses, I groaned.

“Don’t do that when we’re down here!” she shouted, covering her ear. “I don’t want to feel that way down here with him. ”

I waggled my brows. “Aroused? You’re so adorable sometimes.”

“August Reaper,” she warned.

“Then when?” I asked. “When do I get another taste? The fucking warlock ruined everything earlier.”

“No, he didn’t. Everything was perfect. He just ruined the-the…”

“Grand finale?” I finished.

“Hush. I’m getting those tingles.”

My chest puffed up as I kissed her hair. “We can finish after our watch.”

Her arousal increased, and my eyes rolled back.

“This is going to be torture,” she whined as she squeezed her legs.

Oh, I definitely knew that. My cock was like a steel pipe pressing against her back.