Page 24 of Absolved In Death

He stayed in his demon form, landing near me. His big, sleek wings cracked as they flared out. “Birds of a feather fly together,” he quipped.

I imagined my magic weaving itself into a blanket, crashing over him like a wave. The force knocked him down, but he sprang back up.

“You have to try harder, cry baby. Why don’t you bottle up all those emotions, shake them up, and let them loose on me? If I were Red, these cheap shots wouldn’t cut it. He isn’t going to take it easy on you!”

He wanted me to lose control? If he asked for fire, he’d get the smoke. I let go of the tentative hold I had on my emotions and let them fill me, from my heart to my fingertips, through my whole body. Every ounce of rage, betrayal, and love I felt for this demon culminated into something fiercely dangerous. Something downright feral, beyond control.

I imagined Desmond trapped in a ball of pulsating light. Without raising my hands to wield, my thoughts became reality. The trap swirled, the light growing brighter. I levitated it, then threw it against the wall.

Desmond’s body slumped to the floor. He sat up against the wall, his face a mix of shock and fear.

His shadows whipped out from his hands, stampeding right toward me. I let them coil around me, because unleashing my emotions on Desmond wasn’t enough anymore. Now I wanted to toy with him. The shadows covered me from my head to my feet, like a barrier trying to hold my magic inside me. My body glowed gold, promptly dispelling the shadows.

I called on the black fog Quelier and I worked on earlier. It rolled in from the corners of the room, working its way toward us.

“Diana, what is this?” Desmond asked me.

I didn’t speak, answering him with a smile instead. I was over having to explain myself to him.

“Diana…” he lifted his hands, but any magic he threw at it was absorbed into the black void rolling toward him.

“LG, I think you made your point!” Ares yelled over to me from the stands. I hadn’t even seen him and Mal sitting there.

“Is thischeap shotenough for you?” I asked in a saccharine sweet tone.

“Yes. I tap out. Call off the fog.” For the second time in my life, I saw his fear. The first was when I almost died in the middle of JFK airport. That moment seemed so long ago…

I thought about the fog dissipating, and it evaporated.

“Where did you learn that?” he asked me. “It’s very impressive magic.”

“Your least favorite PA taught me,” I answered, stomping down the thrill buzzing through me from his approval.

“I’m not going to change your mind, am I?” The brows above his muted gold eyes furrowed, accentuating his frown.

“No. I can’t be in a relationship with someone who wants to control me.” No matter how much I loved him, this was a boundary for me.

It was time for me to spread my wings and take flight. I’d either fly or fall.

He took my hand in his, squeezing it tightly. His shadows wrapped around where we joined and slowly danced up my arm, settling around my throat. They weren’t menacing, but a comforting embrace.

“Okay,” he breathed in defeat.

I pulled him into a hug. He held me for several seconds, until his shadows swirled around us, blocking the others from view.

I love you, Desmond. Thank you.

I love you too. I’ll always be here to protect you, Dollface.

I had no doubt he would.

Lucifer decidedto host the Princeps Counsel in the training facility because it was ‘a room that showed our strength and dedication to winning this war’. I think he picked this space because if shit hit the fan, it was spelled to keep the damage inside. The facility was a large enough space to have a mini showdown…and to slaughter our enemies if need be.

We set up a long table that could fit their representatives, Lucifer, Michael, Oisín, my men, Judas, and myself. If they weren’t overwhelmed by the size of the compound or how far underground we were, then hopefully our show of force at the table would show them how much of a disadvantage they were at. All of us together were a force to be reckoned with.

“I can feel them walking down the hallway with Judas,” Ares informed us all. We had erected wards to prevent fading in or out of the room and block sound from escaping.

Be careful, Diana,Desmond linked me. I nodded at him, too nervous to mentally go back and forth with him.

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