Page 45 of Absolved In Death

“And maybe now youdon’t have to be in physical proximity to the host. Your powers grow stronger every day, Diana. Azazel was in the bedroom next door to yours, and I heard him gasp right before Mal ran in screaming at us you were missing.” Somehow Desmond’s tone became even graver. “This is why I’m so adamant about your training. You aren’t controlling your magic.”

“Okay shadow man.I highly doubt you have complete control over those things,” I barbed him. The shadows in question slithered their way down his legs, inching toward my bed. He promptly waved his hand, and they dissipated.

Desmond’s throwingstones in glass houses. It’s getting on my nerves,Lucifer linked me.

Yeah Dad,join the club.

“I thinkwe can stand here all day and debate what happened, but is anyone else concerned about the fact that Diana met Redon her own? No one on the battlefield was alive, and out of the five of you—” she gestured to my men, “None of you were there to help her!” Mom shouted, her eyes wet with unshed tears.

Michael got off the bed,wrapping his arms around her from behind. “Don’t worry, beautiful. Whatever it was, it will never come to pass. Diana would never put herself in a situation like that, and her men will always be with her,” he comforted her as he gave me a stern look.

The future isn’t setin stone, Di. We’ll do everything in our power to make sure that never comes to pass,he linked me.

I wantedhis words to be true so badly…but I had a feeling what I saw was inevitable. It would come to pass, the question was, when? My stomach sank as the realization set in…Azazel’s prophecy was true, I would be the one to face Red in the end.

Dr. Greene walked in,her light blond hair gleaming in the room’s soft lighting. “All the boyfriends can leave except Azazel. It's too crowded in here.”

All four ofthem left with varying degrees of sullen faces. Right now, I really appreciated her no-nonsense tone. Being in a relationship with five other people was a whirlwind of emotions. Sometimes they ate me up, and it was easier to calm down alone. Azazel gave her a basic rundown of what happened, minus some key details about who gave me the wound.

We still hadn’t caughtthe rat, and no one outside of our inner circle was beyond suspicion.

“Aside from a scar,you’ll be okay,” she told me. “I want you to get some rest.”

“Preferably without yourpenis parade crowding you,” Lucifer spat.

“THAT WON’T HAPPEN!”I heard Ares yell on the other side of the door.

Sigh.He’ll be glued to me for weeks now, guarding me like a hawk.

Zaz’s bright,fresh magic flowed through the room. I felt him cast a silencing spell to ward out sound, and a change in the wards that cloaked the room.

“Can you fade out, Dr. Greene?”he asked. She nodded, promptly leaving before he reverted the wards back.

“Diana,the voice you heard…what did it sound like? You didn’t give much detail on it,” Michael asked. He and Zaz shared a meaningful look, and I wish I knew what they were saying to each other through their mindlink.

“I can’t describe it,sort of like every voice, but no voice I had heard previously? It didn’t have a distinct gender or accent that made it stand out.” I hated giving him half answers, but it was the best I could do.

“You don’t think…”Lucifer cut himself off. The three of them stared at each other, and my mom had had it with the cloak and dagger shit.

“Do you mind sharing aloud,so all of us may hear your thoughts?” she snapped.

“I’m sorry Marilyn,I will soon. Can I touch your hand and try to see your vision for myself, Honey?”

I nodded,and Zaz scooted toward me so he sat right next to me. He gripped my hand, and within seconds his eyes were a milky white. When he came to, his face had that unreadable expression again. I hated it, because it gave me the unwanted feeling that he was hiding something from me.

He promisedhe wouldn’t lie to me anymore…

“I didn’t see it,but I did see a flashback of you and Marilyn at the beach.” He smiled at me. “Tomorrow I can ask Ares to broadcast it with you”.

“I thinkit’s time you rested, Di,” Michael said. “We can talk more in the morning.”

Everyone said their goodbyes,leaving me and Zaz behind. The guys came back in, and they set up a rotating guard schedule. I didn’t have the heart to tell them they couldn’t stop my body from spontaneously timehopping. That was on me.

“Zaz,do you want the first shift?” I asked him in an effort to pry more information out of him.

“The fuck he is.I want the first shift,” Ares growled. He climbed into the bed, pulling my body to his and holding me tight, as if it was enough to keep me here.

“I’ll take the next one,”he offered as Ares scowled at him.

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