Page 84 of Absolved In Death

I walked up to the newly freed prisoner, and reached out a hand. She took it, and I felt the water coursing through her form, wetting my skin. “I promise you I’ll kill Red and make it a world worth returning to.”

28

OISÍN

My sister had a way with people I never would. Seeing her interact with literal prisoners—the worst Hell had to offer—with such grace and ease cemented me in my decision to abstain from becoming Lucifer’s heir.

Me as Dad’s successor was the obvious choice. I was his oldest living male child, and had the notoriety to scare our enemies into compliance. My reputation always preceded me, and those who opposed me were either dead or turned into one of my many art installations.

But it wasn’t the choice I wanted. I had no urge to rule, and aside from being a menace to society, I possessed no leadership skills. I couldn’t talk to people, or inspire them. I wasn’t dumb, but I didn’t have bright, world-changing ideas. My strength was in execution, both people and plans.

Diana was all the things I lacked, and I would rather support her in the off chance she took Dad’s place than do it myself and be miserable for the rest of my immortal life. I would never admit it, but it wasrewardingto see the little sister who cried to you over boys, school, and work drama grow up to be a complete badass. The same person who used to stress about getting intolaw school was now living life by her own moral compass, obliterating human laws on the daily.

Mind you, I was deep undercover as her pet cat, Oscar, so she didn’t know it was me. I fooled her and the guys, actually. They fed me so many snacks, and I even got Desmond to buy me a stupid cat scratcher thing with a matching cat bed.

“Are you ready?” I asked her.

“No. I don’t think anyone can be ready for something like this…but I have a feeling this time will be different.”

“I’m serious. Don’t you dare die on me. You’re my only sibling I can tolerate for more than a few minutes,” I teased her, mostly to lighten the tension. And because I loved her, but didn’t want to tempt fate with a long drawn out goodbye before the battle.

“Don’t you die on me. Who else am I going to run off with when my boyfriends fuck me over again?”

I busted out laughing, then a shot of anger rolled through me. She may have been over it, but I sure as fuck wasn’t. When this war was over, I’d pay those four losers back for breaking her heart, with interest included.

“Don’t get any ideas. You have zero room to talk when your man is out there acting like you don’t even exist,” Desmond snarked.

Ugh, I had almost gone a whole ten minutes without thinking of him. I knew news of August’s betrayal probably got to him by now, and I selfishly wanted to be the shoulder he cried on while he processed his emotions. I wanted to be around him constantly, to remind him that even though he chose wrong, the right man was still waiting for him, like I always had been.

And I would keep waiting too. As long as it took for him to finally realize what I had known all along—that Charlie Monroe was mine.

“Excuse you? Don’t be an asshole to my brother,” Diana said as she swatted Desmond on his biceps. “Assuming we all survive, do you want me to talk to him?”

She kept offering, but I didn’t want to put her in the middle of us. He was her bestie, and I was her brother. I had to figure it out on my own.

“No, I can handle it.” The minute the dust settled on this war, I’d do whatever was necessary to get him back.

“Okay everyone. We have about an hour until Red invades. The rest of us need to leave,” she announced.

We all joined hands, fading to the camp center. She faced me, a big crooked smile on her face.

“You know, we can always turn into dragons and fight together,” she suggested.

“Duh, I already assumed we would. Let’s up the ante. Whoever torches more enemy soldiers gets to choose something outrageously embarrassing for the loser sibling to do in front of the whole army.”

She offered me her hand, and we shook, magically binding it.

“I’ll be thinking of something awful for you to do while I’m getting all the battlefield glory. Don’t expect to win—I have my menace reputation to uphold,” I reminded her.

“Okay. I already know what I’m going to make you do. See you on the other side, bro.”

I gathered her into a bone crushing hug, squeezing her a little more than necessary. We didn’t hug each other enough. If things went our way the second time, I would make sure this was the first of many over the top hugs she’d get from me.

29

DIANA

Red attacked us just like he had the first time around. His soldiers landed in different areas all over the camp’s center, striking hard and fast. But we were ready for them. I had given Ares intel on what to expect, and he changed up our fighting strategy. The guys would stay cloaked during the battle, so Red wouldn’t know they had escaped. Ares also reserved some of our troops to enter the battle with the prisoners when Red’s second wave arrived. When the moment arrived, I knew exactly what needed to be done to ensure Red’s demise.

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