Page 83 of The Cursed

I nodded, shoving back the tears long enough to smile at him again. Leviathan came over, taking Ash's hand and guiding him to stand in Gray's line of groomsmen with him. The meaning wasn't lost on me, even as I spoke through a clogged throat. "Please don't send him away again."

"He's right where he belongs, Witchling," Gray said, taking my hands in his.

I nodded, squeezing his hands back as he turned to face the windows. Golden light streamed in them, shimmering so brightly I had to squint.

The Goddess stepped through the glass, appearing before us in a dazzling display. She smiled at Gray, reaching across the distance to cup his cheek in her hand affectionately. One by one, the Tribunal leaders stepped up to the foot of the dais, laying symbols of their magic at our feet as an offering.

Petra and Beltran brought crystals of every color, the vivid greens warming my heart.

Realta and Amar brought jars filled with starlight.

Bray brought a single branch.

Aurai and Devoe each laid a windchime on the floor, the glass shards bumping against one another as they breathed life into them.

Tethys and Hawthorne brought a jar of water and a seashell.

Erotes and Peabody brought elixirs and love potions.

Collins and Madlock brought lanterns.

I took my hands out of Gray’s, swirling them in a circle while I closed my eyes. A single rose grew from my palms, and I laid it down alongside the bone I had taken from Loralei's tomb earlier that day for the offering.

"Your beloved's Coven has made a lovely offering on her behalf, Lucifer the Morningstar," the Goddess said, her eyes full of mischief as she regarded her brother.

He smiled, never taking his eyes off of me as he considered his answer. "You can have anything you want, Goddess," he said, taking a step closer to me. I stared up at him, his face so close to mine. "As long as I can have her."

He cupped my cheek in his hand, the warmth of that embrace enveloping me.

"Then all I ask is for you to be happy, dear brother," the Goddess said, resting a hand upon each of my shoulders.

Her light sank inside of me, filling me with warmth as Gray sealed our final bargain with a kiss.

A bargain for an eternity at his side.

A bargain for love.

EPILOGUE

MARGOT

Willow's eyes were wide and panicked as the glass filled the boundary between planes, her hands frantically smacking against the surface as if she could break through. I watched her nails claw at the window, her blood staining the glass.

The stone that slowly spread to cover the seal was tan, beige where it rested over the bloody smears she'd left behind. I couldn't tear my eyes off that seal, couldn't focus on the fighting happening around me. Beelzebub groaned, crying out as his wing jerked against me.

“Get her out of here!” Asmodeus shouted, swinging his hand and cutting through one of the demons who fought against him.

Beelzebub’s hands cupped my cheeks, cradling my face in his grip with a gentleness so at odds with the violence of the demons around us. “I need you to snap out of it, Songbird,” he said, that name striking me in the chest. It forced me to shake off the trauma, wincing when his wings tugged me in close.

Satanus grappled with Michael, the archangel struggling without fingers. It would take time for his magic to heal him in this place that was so far removed from the Father who provided him with it in the first place, but his wings flapped and smacked against Satanus.

I felt him shudder as something scraped down his wing, tearing through the fibrous tissue as I nodded up at him.

He nodded back, settling his hands at my waist. I flinched away from the touch on instinct, bobbing through the movement to encourage him to continue.

He gripped me tightly, drawing me into his enormous frame. Heat pulsed off those golden symbols scrawled into his chest, the light held within them glowing brighter as my hands brushed over them where they peeked out at the collar of his shirt.

I forced myself to wrap my arms around his neck, sandwiching Jonathan between us. The cat’s blood slowly leaked onto my arms, his wounds shallow enough that I knew he would be alright.

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