Page 258 of Dark Haven Omegaverse

“She was a true goddess, you know,” he spit out. “The first one to actually have faith in me. She deserves my loyalty.”

So, Hel had twisted this situation as well. I should have realized it sooner. Recognized this as another of her many failures.

Fuck Hel and fuck the demons she used to distract us.

She knew they’d stop me from closing the portal, buy her more time to cover her tracks while chaos continued to reign for months on end.

“Loyalty?” I shouted. “You’re not even a demon, Crew. Just a fucking human on a power trip. Your loyalty should be with those who cared about you, who were with you before you were deemed useful. If you think this is loyalty, then you never deserved Layne. Or us.”

He faltered for a moment, his eyes fading back to the normal brown eyes I recognized. It was as if he were battling himself, the two sides at war, and he was unable to find true freedom.

My heart broke, but there was no other choice. This wasn’t the first impossible task I was forced to face, and I doubted it would be the last.

“Crew, come back to us. Layne loves you, you’ve just been too blind to see it.”

“She doesn’t love me. If she did, she never would have looked twice at that gargoyle.” He spit the words out as the red seeped back in and he raised his weapons once again.

His gaze, however, went over me to the battle as if he could find the gargoyle in question.

The ashes and shadows made it nearly impossible to see so it was mere seconds before his terrifying red eyes were back on me.

Something snapped within him. His body tense and his face contorted into something unrecognizable. He didn’t just raise his weapon this time, he lunged.

That was the moment he signed his own death warrant.

Monty was there, unapologetic as he did what I couldn’t and sliced a shadowy sword straight through Crew’s heart.

His eyes widened, the red draining away to reveal his eyes one last time. The once-warm brown eyes were now fearful and terrified as he gasped for air.

I moved forward as if I could save him but there was nothing I could do. He was dead before he even hit the ground.

My brain and heart were at war. I didn’t want to believe he was gone.

“I was getting through,” I argued with teary eyes.

Monty had no sympathy for me.

“No, you weren’t. It was a losing battle. Only death could free him now. I saved you, you’re welcome,” he said, letting out a feral scream as another demon launched at me.

There was no time to grieve, we had to end this.

Most of the demons had fallen at this point. The only ones remaining were the leaders that had been by Crew’s side.

They finally fought, meeting our weapons with ones of their own.

One of them launched in the air, landing behind Hiro as he fought with one of the remaining lower demons.

“Hiro!” I yelled, knowing I wouldn’t have time to reach him before he got a sword to the chest. Thankfully, Roman was there to save him, swiping a sharp claw across the demon’s throat, ending him before he could take out his brother.

We were wading in a literal river of ashes, making it hard to move.

Kol was right, they wouldn’t regenerate here. They would fade away as the ashes were swept away, giving up immortality for frivolity and malice.

“Crew!” Layne’s broken scream echoed through the quiet lobby. We all turned to face her, my heart stopped in horror as a demon burst from the rubble, weapon raised before it sliced straight through my best friend.

She dropped midrun, body shaking as her hands hovered over the blade protruding from her chest.

Stravos’s scream was haunting as he lunged for the demon, tearing his head clean off of his body and letting the ashes join the rest of his brethren.

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