Page 135 of Lourdes & the Mafia
Alone, I feel the suffocating pressure of loneliness. The same kind Ramiel must have felt when he fell. But I have to force myself to leave the room, or else I’ll try to stay forever.
I can’t be here anymore.
It’s time I left.
And this time, I can’t look back.
Lourdes
“Ralgoron.”
I didn’t know it was possible. So far, I’ve seen into the future. I’ve seen into the past. All I needed to try was looking into the present. It’s surprisingly easy, and I find the demon with ease. She looks at me within the vision, her smile twisting up.
Strangely, it feels like she’s proud of me.
I try not to dwell on that.
“I need you.”
She inclines her head. “Yes, my queen.”
I pull out of the vision and wait until she appears. She appears with a smile of mischief on her face. Her forked tongue slides across her lipless mouth, and she gives me what feels like a mocking bow, taking me in from head to toe.
The magical dress surely helps me look like royalty. I’m not blind to that or to the magic that is threaded through every strand and stone.
“I need you,” I tell her.
She flicks her yellow eyes over my form. “Okay.”
“You cannot tell Ramiel or the others.”
She hums. “Really?”
My eyes narrow. “That’s an order.”
She chuckles. “Do I look like I have a face of someone who tells my kings anything?”
Her wings had been shredded and broken by Kane last time she helped me. They look healed now. I’m sure that’s Lorenzo’s doing.
Someone who doesn’t fear them is either really brave or really stupid.
Either way, she has my respect.
“I need you to get me back into Ramiel’s room,” I tell her. “Right now. I need to go into the portal.”
She smiles, but she doesn’t question me. She doesn’t even think twice about it before she holds out her arms, offering to fly me there. “Then what are we waiting for, my queen?”
Taking a breath, I step into the circle of her arms.
The flight out of the castle isn’t as scary as I remember it. The portal, however, is just like I remembered. Ramiel, thankfully, is nowhere to be found. I stare at my distorted reflection while Ralgoron leans against a wall, watching me.
This is probably the last time I’ll be in the Underworld. The last time I’ll see Ralgoron, or the other demons at all. I don’t know what’s waiting for me on the other side, but I know that I have to go.
I have to try and protect everyone, like they’ve protected me.
Whatever it takes.
I turn to Ralgoron. “Don’t tell them, okay?”
