Page 63 of Underworld
Wheeling around the building with Kaito at my side, we came to a staggering halt only to stare at sheer carnage painting the streets.
If I’d ever had a soft stomach, it had long ago been hardened. Even what memories I’d managed to unlock had flickers of terrible violence in them, but nothing had prepared me for anything like this.
Blood painted the street, the walls, and even lingered in the air, dancing along the thick fog.
The thick black ichor suggested that at least this was Demonspawn blood, the carnage not our own, but it still turned my stomach when I stared at the macabre display.
Dante had done this, scattering pieces of his prey behind him in his rage. I felt his anger and his violence like I felt my own heartbeat.
A low groan of pain from nearby caught my attention and I moved toward it, my gut clenching into knots as it came again.
There was a blackened, charred piece of ground, a perfect circle, and I warily stepped into it. The crumpled bodies of three Demonspawn—or was it four—yes, four—shifted as something…someone… beneath them moved.
A hand pushed free and the scarred wrist caught my gaze.
“Dante!” I cried as I yanked the bodies away. Kaito silently assisted until we unearthed the Hunter. I pulled him into my lab, my whole body shaking.
Cole hadn’t been hurting him.
He’d been tormenting him with his own rage, forcing him to fight more Demonspawn than he could handle.
Black blood streaked down his face and I brought one of my wings over us, cleaning him with my feathers. “Lily,” he groaned, his face turning into the soft quills.
Hushing him, I stroked his hair from his eyes that he now opened, his molten gaze locked onto mine. “I’m here now.”
He looked up at me, lids low as he reached up to touch my cheek.
“Am I dreaming?” he whispered, voice hoarse. “Or did I finally get my wish?”
“What wish would that be?” I asked.
He smiled, genuinely happy for just a moment. “To die and find you in the afterlife.”
My heart shattered into a million pieces. It broke me on a spiritual level and I kissed him, willing my life force into him.
It reminded me of when we’d first come to Hell, when I gave him the power he needed to survive.
I would do that for him again, but this time the power would come from me.
“Come back to me,” I whispered, desperate for him to shake free of Cole’s influence. “Come back.”
Chapter 18
“Lily,” he said, blinking rapidly. Then he kissed me without warning, crushing his lips to mine as if he’d forgotten how to breathe and I was oxygen itself.
This felt likemyDante.
Like my Virtue, the one with the caustic humor and stubborn protectiveness.
“Dante,” I breathed when he finally released me. Overwhelmed, I leaned closer to him and cupped his cheek.
Need wrenched at me, but before I could close the remaining distance and kiss him again, Dante stiffened, his moment of lucidity already fading.
No.
He grabbed my arms, holding me in place as he put distance us. It was only a few inches, but it felt like miles.
Dante’s lashes fell, shielding his gaze from me.
