“Baby,” David said, finally feeling some of his strength return.
Those hazel eyes he loved so much darted to him, and her face scrunched up as she broke down. “David.” She tried to move, but she only slumped to the side.
Death lifted her back in place, but she kept crying.
“David, I’m sorry. I tried. I tried to fight her like you said. I’m sorry.”
Death kissed her forehead. “Angel, you did great. You weren’t supposed to fight anymore. That’s why it had to be Luc. That’s why I stayed hidden, baby girl. I’m so sorry.”
Jane didn’t take her eyes off David. “Kill me.”
David shook his head as Death simply stared at her—frozen.
“Please kill me,” she said, her chest wracked with sobs he’d never heard before. “She killed them. I killed them. I killed those babies.”
“No, my love,” David said, tears escaping his own eyes. “That wasn’t you.”
She shook her head back and forth, her face twisted in agony. “I know you smell him. You smell both of them in me.”
David closed his eyes as she screamed, “YOU SMELL THEM IN ME!”
“I’ll fix you, Sweet Jane,” Death whispered. “It’s going to be okay.”
David’s heart was breaking. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what to think about her begging for Lucifer, and as terrible as it was, he almost hoped she was raped instead of giving herself to them.
He instantly felt like letting Death beat the shit out of him for even thinking that, but he feared finding out why she smelled like two men. Two enemies. Had she really betrayed him that way? Could he really forgive her?
Natalie’s voice suddenly filled his mind:
“Daddy used to promise Mommy he loved her, but he didn’t act like it. He always left when she cried. He said she would never get better. Then at the park, he told her he wasn’t in love with her.”
David’s response was as clear as it had been when he’d said it. “She doesn’t need to get better, princess. She just needs to be loved and held together because there are a lot of bad things trying to tear her apart. No matter how bad she gets, I’ll always love her and hold her.”
Her voice was loud and clear in his mind. “I guess that’s why you were picked for her.”
“You don’t need to be fixed, baby,” David whispered to Jane as he slowly opened his eyes. He smiled as best he could when she stopped screaming. “You just need to be held together. I’ll hold you. Don’t worry about what I smell. I love you. Always. We’ll work through this.”
Her tears didn’t stop, but she smiled sadly as Death hugged her. The angel stroked her hair, rocking her as he whispered in her ear, “Let him love you, angel. Don’t give up. Please don’t give up—we only just got you back.”
She didn’t respond, and she didn’t stop staring at David.
“Come here, baby,” he said, trying to sit up. David knew he’d need to do this for her because she wasn’t going to come close to forgiving herself if he judged her. “Death, bring her here. She needs to be fed.”
Without hesitation, Death carried her to the side of the bed David was on. He grabbed David’s arm and pulled him up a bit before sitting Jane across his lap.
At first, David could only hug her. Her skin felt like ice, and she was covered in tears and sweat, but she leaned against him, breathing in his scent as she held her hand over his heart.
“Home,” she whispered almost too quietly to hear, but it meant so much to him.
“Feed, Jane,” Death said, moving her hair out of her face. “The energy I gave you will not sustain you for much longer. Feed.”
David situated her. She didn’t look like his Jane anymore. She looked incomplete. Lost. He would help her find herself again. “Feed, baby. Everything will be okay.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, lightly pressing a kiss to his neck before sinking her fangs in.
Death turned away from them, his head hanging low as black feathered wings suddenly manifested. They were gone so quickly, David thought he imagined it, but when he saw Death rub his shoulder, he knew he’d seen the angel lose control of the illusion he hid behind.
The only one not losing control was Jane. She wasn’t reacting at all to David’s blood like she normally did. His touch seemed to be stirring some recognition within her, but she wasn’t moaning or trying to get closer. She simply fed until she was full and then withdrew her fangs.
She made eye contact with him and touched his lips as hers trembled. “Am I really here with you?” she asked, tracing his lips. “Sometimes he would give me memories of you both to help me sleep.”
That seemed out of place for how David viewed Lucifer, but he chose not to think on it just yet. “I’m real. You’re home, my love.”
“Home,” she whispered, her tears never stopping as she lowered her hand. “I don’t deserve to be home. I don’t deserve to have you hold me.”
David shook his head, still struggling to move after Death had weakened him. “Don’t think like that. There is a lot that needs to be sorted out, but you are meant to be here. With me.” He nodded to Death. “And with this fucker, too.”
She smiled faintly. It was the smile he always dreamed of—just a slight curve of her lips, but it meant so much to him.
“You should not even be awake,” Death said to him as he leaned over to kiss the back of Jane’s head. “Your boyfriend is a strong fucker, baby girl. Promise me you will whisper I’m stronger when he’s showing off to you.”
David shoved him, chuckling as he was finally able to really pull her close. She smelled of sex, but he knew his baby loved him. He wouldn’t throw her away. It wasn’t her fault. He caressed her cheek as Death stood and walked to a dresser.
“David, I did bad things,” she said, holding his wrist as though she feared he would let go.
He kissed her forehead. “She did those things, baby. I know you feel like it was all your fault, but I know you, Jane. My Jane is good. If you were truly you, you would not have done anything close to what I fear is tormenting your mind and soul. I promise I will help you. We’ll both help you, and whatever you end up confiding in us, I swear I will still love you and want you with me. Always, baby.”
She didn’t say anything; she seemed different, but his heart refused to lose hope. He could tell without the darkness inside her, she was thinking on her own. She didn’t have that same look where she always seemed to be arguing with someone else, or listening to a tormentor she could not escape. Now, she was actually trying to accept what he was saying.
David cupped her cheek, smiling before he gave her a kiss on the lips. It was hard to smell other men on her, but he pressed his lips against hers, keeping it as sweet as he could—simply happy she returned the kiss at all.
“Oh, my sweet little Jane.” Death’s teasing tone pulled them apart.
David kissed her forehead before they looked at Death.
The angel acted as though he wasn’t bothered by watching them kiss and smirked as he held something up. “When did you start wearing thongs?”
David chuckled. “Leave her alone. And give her the cotton ones. Also, don’t touch her intimates ever again.”