“You’re hurt,” she said. She looked down at her bloodstained shirt, and then her hands, sticky and crimson.
I leaned in to taste her lips once more.
She pecked my lips—her mouth softer than anything should be that had just come from Hell. “We have to get you patched up.”
I grinned. “Plenty of time for that. We should get you back to your parents. Your dad and Aunt Claire are probably sending Rhode Island’s entire demon population back to Hell right about now.”
Her face fell, looking at my chest where my heart lay behind my rib cage. Unlike her, I was still human, and my heart was struggling. “They’re inside. You have to come now. You’re running out of time.”
She was right. I was beginning to feel dizzy and cold. “Okay, then. Lead the way.”
Eden held me tight to her side as she helped into her family’s home. My feet barely touched the ground as she bore all my weight. Jared, Claire, and Bex waited inside, ready with lights, sterile covers, suture kits, bags of saline and Morphine, an IV stand and a silver standing tray with medical supplies. Bex was disgusted, not from the mess of blood pouring out of me and onto the floor, but because he sensed our kiss.
“Eden!” Nina said, touching her daughter’s arm as we passed.
“Sorry, Mom. Need to take care of this.”
Nina nodded, wringing her hands together. She’d probably been worried sick with Eden leaving so soon after dying in front of her eyes. The guilt I felt was obviously misplaced, but real all the same.
“Evening,” I said, nodding to Jared as I limped to the dining table. It was a futile attempt to ease their suffering. Politeness. As if that could change anything. “Evening,” I said, nodding to Nina and Cynthia. Ryan was there, too. “Everyone, huh?” I said, grunting as Eden helped me onto my back. Humor. Even worse. “Wow. How long was I down there?”
“Too long,” Eden said, cutting my clothes away. The two lines between her brows deepened as she worked, likely concerned about the amount of blood I’d lost. I was shivering, the human part of me nearing death.
Before I’d betrayed my father, my immortal half felt dominant. Injuries were an afterthought. Now, I felt weak, humanly fragile and far from in control of my fate. Hell had most certainly blamed me for Eden’s escape. My brothers or Lucifer himself could arrive at any moment. The punishment for treason was death, so it would be easy enough for my father to let me die, and I was close.
Eden frowned. “This is going to hurt.”
“Just get it done,” I said, growling when she poked around in my wounds with her fingers.
Eden spoke as she worked, “I don’t feel your father approaching. Nothing from Hell incoming, actually. What are they waiting for?”
I was suddenly too tired to speak.
She tried to smile. “Maybe they know we have a secret weapon. Levi?” she said, glancing to her aunt. She looked back down at me, her gaze meeting mine. “Stay with me, Levi. Fight.”
“Secret weapon?” I breathed out.
She shook her head. “Something that was mine a long time ago. Something I’d made to protect us. It was hidden away in the Oubliette lifetimes ago. Do you remember?”
I thought, shaking my head. Even that took an incredible amount of effort. My injuries were more dangerous than I’d realized.
“Bleeder,” Jared said, gloving up. “There.”
“Got it,” Eden said, wiping her brow with the back of her wrist.
“Do you need—” Claire began, running an IV line.
“That’s it. That was it,” Eden said with a sigh.
“Starting Morphine,” Claire said hanging a bag from the stand. “Ryan?”
“Perfect,” Eden said. “Bex, could you…?”
“On it,” Bex said, butterfly needle and tubing already in-hand.
Ryan breached the small circle around me and rolled up his sleeve.
I looked to Eden. She answered, seeing my confusion. “Ryan’s O Negative. Universal donor.”
“Family pin cushion,” Ryan said with a grin.
“At least you’re somewhat useful,” Jared said.
“Dad,” Eden said with a frown.
Jared glanced at Ryan.
“Save your breath. You’re not sorry,” Ryan said.
Jared looked to Eden. She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Could you at least keep your thoughts to yourself? He kissed your girlfriend. It’s been nearly twenty years. Get over it.”
“We don’t have to talk about it,” Claire grumbled as she hung another bag of saline.
“Wife,” Jared clarified. “Nina is my wife.”
“She wasn’t at the time,” Ryan said. His eyes danced between the annoyed stares of Jared and Claire. “I’ll shut up.”
I chuckled. “You can’t win, huh?”
Ryan grinned and shook his head, his gaze settling on Claire. “Worth it.”
Nina cupped my hand in hers. “Levi?” I could feel her hesitation, but she did it, anyway. The gesture wasn’t lost on me. She loved her daughter that much, and that love overflowed onto me. “How are you feeling?”
“Pretty good, actually,” I said as the Morphine flowed through my veins. “Thank you for asking.”
Nina sighed. “Good. That’s really good. You’d lost a lot of blood.”
“He should be feeling better any minute now,” Bex said, taping the second needle to my arm.
Nina scanned my wounds, then looked over her daughter, feeling for any injuries. “Eden, you weren’t hurt?”
“They didn’t touch me,” Eden said. “In and out.”
Jared’s expression was that of a proud father. Something I’d rarely seen.
Eden finished the patch work and then removed her bloody gloves, tossing them in a garbage bin Agatha had provided minutes before. The Greys and Ryels were a well-oiled machine, working in tandem, predetermining one another’s moves, and rarely needing to communicate. It was a sight to behold.
My Cambion side finally kicked in, but it burned out the Morphine as my body reacted. Pain immediately set in.
“More?” Claire asked, manning the IV pole.
I shook my head. “My body is healing itself. I’ll just have to suffer through it. It could’ve been much worse, though, so thank you.”
“Who knew Satan’s son was so … polite,” she said with a fake smile and a shrug.
I started to laugh, but it hurt too much.
Jared approached, nodding. “In and out was a smart choice. I assume you had a run-in with something big.”
“My brothers,” I said. “And Cassia.”
Claire frowned, a glint of recognition and anger in her eyes. “Cassia.”
“Who?” Nina asked.
Jared paused and offered his wife a loving expression. She nodded, knowing he would explain later. Jared was lost in thought for a moment, then blinked, his gaze returning to me. “Cassia resides in Lucifer’s temple. Why were you there?”