Cora shrugged. “I guess I’m special.” She grinned. “It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that Fee’s okay.”

There was a flash of movement to my left, and my head whipped around in time to watch Hunter stride from the room.

Uri locked gazes with me for a long beat, his ember eyes filled with relief and love, and then, giving me a nod, he headed after Hunter.

“Well.” Missy pressed her hands to her thighs. “That was not fun, and I will not be doing it again, so if someone could take me home, I’d be very grateful.” Her eyes rolled back in her head, and she passed out.

“Shit,” Vi said.

I’d died, which meant Eve’s curse had activated.

Shit indeed.

I was back. I was alive and my guys were ecstatic. But all I could think about was Lilith and what my dying had done to her. There was no time to revel in the victory of my survival, and not much time to connect with Azazel or Mal, because my dying had made it even more urgent that they get back and fortify Imperium. Still, the guys lingered for a day, taking every moment to touch me, to hold me, to tell me that they loved me. But even just a day was too long for them to stay away from the Underealm.

If Lilith was damaged in some way, Mammon would use that to try and wrest control of the Underealm.

But she wasn’t dead. At least that’s what Azazel said. “I’d know if she was dead. I’d feel it.”

So, that was good news.

“We’ll send word periodically with Conah,” Azazel said. “Keep you updated on the situation in the Underealm.”

I stroked his jaw. “I’m so sorry.”

He looked confused. “What for?”

“For dying,” Mal said. “She’s sorry for dying.”

“Dammit, Fee,” Azazel said. “You had no control over that. I don’t blame you. I blame the bastards who put the curse on you.”

“Thank fuck for Cora,” Mal said.

Cora had brought me back only to vanish with Jasper. She didn’t have to spell out why. It was written all over his smug face, and it made me sick. I made me sick.

“She saved me, and there was a price, but it’s fuzzy. All I know is that she’s always giving pieces of herself for me.” My stomach rolled as I accepted the truth. “She’ll always give pieces of herself for me, and one day it will get her killed.”

Azazel and Mal were silent.

My stomach churned with the revelation I’d been holding at bay. “I need to let her go. I need to make her leave me.”

“You can’t force Cora to do anything,” Mal said. “The woman is a force of nature.”

“And I want her to stay that way.”

Azazel nodded. “We’ll figure it out.”

I smoothed back my hair and took a breath. “Go. Find Lilith.”

“She’s alive,” Azazel said. “I’d know if she wasn’t. Maybe whatever Eve did with the curse wasn’t death…It was something else? Keon is tied to her too. I’ll speak to him.”

He didn’t know what Keon was to him, and even though I ached to tell him, it wasn’t my secret to impart.

“I love you both.” I took their hands. “Be safe. Come back to me.”

“Always,” they said in unison.

“Send a phoenix if you need us,” Azazel added.

They each kissed me, and then they were gone, leaving me bereft and empty once again.

Arms wrapped around my waist, and Grayson hugged me to his chest. “It will be all right.”

I closed my eyes and reveled in the contact. “Where’s Hunter?”

“Has a meeting with Eldrick.”

“And Uri?”

“On a donut run.” He chuckled. “Having a celestial who can teleport comes in handy.”

I laughed. “And you’re okay with him staying here?”

Grayson turned me to face him. “Uri’s a good guy. I like him. But maybe you’ll want to spend a couple of nights a week at your quarters.”

I blushed. “Okay.”

I looked around the lounge, tidy now, and occupied by my pack as they watched TV together. We’d busted onto an island and saved a bunch of humans and vamps. Killed a bunch of super vamps and kidnapped a scientist who right this moment was in Magiguard custody along with Kristoff. I’d died and come back to life, and Lilith could be seriously affected by that. War loomed on the horizon in the Underealm, but right now. This moment. Life felt almost normal.

Grayson nuzzled my ear. “You want to go to bed for a bit?”

My body responded with instant eagerness. “Yes, please.”

He took my hand, and we headed toward the lift. Grayson was about to press the call button when a gust of air blew through the house—warm and floral-scented.

The hairs on my nape stood to attention. Grayson had gone very still too, his grip on my hand flexing. He released me, and we both turned to the entrance to find a woman standing there.

She was dressed for summer, hair braided with flowers, feet bare, and totally out of place against the winter backdrop behind her. But what grabbed me by the throat and shook me was her face.

She had my face.

“Hello, Seraphina Dawn,” she said. “We have a problem.”

To be continued….