“I don’t really feel like chatting while I kill you.” I took a step forward and she took a step back. “You understand, right?”
The all powerful blood witch trembled with fear in her eyes before me, looking a hell of a lot less confident than she did when she first showed herself to me. Her fear was so pungent it permeated the air.
I’d been so stupid not to realize sooner. There was always a way out.
“You can’t kill me,” she sputtered before dragging the knife down the length of her arm and letting the blood drip into scattered puddles below her. “You can’t kill me in this cave.”
“You know I can just neutralize that spell too, right?” I laughed before tossing my hellfire at her.
The destructive blue flames engulfed her dress, incinerating it and everything she had on her, leaving her perfectly unharmed. She stumbled backward until her back hit the cave wall and she forced out a harsh breath. “You didn’t neutralize it.”
I shrugged. “I don’t want to kill you, Mystia. I want to obliterate you.”
“No.” She held the knife tighter in her trembling hands before driving it into her thigh and coating her hands in blood. She turned and frantically drew a symbol behind her on the wall, and the cave began shaking. Her fear wafted off her, and I could sense panic.
Why is she running? Why isn’t she even trying to neutralize my spells?
I struggled to keep my balance as the rock she’d drawn the symbol on cracked down the middle and she did another blood spell before dissipating into a puddle of blood before I could react.
“No! You stupid bitch.” I moved forward a step before the rock blocking the entrance flew into the cave, barely missing me in the process. Coughing up the dirt I’d breathed in, the chaos settled as the shaking ceased. I noticed two figures where the rock had been.
I couldn’t catch a fucking break.
Straightening up, I summoned my hellfire in a ball between both palms. “Who the fuck are you?”
Two figures morphed into four, rushing at me without warning. An intoxicating mixture of scents hit my nostrils, making me drop to my knees in relief. Coffee beans, charcoal and soot, the forest after a storm, and ash and brimstone invaded my senses all at once.
Aziel, Thaddeus, Blaise, and Kai wrapped their arms around me in some kind of chaotic dog pile. I was complete again, and snuggled closer to all of them. “Fuck, I’ve missed you all.”
“We’ve missed you more, Poppy.” Blaise’s voice was thick with emotion.
“We need you, love,” Thaddeus murmured.
“We’re nothing without you, Lilith,” Kai cried. “It’s been a bloody disaster.”
“My beloved,” Aziel croaked, sulfur hitting my nostrils from the scent of his tears.
Hot tears pricked my eyes before rolling down my cheeks. “I love you all so fucking much. I thought I wouldn’t be able to see you again.”
“What happened?” Thaddeus asked as we all pulled apart and got to our feet. “Last we heard, you had that bracelet on—”
Blaise grabbed my arm and held it up as if to look for the bracelet. “And that it was killing you. Bloody hell, Poppy.” He jerked me into his completely healed chest before kissing my forehead like I was his lifeline.
I smiled and pressed my lips against his chest. “You’re all healed up. Thank fuck for that.”
“I love you,” he mumbled into my hair. “So bloody much it hurts.”
“I love you too, Blaise.”
Kai’s arms wrapped around my waist before tugging me gently away from Blaise, and my back sunk into his warm chest. His lips found my shoulder as he pressed several kisses to my skin. “I love you, sweetheart. Please don’t ever leave us again.”
“I love you too, Kai. I’m not planning on going anywhere.”
Thaddeus stepped in front of me and cupped my face. “Don’t ever scare us like that again, love. We were devastated.”
I rolled my eyes, stepping up on my toes to kiss his nose. “I love you, Thad.”
“I love you,” he replied with a kiss to my nose.