Renegade (Heven and Hell #4)(79)
Author: Cambria Hebert

I had no idea what they were talking about. I glanced at Gemma and she shrugged. Then I realized something. “The island! It’s destroyed. Hecate found it and—”

Gemma and Cole were nodding, like they already knew what I was telling them.

“We know. There’s a new island. It’s been relocated to a secret place,” Gemma said, her eyes growing serious.

“You can’t tell us,” I said, flat.

“No,” Cole said. “No one will ever know its location.”

“I’m never going to see you again, am I?” I asked him.

He shook his head slowly, his face drawing down into a frown. I hugged him again, trying to memorize every last detail about him that I could. “I’m going to miss you, Cole. So much.”

He cleared his throat. “Yeah, me too.” He pulled back, tucking a stray hair behind my ear. “Take care of yourself, huh? Stop getting into so much trouble.”

I nodded, unable to speak because tears clogged my throat. Finally, I said, “I’m glad you have Gemma. I want you to be happy.”

“I will be, sis. And so will you.” He spoke the words with utter certainty, and I wondered if with death came knowledge or if someone up in heaven told him so.

The ground beneath our feet began to rumble and shake. Lightning cracked through the sky. I worried about Riley.

“We gotta go,” Cole said, glancing at Gemma, who nodded.

My heart turned over at the idea of letting him go so soon after just getting him back. He turned to Sam. “Watch over my sister.”

Sam nodded. “Good luck, man.”

They did that fist bump thing again and I turned to Gemma, giving her a one-armed hug around the flower. “Thank you so much for everything, Gemma. You’ll always be my sister, no matter where you are.”

She smiled. “And you are mine.”

The ground shook again, this time more violently. Cole stepped over to Gemma, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulling her into his side. He pressed a kiss to her cheek and whispered, “I told you I’d pay any price. So worth it.”

The look of utter joy on her face was enough to keep me from crying as they disappeared from sight. We stared at the space they’d been for long moments after they were gone. One of my biggest wishes had always been for my brother to be happy.

And now he would be.

Forever.

Heven

We were still standing in the same spot, staring at the space my brother and Gemma had been, when Riley and Kimber came ripping through the cave.

“I don’t mean to interrupt your vacation, but the island is collapsing into the sludge, Hecate’s still on the loose, and we need to get the hell out of here, like yesterday,” Riley said as silver bolts cracked through his dark eyes.

Kimber was standing just behind him, looking pretty worn out from her fight with Hecate.

Riley saw me looking at her and he angled himself so he blocked her from sight. “Now’s not really a good time for a bash crazy party.”

“I am not crazy!” Kimber snapped behind him.

I didn’t feel like fighting with Kimber anymore. I didn’t feel like hating her for everything she’d done. Sure, not that long ago I thought we might be able to get back to some sort of friendship, but then she killed Cole. No, she hadn’t meant to do it. But she did.

And that was something I would never forget.

Maybe I would forgive her, especially knowing that Cole got his happy ending after all, but it wouldn’t be today. Today I no longer hated her; any feelings I had for Kimber pretty much were gone.

The ground under us began to crack and separate, widening apart until Sam and I were on one section and Riley and Kimber were on another.

“We’ve got to get out of here!” Sam said and behind us the Devourer made a sound.

The weakened dragon had pushed to his feet and was crouching down, waiting for us. Sam grabbed my hand and we ran over the unsteady ground toward the Devourer and climbed on his back. “Riley!” I yelled, looking at him and Kimber who were still trapped on the other side.

Riley said something to Kimber I couldn’t hear and then he shifted, his clothes shredding and eyes flashing. Kimber climbed onto his back and Riley backed up and then took a running leap across the divided ground, airborne over the black sludge.

I gasped when a demon leapt out of the water, grabbing for him, but he snapped his jaws and then landed on our side and ran toward the dragon. Kimber climbed off his back and Riley shifted back into his human form.

The Devourer made a sound at him, tossing his head in Riley’s direction. To my surprise, Riley smiled and patted its head. “I knew you’d wait for me, bud. Thanks.”

I glanced at Sam and his face mirrored my shock. Had Riley bonded with the dragon he used to refer to as an “overgrown bird?” I guess stranger things had happened.

“Red, how about some clothes?” Riley said, preparing to climb onto the dragon. Kimber waved her hand at him and he was covered by jeans, boots, and a black leather jacket. Then she turned her magic on Sam and covered him too.

The minute Riley was on the Devourer’s back, we took off up into the air, and I watched as the last of the dragon’s lair was swallowed by the black sludge. I was a slightly worried about the four of us on the dragon’s back, knowing he felt so weak, but he seemed to be handling our extra weight okay, and for a moment I allowed myself to take a deep breath.

“How’s your soul feel?” Sam said over the rushing wind as we flew. I did an inner check, making sure I didn’t feel any of the telltale signs that my soul was beginning to separate from my body. It wasn’t. I felt fine. In fact, nothing inside me even felt tempted to try to escape, to twist. Everything felt… right.

Like I was finally being who I was meant to be all this time.

I felt myself smile. “I’m good.” I leaned forward so Riley could hear me from his position on the front of the dragon. “We need to find those souls.”

He nodded and leaned down over the Devourer. “If you know where those soul’s are, now is the time to show us,” he shouted.

The Devourer looked back, his eyes connecting with me, and I nodded. His wings snapped out and he glided in an arch through the ashy, sunless sky. We flew silently for a while over barren landscape, and then it started to change, to become… populated?

“This must be one of the Princes’ land Riley was telling us about,” Sam said, leaning up and talking in my ear.

It was unlike anything I would have imagined. After seeing the wasteland that Beelzebub called home, I thought they would all have similar lands.