Tirade (Heven and Hell #3)(9)
Author: Cambria Hebert

“But it’s still her soul. Wouldn’t it want to go home?” I asked, leaning back on the pillows.

Usually, her long dark hair was pulled up in a ponytail, but today it was down, waving around her face and it brushed against her cheek when she shook her head. “Souls are very fickle. They’re easily influenced. They tend to take on characteristics of their environment. A soul that has been floating around in hell would not want to go back to being reined in.”

“So we offer it something that it might not be able to have if it was left on its own,” I said.

“Like what?” Gemma asked.

“I’ll think of something,” I muttered, feeling dizzy.

“Wouldn’t it be kind of bad for Kimber if we forced her corrupted soul back into her body? Wouldn’t it just corrupt her?” Cole asked, pulling his lip with his thumb and forefinger.

“She won’t be the same person as before, but being in the same cell with her might be a good thing because it probably isn’t completely corrupted.” Gemma allowed.

“She changed the minute she made a deal with Hecate,” I spat. “Besides, having a soul is better than not having one at all.”

We all fell into silence. Gemma was probably wondering if Cole was still in love with Kimber. Cole was probably wondering what he said to make me yell, and I was lying there desperately trying not to vomit.

What a group we made.

“So that’s what we’ll do, then,” I said, forcing the way I felt to the back of my mind. “When we get down there, we’ll convince Kimber’s soul to get back into her body and then she can cast some spell to make the force fields disappear.”

Gemma cleared her throat. “Whatever magic your friend has, it’s no match for Hecate’s.”

“She’s not my friend, not anymore,” I said quickly. “And you’re probably right—but she should be strong enough to cast a spell to maybe weaken whatever spell Hecate cast, then Sam can break out.”

“I thought you said he’s weak from exhaustion and injured,” Cole said and Gemma looked at him sharply.

“Then, I’ll break it down,” I said simply.

Cole looked like he might argue but I held up my hand, stopping him. “I don’t want to hear it. I’m getting Sam out of there and that’s all there is to it.”

“You should get some sleep,” Gemma said, getting up from the bed. “I’ll come back later to see how you’re feeling.”

Suddenly, it was hard to keep my eyes open so I just nodded.

A few moments later, I was startled by the sound of Gemma asking Cole if he was coming. I thought they had already left.

“I don’t want to leave her like this,” he whispered.

“Yeah, okay,” Gemma said. “I’ll see you later.”

“Cole.” My throat felt like it was on fire and the word sounded hoarse and gruff.

He was at my side in an instant, his hands cool against my heated skin as he pushed a few strands of damp hair off my forehead. “What do you need?”

“Go… be with Gemma.”

“I’m going to hang with you.”

“I’m fine.”

“I know what you’re feeling right now.”

“Not as bad as you were,” I said as I started to shiver with cold.

I felt the heavy weight of a blanket settle over me. The weight was unpleasant, but the warmth outweighed my discomfort so I didn’t protest. “Get some sleep,” Cole said softly.

“Cole”—I reached for him and he put his hand in mine—“be with her while you have the chance. You never know when it might be gone.”

My eyes were closed but I felt his aura shift, turn into anxiety and doubt. “Go,” I told him. “I wanna be alone with Sam.”

He hesitated only a minute before tucking the blanket around me farther and then stepping away from the bed. “We’ll just be downstairs. If you need anything, yell.”

“Thanks.”

“Tell Sam I said to hang in there.”

I didn’t respond but sank farther into the covers and let my mind reach out to Sam. I wanted to be with him so desperately that I opened my mind too much, too fast and he was no doubt bombarded with what was going on with me. Almost as soon as I felt our connection, anxiety and fear flooded into me.

Heven? What’s wrong?

Not feeling so great is all.

I feel a burning in my arm. What happened?

I didn’t want to lie, and he was already freaked out, so I told him the truth. I had a run in with a demon. His spit got on me, then some of his blood, and it burned me.

A deep yearning and a desperate anger flowed through me and it actually eclipsed some of my own pain. I could feel him fighting the urge to launch himself at the force field again, but he and I both knew that he couldn’t break out. After a few charged moments, he seemed to relax a bit.

What happened with the demon?

Nothing. I killed it.

You killed it? Fresh fear stabbed me anew, but I ignored it.

Yes, and it’s just a small burn.

You’re in pain.

We were all in some kind of pain. I was tired of thinking about it. I was thinking of taking a nap.

I wasn’t worried about going to sleep. I fought sleep when I first came home from hell, in fear that Beelzebub (also known to me as the Dream Walker) would get into my head while I slept, but I can only not sleep for so long. Eventually, I fell asleep. And he never came.

Sleep would be good for you.

Want to link up?

I don’t know if I can settle down enough.

Would you try?

Anything for you.

At first, I thought maybe he wasn’t going to be able to relax, but I kept my mind completely open while sending out loving thoughts and waited. Eventually, I felt him soften and I hurried to picture him lying beside me on the bed. In my mind, he wasn’t wearing a shirt and I ran my hand over his smooth, taut stomach muscles. His skin was warm to the touch and his chest rose and fell with every breath he took. A small groan echoed through my mind and I smiled. I wasn’t really touching him, but we were linked so closely I knew he could almost feel my touch. And while it didn’t seem like much, it was all we had and it was everything.

He laid his palm over my hand and lifted it to his lips, pressing a kiss to the inside of my wrist before settling my arm back around him and gathering me close. Suddenly, the too-heavy blanket felt perfect and I pretended it was really him wrapping his body around mine.