My Reaper smeared a streak of blood across my cheek. War paint. Victory.
His soul was now ours. The devil would torment him for all eternity.
My groan of satisfaction was echoed by my brothers.
The ground beneath our feet rumbled as a huge fissure opened in the hot Nevada sand. I focused on the hissing sounds and roaring flames that shot up from below. Sparks joined the popping sounds that preceded more bursts of Hellfire. The shredded pieces of Solonik’s soul were gathered up in a gust of hot air and sucked into the fissure. After a few seconds, nothing remained. The hole began to slowly close as I turned to Diablo.
“Time to do what you do best.”
He nodded, a vicious grin on his face. “Indeed.”
There were a lot of advantages when your brother was an expert cleaner. And I didn’t mean houses or chores. Diablo was an inventive Bastard.
My revenge finally complete, my Reaper was quiet as he retreated. Six years of plotting and planning had finally seen fruition. The deaths of Rancid, Voltoy, and Solonik brought a peace that I didn’t know could exist. All that was left was my Nylah.
Would she still accept me?
I didn’t waste time and held my arms open, awaiting her reaction.
She didn’t hesitate, didn’t second guess her choice, just ran forward and leaped into my arms as I caught her against my chest and held her as tightly as I could.
This. This right here . . . was everything.
Chapter 29 – Azrael
“Nylah quiets my soul. She’s the light to my darkness.”
Grim was listening as I returned to the Crossroads with my brothers. Nylah was on her way to Mt. Grant Hospital in a cage with Wraith, Patriot, and Trixie. Shadow was driving them all and I would join them as soon as I was done meeting with Grim.
Everyone left was seated in the chapel as Grim held Church. After every detail had been gone over, I smiled, catching every one of these Bastards off guard.
“She’s the first person I’ve loved since Willow died,” I divulged, surprised I could talk about her without shutting down or becoming angry. “Now that justice has been served, I finally feel like I have a future. And I want it with Nylah.”
Grim pounded the table, followed by Mammoth, then Papa, and the rest of my brothers.
My pres stood, clapping a hand on my shoulder. “That’s the first time I’ve seen you legit smile in six goddamn years.”
The joke set off a round of guffaws as everyone enjoyed giving me a little bit of shit. I could take it and I didn’t mind. They were right.
“I’m gonna make her my ol’ lady.”
Grim nodded. “Done.”
Nylah had truly become my light and peace. She helped me find love and acceptance in the darkest period of my life. The itching, burning, violent urges had faded away. I’d thought I would feel redeemed after all of this was settled, a little closer to forgiven than I felt since the night Willow died.
It wasn’t exactly what happened, but I did feel like a new man.
Maybe redemption wasn’t exactly what I needed. Maybe it was truly never an option when you bargained your soul to the devil for the chance to exact revenge. I couldn’t exactly say for certain, but I knew that my entire life had changed the moment I agreed to that contract and the Reaper and I joined as one. The lines easily blurred between good and evil, right and wrong. Sometimes we had to seek our own justice and it came at a steep price.
Perhaps I wasn’t deserving of Nylah or her sweet soul in my life, but I knew that I couldn’t live without her now.
Nylah was born to ride on the back of my Harley and destined to be mine. Fate could fuck off.
I made my own destiny.
“COME ON,” I URGED, taking Nylah’s hand as I led her into one of the private rooms designated for families of sick patients. When I noticed it was the same room that I had watched Nylah sleep in nearly a month ago, I had to stifle a laugh. Back then, I was intrigued by that sassy nurse. Now, she was all mine. “I have something to show you.”
Her brow rose in curiosity as her small hand gripped my fingers. “Okay.”