by Cindi Madsen
They’d moved to Jacksonville, Florida, of all places, which was only forty minutes away from where I used to live.
Where I was about to live again.
It was like the fates were all aligning, everything so surreal I could hardly let myself believe it.
Once we reached Earth, Ahadiel asked me, “Where to?”
I felt a little bad not visiting Mom first, but not bad enough to change my mind.
Ahadiel pulled the car up in front of a peach house with neatly trimmed bushes. “Florida wasn’t a coincidence. You and Tristan are going to need to work together to save both your souls, and hopefully you’ll be able to save a lot more than just yours and his. It’s been a long time since you’ve seen each other and I…” The angel’s mouth kept opening and then closing without any words coming out of it.
Unpleasant thoughts tiptoed into my mind: Tristan had met someone else; he didn’t like me like that anymore.
“You’re saying he’s different,” I said, wanting him to tell me that I was wrong.
“Not just him. You’re different. Everything’s different.”
My heart stopped beating, I swear it did. I should’ve gone to Mom’s first. I’m not ready to have my dreams crushed. I’ll never be able to do everything I’ve got to if I can’t get out of bed for weeks.
Ahadiel shifted, messing with his seat belt—not because he needed its protection, he’d explained, but because it was the law. “We put a lot on the line, which means every creature from the underworld will be coming after you, attempting to get you to give in to your baser instincts.”
“You’re not seriously telling me that sex is out, are you?” I blurted out. Maybe I should reevaluate my priorities, but sue me, it was on my mind.
Ahadiel rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “Um, I… I just meant that you guys can’t afford one misstep. That part is… not my jurisdiction.”
Now it was my turn to be embarrassed. Heat ran up my neck and settled in my cheeks. “Awkward. Okay, with that, I’m going to…” I pointed at the house.
“I’ll be in touch.”
Butterflies—more like angry bees, actually—swarmed my tummy as I climbed out of the white Mercedes. They buzzed even faster and louder as I walked up the sidewalk, and either all this fresh air was making me dizzy or I was about to have a nervous breakdown.
Say hi to Tristan first, nervous breakdown later.
My knees trembled as I raised my fist and knocked.
A woman with a scarf wrapped around her head answered the door. Her cheeks were hollow, her eyes sunken, and I remembered Tristan saying his mom had been sick. Evidently that hadn’t changed.
She gave me a weak smile.
Saying I was Tristan’s soul mate and he damn well better remember me was probably a little too forward, even though that was totally what I was thinking. “Hi. I’m a friend of Tristan’s.” Friend. That seemed so weird and insufficient after everything we’d been through. “Is he home?”
“He took a walk down by the river. He’ll sit there for hours sometimes, just staring out at the water.”
Of course that was where he was. Now that I was back on Earth, the fear that Grim would come out of the water and snatch me away was back. “Thanks,” I said, my voice sounding way too high.
I sucked in a deep breath and walked toward the river. While it was rather pretty, I still stayed on the farthest edge of the sidewalk.
The occasional person passed me, including an older lady with two yipping dogs that seemed to think I was the most interesting thing ever.
The bright colors overwhelmed my eyes after almost an entire year of drab red, gray, and black. I’d also gotten so used to the heat in Hell that I actually felt a bit cold, which was just stupid. The air was so clean, too, and there were people talking and smiling. Laughing even.
This is so, so weird.
I scanned the area, anxious to see Tristan, hoping that things wouldn’t be weird with him, too. I could use a little normal.
Then there he was, walking toward me, head down, hands shoved in his pockets. His hair was longer, lighter at the tips, and his arms were toned and tanned. He looked more like a beach-bum surfer dude than the broody boy I’d met all those months ago.
Holy shit, this is actually happening. All the blood rushed to my head, and suddenly I couldn’t breathe anymore.
I’d dreamed of this moment so many times, experiencing bitterness whenever I awoke to find Tristan gone and me stuck and fulfilling my part of the deal, which I’d never regretted for a second.
I pinched my arm because if this was a cruel dream, I’d rather wake up before I saw his face and heard his voice. It hurt, so yeah. Not dreaming.
Tristan glanced up.
And froze.
The color drained from his face.
He didn’t look happy like I’d hoped he would. Instead he appeared to be distressed and kind of freaked out.
Jeez. How forgettable am I?
Or maybe the problem is that I’m too memorable. I just bring back bad memories for him. What if he thinks I came to seduce him and drag him to Hell again?
Not that seduction isn’t a small part of my plan.
My chest ached, and my pulse pounded through my head, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Say something. Do something.
I wasn’t sure whether I was talking to myself or Tristan.
He took a hesitant step toward me and blinked. “Is it really…? Please tell me I’m not dreaming.”
“I’m not so sure it’s real myself,” I said, my voice coming out scratchy. “But if I were dreaming, you’d probably already have your arms around me. And we wouldn’t be standing next to a freaking river, either. I mean, come on. Isn’t there a nice cheery nuclear power plant where you could hang out?”
“It is you.” Tristan closed the gap between us with one long stride, and then I was in his arms. He squeezed me so hard I thought my eyeballs were going to pop out—and I’d let them, it felt that amazing. “How?”
“Made a deal with the devil, of course,” I said with a shaky laugh.
“You’ve really got to stop doing that.”
“I know. I’m done, though.” I put my hand on his cheek, feeling stubble he hadn’t had in Hell. His body was warm, and he smelled all soapy clean with a hint of woodsy musk thrown in. “I’ve got the only thing I want now.”
He pressed his lips to mine and kissed me, long and slow, drawing it out in a glorious form of torture. I melted against him and fell deeper into the kiss, into his embrace, basking in the fact that his heart beat against mine.
I wished I could say we were going to just live happily ever after now.
But the truth was, Hell was going to be coming for us, fighting us every step of the way.
Now that we were together, though, we were going to give them quite a run for their money.
Also by Cindi Madsen
The Cipher Series
Cipher
Rift
Resolution
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Standalone Novels
All the Broken Pieces
Demons of the Sun
Losing Romeo
Operation Prom Date
Acknowledgments
This book has been through many versions, and I want to thank all the people who read them along the way. Thanks to the amazing critique groups I’ve had, and for everyone who messaged to tell me they’d love to read something different from my norm. Lately life has been a bit hellish, and what better place to escape that than hell. LOL.
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Thanks to my family for being so supportive, and for joking around about all the time I’ve been spending in “Hell” lately. You’re the reason I do this job. Thanks to Lea Ann Schafer for her editing prowess, to Miranda Grissom from Miranda’s Snowy Owl Designs for being an amazing assistant and helping with formatting, and to Kellie Arts for the beautiful, perfect cover.
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Last, but certainly not least, thank you
to my readers for supporting my books, sending me messages, and keeping me going.
