Agave Kiss

with bells, wind chimes, and laughing children.

Farewell, my son.

A shiver rolled through me. No wonder Min slept with you, Ebisu.

Shan kept me upright, as I had no ability to balance. Booke was cleaning up the last of the shades. I still had no idea where the last Luren was. If it was smart, it would forget about Sheol and live out its human life here. Chance shook his head once, twice, as if to clear it. He moved his fingers, as if testing his own solidity.

Chuch knelt beside Eva, and when he caught my eye, he circled his thumb and forefinger. “She’s okay, just knocked out.”

Thank the gods.

The moment I could, I pulled away from Shan, crawled across the filthy floor toward Kel. Surely, he was all right. He opened his eyes when I fell beside him. His fingers flexed; and I wrapped mine around his, slick with blood. He labored to breathe, his chest rent, his body charred. I sensed Chance coming toward me, but it wasn’t quite time for a joyful reunion. Not yet. Not until I knew the cost. Tears fell, dripping hot down my cheeks.

“You’ll be fine,” I whispered. “You just need to sleep.”

“No. The future lies before you, dadu, but I have outlived my purpose. I choose to die a free man. Everything ends.” Light flared in his tats, a final brightness before the dark. Kel closed his lovely, icy eyes and breathed, “Asherah.”

Then he was gone.

I knelt beside his body, his charred fingers in mine. When the last of the magick crumbled away, he was ash in my fingers. More tears slipped down my cheeks; a scream built in my chest, but my throat was too raw to bear it. So I held it in my head, echoing endlessly, while I rocked, a ball of white-hot pain. I hadn’t wanted happiness built on top of death, but Booke had warned there would be a cost.

I just hadn’t expected Kel to pay it in my stead.

Why didn’t you go when I told you? It appeared my dream had been prophetic in a sense; one life was lost in bringing Chance back, an even exchange to keep the universe in balance. The others stood away from me while I grieved; I heard them whispering, but . . . there was no one else to mourn him.

“Not like this,” I whispered. “Not like this.”

Future Perfect

Eventually Chance pulled me to my feet . . . into his arms. I rocked on shaky legs, but he held me so tight. He shouldn’t be here. This shouldn’t be possible . . . and it only was because I’d fed the ritual enough raw power to open the gate. I never meant to, but Kel made the choice, dragging the ancient demon into the circle with him. By doing so, he’d saved the world from the war Barachiel planned to wage.

And he brought love back to me.

Oh, Kel. Thank you. And I’m sorry.

Chance kissed me endlessly, his hands in my tangled hair. It was better than anything I’d ever known yet the kiss tasted of smoke and tears. Nothing beautiful came without pain, and our love had been fireproofed. Chance felt exactly as I remembered, his hands possessive and warm on my back.

“Welcome home,” I whispered when we finally came up for air.

“We need to get you to a doctor. Make sure the baby’s all right.”

I swallowed hard. “You heard.”

“Barely. I wondered if I had imagined it, but that kernel of possibility let me cling to you when the other realm started working on me.”

“Cleansing you of ties?” I guessed.

He nodded. “Sometimes this life felt like a dream, you know?”

“So do you have all kinds of secrets to share?” I smiled through the pain, conscious of how high the price had been to bring him home.

“No. They keep you . . . quarantined until you’ve made the transition.”

“You were in solitary the whole time?” I stroked his cheek, unable to believe he thought I was worth this.

“Apart from my dad, yeah.”

“I hate to ruin the moment,” Booke cut in, “but the demon wants to parlay.”

Chance kept his arm around me, helping me toward the others. My knees still felt weak and shaky, but at least I wasn’t bleeding anywhere. I tested my abdomen for pain, but there was none. Now only my throat and thigh hurt.

The beautiful demon stood apart from my friends, wearing a terrified look. “Your crew took out Barachiel.”

More accurately, a rogue ritual had—with Kel’s assistance—but I didn’t see any point in disillusioning him. We had dispatched all the shades he’d contracted, and that was plenty intimidating. I raised a brow, trying to look menacing, when I felt as scary as day-old tuna salad. “Still want to fight?”

Gods, I hope not.

“I propose a truce. I’ll tell Sibella that you slew our ancient enemy in her name. Unless she’s mad, she will reckon your debt paid.”

“If I see you near my family,” Chance said coldly, “then I’ll take your head. No warnings, no questions.”

“Understood.” The Luren hurried away, seeming desperate to escape.

By this point, Eva had woken in a rage. “Find me something to shoot! There’s no way I end this fight on the ground like a punk.”

Chuch kissed her on the lips. “I’m sorry, amor. It’s over. If you like, we’ll go down to La Rosa Negra tomorrow night, and you can punch some dudes.”

“Sounds good,” she muttered, accepting Chuch’s hand.

Before we could leave this place, I needed to do one more thing. I walked over to the ashes that had been my friend Kelethiel. Chance wound his arm around my shoulder, a quiet tension in him. I knew how he felt about my bond with Kel, the fact that I’d slept with him while we were apart. But he couldn’t doubt my commitment; it would’ve been much simpler to write him off, find a replacement. But I would never, ever do that.

“We need to honor him somehow,” I said softly. My cheeks felt tight and hot, a residual effect from such fierce weeping.

“I’ll fill one of my empty vials,” Booke offered. “Unless that would be too macabre . . .”

I thought about it. “I’d like that. Maybe . . . I could have a statue built, include his ashes in the cement or something. Would that be weird?”

“A little,” Shan said. “But cool. Better than burying a whole body in the dirt.”

Booke did as he’d suggested. Then Chuch and Eva came over to wrap their arms around Chance and me, both emotional nearly to the point of tears. Shan and Booke joined the group hug, which lasted a while. All of us were exhausted past the point of bearing. Part of me felt like we should be more exultant, but it was all . . . too much. So much had happened that I couldn’t process everything.

Eventually, Chance said, “While I appreciate what you’ve done tonight, more than words can say, I need to get Corine to a doctor. Then, if it’s all the same to you—and after she’s pronounced sound—I need some time alone with my girl.”

Chuch grinned, slapping him on the back. “I missed you, mano. And I’d have been pissed if you got out of buying my little girl presents so easily.”

“It’s good to finally meet you in person,” Booke said, offering his hand.

“You too. Thanks for taking care of her while I was gone.” Chance made it sound like he had been on a business trip. They shook firmly, then he hugged Shan around the neck. “Looks like you turned into a badass.”

Shannon hefted her sword. “This trims peen, you know. Hurt her and I’ll make you wish for demons. And welcome back.” She kissed his cheek.