Sweet Reckoning (The Sweet Trilogy #3)(91)

“You tryin’ to show me up, man?” Blake said to Kopano, flexing his lean biceps.

Everyone laughed and Kope gave his bashful smile, dimple and all, before he took a seat on the floor next to Zania.

Kaidan sat at the end of the couch and put his arm around me. I squished close next to him, taking his hand. This was weird. It was the first time ever that we could be affectionate without worry or fear. I smiled up at him. Wow.

We were all here. Alive. And our fathers were gone from earth forever. The quiet that settled over the room told me we were all thinking that same thing. It seemed unreal.

“So, what’s it mean, Anna?” Blake asked, his eyes dropping to the supernatural badge on my chest. “They’re all white.”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I mean, I prayed that all Neph, alive or dead, would have a chance at heaven just like regular people.”

Blake nodded, then got up and walked over to the mini fridge, opening it and pulling out a couple small champagne bottles.

“Wanna celebrate?” he asked the room. I actually felt surprised when the dark urge stirred inside me and I longed to drink both those bottles and then some. Blake eyed me meaningfully. “Feel anything, Anna?”

I bit my lip and dropped my eyes, nodding. “It’s still there.”

“I could’ve told you that, mate,” Kaidan muttered, making Jay and Blake laugh.

“And I still see the bonds,” Marna said. Ginger agreed.

The auras and guardian angels were still there, too.

So our demon urges hadn’t left us—only the stain that made us damned. But we were strong. We’d proven that.

The room quieted as Blake put the drinks back in the fridge, and my mind switched gears. As much as I didn’t want to get upset, and as morbid as it may have seemed, I needed the details about what Patti had been through.

“Jay?” I said quietly. “What happened?”

He didn’t say anything at first. He rubbed Marna’s knee and thought.

“She knew something was coming. I don’t know how—intuition or something—but she made us separate. She kept hugging me and saying not to worry, she’d see me soon.”

He got choked up, and I felt my eyes burning all over again.

“So we separated. Then I got a text from Marna saying y’all were going to Vegas. That things were going down. I couldn’t get ahold of Patti, and I felt like I needed to be here, so I came. I’m sorry, Anna.”

I grabbed his hand. “You don’t need to be sorry.”

“I keep thinking if I didn’t leave her . . . if I made us stay together—”

“You wouldn’t have been able to stop them,” Kaidan said. “They would have killed you or tried to use you against Anna, as well. And if you’d been there, they would’ve seen your bond with Marna.”

Jay looked down and shook his head.

Marna put her arm around him and kissed his cheek. “I think it had to happen the way it did, luv.”

Her eyes darted to mine, a worried expression on her face about what she’d said. I nodded, because I no longer believed in coincidence.

Zania’s voice was soft when she said, “She is my hero.”

“Yes,” Ginger whispered.

I tucked my face in the crook of Kaidan’s neck, overcome.

“Hey, Kope,” said Blake. “What your dad did for you? That was awesome. You were gone, man.”

I lifted my eyes to see Kope incline his head.

“I cannot remember it. It was just . . . there was only pain and darkness, and then I was opening my eyes.”

Zania shifted next to him, as if the memory was too much. Kope laid his hand on top of hers. After another stretch of silence, Blake spoke again, relieving the room’s tension in the way only he could.

“So, how ’bout them exorcisms, Kaidan Rowe–style, eh?”

Kaidan huffed a laugh through his nose.

“Seriously, dude,” Blake went on. “When you hit Mammon in the eye . . . I was, like, dayum!”

The energy in the room rose.

“That was amazing,” Marna said.

“Good thinking with the holy water,” Kopano added.

“I wasn’t sure it would work,” Kaidan admitted. “Bloody good thing it did.”

We all angled toward one another, and for the next hour we talked about the events of the summit, rehashing every single detail, in awe at how things had turned out.

Caterina stayed put in her chair, trying to keep her head down, but periodically looking up with interest at something someone said before dropping her chin again. Ginger kept a close eye on her, seeming to study her and gauge her reactions and interests.

And then we began figuring out exactly which of the Dukes had chosen heaven. My father, Kopano’s father, and Jezebet. Melchom, Pharzuph, and Astaroth had not. It was a solemn conversation. No tears were shed. The twins and Zania had no sentimental attachments to their fathers, and were glad to see them go. Kaidan hadn’t said a word. I looked at him, but he kept his eyes averted.

“Your father showed interest in the beginning,” I said to Blake. “I was hopeful.”

“Yeah.” He shook his head. “If it was just a choice between going to heaven or hell, I think he would have chosen heaven. But choosing between heaven and earth, he’d definitely wanna stay here. He thought they could stop the prophecy and stay on earth. Bad move.”