Duke was out of tears. So the sound he made had to be a laugh. He pressed his face into Lucifer's shoulder again, muffling it. His body wouldn't even be cold yet.

"So this is it. This is my . . . forever." That word still terrified him. "You'll go there for minutes. And I'll be here for months."

Until Octavia died. Or Lucifer got tired of splitting his time, maybe.

"You should just go. I can't --" His breath came faster again, panic and grief washing over him in another wave. "I can't --"