Stepping past Moira’s door, I ignored the inkling of guilt that niggled at me for not talking to her about this first. The less each person knew, the better.
In a world where even your thoughts weren’t private, I needed to be wary of how much I let anyone know. Then again, that’s why I was here.
My closed fist came up to knock on the door, hovering mid-air when it swung open before me. I blinked as Morvaen leaned out and looked from side to side before motioning for me to come in. I swallowed once and nodded, lowering my arm as I stepped over the threshold.
“You knew I was coming?” I asked, slowly striding forward into the suite. Two armchairs were arranged to face each other with a small table between them.
“I suspected,” the Seelie woman said. She took a seat in one of the chairs, waiting for me to sit in the other.
“Why is that?” I continued, plopping down across from her. The leather pants I’d been given stretched to the max as I crossed my legs. While tough and durable, they weren’t exactly the most comfortable. The movies never mentioned that. Then again, they didn’t mention a lot of things.
“You’re fighting an enemy that has already beaten you once. An enemy that demons no longer remember how to beat because they’ve been in her clutches for far too long. A smart individual would speak to one of the two creatures in this palace that have an understanding of the Fae.” She leaned forward, lifting the teapot from the table and pouring two cups. I leaned forward and accepted mine gratefully while she continued. “You cannot be in a room with one of us without trying to kill her. So, it is no surprise that you came to me as the lesser evil.”
I took a sip of the steaming herbal brew. “You know what I am, yes?”
“A primordial of magic.”
I nodded. “And you know how I gain new magic?”
“By coming into direct contact with it,” she answered. “Much like you have with mine,” she added. I pressed my lips together in a tight smile.
“I haven’t seen traces of your magic yet, but after everything I’ve been told, I do believe it is there.” I took another sip, settling deeper into the armchair. A contentedness filled me.
“I do as well,” Morvaen said. “Is this why you have come to me?”
“Yes.” The word bubbled up and spilled out of me before I could think. I swallowed another sip of tea and frowned. “I came because I want to understand the difference between blood magic and rune magic.”
“It’s really quite simple. When Genesis split herself in two, half of her essence created Lilith and half created Eve. Lilith received the magic of the body and all that is tangible. It relies on blood sacrifices in return for power,” Morvaen said.
“And Eve?” I prompted.
“The magic of the mind. Rune magic is far more nuanced in that it works with what cannot be seen. Its power comes from inside us.” She motioned to a spot on her chest, over her heart. “The soul.”
“Donnach made me a crossbow with Seelie magic,” I said. The words came to my tongue without thought or effort. “The Sins are convinced the crossbow is the way to kill Lilith, but the truth is I’m not very good with it even though it is spelled to hit whatever I’m aiming for. Nor do we have the time to fix that,” I continued. “And I believe relying on something so simple is foolish, really. I need to find a way to beat Lilith so that she doesn’t see it coming.” I frowned again, looking at my cup.
Morvaen nodded, setting her tea in front of her. “You’ll have to forgive me for spelling the tea with truth. We Fae cannot lie, but your kind can. In this world I need to know who you truly are, Ruby Morningstar, if I am to give you what you seek.”
“And what is that?” I asked her, deliberately taking another sip of tea. I had nothing to hide from this woman. All the better that she sees it.
“The power of the Seelie. The reason Lilith feared our kind enough to send her own sister onto another plane of existence knowing that it would ultimately kill her.” I nodded, tipping the cup and drinking the last of my tea. The rim hid my smile as I let out a breath.
“Right,” I drawled. “I want to know it all. I want to understand, but most of all—I want to save this world from her. I need my Horsemen and the beast back. The people need peace. The land needs time to heal. I don’t want a war, Morvaen. I want an execution.”
She nodded, and in her silver eyes I saw understanding. She leaned back, crossing her hands on her lap as she watched me. Long hair so black it looked like liquid tar hung over one shoulder, showcasing her runes along the other. “You’re a curious woman. Do you know how many times in the thousand years I’ve lived that I have given another my rune of protection—the same one I placed on you—so that it may call on me for a favor owed?” I shook my head. “Twice. Once for a lover that betrayed me. The second time was for a girl I thought to be my enemy. You could have ordered me to do anything with that rune once called upon, and all you asked for was to save your mate.”
“I will never be able to show you my gratitude for what you did,” I found myself saying. She blinked and I could tell that surprised her. “I am only holding onto my humanity by the barest of threads. I want to save this world, but I don’t want to live without them. The rage will consume me until I will either destroy them all or wish I were dead myself. Maybe both. You saved a piece of me from dying that day, and for that, words will never be enough to show how I feel.”
This rage was a terrible thing. It made me strong enough to live through what I had, but not so strong that I might overcome it if things don’t go my way when this is all over.
Was this the price of such power?
Or was I simply not strong enough to begin with?
“Spelled tea or not, your honesty comes out easily for a demon,” Morvaen said simply. “You are humble for a primordial being, but more than that, you have lost all there is to lose and still you cling to humanity. You are worthy of the knowledge you seek.” She stood from her arm chair, offering me a hand. I took it, setting my empty cup aside. “Many of the Seelie lost their magic in those early days on Earth. They feared losing their story with each passing generation, and so my father devised a spell unlike anything we had seen before.”
Her fingers began to twirl and orange strokes of power came to life. I watched, transfixed as always. “What does it do?” I asked.
“It is the holder of all knowledge,” she said. “Every Seelie child performs this spell at least once in their life upon reaching the age of maturity. Once it is cast, that Fae is bestowed with the knowledge of Seth and every Seelie that has performed it after him.” One by one the runes began to float in a loose circle, and the more she added, the more they started to lock together like pieces of a puzzle.
“Did you say Seth? As in Eve’s son?” I asked.
“Aye,” she nodded. “He was my father. Cain, his brother, came to Hell for glory. Abel died as a sacrifice. My father wanted the Seelie to live on. He settled in New Orleans and after many generations of children, I came to be. Some of us are born with more magic than others. Not all Seelie can withstand time and settle into immortality. He created this spell because of it.” I stared at her, near speechless.
“Why would you do something like this for me?” I asked her as the runes started to move faster. They locked together forming a mandala of light.
“You are the future of this world. A future I would like to be a part of,” she answered. Her fingers stilled and the intricate circle of light stopped. “Which is why I offer this not as a gift, but as a bargain. I will give you the knowledge of all that we were and are so that you have the power to put the Blood Queen down, but in return—when all is said and done—my people get to return home.”
I stilled. That wasn’t what I had been expecting. Answers? Maybe. A trade? I had considered brokering one, but I hadn’t expected this.
“Will this truly give me what I seek?” I asked her.
“You will know our history. You will understand our power. You will know what my m
agic is—the magic that now runs in your veins—and you will know how to use it. I have never offered this to another soul, but then again, there has never been one with the power to complete the ritual and survive. Only the power of the Seelie will do.” As she spoke, goosebumps formed over my arms. There was something in the air that whispered of ancient power and forbidden secrets.
I’d come here to bargain for something else entirely, but what she offered…it could change everything.
“And what if I asked for something more?”
“I have nothing more to give,” she answered steadily.
“Could you bring your people here?” I asked. Soldiers. That’s what I’d come to ask for. Seelie soldiers that could fight blood with magic. The hunters of all demon kind.
Morvaen shook her head. “As you already saw, I am unable to open a portal directly to Earth, not even to bring someone in. That power lies with a being who is bonded to this planet and the only way to surpass it would be both blood and rune magic. Neither of which you are proficient in.” I cursed because she was right. I hadn’t the faintest clue how to use the blood magic. It was the reason I wanted the Seelie on my side to begin with. “And even if I could open such a portal,” Morvaen added, “I am not at liberty to offer my people for your war. Seth’s
Wisdom is the most I can give.”
I took a deep breath, looking between the glowing mandala, the Fae, and the greater world beyond. I had no idea what this would do to me, or who I might become. I could never go back, though. Only forward. If this knowledge gave me the power to defeat Lilith, then so be it.
I held my hand out to her, well aware this may come back to bite me in the ass, but I was out of options.
Morvaen took my hand in both of hers, turning it palm upward. She scrawled a symbol into the flesh before pressing her own palm against mine. A searing ripped through my skin, fading to a stinging ache before I could even react. Morvaen smiled and I had the distinct feeling it was genuine, despite the way it looked like a sharp grimace.
“Let’s get started.”
Chapter 23
It felt like my flesh was being peeled from my body, but I drew every damn line of that spell.
Seth’s Wisdom, they called it.
It was a rune that exacted so much from you that only those with a purpose greater than themselves could survive the crushing weight of the knowledge it held. Morvaen could have warned me, but she didn’t. I’d be more pissed about it if it would have made a difference. I was getting everything it had to offer, no matter the costs. So even when my bones seemed to break, and my blood began to boil, and the pressure in my mind became so strong I thought my skull had been split in two—I kept drawing.
The very moment my fingers completed the final flourish, a darkness consumed me. Pain racked my body to the point that all I could do was separate myself from it and focus on reaching for the only light. The spinning rune. Seth’s Wisdom.
Their faces flashed before me.
Bandit.
Moira.
Laran.
Allistair.
Rysten.
Julian.
Me.
I was doing this for us.
I would not fail.
A doorway appeared and I didn’t hesitate.
I didn’t falter.
My fingers wrapped around the handle and I felt it.
Knowledge.
Power.
Everything.
*Laran*
Three days.
She’d been comatose for three days. All the while Lilith drew closer.
I tried entering her mind, but my telepathy was not strong enough.
I sent Moira, but she could not breach whatever place held her.
Bandit curled himself around her feet as we waited.
I’d fallen asleep when she was on the balcony. I’d woken to her in bed beside me. No one knew what had happened. No one knew how to fix her.
I held her hand in mine. The pale skin stretched taut over blue veins. Moira paced at the foot of the bed, snarling at anyone who dared enter.
She couldn’t last much longer like this, and the war would not wait for her.
I needed her to come back to me.
I needed to know she was alright.
I just needed…her.
“Soon,” a voice whispered. I blinked and looked to Moira. She had stopped and was looking at Ruby like she’d seen a ghost.
“Did you hear that?” she asked.
“I did.”
“Soon,” the voice repeated.
Nothing about her changed. The blue strands of hair stayed limp on her pillow. Her breathing never faltered. Her pulse never jumped.
But Ruby would be waking up.
Soon.
I just hoped it wasn’t too late.
Chapter 24
My eyes opened after an eternity of pain.
I’d lived every nightmare.
I’d suffered every torture.
I’d felt every single death that the Seelie had endured.
I saw their plight.
I saw their struggle.
I saw their persecution.
And in the end…I understood them.
Seth’s Wisdom had aged me centuries. At the end of it—when I had lived their lives and known their sorrows—when the bitterness and resentment of all that had been done to them subsided, I got what I came for.
Every single rune that had been created since the dawn of time now sat on my fingertips.
Every single event that led us here sat in my mind.
A choking noise pulled my attention. I blinked, turning my head. The soft fabric of a pillowcase brushed against my cheek. A cold wind blasted the baby blue curtains in the air like streamers, chilling me to the bone as I took in Laran’s face.
“Wh-what’s wrong?” My voice was scratchy. My throat dry. I felt like I’d swallowed sand and then tried to speak, and the craggy sound that came out was pitiful. How long had I been asleep?
“Three days. Almost four,” Laran murmured. Black eyes so dark they reminded me of ashes from my flames looked at me with sadness. “What happened? Where have you been?”
There was no easy answer.
The body and mind were two different things. While I had taken a journey that felt closer to a millennium in my mind, my body had been lying in bed. I’d lived a thousand lives and died a thousand deaths in the span of days. I’d hunted demons and had been the hunted. I’d seen rape and torture and cruelty that could turn an iron stomach. All at the hands of Lilith.
I now knew Morvaen and every other Seelie that had crossed through Seth’s Wisdom and come out alive. I knew them as well as I knew myself.
Where had I been? The question turned over in my mind.
“Everywhere,” I answered. Knowing that wouldn’t appease or makes sense, I sat up. Stretching my arms high over my head, I reveled in the series of pops as my stiff body came to life again. “I’m not able to disclose what you want to hear. I’m sorry,” I added. “It’s not my secret to share. I went looking for a way to beat Lilith.”
He opened his mouth—paused—then asked, “Did you find it?”
Did I find it?
“I found…” I hesitated, a breath exhaling from my chest. My fingers fisted in the black satin sheets. The ornate tapestries that hung on the wall drew my attention as I struggled for the right words to say. “Answers.”
“You’re not going to tell me, are you?” He didn’t sound upset, but I still felt the need to explain.
“No,” I sighed. “Lilith has my power. She can get into anyone’s mind. Now more than ever I need to hold the truth close.” I unclenched my fingers from the slick fabric and slid my legs over the edge of the bed. The dark stone floor felt warm beneath my feet as I stood, still leaning back onto the bed while I faced him.
“I know. It’s better this way,” he said. His mouth moved to form a smile, but it fell short. The corners of his eyes were strained. I blinked, taking in t
he dark circles from lack of sleep and the sallowness of his skin. My heart clenched.
“Is everything alright?” The uneasy look in his eye said no, it wasn’t alright. In fact, something was very wrong.
“You were…asleep…for a few days,” he started slowly. My pulse quickened. It hammered unnaturally as he looked toward the ceiling and his hands clenched tight around nothing. “During that time, we got word Lilith is on her way.”
Pounding turned into an all-out gallop, but I didn’t move an inch.
I simply asked, “How long?”
He lowered his head, and in the early afternoon light I could see several days of growth on his beard. I didn’t say anything as he looked me up and down. A pleading entered his eyes, and I knew what was coming.
“How long?” I asked again.
“Not long enough.”
“How long?” I repeated, harsher.
“Damnit, Ruby.” He clasped my jaw in his hands, holding me like I was the most precious thing in this world. And I knew I was. “I’m scared, alright? I trust you that whatever happened you truly believe you’ve found the way to end this, but I am scared. You’ve already given so much…” Desperation leaked out of him. I closed my eyes as he leaned his forehead against mine.
“It’s okay to be scared,” I whispered. “I’m scared too.”
“I don’t want to lose you. Not again.”
“You won’t.” I opened my eyes and leaned back, ignoring the gut-wrenching pain as his hands dropped away from me. “Just as I won’t leave this world to her. She has the beast, she has my mates, and she holds the people of Hell prisoner to satisfy her every whim. That is unacceptable.”
“You’ve changed, baby,” he whispered. I pressed my lips together to keep from flinching.
“My soul was ripped in half and I survived. Everything has a price, Laran. You know this,” I said, fighting my own desperation to comfort him as I stood strong.
“I do, which is why I won’t ask you to run. We’ve already lost too much. I just wish we had more time.”
Brimstone Nightmares (Queen of the Damned Book 4) Page 20