With that, he simply disappeared. I stood in the alley, not moving, for a full minute, making sure Wrath didn’t return for any reason.
Then I fell to my knees. “What the hell am I going to do now?” I whispered.
Wrath’s absent comment about Lilith having her own pair of daemons had almost broken my resolve. Why hadn’t she told me? Or had Wrath been lying? He wasn’t exactly the epitome of honesty and goodwill. More importantly, what did I do with the information? I definitely couldn’t go to Xuanwu and Qinglong until I had proof. Which meant I needed to confront her.
More importantly, it was another reminder of my mother’s webs. She’d gotten the two Greater Demons to be my godparents, efficiently tying me to all four Divines. But…why?
I debated whether to confront Lilith or to go meet the next member of the Seven Sins—the one who Wrath casually encouraged me to kill, even though he knew I couldn’t. Unless I took Ryuu and his dark blade, the Angel Killer.
It didn’t take me very long to convince myself that I needed answers before I picked any new fights. Maybe Samael could confirm some of Wrath’s claims before I confronted Lilith—
Something moved in my peripheral vision and I hurled a dozen blasts of fire on reflex, blanketing the area in flames. “Fuck off, creep,” I snarled weakly, not hearing any cries of pain.
“Creep?” a familiar voice growled at my side. I flinched, looking up to see Ryuu staring down at me with a concerned look. The rest was of his body was invisible, cloaked in his Shadow Skin.
I let out a sigh of relief, which turned into a sob of frustration. “Ryuu,” I whispered. “Take me home.”
He scooped me up in his arms and held me horizontal across his chest. I leaned into him and closed my eyes. Without looking, I lifted my hand and ripped open a Gateway back to Castle Dracula. I felt Ryuu moving, but I was more interested in his scent and the steady beating of his heart against my ear.
“Ryuu?” I murmured sleepily.
“Yes?”
“You didn’t say anything about my new clothes,” I mumbled, frowning unhappily.
“I was more interested in your lips,” he growled. My breath caught and I grinned widely as I felt his pulse quicken beneath my ear. “They are bloody—”
“Quit while you’re ahead, Ryuu,” I growled, nuzzling my cheek loser into his chest and letting out a long, contented sigh. His grip tightened around me instinctively, making me feel safe and protected. I didn’t know where he was taking me in Castle Dracula, and I didn’t care, but I was asleep long before we got there.
And I had some pretty good dreams…
32
I glanced back at Ryuu, smiling. “You ready for some fireworks?” I asked, squeezing his callused hand.
“Once you finish drinking your water,” he said, smirking as he indicated the full glass of water on my nightstand. I scowled at it with a resigned sigh. “Aala told me you needed to drink plenty of fluids.”
“Fine,” I muttered, releasing his hand with a pang of frustration. I scooped up the glass and started drinking. He had only made me drink about four of them in the past hour.
After picking me up in the dirty alley, he’d carried me to my rooms and tucked me into bed, and I’d been so tired—or relaxed by the deep, rhythmic thumping of his heartbeat in my ears—that I hadn’t stirred the whole walk back. So he’d made the executive decision that lil’ Dracula was all tuckered out and needed some rest.
I had woken up hours later in my darkened room to see a candle burning on my nightstand. I’d risen up to a seated position in my bed to find Ryuu sitting on the floor, facing the door, with the stupid warped blade resting across his knees. A few more candles illuminated the shadowed areas of the master suite, but all-in-all it was dark, and warm, and…romantic. Sensing I was up, Ryuu had glanced back at me with those arresting dark eyes of his, making my breath catch. He hadn’t asked me any of the hundred questions on his mind. He hadn’t needed to.
Because I had wordlessly reached out with my hand to pat the foot of my bed, inviting him to join me on Dracula’s big cushy mattress. There, together in the candlelight, and with no one to interrupt us, some beautiful magic had happened.
Raw, naked honesty.
I told him the truth and nothing but the truth. Everything on my mind. About the Seven Sins, the murdered ninjas, and Wrath’s foreboding prophecy. All my suspicions and fears, all the things I had learned, and probably even things that didn’t actually matter to the present situation. But I had not wanted to hold anything back from him. I didn’t want any more secrets between us. The only gray area, ironically, was in regard to my budding personal feelings about Ryuu—as a man, not my bodyguard. I held those comments back because I needed to personally end things with Nate before I did anything else. I did tell him all about Aphrodite, and what I had discovered about myself.
I even came clean about Nate—my epiphany and the weight it had taken off my shoulders.
To that, Ryuu had wordlessly climbed off the bed and poured me a glass of water from a nearby pitcher.
After I’d accepted the glass, feeling somewhat confused by his response to my unburdening of my personal baggage about Nate, Ryuu had walked over to the nearby balcony and drawn the warped blade in an aggressive but silent motion. I’d been startled by the sudden aggression, almost spilling my water. But…he hadn’t attacked anything. He’d stared down at the warped blade for a few moments, before calmly hurling it out into the night sky like a javelin.
My mouth had fallen open as I stared at his silhouette in the moonlight. He let out a breath and then turned back to me with a tranquil smile. Our gazes had locked together, and I knew that something deeply significant had just happened. I also knew that if I asked a single question about it, he would answer me in any number of deliciously unpredictable ways—none of which I could currently entertain.
Not until I had spoken with Nate.
So, I’d dipped my chin with a small smile of acknowledgment. He’d done the same, and the moment had been a conversation in and of itself. We both learned what we needed to know without a word uttered, and that had been good enough for now. For once, later had felt honorable and genuine.
Soon after, we’d worked together to formulate a plan, leaving my bedroom to pick up a few necessary items and get some food. We’d dined together on my bed, treating it like a candlelit picnic, as we ironed out the finer details of the plan. I smiled, now, recalling how he had suggested that we make the picnic a regular occurrence. That had been as close as we came to the unspoken tension between us.
But I had agreed.
I finished my glass of water and set it down. “Okay. Let’s go,” I said, grabbing his warm, much larger, callused hand in mine. I scooped up a metal box in my other hand, and Shadow Walked us to the hallway outside Lilith’s rooms.
I knocked on her door, waited two whole seconds, and then I strode inside. Ryuu followed behind me, as silent as a shadow. Lily faced me with her mouth open and a wine glass in hand, on the verge of either inviting me in or telling me to wait a moment.
Since she was stark naked, I took a gamble that she had intended the latter.
Ryuu swiftly averted his eyes and closed the door behind us with a soft click.
“Lilith,” I said, sweetly.
I opened the metal box from my mother’s laboratory, reached inside to grab the fire lotus, and then lobbed it to her in an underhanded toss. “We need to talk,” I said, shutting the metal box with a click.
She caught the fire lotus with a sharp gasp of recognition, verifying Wrath’s claim that she had a relationship with the missing Divines—Xuanwu and Qinglong’s sisters.
She stared at the burning flower in her palms and I watched as a single tear spilled down her cheek from one eye. Then she looked up to meet my steady gaze, and her shoulders sagged wearily, knowing that it hadn’t been a request. “Of course,” she said. “Have a seat, sulfur sugar. I’ll just put something on.”
I chose not to ack
nowledge her social ploy of trying to establish us as trusted confidants. I didn’t have time for games, and I felt somewhat betrayed by her actions. I was hoping she had a good excuse or there were going to be problems between us. I still needed to talk to Samael to see if he had been complicit in her secrecy. And, more importantly, what the Divines had to do with my Spear.
Once I squeezed the information out of my godparents, it would be time for me to go meet the next of the Seven Sins and try my best not to get killed while gathering information about Wrath’s prophecy.
The mansion owned by Circle Seven Holdings didn’t hold too many fond memories for me, and I was very suspicious about Wrath encouraging me to go there. He couldn’t really think I would try to kill his brother, because he knew I had no weapons to accomplish such a task. So, why had he suggested it?
Lilith slipped into a red silk evening robe and motioned me to join her near the fireplace. I sat down on the couch, appreciating the warmth from the flames, and she sat down on a chair across from me. She placed the fire lotus on the table between us, staring at it nervously. Ryuu remained near the door with a stoic look on his face, as if the world consisted of two types of people: those who were friends with Callie Penrose, and those who needed to be horribly murdered. And judging by the look on Lily’s face, she was not very confident on which camp she had been relegated to.
“I heard some interesting news today,” I said, crossing my legs and leaning back into the couch. It was hard not to smile at the firelight’s reflection on my armored ninja gear—the flickering flames turned it into a shimmering orange hue, like I was on fire. Aphrodite had truly outdone herself.
Lilith’s body language told me how anxious she was, but she was doing an exemplary job of hiding it. I had gotten pretty good at reading people, though. “Interesting how?”
“Interesting in that it’s something I should have heard from you. Weeks ago. Pretty much the moment I freed you from your shackles.”
She continued staring at the flower. “And who told you this? Because I feel like I’m being accused yet I still don’t know exactly what I’m accused of.”
I nodded, deciding to go for the throat. I watched her face very closely as I spoke. “Wrath told me you knew the two missing Divines—the Vermillion Bird and the White Tiger. Before I say anything further, I know he’s an asshole and I don’t trust him. So, why don’t you tell me everything you know about them. Now. Wrath had quite a bit to say, so I would advise against holding any information back. And you obviously recognize the fire lotus, godmother. I no longer have time for games.”
She had turned alarmingly pale.
She closed her eyes nervously and took a few calming breaths. “I knew them,” she whispered, her lower lip trembling with fear. “I did not hold anything back from you for my own benefit. I kept my secret in hopes that it would keep them safe,” she said. Tears spilled down her cheeks, but she didn’t cry.
“Go on. Who were you keeping them safe from?”
“I was commanded to kill them, but I…refused.” Her hands were shaking and her eyes darted around the room as if expecting the news to earn her an instant death.
“Who commanded you to kill them?” I asked, hearing Ryuu move away from the door to check the bathroom and closets further back in the suite. He’d picked up on Lilith’s obvious fear and had gone into seek and destroy mode.
“Wrath,” she whispered, flinching as one of the curtains leading to the balcony shifted.
I stared at her, frowning. He certainly hadn’t told me that part. The more I thought about it, I couldn’t wrap my head around the timeline. “You were locked away in Castle Dracula for one hundred years, so this happened before your imprisonment.” She nodded, fidgeting uncomfortably. “You’re telling me they’ve been hidden for that long and no one has found them? Do you have any idea how much pain Xuanwu and Qinglong are in right now? Did you know they also have a fire lotus like mine, and that they can hardly think straight, fearing for their sisters?” I demanded, glaring at her.
33
She nodded miserably. “Y-yes. I saw Xuanwu’s flower yesterday when we were telling him about the upcoming wedding,” she whispered. “It startled me. I didn’t know anyone else had one.”
Which told me why she had been so distraught yesterday. “Where could you have hidden them for so long?” I asked, leaning forward. Her eyes danced about wildly, and she was panting in fear. “Tell me, Lilith. You owe me.”
“The Neverwas,” she whispered, barely loud enough for me to hear. “It was the only place to keep them safe from their hunters. Even Wrath and his minions cannot survive long in the Neverwas.”
I leaned back, my mind racing. “Why would Wrath want them killed that badly?”
She laughed involuntarily, but it was a dark, cynical laugh. “Because they are bargaining chips. The four Divines can make someone strong enough to face an Arch.” She studied me as she said it. “Demon or angel. But you obviously knew that. So, you know why I was told to kill them.”
I hadn’t known that, actually, but I wasn’t going to correct her. Inside, my mind was racing at the revelation. The four Divines could make me strong enough to kill an archangel like Michael.
Or an archdemon like Wrath.
No wonder Wrath had wanted them murdered. And no wonder Michael had been so disgusted by Xuanwu’s presence at the playground. It hadn’t actually been disgust. It had been fear. I felt a small flicker of hope inside my chest. If I could save them, I could stand up to the Seven Sins. I wouldn’t need Ryuu to do the work all by himself.
More than anything, I needed to figure out how to get to the Neverwas, and find the two Divines. My mother had obviously thought I stood a chance at saving them, and it had something to do with my Spear. But I couldn’t risk Wrath finding out, which meant I still needed to go see his brother. I couldn’t just disappear, or he would come looking for me, and I wasn’t able to stand up to him right now.
The groom-to-be was very anxious to get to the altar.
But I needed Lilith to confirm Wrath’s claim. He’d called them Lilith’s pair, which was more involved than simply helping them escape. “What I don’t understand is why you didn’t obey Wrath. Why you let them live.”
She scoffed. “I sent them to an uninhabitable wasteland of despair. Another name for the Neverwas is Purgatory. I sent them to a limbo where every inhabitant is permanently starving, and the only food is each other. Yet no one can actually die in Purgatory because everyone slowly recovers their health over time, and the most that can be eaten from you each day is half of what you are. So, every day, the ravenous inhabitants leech power from the strongest souls they can find, until one day, they are the strongest soul and everyone else turns on them. It is a madness far worse than anything down in Hell,” she snarled, clenching her fists. “That is how I saved my fucking friends. And that was better than killing them for Wrath!” she roared, panting desperately. And then…
She broke down in tears, hanging her head in her hands. I stared at her, horrified. Purgatory did sound worse than any version of Hell that I could imagine. I wanted to vomit, realizing that I had walked through such a place with Samael. We’d been on a giant crystal bridge high above, but I’d had no idea how vile the place was until now.
“Some friend I am,” she whispered. Ryuu had finished inspecting the adjoining rooms and had moved onto the first of three balconies.
“How did you end up a prisoner here?” I asked, entertaining a new thought that made my stomach writhe.
She lifted her head to stare at me with bloodshot eyes. “I was tricked. I have no proof, but I believe it was Wrath punishing me for my failure to kill them. The timing makes sense.”
I cursed under my breath, clenching my fist.
And that’s when Samael stepped out from the last balcony, staring at Lilith with bloodshot eyes. “What?” he rasped in a voice as cold as the oldest glacier on the planet. His fists were clenched so tightly that his arms shook, and his knuck
les were white. Ryuu slipped out of the second balcony to find the large, imposing man’s back to him, unable to see his face. He instantly drew his sword.
Samael didn’t break eye contact with Lilith as he flicked a hand dismissively, sending Ryuu flying across the room to crash into the bed’s headboard with a splintering, cracking sound. My godfather’s face was unnaturally calm, and he didn’t appear to be breathing.
“What?” he repeated in a lifeless tone, “did you say about Wrath?”
Lilith had turned to stare at him from over the back of the couch. She trembled in absolute terror and shame. “I think he arranged for my imprisonment here.”
Samael stared at her, unblinking, and long black claws slowly ripped out of his fingers, glistening with fresh blood. “I…will kill him,” he whispered, quivering with fury.
“I had to protect them. We were a trinity,” Lilith whispered, desperately, as if afraid he meant to kill her.
Samael stumbled back a step, his eyes widening in surprise. “You formed a trinity, too?” he breathed, clutching at his chest as if he was suffering a heart attack. He had once mentioned forming an unholy trinity with Xuanwu and Qinglong. I’d taken it as a figure of speech, but it sure as hell sounded like a legitimate thingamabob.
Lilith nodded frantically. “It was the only way I knew to keep them safe. They were my friends, Sammie,” she croaked in a heartbreaking sob. “Please don’t be upset with me. I couldn’t tell a soul without risking their lives. Even you,” she croaked.
He nodded stiffly, taking a moment to clear his head. “I understand, and I would have done the same, my dear,” he breathed. “I am not angry with you,” he whispered. Then he shifted that murderous glare my way. “Tell me you know how to kill an archdemon. Tell me right fucking now, goddaughter.”
Ryuu had hopped off the bed but he hadn’t sheathed his black katana. He moved laterally, keeping his eyes on the two Greater Demons as he crept closer to me.
Anghellic: Feathers and Fire Book 8 Page 19