“I do feel kinda sick.”
“I’m not surprised. Maybe he’s not coming?”
I tap the business card Vi gave me and pout. I made the call to Elijah almost three hours ago and decided to stick around Necro in case he contacted me. But maybe that isn’t the way it works? Maybe this Elijah takes longer to get in touch. I’ve picked up a cheap mobile with a prepaid sim so he can call me. But mobile reception doesn’t extend as far as the Underealm, and I have no idea how to hook up the mobile to my comm, so lurk it is.
“I’ll wait a little longer.” I hold up the book I’m reading. “I still have a few chapters.”
“You like Austen?”
“I like the way they say what they mean but in a really convoluted way.”
“Even their insults are polite.”
“Right?”
The bell above the door rings, and we both look up to see a regular customer walk in. She raises a hand in greeting and heads over to the counter.
“Back to work for me,” Leana says.
I dive back into my book. I’m half a page in when my mobile rings. I drop the book and answer. It has to be him because no one else has this number.
“Hello.”
“Coraline?” The voice is woodsmoke and firelight sex.
“Yes. Elijah?”
“What do you want?”
“I need your help. I need to know if there are any rogue warlocks in Necro City who aren’t registered, ones who might be able to create a tulpa.”
There is silence.
“There’s a tulpa in Necro City?”
He sounds awfully interested in that prospect. “Hooded figures who we believe to be tulpas. I’m trying to find their creator, and I need your help.”
“I’ll be in touch in a few days.”
The call ends with a click.
That was it? I’d waited hours to be told he’d be in touch. Urgh. Fuck this. I push back my chair, wave bye to Leana, and head out into the late afternoon. It’s Friday afternoon, and humans are scurrying home or hitting bars after finishing work, and the world is buzzing.
I just want to get home and curl up in the second lounge with Cyril, a bowl of buttered popcorn, and a movie.
I think it, and I’m there. The second lounge is shrouded in darkness. I let out a yelp as I stub my toe trying to get to the spot where I think the lamp is. My fingers reach for it, but a hand wraps around mine.
My scream shatters my eardrums, and then the light flicks on, illuminating the owner of the hand.
“You? What are you doing?”
Chapter Thirty
Fee
“How long now?” Kiara called from behind a massive screen.
“I think an hour and a half.” I sipped the wine the maids had offered me. Yes, it was only midday, but fuck it. It’d been a stressful morning. A Companion’s role was similar to what humans called a maid of honor, which meant I’d been running around making sure the carriage was ready, the hair decorations had arrived, and that we were basically on schedule to walk into the wedding dome on time.
We’d made it into the outer circle of Imperium where the wedding would take place and into the bridal quarters where Kiara would spend the night after her wedding. Now it was a matter of getting dressed and then heading down to an anteroom that was used for reflection, where the bride would be allowed some alone time before she said I do, you know, to make sure it was her idea and she wasn’t being coerced.
Another hour and a half and the hard part would be over.
Kiara stepped out from behind the screen, and my mouth dropped open. Draped in glittering gold and crimson, hair loose around her shoulders with gems woven into the strands, she looked fucking gorgeous.
“Conah is a lucky demon.”
The maids giggled.
Kiara blushed and did a slow spin. “You like it?”
“I love it.”
“I made it myself.”
“Talented and beautiful.”
There was a knock on the door, and Kiara tensed.
I frowned. “We expecting someone?”
The head maid who’d been working with me to make sure everything ran smoothly looked sheepish.
“Lord Mammon is to visit with his daughter,” she said. “It is called the farewell.”
Oh, yes. Unlike human weddings, the father of the bride didn’t give her away. The bride gave herself. Her choice. They didn’t walk down an aisle, they did a circuit of the room and then joined their husband to be in the center of the chamber. Guests were seated on balconies above.
Yeah, I’d checked out the room. I was so prepared.
Kiara took a deep breath and exhaled. “Let him in, please.”
I set my goblet down as the maid ran to open the door. She fell into a deep bow as Mammon entered.
I wasn’t sure what I’d been expecting, but it wasn’t the stocky, jovial-looking demon with a beaming smile and mahogany hair pulled back from his face in a braid. He wasn’t as tall as Asmodeus, but he was still large—a fallen angel trait, maybe? He glanced briefly my way, dismissing me easily in favor of his daughter.
Kiara stood, eyes downcast as her father approached.
He cupped her shoulders and leaned in to kiss her forehead. “You make me so very proud, my child,” he said. “Today, you unite two powerful bloodlines and secure peace for the Underealm.”
“The honor is mine, Father,” Kiara said.
“I want you to know that I have never loved you more than I do in this moment. You will forever be in my heart.”
My scalp prickled at his words, and the urge to read him was an itch in my palms, but that was impossible with the amulet in place. I was being paranoid. This was Kiara’s father, and there was no denying the love shining out of his eyes as he gazed at her.
He kissed her once more. “Farewell, my child.”
Then he turned on his heel and strode from the room.
The door closed behind him, and Kiara breathed a sigh of relief.
“Are you all right?”
She nodded, smiling slightly. “It’s just…I’ve always been in awe of my father. His presence, his stature, his love. It’s overwhelming.”
She was the offspring of a fallen angel like Leviathan. Important even though she’d inherited none of his power. Special because she was soulmate to the last of Adam and Lilith’s bloodline. But that wasn’t all.
“You’re wrong about something, you know, Kiara. You were born with a superpower, and that superpower is your heart. You love with everything you have, and you draw people to love you. It’s seriously impossible for anyone to not like you, and that is your true power.”
The maids nodded in agreement.
Kiara’s eyes glittered with unshed tears. “You’re going to ruin my makeup.” She tipped her head back, blinking to stem the tears.
“We should go to reflection now,” one of the maids said.
My stomach fluttered on Kiara’s behalf. “Let’s do this.”
I left Kiara in the antechamber and wandered into the hall outside the wedding chamber. Several of Kiara’s entourage were already there. It was our job to retrieve her in fifteen minutes and then open the doors to let her into the wedding chamber. There were seats allocated for us by the main entrance.
My stomach was a mass of nerves.
The door to the wedding chamber opened, and Mal slipped out. He caught sight of me and strode over.
“How’s Kiara?” he asked.
“Nervous, beautiful. Good.” I grinned up at him, and he matched my smile as a silent communication passed between us. It was almost over. Almost time to go home.
He reached for my hand, and I shook my head slightly and widened my eyes in warning.
He chuckled and stepped back. “I’ll see you afterward.”
God, I wanted to kiss him. “Afterwards.”
It was a promise of silk sheets and naked flesh. He dragged his bottom lip between his teeth as he backed up, doing crazy things to my nether re
gions.
Fucker.
“It’s time,” the maid reminded me.
Kiara. I hurried back to the antechamber and knocked lightly on the door before pushing it open.
“You ready?”
The coppery scent of blood hit me hard.
Kiara stared back at me from the ground, eyes glassy and empty, one hand reaching for me as if beseeching me to save her, and the other resting on her collarbone just below the crimson line cutting across her slender, pale throat.
Chapter Thirty-One
I was numb and frozen as guards streamed past me into the antechamber, and then Mammon was there. He fell to his knees by his daughter, hands hovering over her like birds looking for a safe perch, and then he let out a wail and pulled her into his arms.
Kiara…
A dead Kiara.
He tipped back his head. “You will pay for this.”
Screams battered my ears, and then someone was dragging me away, and my paralysis broke.
“Kiara!” I tried to break free of the hold on my arm, needing to get to my friend. “Kiara! Let me go!” My vision blurred, and my chest flared in an inferno. “Get the fuck off.”
“Fee, hush. Fucksake, hush.”
“Mal?” I turned to him, my pulse beating so fast it made me dizzy. “Kiara’s dead. Someone slit her throat. We have to—”
“Get to the Keep now.”
“What are you talking about? We need to find out who did this. We need to—”
“Dammit, Fee, it’s not safe here. Mammon has the place surrounded. We’re under attack.”
“What?”
“He’s claiming Lilith did this.”
Comprehension dawned. “Oh, fuck.”
He clipped a pin to my tunic. “Stay with me.”
I took his hand, and we ran out of the building toward the nearest portal to the Keep.
The Keep was in an uproar, demons rushing here and there and everywhere. Mal and I wove through the throng.
“We have to get to the throne room,” he said. “We have to protect Lilith.”
“I don’t understand. I thought the Keep was impregnable.”
“It is usually, but some measures have been relaxed for the wedding. The outer Imperium is filled with demons from all over the Underealm, and someone just killed Kiara.”
Bile shot up my throat, and my eyes burned with the threat of tears. “Oh, God. You don’t think it’s Lilith, do you?”
His grip on me tightened. “I don’t know.”
I pulled him to a halt. “You want to protect her? What if she did this? What if she had Kiara killed?”
“We don’t know that. And even if she is guilty, the Keep is the only safe place for anyone affiliated with Lilith right now.”
We took a left and burst into the entranceway that led to the throne room. Four guards barred our way.
“Malachi and Felton, Dominus,” Mal snapped. “Let us through.”
“Let them in.” Keon appeared from our left, his face splattered with blood, his mouth coated in it. He licked his lips. “Let them in and seal the doors.” His tail lashed from side to side behind him. “Do it now!”
The guards leaped into action, opening the doors enough to let us slip through.
Guards and daemons and demons filled the room. Excited chatter and the zing of fear permeated the air.
“Please!” Lilith stood on her dais, hands up. “We are safe. The Keep is impregnable. My blades will make sure it remains that way.”
I caught sight of Conah at the front of the crowd a few meters from the throne. He looked dazed and pale. Mal shoved through the gathering, dragging me behind him. His hand was still wrapped around mine, and I tugged free as we reached the front of the throng. My arm brushed Conah’s. He was shaking. His whole body was trembling.
“Conah?” I grabbed his hand, which was clammy and slick with sweat.
“Fuck.” Mal cupped his face. “Conah, come on, you need to come back.”
Conah shuddered, and then his hand went to his chest, and tears spilled from his eyes.
“She’s gone.” His voice was a choked whisper.
He sagged, and Mal grabbed him and helped him across the room to one of the seats against the wall. Conah sat, but his face was blank. His eyes dull.
Mal looked torn.
“Leave him,” Lilith said. “There is nothing you can do to ease his pain. He must endure it to be free of it.”
Conah was here but not here. He was in the room, but his mind was elsewhere, and his pain was a palpable force that beat off him to touch anyone in his vicinity. Mal clenched his jaw and stepped away.
His emerald eyes were dark as night, his fists clenched. Was he recalling Gailan’s loss? Was he feeling that pain again?
“Felton!” Lilith snapped. “You were Kiara’s Companion. What happened?”
I focused on the queen and swallowed the lump in my throat. Kiara…What happened? “I don’t know. I left her in the antechamber for reflection and when I went to get her, she was…She was dead.”
“That bastard,” Lilith spat. “To think he’d stoop so low.”
“What do you mean?” Mal asked, joining me again.
She looked at Mal as if he was stupid. “Mammon murdered his daughter.”
What? “Mammon adores Kiara.”
Lilith made a sound of exasperation. “Mammon doesn’t adore anyone. He only covets what someone can give him. He is materialistic and greedy.”
“She’s his daughter.”
“One of a countless number,” Lilith said. “One that has served her purpose well.” She began to pace back and forth on her dais again. “I knew his agreement to this treaty was a lie. I should have listened to my gut. I had hoped that maybe he had seen sense, that war would bring nothing but pain and destruction to our world, but his greed for power knows no bounds.” She glared at us. “Your carriage was set upon by mercenaries, and you lied to me because you suspected my hand in the plot.”
“How do you know this?” Mal asked.
“I’m your queen.” She looked incensed. “Did you think I would not look into the matter of a defective carriage?” She gave us a what-the-fuck look. “My carriages do not fall apart, ever. So yes, I had Keon investigate your story. The drake master is dead. Keon found his tortured body yesterday. Someone wanted to know your route here.”
“Someone wanted to stop the wedding,” Mal said. He bowed deeply. “My apologizes for having suspected you, my queen.”
She waved away his apology with a tut. “It was what Mammon wanted you to suspect. He plotted it well, knowing that the finger would be pointed at me. After all, your route was private, known only by myself, Keon, and the drake master.”
“But he failed…” Mal said.
“And I believed that would be the end of it. Still, I had Keon watch over you just to be sure.” She looked to Conah. “I kept you close to me to ensure your safety. I never suspected he would kill his own flesh and blood for power.”
I want you to know that I have never loved you more than I do in this moment. You will forever be in my heart…farewell, my child…
Oh, God. My breath rushed out of my lungs. “He did it. He killed her.”
“But no one will believe it,” Lilith said. “And now he has a reason to attack Imperium. He came with a large entourage, many fighters, no doubt.” She grit her teeth. “He won’t make it into the Keep. He’ll be forced outside our walls, but that won’t stop him. Mammon has wanted my throne for eons. He’s coveted the power and built alliances. I realized his influence was growing. There have been rumors… I knew it was only a matter of time before he made a move on the throne, but I also know that a war requires a cause that is greater than ambition and greed. Still, I couldn’t risk an uprising, and so I proposed a treaty at the last Ambassador meet. I did it in front of everyone, and he had no option but to accept.” She sighed. “I should have known he’d find a way out of it. He has the ammunition he needs now. A broken treaty and the sto
ry that the queen assassinated his daughter to prevent a split of power. No one will recall that the treaty was my idea. No, that will be forgotten in the heat of vengeance.”
By agreeing to the treaty, by arranging the marriage, Lilith had been willing to offer him equal power. She’d been willing to share her crown to protect the Underealm.
But that wasn’t enough for him.
He wanted it all, and now he had a cause to wage war.
I looked up at Lilith. “There has to be something we can do.”
She shook her head. “Reinforce the walls. Recruit more reapers and be ready. That is all we can do.”
But there was something bugging me. A piece of the puzzle that didn’t fit. The seal? The torture.
“Your Majesty?” I stepped forward. “Where was the drake master found?”
She frowned at me. “In the stables on the Keep grounds.”
My pulse began to race. “It wasn’t just the route being known that made us suspect you. The letter the mercenaries got had a royal seal.”
“Oh, fuck,” Mal said.
The queen’s eyes grew wide. “A traitor in the Keep?”
I caught a flash of movement behind her. The glint of a blade.
And then a figure was lunging at the queen.
Chapter Thirty-Two
I cried out in alarm as Lilith turned to face her attacker, but it would be too late for her to dodge or counter. My body reacted on instinct before my mind could catch up, tearing the amulet from my neck to unleash my power.
The world fell into slow motion around me—the queen’s attacker a mere foot from her, dagger raised to plunge, the queen turning increment by increment to meet the blade.
I pushed through the time syrup, breaking the barrier and sliding between the queen and her attacker with a roar. Fire lanced through my shoulder, and then the world was back online.
Screams filled the air as the attacker stared at me in shocked incomprehension, and then his head was gone. It hit the ground with a wet thud to reveal Keon’s steel blue face contorted with rage. But the rage wasn’t aimed at the attacker, it was directed at me.
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