It was just as Adonis had said. Aereus liked to isolate his victims.
I began pushing myself up on my elbows. We were in a stark room—one with stone walls and iron chains and brackets inset into the walls. Sharp, iron instruments lay in the corner on the floor, tipped with old blood. Fear pounded into me like a fist when I looked behind me—a wooden table stood in the center of the room. Torture tools jutted from its surface, and crimson stained the wood.
My heart slammed against my ribs. If any one of those iron instruments pierced my flesh, there’d be no way out of here. The iron would work its way into my blood like a poison.
Before I could reach for the knife in my boot, Aereus lifted me by the neck. He slammed me into the wall, holding me aloft so my legs kicked futilely at him.
“I knew there was something inside you,” he said. “A woman at war with herself. A woman fighting not to remember the truth, what she really is.”
He closed his eyes, a deep growl rumbling from his throat.
Pain shot through my neck, and my lungs burned. Violent impulses gripped my mind, and in its dark recesses, blood ran down a pale arm, pooling on the pavement.
I kicked him hard in the crotch, but it didn’t seem to faze him. My throat, my lungs were on fire.
I closed my eyes, screaming through the mental link to Adonis. Adonis. Now. I need you here now. How far was he? Could he get here before Aereus tore me to pieces?
Aereus pulled down the shoulder of my dress, exposing Adonis’s mark. He snarled hungrily at the sight of exposed flesh, pressing his enormous body into me. “So Adonis protects you, does he? Does he know what you really are? Does he know what you could do, my little poison flower? You could destroy us all.”
Aereus pulled me away from the wall for just a moment before slamming the back of my head into the stone. Pain splintered my skull, and the urge to go feral nearly overpowered me.
One of Aereus’s meaty hands was on my waist, moving up toward my breasts, and I choked down bile.
“Why isn’t he coming for you now?” he hissed. “Adonis. Why isn’t he here, when I’m taking what’s his? He should be pulling me off of you.”
He squeezed one of my breasts. Fury exploded in my mind. I kicked at Aereus, my glamour fading fast. He was choking me again, squeezing the life out of me. Mentally, I screamed for Adonis.
Aereus’s fingers dug into my flesh, his eyes darkening. “If Adonis isn’t coming for you now, then it means he’s nowhere near us, is he? And you’re at war with yourself still.” Aereus pressed in closer, his magic overwhelming me. “A woman who thinks she enjoys pleasure, but she denies herself what she truly wants. A woman who won’t let herself give in, won’t let herself remember all the things she’s done.”
Adonis’s image ignited in my mind, the memory of his fingers on my skin. Would my last thoughts be of the angel of death?
Chapter 33
Losing air. Can’t breathe.
“What scares you the most, Bringer of Light, is that something terrible will happen to your sister. That you’ll be all alone in the world, trapped at the edge of the dark, dark void. And there, you have to face the real monster, don’t you? There, you’d have to face yourself.”
I kicked him hard in the groin again, and he dropped me for a moment.
I sucked in a sharp, rough breath. “Don’t you dare touch my sister.”
A powerful backhanded smack cracked my skull, and I fell to the floor, my head throbbing.
“I’ll tell you what’s going to happen, Ruby.” His voice was low, controlled. He pressed his boot into my neck, cutting off my air again. At least my hands were free now.
I reached for my boot, inching my leg up, closer to my hand. Aereus wasn’t paying attention to my hands, focused instead on my reddening face.
“I’m going to kill you in the most painful way possible,” he growled. “I’m going to delight in the sound of your screams as I break you on my iron wheel. I will revel in the beauty of your blood feeding my roses. Before you die, I want you to know that when I kill Hazel, I’ll take even longer to rip her body apart.”
Teeth in flesh, breaking bones. I’m not Ruby anymore. I’m your worst nightmare. I ripped the knife from my boot, then drew it across the back of his ankle. Just enough—just enough to weaken him, not enough to knock him out.
His eyes widened at the feel of Devil’s Bane entering his blood. Then, he stumbled away from me, eyes bulging. Frantic, I gasped for air, my breath ragged in my throat from my position on the floor.
“Poison!” he roared. His boot slammed into my ribs, and I felt the crack of bone.
Maybe I hadn’t given him quite enough poison. Slowly, I pushed myself up onto my elbows again, gripping the knife. Aereus stumbled toward me, stepping on my wrist.
I screamed with pain, dropping the knife. I rolled away from him, agony splintering my ribs where he’d kicked me.
Get up, Ruby. I forced myself to my knees, then rose, my eyes locked on the horseman of war.
He’d snatched an iron tool off the table—a sharp, claw-like thing. I couldn’t let it anywhere near me. He looked a little unsteady on his feet, but he wasn’t going down yet.
“You’re not going to touch my sister,” I hissed as a volcanic fury erupted in my mind.
Kill. Rip out his throat. Bathe in his blood.
My canines pricked at my tongue, and I darted across the room for my knife. Without realizing what I was doing, I found myself lifting the blade to my lips. I licked Aereus’s blood off the knife. Devil’s Bane didn’t hurt the fae.
Ambrosia, rich and sweet as honey. I wanted more.
My gut tightened. Stay in control. Get from him the information that you need.
My prey staggered back, the iron tool gripped in his hands as the poison slowly took effect.
“I will make you submit.” He lunged for me, and I sidestepped.
A vicious smile curled my lips as I started to feel in control. I lunged for him, fast as the wind through the trees, and nicked his skin again, then leapt away from him.
He grunted, fear glinting in his eyes, and he clutched his arm where I’d cut him. “How did you learn about Devil’s Bane?” A thin line of spit trickled from his mouth, and he dropped the iron tool.
Earthy fog began to cloud my mind, and I tried to think clearly. I needed something from this beast… I needed…
Roaring, he flicked his wrist. A wave of hot, arid magic slammed me into the wall.
The blow sent a shock of adrenaline snapping through my nerve endings, and a bubble of clarity illuminated my mind for a moment. I threw my knife, and it landed in his shoulder. He howled.
This horseman could withstand a lot more Devil’s Bane than the skinny one. I rushed for him, snatching my knife from his shoulder again.
Think, Ruby. Don’t let the beast take over completely.
I scrambled to remember how words worked. “Tell me,” I rasped. Something other than blood that I needed from him. “Tell me.”
He staggered back, his features slackened. “Of course someone who looks like you would conceal a festering monster inside. The seeds of destruction grow in the gardens of paradise, do they not?”
“Garden!” I shouted, though I wasn’t sure why. The rational part of my mind was fighting for control. I bit down hard on the powerful urge to hurl my knife into his heart and just end it all.
He kept stumbling away—running from me, and my hunter’s instincts were kicking in. Kill the prey.
I prowled after him, my sights locked on his slumping shoulders, his weakening body.
My prey grabbed another tool from the table—a sharp iron knife. The fucker wasn’t giving up easily.
Mustering all the restraint I could, I grabbed a blade from the table, wincing at the feel of iron burning my skin.
“Garden.” The word tumbled out of my mouth again. With lethal precision, I hurled the iron spike at my prey. It pierced his wrist, and he dropped his weapon.
I slammed my
boot into his chest—hard—and he grunted. He’d tried to break me, hadn’t he?
Fury erupted in my blood, and I kicked him harder this time—right in the ribs. He flew into the wall—not far from the chains.
Rip him to pieces. Drink his blood.
In the next second, I had my knife pressed against this throat. My lips curled back from my teeth. I needed to use words, couldn’t remember them. I snarled.
“Knife,” I managed to grunt. “Poison. More.”
Good. Threat conveyed.
That damned peaty haze clouded my mind, the scent of dirt and moss. What was it I needed here? What did I need except this creature’s blood and pain, and the glorious fresh meat filling my mouth, and the feel of fingers clawing into the dirt? What did I need apart from the beautiful, dark-winged man with the pale eyes?
Yes…him… I needed him to tear my clothes off and run his tongue over my body, needed him to grab me hard by the hips and fill me... Needed my fingers in the dirt, hands and knees on the ground before him.
I clenched my jaw tight. I couldn’t think straight through the haze in my mind.
My prey rallied, punching me hard in the cheek, and I groaned, nearly dropping my knife.
A wild snarl tore from my throat. I gripped my knife tighter, swinging wildly to nick him again. I pierced his skin through his clothes, right below his elbow. He bellowed like an injured animal. And with that, my knife was at his throat once more, pressing harder this time.
Capture your prey. Then toy with it.
Without entirely realizing what I was doing, I found myself chaining the creature’s arms to the walls with one hand. I kept the poisoned blade pressed against his throat, while my other hand snapped the cuffs around him.
He hissed at me, more bestial than angelic. In my feral state, I delighted in the fear in his eyes—this powerful man at my mercy. Fear rippled off him, so intense I could practically smell it. Fear was something even Feral Ruby understood.
No wonder he kept such fierce control over everyone. No wonder he tortured them, kept them terrified. They scared the shit out of him.
He was screaming at me, but I tuned out his cries, stepping back to look at my conquest.
That thing I needed from him… That thing that wasn’t blood.
I closed my eyes, trying to clear the haze, but his words were drowning out my own thoughts.
“You don’t know where the stones are, Ruby,” he roared. “And without them, you can’t kill me. I don’t know where Adonis is. But I do know who is flying fast for my castle. The Heavenly Host.”
I stared at the trickle of blood oozing from the nick in his throat, trying to make meaning out of his words.
“Flying fast,” I repeated.
A sharp, panicked laugh escaped his throat. He rasped, the poison seeping deeper into his bloodstream. “You’re not really there, are you, Ruby? Does Adonis know he’s been fucking an animal?” He sniffed the air. “Can’t say I wouldn’t mind trying it myself, in your case, though I’d hate myself after.”
I clamped my eyes shut, trying to gain control. The pig was right about one thing—I wasn’t myself right now. I needed the roaring of my primal side to go quiet.
“Garden,” I snarled, still unsure why I was saying the word. There was something I wanted to get at—an important idea of some kind.
Another little bubble of clarity began to penetrate the peaty haze in my skull.
I surveyed my victim. Feral Ruby had done well. If I hadn’t poisoned the fucker, he’d be able to break right out of those iron chains. But the Devil’s Bane had weakened him severely, and he was barely hanging on.
What had he said? I couldn’t kill him without the stones.
Right. The stones. If the gods-damned Heavenly Host were actually on their way right now, I needed to find out where the stones were, and I needed to make the blue shield. Just like I’d seen in the pictures.
I stepped back from Aereus, marching over to the iron tools on the torture table. They would hiss and sting when I picked them up, but they wouldn’t poison me unless I nicked my own skin. I walked down the line of torture instruments. Slowly, the power of speech began returning to my mind.
I stared at a two-pronged iron instrument. “Sharp,” I said.
“What are you planning on doing?” Aereus bellowed. “The Heavenly Host are on their way. If you hurt me, your death will be agonizing. They’ll keep you alive for centuries, torturing you until there’s nothing left of your mind or soul.” He was threatening me, but raw fear tinged his voice, and it warmed my heart.
A little more of the haze dissipated in my mind. “Which sharp thing?” I asked.
“You’re not thinking clearly.” His desperation reverberated around me.
“I want to hurt you.”
“You can’t hurt an archangel. It’s against the rules of nature. We reign supreme over your kind. We are gods. You’re a filthy beast who scrambles and fucks and feeds in the dirt.”
I pulled the edge of my sleeve over my hand so I could pick up a three-pronged instrument, like a tiny devil’s pitchfork. “This one.”
Just enough haze in my mind right now that I could be brutal, but not so much that I’d forget what I was doing.
“What do you want?” he screamed.
I cocked my head. “No one can hear you in here. You told me that. No one will find you.”
“Don’t hurt me.” He sagged in his iron chains. “What do you want from me?”
“Tell me where the stones are.”
“You must be out of your fucking mind if you think I would tell you that.”
I was looking into his eyes as I thrust the iron into his side, between his ribs. His scream rent the air. “I need to know. Now.”
Aereus heaved a sob. “The seeds of destruction grow in the gardens of paradise. Heavenly Host, please come for me now, your humble servant. I need to rule as a god on earth!”
Garden.
That was why I’d been saying the word over and over. Aereus, as he’d told me, took that aphorism very seriously. And I was his destruction, wasn’t I? I’d lay his plans to waste.
He shook his head. “You can’t use them. You’ll destroy everything. You’ll kill—”
I was out the door before he had the chance to finish his sentence.
Chapter 34
With the shield of glamour around me—a cherub’s form—I prowled through the hall. I ignored the bruised, battered pain that throbbed along my ribs.
I’d disguised myself as one of the taller cherubs—the ones without predictable movements. With any luck, I could go where I wanted without rousing suspicion.
I moved swiftly through the hallway, heading for Aereus’s garden. When I caught a glimpse of myself in a statue’s armor, I shuddered at the sight of the milky eyes staring out from the face of a haunted child, silver streaks in my hair. The appearance of a gossamer white dress trailed behind me. A cold shiver rippled over my skin.
I moved on, gliding gracefully over the marble floor, past empty alcoves and into an arched hall. I wasn’t sure what had once hung on these walls, but now they all featured war gods—Saturn, Mars, some of Zeus hurling lightning bolts from his fist.
My muscles began to ache as I moved, my ribs and neck bruised where Aereus had attacked me. This glamour, so different from my real appearance, drained my energy. My head swam.
When I turned the corner into the next hall, my throat tightened. A group of cherubs swarmed past a statue of Aereus atop his horse. Would they notice anything strange about me?
I kept my eyes straight ahead, the way I’d seen the taller cherubs behave.
The others passed me without comment.
At last, I found myself in the hall that led to the garden.
The idea of spending any more time in the torture garden filled me with dread, but I pushed through the door anyway. Cold air greeted my skin.
Outside, moonlight washed over the plants, the shards of bone. My footsteps crunched over the
mosaic bones beneath my feet.
As I moved deeper into the vegetation, I tried to tune into the feel of the Old Gods. I closed my eyes, envisioning their blinding light—that pure warmth that had filled my body.
I slipped past the iron wheel, where Aereus delighted in torturing his victims.
With my eyes closed, I could feel the plants around me, and my fingertips skimmed over their leaves, thorns, petals, summoning that inner light I’d managed to capture once or twice before…
A dull, warm glow moved up my chest. The power of the Old Gods—still, it wasn’t telling me where to find the stones.
A faint movement caught my eye—a bobbing tail—and my gaze flicked to the line of scorpion guards in one corner of the garden.
Bingo. Of course Aereus would guard the stones, and of course they’d be among the thorny, poisonous plants. I already knew he didn’t give a flying fuck whether or not his servants poisoned themselves. He’d want to keep people from discovering the gems that could ruin his plans.
I moved closer to the scorpions, trying my best to go unnoticed—just a simple haunted-eyed cherub, out for my nightly patrol.
My gaze landed on the flowering, purple plants behind the guards. Devil’s Bane—just as I’d thought.
I took another step closer, trying to peer through the thick, arachnid bodies of the scorpion guards at the plants behind them.
One of them grunted, moving forward. He gripped his spear and snarled. Still, I didn’t think he saw me. Maybe he smelled me. After another moment, his body seemed to relax again.
My throat had gone dry. I needed to see what lay behind them without arousing suspicion, to find out if the stones were here.
I glided from the shadows—a cherub, nothing more. The scorpions didn’t seem to notice me.
One more step closer, and—just soil. Disappointment coiled through me until—faintly—the soil began to shift, trembling. Light warmed my chest, and I stared as the unmistakable gleam of blue stones emerged from the soil, drawn by my presence. A wild euphoria bloomed in my chest. I ached to touch them, to harness their power. As soon as my eyes locked on them, I could feel them calling to me, demanding that I pluck them, that I feel their magic. They wanted something from me as much as I wanted something from them.
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