“No good. My staff doesn’t work that way.”
Theo’s voice boomed from behind us. “Here, allow me.”
Stepping forward, he drew out a long golden key from beneath his breastplate. “Abaddon dropped this when I blasted him. I thought it might come in handy.”
So that was what he had been carrying all this time. He inserted the golden key into the keyhole. The giant black door slowly swung open. Immediately, Titus charged forward, carrying us both successfully through the gate, and I found myself in the vast, dark, mist-filled cavern of Limbo.
Erasmus limped forward. He looked tired but happy. He put his hand on my shoulder. Then, to my utter shock, he laughed and threw both arms around me, hugging me.
“I owe you my life,” he whispered in my ear. “You are a better man than I—human, or whatever it is you are.” He ran a hand through my wings, producing an odd ripple of pressure on my shoulder blades. “Thank you.”
I squeezed him back. It felt weird, but there was no familiar rush of animosity, such as I had felt in the days before we destroyed Antonio’s spell. In fact, now that I had forgiven him, he seemed quite different: part wise, part foolish, and rather dear.
The others filed through behind us. I turned to greet them, smiling, and was surprised by their long faces and the lack of bounce in their step. Why were they not celebrating?
“It was that Cavalier hat, Ma’am,” Mab said sadly. “Should have warned him not to put it on until we were safely outside.”
“Until who was safely outside? What are you talking about, Mab?”
“We lost Mephisto,” Father replied, he leaned upon his staff, from which leaves and flowers grew. His face looked lined and worn. “Lilith had some hold on his soul. She pointed her finger, and the ground gaped beneath his feet.” He shook his head in disgust. “All this effort, and there has been no net gain. We are still down one member. Let us go home and lick our wounds. Perhaps, with time and contemplation, we can discover a way to save my wayward son.”
The mists of Limbo blew a pack of whirling souls against us. One passed through Ulysses, who screamed and disappeared in a flash of light, leaving the rest of us stranded in Limbo.
“Oh, that boy!” Father growled, shaking his head.
“I knew we should have marked the hole that led to that crate!” Logistilla wailed.
In the midst of this confusion, someone touched me on the shoulder. Turning, I found myself looking into a black sable face framing blood red eyes.
“I came to say one last goodbye,” his golden-tongued voice whispered, “unless you wish to stay and come with me to my nest of love where we can bask in the carnality of our passion forevermore?”
Standing so close, I could not help but notice again how extraordinarily handsome he was. His intoxicating demon-scent wafted my way, and a tingling began in my forehead. Closing my eyes, I pictured the beam coming from my forehead touching the place from which the tingle seemed to originate. The tingling stopped, and I remained unaffected by the incubus’s proximity.
I nearly laughed aloud. Apparently, the incubus’s effect counted as a “poison.” By removing his noxious influence, I had successfully used another of the Gifts of the Sibyl. Behind me, I heard Mab and Cornelius sniffing the air; apparently they had caught a whiff of the heavenly scent. Luckily, they did not glance this way. Seir himself seemed disturbed. He looked about in wary puzzlement.
“Lilith has stolen Mephisto,” I whispered. “Can you bring him back?”
His eyes went a dull red, the color of dried blood. “Have I not done enough for Mephistopheles?”
My heart beat so loudly I feared my family would hear it. His eyes had changed color! Seir’s eyes never changed; they had always been that same unchanging, bloody crimson. Could my dream have been true? Had the incubus really called up Astreus, only to be unable to put him down again?
“It’s you!” I whispered in spite of myself.
He laughed. “And why do you think that? Because I sent you a false dream, and you believed it? No, he is dead. Deader than dead.”
I frowned. Now, that seemed odd. Why would an incubus try to decrease my trust in him? Why would he mock me? That did not even sound like an incubus talking.
It sounded like an elf.
A cold terror laid a single silencing finger upon my heart. No! I was not going to walk down that path! I was not going to risk my heart, or my family, again. From my point of view, Astreus was dead and gone, no matter what this womanizing shadow might say.
A high-pitched whir sounded from over my left shoulder. Seir’s eyes widened, and he vanished.
“Incubus!” Theo’s voice barked out. My family immediately came to attention, staffs in hand, and began surveying the area warily.
I, meanwhile, stood stock still and trembled. If only I had not lost the crown, or we still had Mephisto’s hat! If Astreus was in there at all, even as a ghost or a memory, I might have been able to convince him to make Seir rescue Mephisto.
I did not have the crown, but I did have something else.
Kneeling, I drew the figurine of Astreus that Mab had returned to me from my pocket and placed it on the ground.
With a second flash of light, Ulysses returned from wherever he had fled to, looking sheepish. “Sorry, folks, reflexes. Shall we tootle-loo along?”
“Let us depart! Immediately!” Father commanded striding toward Ulysses and grabbing his staff before my brother could flee again. “Any additional efforts to save Mephisto can be done from the safety of a landscape fit for mankind!”
The others grabbed hands. I did not rise.
“Ulysses, can you come back for me?” I asked. “I have an idea.”
“Are you crazy?” Theo burst out, waving his hands. “Do you think we’re going to abandon you in Hell the moment after that incubus tried to attack you?”
“I might—just might—be able to save Mephisto.”
“I’m staying with you,” Theo announced immediately.
“And I,” said Titus.
“And me,” said Mab.
“Me, too,” offered Caliban.
“I as well,” Gregor leaned upon the Y atop the Staff of Silence.
“And, I, I suppose,” Erasmus said with a sigh. He could barely stand upright; he was still a mass of cuts, and his eyes were not quite focused. “I’m not really feeling my best, but it would be unsporting of me to leave now.”
“Oh, pooh!” Logistilla stamped her foot. “Now we all have to stay, or we’ll look like boobs.”
“I will stay if someone will lead me in the right direction,” Cornelius said. He stood with his hand on Erasmus’s shoulder, and he was smiling.
Father’s bushy eyebrows drew together but he did not object. He kept a hand on Ulysses’s staff, though.
“Can’t it wait?” Father asked. “I will remind you that there is a storm brewing.”
My heart skipped a beat. I had forgotten about that. My family needed to rush back immediately to stop the Aerie Ones I had freed. I should wait, as Father suggested.
On the other hand, the window of time during which any remnant of Astreus might remain awake in Seir might be quite short. If I called him later, would he recall at all? I would have to trust that my mother and the angels could mitigate the damage a little longer.
“No. It can’t wait.” I frowned. “I appreciate the support, but really, the rest of you should rush back.”
My siblings, to the man, shook their heads.
I sighed. “Very well, but if you are going to stay, you all have to stand together in a ward. And no shooting at the incubus when I call him up.”
“Call him up?” Theo cried. “Do you mean Seir of the Shadows? The same tricky demon who hunted me for twelve years and tricked you into thinking he was Ferdinand?”
My head hurt. This was never going to work. All that elf-talk was certainly a trick as well.
Yet, why would the incubus mock me for trusting him. He had come as himself. He had not been p
retending to be Astreus. It made no sense.
I stood up and turned on my brother. “Theo, are you going to trust me or not?”
Theo looked taken aback.
Erasmus lay a calming hand on Theo’s shoulder. “Bro, just this once—just as a lark—why don’t we all try trusting Miranda, hmm?”
“Er … right.” Theo lowered his staff, whether because he agreed or because of the sheer irony of having Erasmus defend me against him, I did not know.
“Mab, draw a ward around everyone else, would you?” I knelt again and put my finger on the head of the figurine. Behind me, I heard Mab shuffling around, pouring out salt and the like that he had pulled from yet more of his ubiquitous pockets.
“All ready, Ma’am,” he said finally.
My stomach churned. I tapped the figurine upon the head. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, Seir of the Shadows was standing before me, his tattered opera cape swirling about in the mists of Limbo.
Before I could so much as rise, there came a whirring hum from behind my back. Seir vanished again.
“Theo!”
“Sorry,” my brother grumbled, shouldering his staff. “Habit.”
I tapped the figurine again and stood.
Seir appeared again, gazing at my family warily.
“Don’t go!” I called.
“Ah, an invitation from a maid? For that I will brave any danger.”
I closed my eyes briefly, using my mark to dispel all the oogly incubus tingles.
“I want a favor.” I touched his shoulder. He stared at my hand, as if mesmerized.
“You know what I want in return,” he replied with honeyed words. “I want to carry you off to my love nest near the stars and pay my respects to your luscious sweet body until you grow faint from passion. I want us to become one and never to be parted. I want you!”
“I thought you might like something else.” I whipped off Mab’s hat and pushed my hair aside. My family currently stood behind me; only Seir could see the mark of my Lady’s favor.
The incubus’s eyes grew wide indeed. It may have been a trick of the light, but for an instant, it seemed as if his whole body had lost some of its sable darkness, becoming a papery gray. But then that instant was over, and he was the same as ever.
“Darling Miranda,” Seir cooed. “Long have I desired to have you as my own, but that joy will be nothing to the pleasure and riches Lilith shall shower upon me when I deliver you to her now.”
Behind me, Theo stirred, but he restrained himself and did not unlimber his weapon.
“I can offer you your freedom,” I whispered very low.
“Freedom?” Seir spread his hands airily. “From what?”
I put the hat back upon my head. It was no good. Astreus was truly gone, and Mephisto—bless his dear soul—was lost to us, too.
Seir leaned toward me and reached out his hand. “You want me to risk my life, my position here in Hell, to rescue your brother? I will do it … if you come with me.”
His eyes were red, and his sable features had not changed, but gone was the lust and longing. In its place was something both wild and calculating. It was an expression I had seen once before, as I fell from the back of a giant black swan toward a balcony of the palace of Hyperborea.
Mortal Maid, I have but to release you now, and you will fall and break apart upon the spires, speeding your way to Heaven. Is this your desire?
No! It was a trick! Remember Ferdinand … and Osae!
I took a step back. “I don’t think so. You bring Mephisto to me.”
He shook his sable head. “Only if you come with me. Otherwise, why should I risk Lilith’s wrath?”
“What assurance do I have that you will not turn me over to Lilith, as you just said you would?” I asked, my voice rising.
“None at all, Miranda Prospero.” His red eyes were strangely intent. Seir extended his hand again and chanted. “Choose you this day whom ye will serve: the deceits of the world, or the truth you can see only with your heart.”
I pressed my hand against my chest as if to keep my hammering heart from breaking out of my rib cage. My breath had fled; I wondered if I would ever draw it again. The terror that grabbed ahold of me was so black, that I was surprised when my eyes could still see. I could not trust him. Only a fool would …
What was I afraid of? Betrayal? Losing myself? Humiliation? Erasmus had trusted me. He had done it when all the wisdom of the world would have counseled against it. Should I not be willing to do as much?
But I was Erasmus’s sister, and this was a demon. The two cases were not the same.
I thought of Eurynome and of the glimpse my mother had shown me of Hell through the Gate of True Dreaming. If even the demons could be saved, what of elves?
I looked into his face once more, at the wild, laughing, living dare that stood before me. Then, for the first time in my life, instead of waiting for someone to prompt me, I followed my heart.
“Nooo!” Theo’s voice followed us as, hand in hand, Seir and I disappeared.
* * *
INKY darkness embraced us, swirling about us like living shadows. Then, we stood in a dark alcove behind a rack, which blocked our view of the large chamber beyond. The floor, walls, and ceiling were made of gold. The scent of incense and rotting corpses filled the air, and screams and moans came from the main chamber.
On the other side of the rack, a large black demon with bat wings and many intertwining horns was bound to it with chains made of some black metal I did not recognize.
“Quick!” hissed the incubus. “Free him!”
“How?” I stared blankly at the heavy chains. The incubus merely stared at me as if I were an idiot. When I still did not respond, he pointed at my forehead.
“Oh!”
I slipped forward and knelt before the first lock. Pushing back Mab’s hat, I touched the ivory mark upon my forehead to the latch.
The lock sprang open!
Mephistopheles’s bonds were fastened in four places. Moving quickly from one to another, I opened the next two locks with ease. The last one, however, was above my head. I grasped one of the bars and put my foot on the lowest rung of the rack, intending to climb.
Pain! Fiery, scorching pain shot through my arm and foot.
I screamed.
An instant later, we were surrounded by demons. Seir met my eyes and shrugged. Then, he took my arm and dragged me from behind the rack out into the main chamber, displaying me for Lilith and her minions to see.
“Great Queen.” He gave a courtly bow. “I have brought you a prize.”
The throne room of the Queen of Air and Darkness looked just as Mephisto had portrayed it upon the wall mural in his Canadian mansion. It was a place of luxury and horror. All about the enormous chamber, demons, incubi, succubi, and lilim lounged on huge silken pillows. Some nibbled on dead corpses, as if upon delicacies; others engaged in vast orgies. The moans and screams came from this last group.
Mosaics set into the wall celebrated the reign of Lilith and her consort Cain who sat enthroned, flanked by the many monsters they had begotten together. Beneath these murals, stone statues ringed the chamber, portraying women with their heads dragged back as if by their hair; their stomachs ripped open; their faces masks of horror and shock. On some statues, a half-formed fetus climbed the woman’s leg. Others reached imploringly toward stone images of squalling infants impaled upon pikes, their little mouths opened wide in agony.
Perhaps, there were still worse things, but I could no longer look. I lowered my gaze and stared at the golden floor, only then noticing that it crawled with maggots. My stomach churned. It must have shown on my face, for Lilith laughed, a pretty tinkling sound, like a young girl enjoying the antics of her friends.
From my position, I could see out the door. We were high in the air. A sloping ramp of silver led from the door to the ground far below, descending along the side of a golden many-tiered structure that resembled the Ziggurat of Ur in Sumeria, where Lilith ha
d first been worshiped by mankind. Lilith had placed her royal seat at the top of the ziggurat, in the room known as the “bedchamber of the god,” where, if tradition was to be believed, a different maiden had been sent each night to serve as “the god’s companion.” A fitting throne room for the patroness of temple prostitution.
Lilith gave a screech of delight and sat forward on her throne, which was woven from black bones, clapping her slender hands. She sat garbed in a gown of scarlet owl feathers with dark crimson tips. A belt of pale white leather—probably human skin—circled her waist, clasped by a huge ruby.
Another ruby, carved into a spiral flower, dangled in the midst of her forehead, suspended by a golden chain—so that she seemed to have a Unicorn mark the color of blood.
She looked so young and delicate; it was hard to believe that something so lovely could be wicked.
“Look, the servant of the One-Horned Slut. Not so high and mighty now, are you? What a treat for us!” She laughed gaily. Turning to one of the long-haired and buxom lilim, her dark daughters who held an enmity with my Lady’s Handmaidens, she instructed, “Meurex, call the Torturers. Tell them that the repair of their Tower can wait; they aren’t getting anywhere anyway with those flowers everywhere. I have a prisoner for them.”
Fissions of terror zipped through me as the lilim ran eagerly to complete her charge. I struggled, but Seir was no longer the only demon holding me. Another incubus, also extraordinarily handsome, restrained my arm with one hand while he stroked my side and hip with his other, dodging my attempts to elbow him. A big, burly cacodemon held my shoulder in his clawed grasp, threatening to sink his sharp talons into my flesh should I attempt to flee.
I had been betrayed. I supposed it was only what I deserved for trusting a demon.
“Incubus, you have pleased me,” Lilith purred. “Name your reward.”
“Great Queen.” Seir bowed. “I would like this maiden to do with as I like.”
I glanced at Seir curiously, trying to discern whether this was some stratagem intended to rescue me or merely an attempt to carry me off. If he meant me well, he did not give any indication.
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