I wonder if Nina and Troy are still alive . . .
The odds said no, but Angela couldn’t help hoping. The tears she’d always promised to stop but could never really hold back slid hotly down her cheeks. Why did she hate tears so much? Because her parents beat her when she cried? Maybe it was because tears made her feel so weak and vulnerable. They were an admission of the pain she used to always try to run away from.
“Feeling discouraged?” a gentle voice said.
Angela gasped, whipping her head around to face the sound.
Lilith sat in the shadows on a velvet cushion, her dark legs crossed, and her long fingers drumming against her thigh. She slid out of the chair and strolled nearer to Angela. Without warning, she stooped down and gripped Angela roughly by the chin.
Angela’s cheekbones screamed with pain. Any harder and her face might shatter. She tried to twist her head away without success.
“It serves you right, Archon. You really are quite a thorn in the Prince’s side. I wonder if she ever really expected you to get this far. Not that it matters, because I’m here to make sure your journey comes to a screeching halt.”
“Over my dead body.” Angela spit in her face.
Lilith wiped her cheek in disgust. Muttering a curse, she slapped Angela powerfully across the mouth.
More pain raced across Angela’s skin like lightning. She gasped, unable to lift her head again.
“You have courage, at least,” Lilith said smoothly. “Perhaps it’s the one thing that makes you resemble Lucifel.”
“If you want to kill me,” Angela said, still gasping, “why are you taking your time?”
Lilith smiled. “Because you don’t deserve a quick and painless death.” She knelt down in front of Angela, petting the same spot on Angela’s cheek she had so cruelly smacked only moments before. “Do you remember a demon named Naamah?”
Angela’s chest tightened. How could she forget?
“You do,” Lilith said brightly. “Well, she was my protégée, Archon. Naamah’s true parents died when she was young and so I took her in as a mentor. But I grew to love her, perhaps even more than my own offspring. She was a dutiful daughter. Our ideals divided in the end, but I could never bring myself to follow the Prince’s orders and destroy her. She was too valuable to me as a person. That is—until you killed her.”
“I didn’t kill her,” Angela shouted.
Lilith shook her head. “Perhaps not directly. But indirectly is good enough for me. Someone has to pay. Why not you?”
“What are you going to do? Just let me and Kim starve here?” Angela glanced around, trying to find anything that might help her or Kim escape. There was nothing.
Lilith chuckled sweetly. “That would be far too boring, Archon. I think we should just go slowly, see what makes you scream most, and work from there. I’m sure a replay of the torment you just went through in your visions should suffice. I saw quite a bit. It was very interesting, just as the Prince told me it would be. That whole business about Raziel committing suicide was apparently a lie.” Lilith leaned down, her dress sliding to an uncomfortably revealing spot below her shoulders. “It makes me wonder what else is in that head of yours. Better yet, if angel blood can bring on visions, what can the blood of the Archon do? It wouldn’t be a bad idea to experiment.”
She put a nail to Angela’s neck and slid it up to her chin.
“The only question now, is how painful should it be?”
Her nail dug into skin.
Angela cried out, unable to help herself.
“Lady,” a voice said from the shadows.
Lilith cringed, but she stood up and regarded the visitor. It was the same female demon who had curtsied to Angela. “What is it?” Lilith snapped. “You can see that I’m busy here.”
“Your son wishes to speak with you,” the demon said.
Lilith laughed. “I have no son. If you’re talking to a snake, though, tell him I’ll be there in a moment. Let him know this had better be worth my time. I’m tired of his constant interruptions. Milk,” Lilith muttered under her breath. “I should have fed him poison instead. Perhaps it would only have made him more of a serpent . . .”
Lilith glared at Angela but silently left the chamber, shoving the other demon out of the way as she exited through a set of double doors.
The female demon’s eyes brightened dangerously the moment Lilith was gone.
The demon walked up to Angela. Slowly, a purple mist rose up around her body, and Angela watched with a pounding heart as the demon’s figure stretched and reshaped itself. Python broke out of the fog and quickly set to work on Angela’s chains. His mouth was set in a cold line. Once Angela’s arms were free, he stepped back and watched as she rubbed her wrists. “A simple thank-you would be sufficient,” he said.
“You’re the one who got me into this mess,” Angela hissed back. “You knew what would happen when I walked through those doors.”
“Touché,” the demon said. He folded his arms and leaned against the wall. “But I had to see the truth. That part of my mother’s plan I agreed to. This, I did not.” The malice in his voice sent shivers up Angela’s spine. “My mother’s cry of frustration will be quite soothing in the end.” He reached down and picked up one of the masks thrown carelessly onto the ground. It happened to be another snake’s mask. He held it up to his face. “She is such a careless hedonist, she didn’t even notice her own son at the ball. Even though I danced with her three times.”
Angela tried to ignore the odd light behind his eyes when he said that.
“What did I drink?” She rubbed at her throat. Her head still hurt.
“Angel blood,” Python said shortly. “Drinking it reveals the truth of many things. Thus the unfortunate need to plunge you headfirst into a pool of it.”
Angel blood?
Angela steadied herself, trying not to retch. The idea of how many angels had needed to die in order to fill that fountain made her even more hideously sick. For all their gloss of civilization, the demons were almost worse than Troy and the Jinn. At least the Jinn seemed to kill out of hunger and necessity. This was different. This was murder for the fun of it.
She rocked slowly to her feet. “Then free Kim and show me how to get out of here. I know I can’t have much time left. Sophia can be anywhere by now. Troy and the others—”
“Troy and the others?” Python sighed. “You still turn your thoughts back to them?”
He seemed to be considering something.
“All right. I suppose I will tell you.” Python looked Angela straight in the eye. “Nina Willis is dead. Troy and the Jinn chick betrayed you, Angela. They have returned to the Underworld and left you to fend for yourself.”
Angela swallowed, a shot of pain working through her. Her heart hammered. Her hearing buzzed. “No. That’s not true. Troy wouldn’t—”
“Wrong,” Python said. “But I don’t blame you for needing proof. So here it is.”
He threw something resembling a large garnet against the wall. It shattered, sending a spray of red across the stone that quickly coalesced into a circle of pulsing light. In this light, Angela saw Nina lying dead on the ground. The girl’s injured leg was clearly visible. Then the scene switched out, and Juno knelt down by a body dressed in white, just like Nina’s. She bit the corpse.
Angela screamed Nina’s name.
Python waved his hand, and the red liquid fell to the floor in hundreds of droplets. “I have been keeping a very close eye on those two Jinn,” Python said. “Who can trust them, after all? It’s their nature to kill at any opportunity, especially when they happen to be starving. You would be wise to forget about them completely. Come with me, and I’ll make sure you find the Book without anything more to trouble you. Seeing the truth hidden in your soul was an unfortunate necessity. How can I help you when I’m not entirely sure you are indeed the Archon? But now that I know, I feel no more hesitation risking my life to keep the Prince of Hell caged.”
; “Troy wouldn’t do that to Nina. Neither would Juno,” Angela whispered.
Nina . . . You’ve died yet again? How could that happen? Where would you go this time? This is all my fault. Nothing is going like I’d hoped. How can I bring you back now?
Angela wiped at her tears. She clawed at the ground, sobbing. Misery clenched at her heart.
“Betrayal hurts,” Python whispered, staring at her. “Thanks to my wretched mother, I know that all too well. But look at it this way. When you know the truth about people, you also know how to keep yourself from being hurt by them in the future. Live for yourself alone, and all of your problems solve themselves.” He knelt down in front of her. “You should just accept that sometimes the world isn’t worth saving. Just imagine how easy life would be if all the troublesome people disappeared.”
“Troy wouldn’t do that,” Angela whispered again.
She knew instinctively that what Python had shown her was the truth, but perhaps not in the way he wanted her to believe.
It couldn’t be.
He stared at her more, perhaps trying to determine how firm she was in her beliefs. “As you wish,” he said, standing up again. “But I’ll warn you now, people are never quite what they appear to be on the surface. There is always more. Everyone has a dark secret or two. It’s only a matter of bringing those secrets to light. Every friendship is based on how well those secrets are kept hidden, and how effectively someone gets what they want.”
“Sometimes, friends are friends, and there really isn’t any more to it than that,” Angela said firmly.
She and Python locked eyes for another moment.
“We’ll see just how well your little friendships serve you in the future,” he said darkly. His gaze shifted sideways. “Oh, your knight awakens.”
Kim opened his eyes and glanced around the room until he saw Angela.
“I’ll give you a few touching moments together,” Python said meaningfully to Kim. “Then it’s onward and forward before Mama’s return.”
Python took a slow step sideways and disappeared, as if he’d entered an invisible door.
Angela suppressed her shivers. The misery inside of her was all encompassing. Tears ran down her face, and she could barely look at Kim.
“What happened?” he said weakly.
Angela shook her head.
Kim hung his own, hair swinging into his eyes. “I understand. You obviously don’t need to tell me.” He looked around the room grimly. “I’m sorry, Angela. Maybe Lilith was too much of a force for me to reckon with.” He sighed. “I thought I could at least stop her from making you drink the angel blood. Somehow, I think she was on to me all along. Perhaps not entirely, but . . .”
“No,” Angela said. She stood and wiped at her tears. “You did what you could for me. Thank you.”
“Are you still intent on finding Sophia?” Kim said gently.
Angela rubbed her forehead. “I don’t have a choice but to go where this demon is going to take me. Whatever part of the labyrinth comes next.”
“What will you do when you find her?” Kim said.
Angela said nothing, folding her arms and shivering.
“Will you try to open her—”
“One thing at a time,” Angela said shortly. He was asking far too many questions that wouldn’t change a thing. She wanted to scream. This was her life. Instead of being a normal young woman, instead of kissing Kim in a corner and dreaming about the next kiss, she had to run through a rat maze to find her best friend and keep her from being killed. But she didn’t regret risking her life for Sophia’s in the least. Besides, the more she remembered those moments of passion in Kim’s arms from the previous year, the more they seemed like a shameful dream. Right now, with Nina dead and Troy and Juno possibly gone, Angela’s sole focus needed to be Sophia. Whenever Angela thought of Kim, Sophia’s face overlaid his. Israfel was another matter altogether. Angela’s bitterness toward him only grew the more she didn’t see him anymore. But so did her pity.
Why had she seen him in pain, crying out, looking so very weak?
Kim laughed softly. “I know. I should keep my questions to myself.” He took a deep breath. “I only wanted to protect you, Angela. Whether or not you take Lucifel’s place, I can see myself by your side and nowhere else. You can’t give me anything else right now, but at least give me that.”
His anguished voice sounded genuine.
Angela walked over to him. Impulsively, she touched his face, gently brushing the dark hair from his eyes.
Kim closed his eyes and sighed.
“I treated you so cruelly last year,” she whispered. “I’m sorry.”
She bent down and kissed him softly on the mouth.
The sound of clapping forced Angela to rip herself away abruptly. She gasped. Python stopped clapping from his spot right beside her and leaned down, putting his face parallel with her own. “Very nice, but as I said, my dear, onward and forward. Besides, I’m starting to feel left out.”
He mockingly leaned in for a kiss.
What is he doing! Angela pulled back instinctively, surprise and anger warring inside of her. Heat blazed across her face, and she remembered being locked in Python’s arms on the ballroom floor. She breathed hard, shaking.
Python smirked at her, his orange eyes narrow with amusement. Then he turned to a visibly ruffled Kim, setting to work on his chains. “Touchy, touchy.”
Twenty-nine
Those moments Angela and I shared merely confirmed what I’d always known—She was the person I longed to be. She was a perfect reflection of the soul I might lose. —KIM (SARIEL)
The escape back into the labyrinth went smoothly enough that Python hadn’t felt it necessary to run.
Kim held Angela’s hand tightly anyway, helping her to step over fallen obelisks and scattered boulders that sprouted up in their path. She accepted his help without comment, often staring ahead of herself as if looking into a world more alien than this one. He wondered with a pang of jealousy if she thought of Israfel.
Angela’s fingers strayed to a pendant resting against her chest. Kim saw it was a silver feather wrapped around a white sapphire star.
He let go of her hand and she strolled ahead, focused on her steps through the darkness. The tunnels here had been decorated with mosaics now half crumbled with age. Angela glanced at them, but she hadn’t bothered yet with questions about what they depicted.
Python dropped back by Kim’s side, and they watched Angela’s progress together. The demon’s face was cool, his footsteps on the stone even and measured. “You didn’t lie,” he whispered to Kim. “I can tell by the look on your face that you have feelings for her. Not that I blame you—she’s quite a catch. But let’s not forget she is the Archon, after all. I doubt she will hold on to you much longer once your usefulness fades.”
Kim laughed with irony. “She told me so herself once upon a time. Unfortunately, unlike you, Angela is a bad liar, and she hides her feelings poorly. She’s also much more compassionate than she behaves at times. She’s someone who hides most of what she feels.”
“A sign of weakness,” Python said.
“That’s only one way to look at it.” Kim stared ahead, still unnerved by the demon’s intense eyes. “I can understand how she thinks because we’re a lot alike. I also grew up in a world that didn’t accept me. I was called a devil’s child, tormented because my mother was a witch.”
Python raised an eyebrow. “Well, it was true, correct?”
Kim shook his head. “True or not, the misery other people inflicted on me shaped who I am. Just like Angela, I had to make hard decisions about my life and the direction I wanted it to go in. Eventually, I chose to break free of my torment—”
“With Mastema’s help,” Python said quickly. “Which is hardly the compliment it should be. But since you’ve chosen to work against your arrogant foster father this time, I’m willing to overlook the annoying connection between you two. What a fool. Couldn’t he conside
r you might feel like rebelling someday?”
“Yes . . . with his help, the darkest period of my life ended,” Kim whispered. He tried not to feel even guiltier than he did already. Now he knew Mastema’s ideals for the insanity that they were—but Mastema had trusted Kim and raised him.
He shivered thinking of what would happen once Mastema realized centuries’ worth of planning would be ruined by Kim of all people and things.
Kim sighed. “My real father was a monster—literally. I would have never found the courage to escape him otherwise. No one in my situation would have been able to . . .”
“And your courageous hunter of a cousin,” Python said, “continues your Jinn father’s legacy of terror.” The demon sighed and touched a cut on his cheek.
Kim couldn’t stop staring at the cut. Cold fear shot through him. He stopped Python, gripping him by the arm. “Was it her who cut you? Where is she? Where is Troy—”
Python grabbed Kim’s hand, wrenching it off him painfully. “Busy,” he said, continuing forward. “And she’ll stay busy enough until I’m done playing with her. She’s irritating, but also amusing to me. I don’t get rats like her in my maze very often.”
Kim breathed hard. Already, he imagined Troy’s intense yellow eyes peering back at him from the gloom. “You shouldn’t underestimate her,” he said heatedly. He stepped in front of Python, stopping him again. “You should kill her as soon as you get a chance. Otherwise . . .”
“Otherwise ‘what’?” Python said dangerously. “If anything, half-breed, you would do well not to underestimate me. Remember, this is my little portion of Hell, and what I say goes. I say right now that the Jinn rat lives. Don’t worry. I’ll keep my part of our little bargain and kill her eventually. But you should think before you overstep your bounds.”
Kim couldn’t help pressing his luck. Anger flared hotly inside of him, mixing with his growing and desperate fear. Even if Python sawed off Troy’s wings and plucked out her teeth, she was now too close for comfort.
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