The Fallen (Hades Castle Trilogy Book 1)

by C. N. Crawford

  I swallowed hard. “What made it so good?”

  “We delivered death to those who deserved it.”

  Samael followed close behind him, not meeting my gaze. His features had returned to normal—the gold had blended away, and the fire had left his eyes.

  When he looked at me, I saw that only ice remained. The look in his eyes was positively glacial. He lifted his cowl, cloaking his face in darkness.

  “Let’s go,” he said, more to Sourial than to me. “I’ll send someone to clean up the bodies.”

  Ah. There was the man who thought he’d make me his wife.

  33

  Lila

  It was nearly nine. Samael had left me alone in his room, with nothing but books and silence. He hadn’t said a word on our march back to the castle along the dark river walk. When we returned, he’d asked two soldiers to escort me up to this library room.

  I’d found an entrance to the secret passage in the wall, behind a tapestry. And now, I would sneak into the Tower of Bones to wave to Finn.

  I dropped down quietly into the grass beneath the armory window. Maybe I wasn’t as strong as Samael or Sourial, but I was bloody good at creeping around in the dark.

  I scanned the courtyard closely for movements. The landscape around me was quiet as a grave. It seemed the soldiers were generally either one of two places: in their barracks, or out stalking the streets of Dovren.

  Inside the stairwell, I pressed my ear to the stone, listening for any sounds of footfalls in the tower, any faint vibrations. I heard nothing. So I lit my candle, and started climbing the stairs. One story after another, winding up to the top, spiraling around.

  Did Samael regret slaughtering the Free Men tonight? It hadn’t been part of his plan, and maybe put his informant at risk. Getting information about the meetings of the Free Men would only be more difficult in the future.

  Before I crossed out into the hallway on the top floor, I blew out my candle. I didn’t want anyone spotting it outside.

  Then, I peered around the corner, searching for signs of movement. No one else was up here. Not a heartbeat, not a breath.

  I tiptoed into the hallway. I didn't stop to look at the room where my sister had once lived, where she probably died. I didn't want to think about the blood on the glass. The charm lost among the floorboards. So I pushed those thoughts away, and I kept creeping along in the dark hall, until I got to the door that led out onto the crumbling spike of bridge.

  Slowly, I inched it open. When I slipped outside, the cool night air rushed over me, exhilarating. I stepped out onto the broken bridge that jutted out so high over the river.

  The wind whipped over me, and I smiled, feeling oddly at home on the desolate shard of rock. But I didn’t see Finn. What the hell, Finn?

  I’d give him only a minute or two, and then I would head back. I didn’t know what Samael would do if he found me missing, and I didn’t really want to find out. There were only so many times I could use my “passed out drunk between the wall and the mattress” routine.

  Wrapping my arms around myself, I looked out over the dark water. It wasn't often in the city of Dovren that you could get a clear sky like this, a perfect vault of stars. I almost felt a certain magic beaming into me from the moon and stars.

  But as I stared up at the night sky, my body started to tense, because I felt a subtle, nearly imperceptible vibration in the stones beneath my feet. Movement somewhere in the tower.

  I closed my eyes. Raven King, keep me safe.

  I’d been so careful. So quiet sneaking in, and I'd made sure no one was around whatsoever. I’d made sure my candle was out.

  I reached for the holster at my thigh, and pulled the dagger.

  I held my breath as I heard the creaking of a door inside.

  Bollocks.

  I was basically trapped out here on a crumbling stone promontory, high above the river.

  Samael had said the soldiers’ bones were completely shattered when they fell, bodies smashing hard against the water. It no longer felt quite as comforting up here.

  The sound of footsteps in the hallway told me I wouldn't be getting out of here unnoticed.

  The door of the bridge opened, and three soldiers stood in the entryway. “Lila!” One of them shouted.

  My stomach dropped. How the fuck did he know my real name?

  The soldier drew his sword, but I lunged closer, closing the distance so he couldn’t use it effectively. I slashed for his face. He dodged back, nearly toppling off the bridge, arms windmilling.

  I lunged again, this time slamming the blade up between his ribs, pulling it back out fast before I lost my balance. The wind rushed over us, whipping at my hair. Lucky for me, the narrowness of the bridge meant I only had to fight one at a time.

  The soldier clutched his chest where I’d stabbed him, and he toppled off the bridge, his scream ripping through the night silence, growing quieter as he fell.

  But already, there were four more coming for me. I was outnumbered, and in a terrible position. Fear crackled along my nerve endings. I could read the pure hatred in their Clovian eyes.

  “Your kind should be exterminated,” one of them shouted. “Wiped off the earth like the vermin you are. Lila.”

  My real name again. I’d been discovered.

  My lip curled, and I widened my stance, ready to take on the next one. Somehow I felt like the night air was giving me strength, imbuing my muscles with speed. The bridge was only about two feet across at this point, and I had to be very careful I didn’t lose my balance. But even though I was outnumbered, I could take each of them one at a time if I really focused.

  The next soldier was also trying to use his sword, but again I made sure he was in too close. “Bitch!” he shouted at me. “Your kind make me sick, you—”

  My blade was in his throat immediately, cutting off the rest of his diatribe.

  I shoved him off the bridge, already thrusting for the next soldier. The backward slash of my blade cut his throat open, and blood arced through the air. Something had snapped in me, like a darkness unfurling in my veins, filling me with rage.

  Two soldiers left. The first swung for me, and I leapt back, my heart skipping a beat as I did. I was nearly at the edge of the crumbling bridge now. But before he could bring his sword back for a second swing, I leapt forward, moving up from a low angle. I brought the dagger up hard under his chin, piercing his jaw. Then I ripped it out again.

  Losing his balance, he tried to grab on to me as he started to teeter off the broken edge of the bridge, fingers digging into my sides, but I brought my elbow down hard into his eye socket, stunning him.

  He let go, plummeting, and his shrieks carved through the sky. Whirling, I turned to face the last one. I felt like the night was cloaking me with power, and a cold and repressed anger made me glad they’d come for me. Because I wanted to kill them. What if I liked the screams of my enemies?

  Four down, one to go.

  But the sound of my name being screamed from below turned my head, because it was a voice I recognized, and he sounded panicked.

  “Lila!”

  “Finn?”

  That was all it took for me to lose focus. I'd dropped my gaze from the soldier and now the tip of his sword was pointed at my throat.

  I’d lost.

  From the other end of the sword, I stared into the blue eyes of the Clovian.

  “Little bird, you are a traitor," he snapped. "You are a double-dealing whore.”

  He jabbed the edge of his sword at my throat, the tip nearly breaking the skin. I was shaking with fury now, and I wanted to stab him in the eye.

  God damn it, Finn. I knew he was just worried about me, but he’d chosen the worst possible time to express it.

  Focus, Lila.

  I took a step back, trying to consider my options. But he only stepped closer, driving the blade in more, pushing me toward that crumbling edge. The blade pierced the skin on my throat.

  The cold wind rushed over me
, whipping at my hair. If I took another step, I’d end up shattered to pieces in the river.

  “Lila!” Finn screamed again.

  Shut the fuck up, Finn.

  I couldn't move an inch without the soldier pushing the blade in further, without him slitting my throat right there.

  “What do you want?” I asked.

  His lip curled. “Your death.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you are filth. For what you did. For what you are. For your betrayal.”

  My heart was thundering in my chest, my nerves crackling with fear. Moments ago, I'd felt so strong, like I was dominating. But losing focus in a fight was lethal.

  "You killed my compatriots," he said. “I want to hear you scream as you die." He jabbed again, and I found myself taking another step back, my heel now dipping off the edge of the bridge. I held out my arms, steadying myself.

  I had to take my chance with throwing the knife. I reared back my arm—but just then he thrust the sword, digging in deeper.

  I lost my balance, and slipped backward over the ledge. As I fell, I just barely managed to grab on to the edge, fingers desperately gripping the stone.

  Dangling, I dropped the dagger. I looked down, watching as it spun through the air until I could no longer see it. It disappeared into the darkness, and my stomach plummeted with it. The idea of falling into that river filled me with such wild terror that I could hardly think clearly.

  Pure panic was now roiling in my mind, and Samael’s true face flashed in the depths of my skull. Death was coming for me. I’d known it as soon as I’d seen his true face.

  I realized now the Clovian soldier had been talking to me, a grin on his face, but I hadn’t been listening.

  He smiled down at me. “This will be a better death than you deserve.”

  He lifted his foot, and stomped hard on my fingers. Pain shot through them, and I lost my grip. The wind tore at me as I fell.

  And now there was nothing in my mind but the face of death itself. The icy air rushed over me. I waited to feel the slam of water on my body, shattering me.

  This was it—the last moments of my life, and I hadn’t yet achieved my destiny.

  34

  Lila

  Time seemed to slow down, and there was nothing but darkness—and a light in the darkness like a distant star.

  As I fell, a dim voice in the back of my mind told me it wasn’t my time yet, that the night winds would carry me.

  “Vengeance will be yours, Lila,” it whispered.

  I didn’t know how it was happening, but for just a moment, I felt like I could harness the wind, that I could float along with it, drifting through the air.

  “Lila!” Finn screaming my name again snapped me out of my trance, and time sped up once more.

  I slammed into something, the air knocked out of me.

  But it wasn’t the river.

  Powerful arms wrapped around me—like pure steel. Samael had caught me, but the force of my fall brought us down into the water—the river splashing all around us—just for a moment. Then, his enormous wings carried us back up into the air. The cold wind whipped over my drenched dress.

  I wrapped my arms around his neck and looked up into Samael’s face, clinging to him. I felt his heart beating strong against me. The faintest hint of flames danced back and forth in his eyes, but the gold tattoos weren’t there. I let out a long, slow breath. I’d nearly died—but just for a moment there, I’d felt like I could float on the wind. Like I could fly myself.

  I’d absolutely lost my mind.

  I held on tight to Samael. Then, my breath caught as I took in the full glory of his wings spread out against the night sky. The feathers were dark as jet at the base, but faded to midnight blue at the ends. Golden letters illuminated some of them, and thin veins of gold. The letters were from an alphabet I didn’t recognize—the language of the angels, probably. His wings beat the air like a slow pounding of a heart, beaming with divine light.

  I sucked in a long breath. Entranced, I nearly reached out to touch one of them before I stopped myself.

  Once again, I had the sense that God himself had carved this terrifying perfection wrapped around me.

  I felt the muscles in his chest flexing a little under his clothes as he flew with me in his arms. “What the fuck happened?” His voice was low, cold.

  “Your soldiers tried to kill me.”

  “You almost died.” His voice cut through the air.

  “So I take it you didn’t send them to kill me? They seemed very angry at me.”

  “If I wanted you dead, I’d kill you myself.”

  I nodded. “Well that’s certainly reassuring to hear from my future husband.”

  He was swooping up now, rising toward the tower. Was Finn watching this? He’d be horrified.

  As I looked down at the river growing smaller beneath us, my pulse raced. The thrill of it lit up my entire body. Only moments ago, I’d been near death, and now this.

  “What I want to know,” he said, his tone smooth and menacing, “is how you got all the way to the Tower of Bones without anyone noticing.”

  No way in hell was I answering that, and giving up my one path to freedom in this castle. I needed to distract him. And I had done a good job of distracting him on that ship.

  Just a little bit of distraction though. We didn’t need another massacre. I crossed my legs, hoping my dress would ride up a bit, except it was long and soaked in the river water, so it just stuck to my thighs.

  Damn.

  Buy some more time.

  I swallowed. “What did you say?”

  “How did you get out to the Tower of Bones?”

  I ran my hand over his chest, feeling his soaked shirt clinging to his muscles. Think of something vague. “I told you. I’m good at going unnoticed.”

  “I don’t see how that’s possible,” he whispered, almost to himself. His eyes were shifting, dark flames wavering. His fingers tightened around my damp thighs where he held me.

  My gaze flicked to those beautiful wings once more, and instinct had me reaching out, stroking his feathers, slowly down along the top of his wing. I thought I heard him take a shuddering breath. I felt two things immediately: one was his body tensing, fingers flexing on my thighs. And the other was a rush of a pure erotic thrill that moved from my fingertips, up my wrist and arm, and into my chest. Like molten gold flowing into me, filling me with a deep need. My thighs clenched.

  Honestly. Who said saving the country had to be unpleasant? There was no reason I couldn’t enjoy my patriotic duty a little.

  I met his gaze, the flames growing dangerously bright in his irises. For a moment, I nearly forgot how high we were in the air.

  He swept over the parapet, and we landed on the top of a castle walk. Here, the walls rose high on either side, but the wide sky twinkled above us.

  I slowly slid down his body. He looked perplexed again. In fact, he was staring at me like I was a book he was trying to read, in a language he couldn’t decipher.

  I took a shaky breath, feeling dizzyingly close to the divine. Samael seemed like a force of nature caught between Heaven and Hell, and something in my brain couldn’t stop trying to work out which it was.

  His wings were still out, sweeping down behind him. He brushed his finger down the side of my face, and his touch sent ripples of pleasure over me.

  “You lie to me.” His voice was rich, silky, and I nearly missed that it was basically a threat. “That is a problem.”

  I reached up and touched his perfect face, those sharp cheekbones. “But your dream says I’m important. Maybe I’m supposed to lie.”

  My gaze slid down his body, and I took in the river-soaked shirt clinging to his powerful muscles. Holy hell. Everything about him was dangerous.

  He closed his eyes, and I saw his jaw clench, like he was trying to master control of himself. Then he turned, and started to walk away. Oddly, I felt his departure like a pain in my chest.

  I f
ound my hand shooting out, and I grabbed him by the bicep. When he turned to look at me, his expression was scorching.

  I breathed unsteadily. “I liked our kiss earlier.”

  Maybe I lied to him a lot, but that wasn’t a lie. It should be, but it wasn’t.

  Kissing him was pure sinful pleasure, and pretending otherwise was lying to myself. Maybe I had to make him vulnerable, yes, but I also wanted to feel his mouth on my skin. As luck would have it, these two goals seemed to be entwined.

  His jaw clenched, fiery eyes piercing me. “You ran from me, terrified.”

  “Yeah. But I liked the kiss. You’re …” I cleared my throat, completely unsure of what to say. “Confusing.”

  He frowned at me, his body completely still. I realized I was still gripping his bicep, and he was staring at me with his head cocked. “When we were on the ship, there was an aphrodisiac in the air. Perhaps that affected us both.”

  “Oh.” I let go of his arm. Was that all it was for him?

  As he walked away, he said over his shoulder. “Return to my room at once.”

  I walked in heavy silence behind him.

  35

  Lila

  As we walked through the hallways, no longer speaking, my chest tensed. His words echoed in my mind. Only the lust bloom.

  If I couldn’t actually seduce him, maybe this wasn’t my destiny, like I’d thought.

  It hurt more than it should have. I supposed no one liked to be rejected—even if your worst enemy was rejecting you.

  But as we entered the ivory hall, with the moonlight spilling in through stained glass windows, I felt something tingle over my skin. The Raven King’s spirit? Samael stalked ahead of me like he owned the place, his enormous body silvered in the moonlight.

  My beautiful, powerful enemy, striding through the halls of a castle that should belong to my people.

  Watching him move, my heart started beating like a war drum. I wondered if the Raven King had built this hall, and maybe that was what was snaking up my thighs and into my belly. Telling me not to give up. It felt like a call to battle.