She flipped another card, this one an image of death—a cloaked man with a scythe, his face skeletal. Death. No questions about who that represented.
“Well, there’s the count.” She turned to look at me. “He has been your enemy in the past.”
“You could say that.”
She turned a card with eight gleaming daggers soaked in blood. “Well that’s not good, is it?”
“Care to elaborate?”
She bit her lip, and looked at me. “No, wait. I got it wrong, didn’t I? That’s not the count. That’s mortality.”
My heart was thundering. “And?”
She turned another card, this one a swan, then another—a drooping flower. “Ahh … a mortal. That’s what the death card is, with these other two. A mortal. Not Sourial. Not Samael. A mortal is your true enemy. You underestimate this person. She seems fragile, but she isn’t.”
Harlow. It had to be Harlow. Or was this just the fact that I couldn’t stand her? “She?” I asked.
“Or he. The cards don’t tell me that. I just don’t like to assume everyone is a man.” She smiled brightly. “Shall we find what your future holds?”
I sipped my fizzy drink, letting the bubbles roll over my tongue. “Not sure I want to know.”
She flipped one last card, and this one showed a fearsome wraith-like creature with ruby red lips, white skin, and fangs dripping with blood. The thing appeared to be eating a human.
I wrinkled my nose. “Is there a positive spin on that?”
“The beast.” She frowned at it, cocking her head. “Not sure if that’s you or the count.”
“Could be either of us really.”
She met my gaze. “You should be with him, though, I’m sure. The cards aren’t telling me that, but my gut tells me that. Even if you both murder each other and turn into demons, I think you should be with each other. He calms you in a way, doesn’t he? He brings you peace. And you bring him alive. Like you fed the forest with blood, and life grew from it.”
She was good at this. “True. But hang on. Can you tell me more about how Sourial fits into all this?”
She tapped the stone, staring at her cards. “It’s not clear. Maybe if I just …” One more card—a burning stone tower, with people leaping or falling from the top. “Oh, shit.”
My stomach swooped. “What is it?”
“Oh dear, oh dear.” When she looked back at me, her eyes were burning with intensity. “He’s in a lot of trouble.”
My mouth went dry. “What kind of trouble?” I moved across the hot tub, glimpsing an image of a sword dripping with blood. “Physical danger, I take it?”
“Yes.”
Another card, this one dark clouds.
Samael appeared in the doorway, holding a bandage to his stomach. “Is Sourial’s life at risk?” I heard the urgency in his voice, and I knew he was ready to take to the skies, whether or not he was fully healed.
Thura was still flipping cards. “Yes, but don’t rush off unprepared.” She closed her eyes. “They know you’re going to come there for them. It’s a trap.”
I grabbed my coffee and took a sip, feeling it energize me. “She’s right. Samael, they must know we’re coming. They haven’t moved from Belial, which means they want us to find them. And we know how it went last time.”
“You will only be successful with a plan.” Thura laid out another card. “But these enemies of yours—the mortals. Is there any chance that they know where you are?”
I took a deep breath. “It’s possible, at least if they know how to find this place. I think they can see what I see.”
“Bloody hell. Well that could be a problem.” Thura stared at her cards. “Because it seems we have another guest coming to our door very soon.”
I shot up from the tub, warm water rushing off my body. “Shit.”
Gripping a bandage tighter, Samael hurried over to the window, peering out at the river.
I watched his shoulders relax. “Oh. It’s not an enemy. It’s Emma.”
Lila
In the softest robe I’d ever worn, I sipped a hot cup of coffee. We sat at a long table by a window, and the sun shone in from a sprawling garden. Servants brought around more coffee, filling a cup for Emma.
Emma was splendidly dressed in a long, dark velvet gown with a creamy lace collar. She dabbed at beads of sweat on her forehead with a handkerchief. “Bloody hot. It wasn’t this hot when I left.”
“That was me,” I said.
Samael paced the hardwood floor. He was still shirtless, bandaged, but he no longer seemed injured. “Emma, how did you end up here?”
She clutched her coffee cup in both hands. “I didn’t know what was happening, did I? First Sourial disappeared. Then you two disappeared. Then someone took Oswald. I didn’t know if the Free Men had you or what.”
My eyebrows crept up. “Wait. Someone took Oswald?”
“He’s just gone,” said Emma. “Everyone is disappearing. Except Harlow, which is unfortunate. No offense, Samael.”
“None taken,” said Samael. “But you didn’t explain how you found us.”
She held her pinkie out as she sipped her coffee. “I went to Serena. I knew she was one of the last people you saw, and that she can see the future and all that. And when she laid out the cards, she saw an owl. She said that was her sister, Thura. She was sure that you would be arriving here.”
Thura nodded, beaming. “We can’t always see far into the future, but when we are sure, we are always right.” She rose from the table. “Happy to have you here, Emma. You all should just let me know what you need.” She batted her eyelashes at me. “In return, all I ask is that you make it just a little bit warmer.”
“I will do my best.”
She nodded. “It’s just that I have a cliffside pool that overlooks the river, and it’s really lovely in the heat.”
“That sounds glorious.” I was starting to feel a delightful caffeine buzz. “But unfortunately, we can’t stay here long. If our enemies can recognize this place, they can show up.”
She shrugged. “They won’t recognize the pool. It’s high up on a cliff, and no one knows how to get there. There’s a secret cave entrance on the bottom, so the only way they’d have seen it before would be if they could fly. You can stay there for the day while you figure out your plan of attack. I’ll send over food and clothes and whatever else you need.” She pinned me with her gaze, eyes blazing with intensity. “It really is better in the heat though.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” As soon as she left the room, I caught Samael’s eye. He seemed to trust Emma implicitly, so I supposed I did, too. “Emma, we’re not entirely sure what happened to Sourial. I don’t think we’ll have answers till we find him. We found notes signed with his name suggesting he was working with the Free Men, but—”
Her hand flew to her chest. “He would never work with the Free Men willingly. Not unless he were trying to destroy them from the inside.”
“I agree,” said Samael. “Either that, or someone went to great lengths to frame him.”
Emma shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe the Free Men are taking hostages—Oswald and Sourial—to try to lure you into a trap. Maybe they’re assuming you will rush in and try to save your friends.”
“We know Sourial rushed out of the castle, and we know he was mad at Lilith, but that’s it,” I said. “Maybe he saw the Free Men coming, and they captured him. Or, maybe they can hear my words as well as see through my eyes.” The possibilities were maddening, and I dropped my face into my hands.
“When we go to Belial,” said Samael, “we have to take them completely by surprise. No spies, no seeing into Lila’s head.”
I leaned back in my chair. “So this time, we can’t survey the layout before we arrive. If I go to Belial to investigate, the Free Men will see it from my eyes. If Samael goes without me, I will lose my mind and turn into Evil Lilith.”
Emma smoothed out her dress. “I take it I’ll be riding Kevin u
p to Belial University, then.”
“Kevin?” I asked.
“My horse.”
Samael heaved a heavy sigh. “If you could stake out the landscape, it would be an enormous help.” He shot me a nervous look. “Maybe Emma and I should keep the plans hidden from you completely. You’ll have to stay near me, of course, but you can’t listen.”
“That’s a good idea.” I rose from the table. “They can’t know anything about our plan. But maybe while I am plugging my ears, I can be at the pool Thura mentioned?”
I sat at a table by the edge of a natural pool.
The sun beamed over me. The pool itself was partway up a cliff—with gently moving stream. From the cave, the water flowed into sunlight. At the edge of the cliff, it drizzled off into the Bryne River, dazzling with flecks of amber.
Around the sides of the water, a few trees rustled in the breeze. Thorny greenbrier grew on one side. I’d already collected some of the little dark green berries that grew from the vines. In the depths of my mind, Lilith had told me I could use them.
I sighed in the warm air. On the way up, I’d been blindfolded. The Free Men would have no idea how to get here. So I’d relaxed here for hours, in air that smelled of bluebells and foxglove and orchids.
I glanced into the dark cave. Samael was in there, making some kind of secret plans behind a boulder. Close enough to me so that I wouldn’t lose my mind.
Thura had given me a pile of clothes: black leather trousers and shirts for our mission later, and a thin floral dress for my day by the water. She’d also sent her servants to set up a table for me in the sun—one laden with champagne and fruit juice. I’d never had orange juice before, and it rolled over my tongue, sweet and delicious.
As I drank it, Clyde crossed out from the cave, carrying a tray with a silver dome.
He smiled at me. “Thura wanted to send you fondue.”
What on earth was fondue?
I had my answer when he set it out on the table before me—a metal bowl of melted cheese, with a candle underneath it to keep it hot. Along with it, Clyde set out bread, fruit and vegetables I could dip into the cheese.
“Thank you, Clyde,” I said with reverence. “You are truly a miracle worker.”
As Clyde left me, I dipped a bread chunk into the cheese. When I brought it into my mouth, it tasted like absolute paradise. Frankly, this whole place was paradise.
It was—in all my years of existence, and Lilith’s as well—the most ingenious food setup I’d ever encountered. I took a sip of the bubbly to wash it down.
Did I feel guilty, sitting here with champagne and melted cheese while Sourial and Oswald were in trouble? And Samael was putting forth actual effort to prepare something, and Emma was putting herself in danger? A little. But was there a point in wallowing in guilt? No. So I didn’t feel too guilty.
Using a fork, I dipped a piece of broccoli into the cheese. Truly, this was God’s invention. Divinely inspired.
But maybe I could at least share. “Samael!” I called out. “Are you still working? This is the best thing I’ve ever eaten.”
“Better than the fruit tart?” He called from behind the boulder.
“Yes.”
“I’m not hungry.”
A cool breeze rushed over me, raising goosebumps on my skin. In my thin dress, I still felt a chill in the air.
When my belly was full, I crossed over to the water. If I crouched down and looked out, the pool looked completely flat, with the water flowing right over the lip. When I walked to the edge, I saw a second pool below, where the water cascaded off in a waterfall.
Dipping my fingers in the water, I shivered at the cold. Runoff from the mountain. I could even see a few chunks of ice floating in it.
I owed Thura some favors, didn’t I? I would see if I could, in fact, warm this up for her.
I dipped my legs into the water, shivering at the chill. Then, I closed my eyes and imagined the sun, and a grassy hill rolling down to the river. I pictured a sycamore tree in the full bloom of summer.
As I did, I felt a familiar presence, a magic that rippled over my skin. The particular tree in my mind was somewhere Lilith had been before, hand in hand with the Raven King. They’d spent their summers on a hill in Dovren, long before the city had been fully built. It was the hill where they would later build Castle Hades.
Somehow, I knew that wild cherries grew near here, and that this was one of Lilith’s happy memories. Her past wasn’t all pain and violence and burning. It wasn’t all rage and revenge. When the Raven King was near, she’d glowed. I could even hear the king’s laughter.
As I grew warmer, I had the strange sense that Lilith was starting to settle in me. That she was growing happier, content to live alongside my soul. Maybe she’d once shut her emotions off, but now she could feel again. And she liked it.
When I opened my eyes again, I felt the warm water lapping at my legs. I smiled at the feel of summer all around me. Then, I grabbed my champagne off the table. Time for a bit of a dip.
Reaching down for my hem, I pulled off the dress, and wearing only my underwear, slipped into the pool. It was just deep enough that my toes could touch the slippery rocks beneath me. Sun beamed down on me from the blue sky, and I had a perfect view of the forest and the river from here. I was so high up that I could see all the tops of the trees. Birdsong filled the air, and a few butterflies fluttered around me—bright orange and blue.
“Mind if I join you?” Standing above the pool, Samael pulled off his shirt. I could see that his wounds were healing already. Whatever the healer had done, it had worked amazingly well.
“Yes! Join me.” I wanted him as close to me as possible. “We have a few hours of sunlight left.”
It was hard not to stare at him as he took off his trousers and the rest of his clothes. His body was absolute perfection, tinged with gold in the sunlight.
He lowered himself into the water. His eyes darkened, and he flashed me a seductive smile.
Lila
The warm water lapped at my breasts, and Samael’s gaze dipped. “Did you make it even warmer?”
“Yes! And I saw a vision of the Raven King when I closed my eyes. Lilith used to sit with him on the hill that became Castle Hades. I think that was a good sign. I think we will be successful tonight.”
“The Raven King.” Samael arched an eyebrow. “Is he someone I should be jealous of?”
I smiled at him. “If he weren't dead and buried under the castle, then maybe, if you wanted Lilith’s undying love. But you are my choice, and I think Lilith has warmed to you now, too.”
A smile lit up his face. I’d so rarely seen him smile, and it took my breath away.
“This place is magic,” I said quietly.
He shook his head. “No, you are magic. This was a frozen wintry wasteland before you arrived.”
Samael dipped beneath the water, and when he rose again, I watched the droplets bead on his skin. “I need a pool like this.”
“Yes! When we return to the Iron Fortress, you need to put in something like this. Or a hot tub. What’s the point of being stupidly rich if you don’t have a pool—”
I stopped myself short. Because when we returned to the Iron Fortress and Castle Hades, they wouldn’t be his anymore, would they? The Clovian army and fallen angels would not allow a demon to lead them. “Never mind. This is perfect just where it is. I’ve never been out in nature before,” I said, quickly changing the subject. “But Lilith has. And she loved it. I spent my days in little crowded rooms, or down by the docks, or in streets that stank of smoke and people. Always surrounded by people, by noise and dirt. This is real beauty. Especially with you here.”
“I’m not the faceless hat maker’s mannequin?”
I rested my arms over the smooth ridge of rock. “I’m getting used to it.”
He moved closer, his hands on either side of me. “As the Iron Queen, if you were put in charge, how would you rule Albia?”
“First, a hot
pool. Then I’d make hot baths the people in the East End could use. Bath houses. Do you know that I used to wash myself in a bin with the pervy neighbor peeking over the curtain?”
Samael’s jaw clenched. “I hope you murdered him.”
“No, but I did throw an apple at his head.”
A smile ghosted over his lips. “I may not have the option to rule as king anymore, but I want you as my queen either way.”
The golden sunlight sculpted the perfect planes of his face, and I reached up to touch his cheek. Worry still gnawed at my thoughts. “And you’re okay with being a demon now? You’re not scared we will try to murder each other again?”
His gray eyes were bright as he seemed to consider this question. “I realize now I couldn’t hurt you, even as a demon. After the drudes attacked us, and Lilith wrapped her vines around me, my most basic, primal instinct was to protect you. Even as a demon, even when I thought you might tear my heart out. My overwhelming urge was to keep you safe. I felt the horns emerge, felt my thoughts changing, growing darker. And yet even in my most monstrous state, I wasn’t going to hurt a hair on your head. Maybe that was just the real me coming to the surface at last.”
“Demons can feel,” I said. “We have souls like everyone else.”
His hand stroked slowly down my back, and he pressed his body against me. “Oh I’m certain I can feel. And I like how you feel against me.” His lower lip curved sensually. “The only question is—can you live with the demon of death? And can Lilith?”
I wrapped my arms around his neck. I thrust my breasts against his bare chest, my nipples hard against him. “I think we can live with you, yes. Lilith isn’t as terrible as you think.”
“I might be terrible,” he purred. “But hopefully you’ll get used to it.”
I stared into his eyes, a wicked smile on my lips. “How much time do you think we have until Emma returns?”
Under the water, he ran his hand over my waist, then gently stroked the back of his knuckles over the top of my underwear. “I don’t know. It’s hard for me to think right now,” he murmured.
Possessed (Hades Castle Trilogy Book 3) Page 12