"You said that before," I said, looking at him through narrowed eyes. "What do you mean by that?"
He chose to wipe his wet hands on his pants instead of the towel hanging from the oven door.
"The stone master, my father, can release Lilith," he said. "It's his blood and bond that helped entrap her in the first place. But there was always a need for a third-party. Someone needed to have gone to hell and back in order for Lilith to find release from the stone."
I watched him eyeing the cat when she headed in his direction and he took a wary step to the side.
"But why would you build an escape hatch in the first place?" I said. "If she was so damned frightening that you needed to entrap her within a stone, then why would you build a way for her to get out?"
"We didn't build it. Magic just works that way. The energies aren't unidirectional. They stretch out everywhere. They have a mind of their own sometimes. And magic creates its own breathing spaces."
"And the risk was too great," came a voice from behind Maddox. I looked up to see his father pulling on the shirt again. There was a large white spot in the front where he'd obviously rinsed it. He was buttoning it up over a heavily muscled chest with the smoke of grey hair.
"So that's why you hid the stone," I said, thinking that this must have all started with him.
He nodded. "I took the stone with me to the world of the gods, and I entreated them for sanctuary. They allowed me to stay, but I had to give up the stone to fate who said she needed it."
"Kassie," I murmured. The girl who I thought was just a runaway teenager, but who was really the disembodied goddess trio known as the Morrigan. "And now here we are."
"Yes," Maddox said.
"But surely the threat is over," I said. "Your mark has retreated back into nothing more than a silver scar. Your father is safe." I leaned back into the chair. "What could possibly go wrong?"
"The threat is over," his father said. "But the council must now resume. We need to be ready."
"Resume?" I looked from him to Maddox. Maddox looked very unhappy.
"What does that mean?" I said.
"It means now that the stone is no longer in fate's hands, it must return to ours.
Maddox did not look pleased. His other hand dug into his pocket and I could see it was clenched into a fist in there.
I tried to catch his eye, but he stared out over the window, refusing to acknowledge me or his father behind us.
"I can't do it again," he said and at first I thought he was talking to me and angled closer. He looked over his shoulder, raking his glance at his father.
"You were dead," he said. "Gone. The order disbanded. I can't go back to that life."
"You're ordained, Maddox," Doyle said. "You have no choice the way I have no choice."
Maddox shot a look my way, one that made his Adam's apple bob in his throat.
"Things aren't the same anymore," he said.
"No," Doyle said. "They're not. The stone is under siege. The little mortal is in danger."
Maddox swallowed convulsively. He gave a short nod and stared at the cat.
"I know what needs to be done," he said and heaved a sigh. "I'll prepare."
Doyle placed a quiet hand on Maddox's shoulder.
"You won't," he said. "I can't live through another loss," he said. "I'll go."
Maddox flung his hand off, spinning on his heel to put distance between them.
"No, Dad," he said. "You said yourself that we have a duty. Yours is not to do the soldiering. It's what I was made for. What we sacrificed for. I'll collect it."
I had no idea what remained unspoken between the two of them, but I realized one thing. It was a knowledge that gripped my heart with dread because no matter what Kindred he was, no matter his creed, his powers, the things he would face now would be on my head. And I knew exactly what he planned to do.
Maddox was going to hell to retrieve the stone.
CHAPTER 22
There wasn't much I could do to help Scottie and I knew it. Maybe a different Isabella, the one borne of a decade of abuse and petty thievery might have opted to leave him to his own devices and his own fate.
Then there was Maddox
He might be an immortal, one that had possessed abilities I still didn't understand, but I'd seen Kassie—a goddess—ensnared in Lucifer's realm. I'd made my way out only because of fate and fortune.
It would be easy to let Maddox cross the threshold and bear all the burden of a mistake I'd made. It was an ignorant mistake, yes, but it still needed to be rectified. It was my fault he was going to have to do so. I couldn't wear that guilt.
The younger Isabella, the one filled with hope, chasing after a man she thought might be able to save her from herself, that one wanted to find some sort of innocence again. Some way to burrow back into a world that dreamed of compassion and hope.
That was the Isabella who tapped me on the shoulder and begged me to remember that taking control of her own life also meant walking forward into it with a clear conscience.
It was my fault Scottie had that stone in the first place. It was my fault Maddox planned to cross the threshold to retrieve the stone.
I didn't care what Maddox or Doyle might think, whether or not they would try to stop me. I had to fix what I'd messed up.
But how? I certainly couldn't just step over a threshold into hell, nor did I want to. The thought of it terrified me. The only way that I knew of for a mortal to enter that realm was either through the magic of the stone or death.
But were there are other ways? Other beings – Kindred, as Fayed called him – that could step across that threshold?
The Morrigan could. She'd come to claim me from Lucifer, citing that she had a blood bond with me and offered up a replacement in my stead that would please him just as much, if not more, than having a breathing mortal in his realm to play with.
I chewed my lip, thinking. I hadn't seen the Morrigan since. Or even Kassie for that matter. The goddess had renounced her powers and separated into three aspects as penance for her role in ChuCulain's death and transport to hell. Wherever she was, or whether or not she was reintegrated or in her separate aspects, she was the only chance Scottie and Maddox had.
I hadn't seen her, hadn't heard from her, and if she'd gone into hiding, then she no doubt didn't want to be found. But I wasn't the only one looking for her, and I realized it as I sat there. Fayed also wanted to know where she was.
He wanted his progeny back and as far as he knew, the Morrigan had her. When he'd tossed Kelliope the fae assassin out of his bar, had he hired her to help him find the goddess who stole his progeny from him.
Fayed would know as well as I did, maybe even better, exactly how good Kelliope's tracking skills were. She'd managed to find Kassie and had dragged her into the shadow bazaar. Used her for bait to get me to turn over a priceless artifact.
There was no question about it: I needed to go back to Fayed's bar and feel him out. Find out if he had managed to hire the assassin.
The plan wasn't perfect by any stretch. It was entirely possible that Kelly had found the Morrigan and told Fayed that his progeny was Lucifer's new plaything. In that instance, asking Fayed for any information would be about as useful as a spigot on Niagara Falls. There was no way he was going to tell me anything when I was the reason the Morrigan took his progeny in the first place.
He might already be disposed to hate me, to want vengeance, and I'd seen the feral look in his eye when he thought about revenge on Ismé's behalf.
Walking into a vampire bar was risky enough, but before I had Fayed watching my back. Exactly how inclined to protect me would he be if he knew Ismé was in hell on my ticket.
I knew backtracking my way to Fayed's bar this close to dawn was a risky endeavour. He hadn't said so, but I suspected the basement of his bar to be a hostel of sorts to rogue vampires all over the city. That made the danger doubly risky.
I started rummaging through my cupboards, and complaining
I was dying for Chinese food. Maddox had taken to pacing, running through a list of things he would need to do to prepare to pull out onto his highway to Hell.
Maddox didn't seem impressed at my declaration, but Doyle licked his lips.
"Sweet Jesus," he said. "I haven't eaten in days."
"Order in," Maddox said.
"You don't understand," I said. "I'm a regular, and if I schmooze up the son, he always gives me a big container of wonton soup."
"I love wonton soup," Doyle said. "Go, child. Go quickly."
Maddox crossed his arms over his chest. "Trust a thief to find ways to steal from the poor."
"They're not poor," I said. "They're the best place in the city."
I opened my smart phone and tapped my destination into the Uber app. Three minutes later, they were stopped in front of my step. I grabbed my bag and slung it over my shoulder amid protests from Maddox that I shouldn't be going out alone.
"How dangerous can it be?" I said. "I'm getting in a car and going directly to point A. I'll be getting in a car at Point A and coming directly back here. By the sounds of it your preparations are going to take hours. Should we starve while we wait?"
His palm sealed over the seam in the door as he scowled down at me.
"We're not in the bazaar," he said. "I have no way of tracking you or keeping you safe."
I put on a big show of impatience, heaving a heavy sigh and rolling my eyes.
"Then come with me," I said, hoping he wouldn't take the bait. "The line ups aren't that long. And there's usually only two or three families with screaming kids."
Doyle threw an empty can at him. "Maybe your body can live off all of your fat," he said. "But a body with this much muscle chews up energy pretty quick. If I don't eat soon, my metabolism is going to start chowing down on my liver. And I hate liver."
Maddox rolled his eyes heavenward and I had the feeling they had argued like this too many times in the past for him to appreciate it.
Maddox's lips pressed together in a thin line and he pushed himself off from the door.
"Direct," he said.
I nodded. "Direct to my destination and back. Not a single side-trip." It wasn't really a lie.
I grabbed my satchel from beside the door, and yanked on the handle, knowing full well I'd slipped my replica stone in the bag when neither were looking.
I fled down the stairs before they could change their mind and I waved to Maddox who was peering from behind the curtain at me. Then I slipped into the back of the Uber.
"Rot Gut Alley," I said.
I caught the driver's eye in the rearview mirror.
"I don't go that far," he said. "Get another driver."
"Just take me as far as you do go," I said.
In the end, he dropped me off three blocks away. I checked my watch. 4:30 AM. I checked the skyline for signs of sunrise.
Nothing pink in it anywhere. Hopefully, that meant Fayed was still awake and prowling or whatever vampires like him did.
The short walk to the Rot Gut Tavern was brisk. I didn't want to tarry any longer than was necessary, and the rats were already scurrying along the graffitied walls and carrying off bits of trash bigger than they were. For some reason, this part of the metro grew them big.
When I opened the door to the bar, Fayed was over his counter in a heartbeat, placing both of his hands on either side of me, pinning me to the wall.
I could feel my heart hammering in my chest. I stared up at him, doing my best to look casual and unafraid. His nostrils flared, no doubt scenting my fear. I could feel every muscle tense up as I waited to see a flash of fang.
"You're all right," he said.
I was pleased that I managed not to sag out my relief all at once.
"Of course I'm alright, I said, ducking beneath his arms and heading toward a stool. I jumped on it as though there was nothing more to my visit than a casual visit.
I could hear him spinning around behind me. "The last I saw of you, you were supposed to meet me."
I looked over my shoulder at him. He was supposed to help me wrest the stone from Scottie's possession. He was going to be my muscle. In all the hubbub, I'd forgotten that.
"Sorry about that," I said. "It was foolish of me to ask. I wasn't thinking that you couldn't possibly help me in the daylight." I hung my bag on a peg jutting out from the bar. "You know, you being a vampire and all."
He nodded slowly. "I would've thought you'd consider that before you asked me."
"I guess I'm not used to all this nightly supernatural stuff."
"So you're telling me that thieves do all their dirty work in the day?"
I laughed, a forced chuckle that I didn't feel, but that was for his benefit.
"The bar looks undamaged," I said, twirling around on the stool and scanning the premises. "I would've thought Kelly had torn the place into splinters," I said. There. It was out there. I prayed he'd pick it up.
He raked a hand through his hair.
"She very nearly did. She only gave up after I helped her subdue the crossbreed."
He came around to my right and settled himself on the stool next to me. He laid his arm against the counter.
"That was smart of you," I said, careful not to meet his eyes. The last time he'd explained about his compulsion, and now I felt as though the smart thing to do was avoid direct eye contact.
"Nothing smart about it," he said. "It was pure self-preservation." He grinned. "But it did at least net me some information."
This was what I was hoping for. My heart jumped.
"You mean about Kassie?" I said.
His fingers walked toward my hand. He tapped each fingernail thoughtfully.
"I had no idea she could be so amenable."
"Don't tell me what you did with the poor crossbreed," I said.
He smiled.
"So did she find the Morrigan for you?"
I held my breath as I waited for the answer.
"She did. Sort of."
"And that means –"
"It means the Morrigan has divested herself of her aspects again. Renounced her powers. She's useless again as a goddess."
I groaned inwardly. I'd expected as much. Guilt like that didn't just evaporate like steam. It took hellfire and the threat of having my soul eaten to do that.
"So she's more no more than a body again," I guessed.
"Body, mind, and shade."
He turned my hand over so that the palm faced up. He poked his finger into the middle. "She has no idea where the body is, but the shade moves around wherever it wants."
"So you did find her," I said.
His jaw clenched. "Yes. Apparently she sold my progeny to the devil."
My heart skipped. "How do you know that?"
"She admitted it to Kelly," he said. "I paid the assassin to track her using her power. She had a taste of it from before you see." He gave me a beady eye. "I think you might know something about that."
His intense gaze was too much for me to hold and I dropped my eyes to his mouth instead. I was sure if I didn't he'd read the entire history of my trip to Hell in them. Heck, he might even compel me to detail it all, and the last thing I wanted was to revisit that nasty bit of business.
Especially since I was guilty as charged. Kassie had used his progeny to rescue me and I'd not felt one bit of guilt at the time. I just knew I wanted rescued any way I could get it, and Isme had cheated her way out anyway.
As far as I was concerned, Hell was her home. She'd earned it. Not that I would tell that to Fayed.
I decided the best truth was the closest truth.
"I know more than I'd like to be honest." I withdrew my hand. "Did she say why she sold your progeny?"
While I certainly knew the answer, I needed to know if he did. If he was going to still be my friend after all this. Because if he wasn't, I needed to rethink the entire plan.
"Not sold." He tapped the middle of my palm again. "Bartered. One useless vampire for a mortal about to chan
ge the worlds she said."
Those eyes landed on mine, and I met them without thinking, unable to help myself. He had the most gorgeous eyes. Moss green irises turned black and then silver and then black again.
"What are you planning Isabella?"
I spoke without meaning to. There was no hesitation, no thinking that I shouldn't confess. It just came out like breath.
"I want to rob Lucifer of another soul he shouldn't have. One that I sent there and I need to fix it."
Fayed's expression hardened, transforming the handsome features into something dark and ugly. His lips pressed together.
"My guess is if you want to fix it – you have to barter with something of equal or greater value."
No word of warning, no begging me not to do something foolish.
I had a feeling I knew what it was. Lucifer did not like to give up anything. But I had to ask. I had to be sure.
"And what would that be?" I said.
"Your soul."
CHAPTER 23
I had no intention of trading my soul for Scottie's – heck, I'd already given him a good deal of it already, along with almost a decade of my life. But if a soul was necessary to fix all this mess and and clear my conscience, I'd find a way to get it without putting anyone else in danger, without subjecting Maddox to it.
And the only person I knew that might be able to help was was not quite human.
Absalom had wanted me for a conduit when the stone was available. Surely Scottie would be a suitable replacement now that it was in Hell. I just had to convince Absalom that since the stone was no doubt in Scottie's grasp somewhere in that straddle of line between chaos and fire, that he could kill two birds with one blood-drenched stone.
And, of course, leave me out of the whole affair of ritual and soul-eating.
Fayed was giving me a strange look. "What's going on in there?" he said.
I tried to smile at him. I couldn't tell him what I planned. He'd never understand, even if he did want his evil progeny back. She was his evil progeny. Scottie was a mortal who didn't deserve to live in Fayed's opinion. Maybe he didn't. But that wasn't my call.
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