Focus, Lila.
What I did in the next few moments would determine everything.
My gaze flicked to Samael. He was near death, blood streaming down his naked body. An army of bloodthirsty mortal killers were waiting for me to finish him off. They were watching, eyes wide open. Just like they’d told me when they’d spoken to me through magic, they wanted to see his blood spill onto the pavement.
I had to get him out of here now. What if Lilith could take over again? What if she completed the job?
I gripped the knife, my mind roiling. Enemies surrounded me. All except Samael. But when I looked into his eyes, I felt my breath leaving my lungs. His expression was wrathful, merciless. The reaper.
I pulled my gaze away so I could think clearly. I needed everyone here to think I was on their side, that I was still Lilith. Numb and remorseless. I couldn’t show even a hint of my real feelings.
“Lilith?” It was my sister's voice next to my ear.
My traitor of a sister. My fingers clenched into fists, and rage erupted in my chest. I wanted to turn and stab her in the shoulder with this knife, throw her down the cobbled hill. Too bad that would blow my cover.
I had to be Lilith now. Not to mention it would break Mum’s heart again if I killed Alice.
So, I schooled my face into serenity, and flashed Alice my best lethal, Lilith smile. “I will kill him how I want.”
I held out my hand and let the knife dramatically drop to the cobbles.
“I think you should know,” she said sharply, “that we can control your demon army using the Mysterium Liber.”
Shit.
There wasn’t time to worry about that now. Only one thing mattered now, and that was making sure Samael lived. I’d take care of the Free Men after.
For what I planned to do next, I needed him to be unconscious. At the moment, he was rattling his chains, his muscles straining with the effort of breaking free. With the terrifying expression on his face, he looked like he was about to tear off his chains and start murdering everyone—including me. Samael, even in his mortal state, was the most terrifying thing around.
Act fast, Lila.
Time to draw on Lilith’s powers. I crouched down to the stones and began to call forth the nightshade as the hidden music of the city hummed through my blood.
Down by the river, the Tower of Bones
If you’re lost, Dovren is home
The lions are gone; the ravens are dead
The clouds up above, a storm ahead
The beautiful magic of the Raven King wrapped around me. From the snowy ground, leafy plants with purple flowers sprouted, winding into the air and blooming widely.
Deadly nightshade could knock a mortal man out. And Samael, for the moment, was mortal.
I closed my eyes, envisioning the flowers disintegrating and flowing toward him. When I opened my eyes again, I watched the purple flowers turn to dust. A floral mist whirled into the air before me, then swept around Samael’s head. He breathed in the poison.
Alice coughed. “What are you doing? What is this?”
“Poison for my husband.”
Slowly, his eyes began to drift closed. For just a moment, I saw a flash of recognition, like he saw the real me. “Lila,” he murmured. Then, his eyes glazed over again.
My heart clenched.
I held my breath as he slumped to the stony ground. I stared for a moment at the pulse in his neck. I listened to the beating of his heart, hoping no one else was perceptive enough to realize he was still alive. I could now perceive things I hadn’t before.
I wasn’t mortal anymore. The Free Men had brought the demon alive in me.
“Is he dead yet?” Alice was asking. “Did the poison kill him?”
Her voice had always been high pitched, but it never used to bother me. Now, it was like fingernails scraping the inside of my brain.
“Yes, he’s dead. Now be quiet, mortal,” I said in a low voice, a sharp edge in my tone. I could kill her so quickly …
I felt no mercy for the sister I’d once loved.
I pivoted back to the waiting army. Outside, with the large space and the breeze whipping over us, I wasn’t sure I could knock them all out quite as easily as I could someone standing before me. But I could try.
I shouted “The Harrowing begins tonight, and it begins here. Tonight, we purge our city of the scourge that has infested it. Tonight, I lead my army against that scourge. We fight together, and we cleanse this city!”
It was the sort of shit they would say—and I meant it. It was just that they were the scourge.
They raised their fists and torches, screaming “Albia awake!”
* * *
When I closed my eyes, I tuned into the earthy music of Lilith’s magic swelling in the air, from the demonic army, from the plants. Power hummed over my arms, wrapping around me. I felt myself inextricably tied to these animals raised from the ground—the lost ones. They would do what I wanted. At least, until the Free Men took control. I just had to envision it.
I knelt down once more, connecting to the stones. In the recesses of my mind, I pictured the army of wolves and stags turning to attack the mortals. I imagined more nightshade rising from the cracks in the stones—my little army of weeds, blooming from the snow.
I could still hear the crowd chanting, “Albia awake!” They would get what they wanted—the streets flowing with blood—only it would be theirs.
Alice shouted, “What are you doing?”
She was the first to realize something here was amiss, while the others were still chanting, unaware.
I would do as much damage as I could before they got their hands on their pernicious book. I held my breath, hardly daring to move, and the world seemed to slow down. The true Harrowing was about to begin …
The magic of the Raven King sang into my fingertips from the stones. From the depths of my memories, a word rose in my mind, one that meant war. Rybel.
Long buried, the word now knelled in my mind.
Rybel. I opened my eyes and exhaled into the frigid air. Time seemed to move so slowly, the snowflakes sparkling in the moonlight, my icy breath clouding around my head.
I rose and took a step forward. “Rybel!” With a flick of my wrists, I unleashed death.
The demonic stags turned on the mortals, goring them, antlers tearing at flesh. The wolves snarled, leaping for throats. My flowers bloomed, turning to a poisonous dust that floated on the wind. Chaos erupted, screams filling the air. The sharpest among them started to run, fleeing down the dark streets. Some used their torches, trying to keep the animals at bay. Others seemed stunned, still trying to take in what was happening.
From the corner of my eye, I saw blond hair streaming behind as my sister fled. Alice always knew when she needed to get out before anyone else did.
Stag antlers ripped through black shirts, through guts. Claret ran between the stones, little rivers of red. The air smelled of coppery blood, the sharp tang of mortal fear. I looked into the eyes of the mortals before me—some already dulling with the effects of the poison.
As I stared at the battle unfolding, pain shot down my back, like my shoulder blades were ripping open.
For a moment, I thought I’d been attacked, slashed from behind. But when I glanced over my shoulder, I found black feathered wings with veins of silver spread out behind me.
The mortals closest to me had drawn their swords, but the poison was already making them sluggish, confused. And I had the power of Lilith's magic now. Music floated around me, each living thing with its own tempo and its own vibrations. My body sang with dark magic.
I glanced at the vines surrounding the Pillar of Fire. My fingers twitched, and the vines snapped out from the monument, wrapping around the Free Men near me. One tendril at a time, the ropes of plants lifted them up by their necks.
A shiver of sinister pleasure rippled through me.
Once, I had thought the ghost in my room was a nightmare come to life. Turns ou
t, I was the bloody nightmare.
My two girls, so different but so alike. One light, one dark. One good, and one evil.
And yet I would do whatever it took to protect those I loved.
I crouched down to Samael’s unconscious body and lifted him into my arms. Even with my new strength, his enormous body was a strain. But I lifted him on shaking legs, holding him tight.
My wings began to pound the air—an ancient instinct that came to me as easy as breathing, now. Like my army of the dead raging in the streets, my buried powers were rising again.
As the night wind whipped at me, I took flight. Flying felt both strange and familiar at the same time. Dark magic slid through my veins, streamed through my wings. The icy winter wind rushed through my feathers.
Samael’s dead weight was pulling me down, but I didn’t have far to go. I just needed to get into the Iron Fortress, back to where the magical protections would keep us safe.
As I flew, I looked down at the sinuous city streets, where bright-eyed wolf creatures now prowled. The city looked more beautiful than ever. And when I looked to the east, I saw Clovian soldiers—a line of blue marching along the river from Castle Hades. An angel flew at the front of the army, his wings outstretched against the night sky.
Sourial.
Thank God Sourial was here to lead the Clovians, because it might not be long till the demonic wolves were working for the Free Men.
My memories of the last hour or so were hazy—pictures that guttered in my brain like a dying candle. I could see Emma's face in my mind. I knew she was angry with me, that she was stronger than I’d realized. She wasn’t mortal. How Samael had ended up at the monument was a mystery.
Then, another image flickered in my mind, a faint flame. Someone falling …
Horror struck me—it was Samael falling from the window. I’d pushed him and watched him fall. The memory pierced me like a blade to the heart.
I pulled him in closer, watching his chest rise and fall. Snowflakes dusted his dark eyebrows, his hair.
Lilith was powerful, but he was the Angel of Death. If he’d lost a fight to her, it must have been because he wasn’t really trying. Had he been unwilling to hurt her if it meant hurting me?
When I thought of his face, before I’d poisoned him, the knife in my heart twisted further. That merciless look, like he no longer knew me. He’d been turning into the reaper. Would I get my Samael back?
And even if I could, would Lilith let me? I felt as if an axe were hanging above my head, waiting to drop. I couldn’t imagine how furious Lilith must be to realize I gave her demon army over to the Free Men, just to save the life of a man she loathed more than anything.
Another image burst into my mind—Emma lying still on the floor of my room, like a corpse …
I wanted to be sick.
At last, the castle came into view, and I angled my wings. I swooped down toward the gate, trying to coast over it. But as I got closer, pain shot through my body, and I nearly dropped Samael.
I tried to soar over the iron gate, but when I did, I felt my wings arcing, turning me back in the other direction. Searing magic burst and buzzed over my skin every time I got close.
It took me a few moments to understand this was the magical defense keeping me away. I had been able to get in on my own before.
But I wasn’t just Lila anymore.
My arm muscles burned with the effort of carrying Samael. I was no longer welcome here.
So, I circled back around again, outside the castle gates, and touched down by the river walk. It wasn’t even locked, just curling, spiked wrought iron that spread out in each direction, with jagged gaps and an open arch before me. But the magical wards would keep me from crossing through.
“Emma!” I screamed. “Oswald!”
In only took a few more moments for the door to slam open. Emma stood in the castle entrance, the wind toying with her hair. Her dress looked ragged, bloody. Part of me was relieved that Lilith hadn’t killed her …
The other part of me was honestly a little scared. The look on her face was murderous, and she was marching toward me with a knife in her hand.
“Emma,” I shouted, “it's me, Lila!”
“Lila doesn’t have wings!” she shouted back.
“It’s me. You call yourself Seneschal and you want to throw balls here and fall in love. It’s me! I got control from Lilith. Let me in.”
“I’m going to need more than that.”
“We went through the books together, and you helped me read. You fancied one of the pictures of the demons with big horns and then felt bad about it.”
“Okay,” she said tentatively. “It’s you.” Her gaze lowered to Samael, horror creeping over her features. “Did you kill him? Is he dead?"
“No, he’s just unconscious from nightshade. And there’s a battle raging between demons and Free Men and the Clovian army.”
She nodded. “Sourial showed up and roused me out of unconsciousness. I sent him there.”
With a deep breath, she closed her eyes and began chanting in Angelic. I felt a magical electrical hiss pulse over my body, then she beckoned me through the gates.
As soon as I heaved Samael’s enormous body through, his eyes snapped open, and he was on his feet again. Fire blazed in his eyes, golden tattoos gleaming on his cheekbones. Never before had I seen someone shift so fast from unconscious to ready for battle.
He went very still, cocking his head like a strange, primordial creature. I took a step back from him and felt my dark wings retract into my back again. Ouch.
Emma shifted in front of him, her hands out. “It’s Lila. For now. We probably need to lock her up in case Lilith returns. Samael, I can’t look at you. Does no one wear clothes anymore?”
I looked down at my hands. “She’s right. I need to be locked up.”
I glanced at Samael again. The moonlight sculpted his muscled body, and the wind rushed off the river, toying with his hair. Already, his wounds were healing, the blood no longer flowing. He hadn’t moved at all—eerily still, eyes pure fire and locked on me.
“Samael?” Emma shielded her eyes. “Sourial needs you. By the monument.”
“You saw the Free Men, right?” I asked him. “There were a few hundred? I know that’s not all of them. Alice ran away. She said they might be able to control Lilith’s demon army.” I cleared my throat, and clenched my fists. “Sorry for, uh … sorry for raising the demon army.”
Darkness billowed around Samael, staining the air with ink. Instinctively, I took another step back from him. Even if I was back in my own body, I didn’t think Samael quite was. Chains of fire writhed around him, and his dark wings spread out behind his back. The flames in his eyes looked like reflections from the depths of Hell.
At last, he spoke, and his voice tolled like a funeral bell. “We’ll both need to be chained. I crave vengeance and blood.”
Emma stared at him. “Okay, simmer down, reaper. You can get the vengeance and blood as soon as I get your sword and some clothes. Get some pants on for that, you know?” She whirled, heading back into the castle.
I needed to bring Samael back. And as I looked at him—his true face—I realized I was no longer scared of him. I didn’t think this was the real Samael. The real Samael could love.
I closed the distance and pressed my palm against his cheek. “It’s me. Lila.” I wanted to tell him I was exactly the same as I was before, as I was earlier today, when he’d told me I am yours and you are mine. But the fact was that I wasn't.
Memories from a distant past flickered in the hollows of my skull. I felt her pain. “Lilith wants you to know that she did have a soul. And she felt it when you killed her. She didn’t feel the pain. She felt betrayal.”
For a moment, the flames in his gaze died down, and anguish replaced them. He covered my hand with his, and his eyes searched mine.
Then he shuddered and pulled my hand from his cheek. “We are dangerous for each other. We are destined to hurt each
other. And you never had a choice, did you? You didn’t have a choice about coming with me to Castle Hades; you thought I’d kill you. I could have found a mortal willing to marry me. But I trapped you, didn’t I? I thought it had to be you. Of course you tried to kill me. Angel and mortal, or angel and demon—we are from different worlds, and we are destined to hurt each other. In each others’ company, we are dangerous.”
I felt a sort of panic rising, realizing how scared I was of losing him. “I wasn’t trapped here. I chose to be here in the Iron Fortress. I could have left long ago.”
His fingers twitched. “You were locked up here, unable to leave without feeling pain.”
“No, I figured out the fruit was poisoned. The bright red one with all the seeds.”
At last, he said, “Pomegranate. So why didn’t you leave if you knew how?”
“Because I didn’t want to. We’re on the same team, even if we’re different. And I don’t want to leave now. I’m going to be here, chained up, when you get back.” I winced. “Or Lilith will be here.”
A frost chilled the air, and shadows pulsed around him. “Like I said. We’re dangerous for each other. And I can feel the battle calling to me.”
The door opened again, and Emma rushed out, carrying clothes for Samael, and his sword. He pivoted toward her, grabbing the sword and his cloak. He didn’t seem to care about the rest of his clothes.
I watched him wrap the cloak around himself, feeling like my heart was breaking. What if I wasn’t here when he got back? What if it was Lilith?
Emma grabbed me, pulling me toward the door. “You need chains, while you’re still compliant.”
As we got to the door, I looked for Samael. But he’d already disappeared into the night.
The chains clanked as I tried to bring my glass of wine to my lips. The metal chafed at my wrists, and I spilled a bit of claret on myself. “How exactly were you able to get these chains set up so quickly?” I asked.
“You don’t want to know.” Emma paced the room, glancing out the window. “Shouldn’t they be back by now? I hope they kill every last one of them.” She looked at me. “I need him back. And Sourial. Sourial is the most beautiful man I’ve ever laid eyes on, and I intend to make him my husband someday.”
Rapture (Hades Castle Trilogy Book 2) Page 19
