by Cassie Ryan
He quickly put the drawer to rights before he stood, straightened his jacket, and left the room for the last time.
He made his way downstairs and tossed a smile toward Simms who hovered nearby in case he was needed.
The man looked distinctly worried, and Levi hoped for the older man’s sake that Levi’s coming run-in with his mother didn’t negatively affect the man’s employment. Levi might technically own everything around him, including the bank accounts that paid all the salaries, but his mother was the real puppet master, and the staff apparently knew that as well as he.
He turned the knob to the drawing room and stepped inside as four female faces turned toward him.
His mother sat in a high-backed chair holding court with the three ladies who vied for space on an antique settee that he remembered to be distinctly uncomfortable.
“Obediah.” His mother smiled and rose expectantly as if they greeted each other daily and he had just happened to continually miss everyone else’s visits for the past two centuries.
He crossed the room and took her hand as he brushed a quick kiss across her cheek. “Mother.” He turned his attention to the ladies. “Ladies.” He nodded and they stared in return. They had the best gossip scoop in years—they had actually sighted the elusive Duke of Ashford. Mentally grinding his teeth at their expressions of ill-concealed glee, he forced a smile. “I apologize for the interruption, but I’m afraid I need to borrow my mother for a while on urgent business.”
The three women rose in unison, clearly eager to escape and begin to spread the news.
“No problem at all, Your Grace,” the middle one said. She was a tall, attractive woman of around thirty with a distinctly calculating gleam in her eye. “Perhaps we will see you at the charity event tomorrow?” She pursed her lips and gave him what looked to be a very well-practiced “fuck me” look.
“I regret that business will keep me from attending, but I do hope you enjoy it.” Mentally dismissing them, he turned to his mother. “Shall we?” he asked holding out his arm in what probably appeared a very antiquated gesture.
His mother smiled up at him, clearly pleased with his performance of titillating the masses. When she took his arm, he quickly guided her out of the drawing room and down the hall into the breakfast room. Simms would ensure the guests found their way out.
This room too had been updated and now melded the beauty of the past with the elegance and convenience of the present. Although he still hated the long, formal dining table that took up most of the center of the room. He remembered as a small boy sitting on one far side, his mother on the other. He’d always wondered if the entire British Empire would crumble if he sat somewhere else but at the head of the table but hadn’t ever braved society’s wrath enough to find out.
There had never been warmth and caring within these walls. Levi had grown up with duty and appearances and wealth.
The familiar sensation of the loneliness that had engulfed him frequently as a child threatened to rise up and swamp him and he shoved it back with pure willpower. He was now a grown man, old enough to choose his own life rather than only reject one as he’d done so long ago when he left.
“You’ve returned.” His mother beamed up at him and brushed an imaginary piece of lint from his lapel. “I knew you would.”
“Why didn’t you tell me the truth about you and my father?”
His mother stilled, her blank mask falling into place, which was enough to tell him she knew exactly what he meant. “There was nothing to tell that you didn’t already know.” Her voice was flat, her tone clearly indicating the subject was closed—another thing he frequently ignored that continually drove her mad.
“How about that you and Ashford actually loved each other, at least at first? Or how about the fact that he not only knew about the supernatural realm, but he also wanted a son who would live longer than a mortal lifetime?” He clenched his fists to keep from reaching out and shaking his mother. “Or what about the fact that Ashford was actually my biological father? Not the one who gave his blood to allow me to live but the one whose sperm contributed to my existence?” He stepped closer so they were toe to toe as all the pent-up anger and betrayal he’d suppressed since he was a child threatened to explode. “Did it never occur to you that those facts might have been good things to tell your son sometime over his long lifetime?”
His mother raised her chin in a familiar defiant gesture as she stood straight, glaring at him as she had done so often throughout the years. “I don’t know where you heard such rubbish, but all that matters now is that you’re finally home.”
Tense silence sizzled between them and Levi bit back a laugh. He didn’t know why he should be surprised. It wasn’t as if he’d expected his mother to tearfully apologize and finally fill him in on all the details of his life now that he’d broached the subject. Or had he?
He’d come here on a fool’s errand and would walk away with less closure than he’d come with. He should’ve known better from the start. Through clenched teeth he said, “No. I came to make peace with my old life, and hopefully with you.” He met her gaze squarely as her eyes flashed actual fire. “But I suppose neither of those is very likely at this point.”
“Do you mean to tell me you’ve come all this way just to tell me you won’t be returning?” His mother’s voice dripped with icy disdain.
When Levi remained silent, he thought he saw a quick flash of pain in her gaze before she covered it with her normal expression of smug indignation. “Then you needn’t have bothered returning at all. I’ve made my way just fine without you or Ashford for a very long time and will continue to do so.”
A black hole of emptiness opened inside him threatening to swallow him whole. “What will you do if the rumors are true, Mother? What if Armageddon is on its way and everything around you is reduced to dust?” He gestured at the expensive room around them. “You’ve abandoned your place in the demonic realm to cultivate your place in the human one, but you can’t follow them into Heaven, only Hell.”
Hate glittered in her eyes as she glared at him. “Get out. I should never have saved your life. I’d already provided Ashford you as an heir. Beyond that was his problem.” Each word was bitten out as if they tasted sour on her tongue.
Pure willpower allowed Levi to calmly step back and say, “Good-bye, Mother” as he walked out of the breakfast room toward the front door.
He stopped when he saw Simms in the hallway. “Why don’t you bring my mother some tea liberally laced with whatever it is she’s drinking this century? I think she’s going to need it.”
19
Amalya left the portal in Lilith’s lair, and rather than following it through to the human realm directly where a legion of demons were most likely waiting, she edged along the far wall until she came to a long, dark tunnel.
A quick walk down those stone steps and the clammy cold of being deep in an underground cavern clung to her skin and reminded her she was under tons of rock.
Well, since this wasn’t the human realm, she really had no way to know exactly what was above her, but her growing and previously unknown claustrophobia wouldn’t listen. Her breathing came in short pants and her heart raced as she quickened her steps to escape this oppressive place that much sooner.
She’d never had any problem with claustrophobia before, but she admitted it could be because she hadn’t allowed herself to entirely recover before setting out after Levi, sneaking out like a grounded teenager.
But she refused to entertain thoughts of turning back.
She had to find Levi, and then . . .
She still wasn’t sure what she would do when she found him, but there was still time to figure that out.
In the meantime she needed to pay attention and pick her steps carefully. Minutes dragged out and still more darkened tunnel lay ahead of her. Committed to her path, the farther she walked, the more focused she became. The goal of finding Levi became her motivation to place each foot in front of the
other as the prick of betrayal churned into outright anger and indignation.
He’d portrayed himself as someone solid she could depend on. Someone who cared for her and was worthy of her trust.
And then he’d walked away without a word.
Bastard!
She took a deep breath to calm her swirling emotions and glanced up. A tiny speck of light flickered off in the distance in front of her.
The promise of relief beckoned and she resisted the urge to jog forward since she’d most likely fall and break her neck on the damp, slimy rocks.
As she progressed, the light grew and the atmosphere around her became warmer and drier. She let out a long breath as relief pounded through her when she stepped out under a large whispering willow and onto an expansive green lawn.
The ocean sounded in the distance and the taste of salty air sat heavy on her tongue. A large Victorian mansion sat off in the distance, and at any other time, she would’ve longed to explore. All the succubi had heard stories about Uriel’s property, but none to her knowledge had ever gotten to visit or see inside, except Lilith.
However, since she hadn’t been invited and she was using Uriel’s property to sneak back into the human realm, it definitely wasn’t a good time to stop for sightseeing.
She’d overheard several of Lilith’s human male pets talking about this side way out of the lair and back to the human realm. She hadn’t thought any more about it until they’d mentioned that this week Uriel’s lair overlapped the human realm somewhere within the United Kingdom.
Every seven days, the lair would be accessible to a different place within the human realm, and only those with permission to enter could even see the property. But since she was leaving and not entering from the human realm, she was banking on the fact that no permission would be required.
She hoped.
With a quick glance around to ensure she was alone, she skirted the edge of the property, walking along the beach until she saw a fuzzy distortion about twenty feet out. “I hope there aren’t any sharks,” she muttered as she stepped into the cold ocean and gasped as the first icy wave soaked through her tennis shoes and splashed her ankles. “Damn you, Levi. You’ll pay for this.”
She walked forward, a few tentative steps at a time, sucking in a breath each time another wave soaked her more thoroughly than the last. By the time her feet left the ground and she was forced to swim, she was only a few feet from the distortion that hung in the air.
Fighting a wave that tried to pull her back toward shore, she muscled her way past the veil and yelped as she fell forward.
Her cheek smacked into green grass quickly followed by the rest of her body. The impact whooshed the air out of her lungs and she lay dazed for a long moment taking stock and ensuring she could still move.
For the first time since her emotions had overwhelmed her back at the lair, she thought maybe this hadn’t been the best idea. Especially since she hadn’t yet fully recovered, and Jezebeth would be furious when she realized Amalya had left without telling her.
She winced as she envisioned the hurt and anger in her sister’s expression and then shoved the mental picture aside. The quicker she found Levi and returned to the lair, the better.
Amalya slowly sat up, relieved when nothing hurt other than her pride and her cheek. She’d most likely have a bruise to show for her ungraceful fall, but how could she have known that exiting Uriel’s lair inside the ocean would not mean she would enter the human realm still inside one?
Her clothes were sopping wet and she cursed as she slowly stood and wrung them out the best she could. The cold wind sliced through her and she winced as she realized how ill planned her entire trip had been.
There was nothing to be done about it now but to move forward.
She squared her shoulders and glanced around. She seemed to be on a manicured lawn of some type, and since she hadn’t been arrested yet, hopefully it was public land. At least she’d thought to bring some money. She could always barter for more if she ran low, although the idea of having sex with someone other than Levi definitely didn’t hold appeal even if it would help to restore her energy.
She stopped and frowned. When had her preference for Levi become so pronounced that she would turn down sustenance from others?
One problem at a time, she reminded herself as she picked a direction and started forward, her shoes squishing with each step. Now she had to find Ashford House and confront the stubborn man on his own turf. She’d worry about how to get back to Lilith’s lair later.
Halfway across the manicured lawn something cold and slimy slapped across her arm.
Amalya whirled to find a group of shades arching back from her, an angry buzz reverberating through the air. When she realized they weren’t coming any closer, she laughed. “Okay, I take it back. The dip in the ocean might not have been such a bad thing.” She had no desire to nearly die a fourth time in the span of a few days. Besides the obvious downsides, Jezebeth and Levi would never let her live it down and neither would Jethro if he was still speaking to her.
A thread of sadness swirled through her at how things stood between her and Jethro. She truly cared for him and missed his friendship. Lilith had assured her Jethro had made it safely to the other side and was on an errand for her to repay that debt. Hopefully when he returned from wherever he’d been sent, they could talk.
The noise of traffic caught her attention and she left the shades to head toward the sounds. As she crested a hill, she saw a main road below her and carefully made her way down the hillside until she found herself on the sidewalk that ran along the main road.
She hoped she could find a taxi. She would gladly part with some of her cash if it meant a ride straight to Ashford House and Levi.
Nearly twenty long minutes later she found a taxi parked by the side of the road and she leaned in the front passenger’s window. “I’m looking for a ride to Ashford House.” She’d passed through London a few hundred years earlier, but it had merely been a travel stop on her way to France and Spain where she’d spent much of that period in history. She could’ve ridden right past Ashford House back then and not have any idea that’s what she was looking for today.
“Hop in, darlin’. I can drop you at the gates, but you won’t be getting very far looking like that. It’s quite a posh place.”
Amalya dug inside the pocket of her jeans and bit back a curse as she pulled out a fifty-dollar bill. “I only have American dollars, is that all right? You can have the entire fifty if you can get me there.” She held up the bill and he smiled.
“Ashford House is just a few streets over. I’m sure even with exchange rates I can deal with some extra quid jangling in my pockets.”
Within minutes he’d dropped her off in front of the imposing gates of Ashford House and she’d sent the driver on his way with the fifty-dollar bill. Several shades tried to accost her but were repelled by her still-damp clothes and the salt that still clung to her skin from her impromptu dunk in the ocean.
She approached the gatehouse and smiled up at the first guard who immediately raked an appreciative gaze up and down her body. Amalya wasn’t surprised. Even though her clothes were no longer sopping wet, they were still damp and very much plastered to her body. The musky scent of his arousal on the air made Amalya smile and she greedily inhaled it as her skin ached—the succubus version of a stomach growl.
She personally might not be interested in having sex with anyone but Levi, but her body wanted its needs met regardless of the details.
“What can I do for you, love?” he asked her with a quick smile, the endearment reminding her of Levi.
“I’m here to see the Duke of Ashford. Can you please tell him Amalya is here to see him?”
He glanced at her indulgently. “Do you have an appointment?”
She smiled and looked at him from under her lashes. “I realize I look a little bedraggled, but I had to jump into the ocean to avoid a group of shades. I’m really very late for an
appointment with the duke. He’s expecting me.” Which wasn’t a complete lie. She had been in the ocean and it had helped her avoid a group of shades. What he assumed from the rest was entirely up to him.
“Let me check, Miss . . .” Now that she’d given him the impression she was an important appointment for the duke, he expected a last name.
“Lilith,” she said using the name of the queen as she’d done for centuries whenever a last name was required.
He nodded and she turned away while he called the main house to see if Levi would admit her or not.
Within seconds he was back and treating her as if she’d suddenly proved herself queen rather than just an expected guest at Ashford House. “Right this way, miss.” He opened the gate and ushered her through. He left his post and escorted her up to the front doors where he rang the bell.
The wide front doors opened and an ancient-looking butler met her with a deferential nod. “Do come in.” When he’d closed the door behind her he gave no indication he even noticed her bedraggled state. Instead, he motioned toward a long hallway that started just past the bottom of the grand stairway. “Right this way, please.”
She glanced around the large front entryway of Ashford House wondering about Levi when he was a boy growing up here. He hadn’t spoken much about his childhood, but while the place was historic and very beautiful, it was still cold and formal. No wonder Levi had grown up with all the defense mechanisms he had.
After the butler quietly cleared his throat, she realized she’d been standing and staring about her. “Sorry,” she mumbled, and followed the butler down the hall.
He opened a door on the right and ushered her through. “The duchess will receive you shortly, ma’am.”
Duchess?
Caldriel waited until she heard Obediah’s parting remark to someone named Simms before she let loose her temper. Anger burned through her in a searing rush until an explosion of energy mushroomed out from her rattling walls, smashing figurines and vases, and skewing furniture as she screamed.
