Beezle landed on a tree branch, looking super grouchy. “What in the four hells has been taking you so long? I’ve been looking for the stupid Maze for the last two days.”
“Two days?” I said. I hadn’t realized that much time had passed. “What were you doing looking for me, anyway? I thought you’d given me up as a lost cause.”
“Don’t be a dork, Maddy,” Beezle scoffed, grooming one of his wings and studiously avoiding my eyes. “I’ve never given up on you yet.”
I blinked and felt a tear rolling down my cheek. Beezle looked up and frowned.
“Well, don’t get all sappy about it, all right? I’m here now, we’re reunited, I knew you would succeed, yay. And who’s the big fella holding on to Gabriel?”
“Samiel,” I said.
He crinkled his forehead. “The son of Ramuell and Ariell?”
I nodded.
“The one who tried to kill you?”
“Twice,” I said.
“Is there a reason why he’s walking along next to you like he’s out for a Sunday stroll?”
“He’s coming home with us,” I said. I wondered what Lucifer would think of that.
“What are we, some kind of halfway house for nephilim children?” Beezle said. “I hope he doesn’t like popcorn, because I’m not sharing any of mine.”
I smiled at Beezle as he settled on my shoulder. “Don’t worry. There will be enough popcorn for everyone, especially you.”
He glanced down at my left hand, the cauterized and bloody remains of my last two fingers. “I thought you told me you’d come back in one piece.”
“I’ve still got all the pieces that matter,” I said.
“Let’s go shock the hell out of Amarantha,” he said, shifting around to make himself more comfortable. “Wake me up when we get there.”
17
TO SAY THAT WE CAUSED A STIR WHEN WE ENTERED the throne room would be an understatement. I threw the doors open and strode ahead of Samiel. I must have been a sight to see—my torn clothes, my missing fingers, my face swollen and blackened from Samiel’s punches, and trailing behind me a strange half angel carrying Gabriel.
Amarantha was perched on the edge of her throne when we entered. Focalor sat beside her on a low stool, and he had obviously just said something to make her laugh when I entered. When she saw us, the smile faded from her face. Focalor blinked at me in surprise.
I came to a stop before them, the assembled courtiers whispering all around us. Samiel sidled up to me and pressed his arm against mine. I could tell that the crowd made him nervous and I gave him a reassuring little shoulder bump.
Amarantha and Focalor stared at me.
“Surprised to see me?” I asked.
“How did you survive the Maze?” Focalor asked, standing. “Where is Antares?”
“Antares is in the cage that used to hold Gabriel,” I said. “And I’ll be calling Azazel ASAP to pick up his wayward son, so if I were you, I would clear out of here before he arrives. You’ll probably want to pick the time and place for your groveling.”
Focalor came down the stairs toward me, and I actually could see steam emitting from his nostrils. I wondered vaguely if he could breathe fire. His breath stank of brimstone and I could feel heat emanating from his body. It was like standing too close to a furnace.
“I will not grovel to Azazel or anyone else. If you survived the Maze, then it was by trickery. Queen Amarantha assured me that no human could possibly withstand its powers.”
I raised my eyebrow at Amarantha, who actually cringed. “Did she, now? I’d hate to think that the queen purposely sent me into the Maze with the intention of killing me by proxy.”
“Of course I did not,” she said regally, but there was fear in her eyes. “You agreed to the terms of the contest, just as did Antares.”
“But you had no intention of actually negotiating with Lucifer even if I did win. It seems that while I was away you and Focalor have gotten quite close.”
“It is my right to do as I please in my own court,” she snapped.
“And it is my right as ambassador to Lucifer to call you false, to say that you have conspired against him and me from the beginning, that you have attempted to sow discord in my party using magic, that you have committed grievous offense by hosting Focalor under his own banner and accepting, even temporarily, a thrall of Azazel’s as your own prize. To say nothing of your other intentions,” I said, and let that hang unsaid between us for a minute. I didn’t want her to think I’d forgotten about her plan to have a child of Lucifer’s bloodline.
She stood from her throne, her face pinched and white. “You will not speak to me thus in my own court.”
I shouldered Focalor aside and strode up to her. “I will do as I please. You have broken the laws of etiquette of your own kingdom, you have risked the safety of humanity on a war for your own pleasures, and you have deliberately tried to murder me. Lucifer is not going to buy that you were a neutral party in all of this. He’s going to hold you responsible for encouraging Focalor.”
“I do not fear Lucifer,” she said through her teeth.
“You should,” I said softly. “If you don’t, then you’re dumber than I thought.”
“Leave this court, Ambassador. You are no longer welcome here,” she said angrily.
“Gladly,” I said and turned on my heel. Then I turned back. “Almost forgot.”
I slapped her across the face.
“How dare you,” she said, her face livid.
“I dare because your actions have betrayed you as a selfish, spoiled brat with no thought other than that of your own desires.”
“We will have a score to settle, Madeline Black,” Amarantha hissed.
“Bring it on, bitch. There isn’t anything you have that I haven’t seen before.”
Then I turned away from her and strode toward the doors.
The court was deathly quiet as I walked out, Samiel still carrying Gabriel and glued to my side. As I reached the doors, I suddenly heard the sound of applause.
I turned back to see Wade grinning at me and clapping his hands. He winked when I acknowledged him, and I gave him a little bow.
Then I walked out of Amarantha’s court, hopefully forever.
As soon as the doors closed behind me, I felt my body slump.
“You can’t collapse yet,” Beezle whispered. “Wait until you’re alone.”
“Right,” I said, struggling to stay on my feet. “Too bad I don’t know how to get back to our room.”
“I can help with that,” J.B. said from behind us.
It didn’t hit me until I saw him how scared I had been in the Maze, or how happy I was to be alive and not insane. It didn’t hit me until I saw his face, so reassuringly normal, and the relief that was evident there.
I threw my arms around him and pressed my face into his neck.
“Well, hey, there,” J.B. said.
I didn’t say a thing, just held on tight.
“I’m glad you’re alive,” he whispered.
“Me, too,” I said, swallowing so that I wouldn’t cry into his neck. I knew that eyes were still watching us, even if I couldn’t see them. I spoke softly into his ear, so that only he could hear. “Would you just hold on to my arm for a little while? I feel dizzy all of a sudden.”
“That won’t be a hardship,” he said, and then he looked at Samiel. “Who’s the new guy?”
I sighed. “Samiel.”
His eyebrows winged up. “Samiel, who tried . . .”
“To kill me, yes, but it was all a misunderstanding and it’s okay now, so can you just get me somewhere I can sit down?” I said.
“I’m so glad that you’re still you,” J.B. said dryly, and helped me to my room.
As soon as I entered my room, the connecting door swung open. Nathaniel stood there, looking utterly amazed. Then he seemed to collect himself.
“I don’t know why I am constantly surprised by you when all you ever do is exceed expectations,�
� he said.
He seemed like he’d healed up a little more in the past two days. I was still angry with him, even though I knew that at least part of what happened had been a spell of Amarantha’s. But that jealousy and anger had already been inside him, even if he would never have acted upon it.
And it was hard to look at him without thinking of what happened in the Maze. Still, I owed him a debt for giving me the sword.
“Thank you for the gift,” I said sincerely. “I wouldn’t have survived without it.”
“I am glad that you did survive. Although I see that you left something of yourself behind,” he said, indicating my hand.
“Oh, that wasn’t the Maze. That was something else,” I said, not wanting to get into it. Somehow I had a feeling that all the men in the room would think worse of Samiel if they knew he had chopped off two of my fingers. “Listen, are you strong enough to heal Gabriel? He’s in a pretty bad way.”
Nathaniel looked like the request did not thrill him, but he did as I asked. He seemed different now, somehow humbled. I wondered if it would take or if he would go back to being a pain in my butt once he returned to Azazel’s court.
I desperately wanted to sit down, to rest, but I needed to get out of Amarantha’s court more than I needed sleep. I asked J.B. to get us a car while I packed up.
Nathaniel managed to produce some clothing for Gabriel and Samiel to wear, since they were both clad in nothing but a strip of cloth across their privates.
Samiel seemed bewildered by the mechanics of putting a shirt on over his wings, and Nathaniel was oddly patient while he showed Samiel how to fold his wings through the openings in the back. Samiel was built on a wider, more muscular scale than Nathaniel so the clothing strained at the seams.
Fifteen minutes later all of us, including J.B., were squished in a car with Amarantha’s half-troll driver. I didn’t ask why J.B. was leaving with us when it was his mother’s court and she could probably use his support. I understood wanting to get away from a parent. It was exactly how I felt whenever Azazel was around.
I could tell that they all wanted to ask me what had happened in the Maze. Five pairs of eyes looked at me expectantly, but now that we were finally seeing the back of Amarantha and the stupid faerie court I felt myself drifting off to sleep.
“Will someone call Azazel and tell him where to find Antares?” I mumbled, and then I went out.
The next thing I knew Gabriel lifted me from the car. The night air was cold, and I shivered as it touched my skin. I was still wearing a sleeveless shirt and cutoff pants—not exactly appropriate for winter in Chicago.
Samiel and Beezle got out with us, and I indicated to Gabriel that he should put me down. I stuck my head inside the open car door and saw J.B. and Nathaniel glaring at each other. Nathaniel’s face was bruised and both eyes blackened.
“What happened?” I asked.
“Nothing for you to be concerned with,” Nathaniel said curtly. “I will speak with you soon, Madeline.”
“Uh, okay,” I said. I looked at J.B. “See you soon?”
“Now that your little adventure in the court is over, you’re back on the clock, Black,” he said. “So expect to see your usual letter with your pickups tomorrow.”
“All right, Cranky,” I said, slamming the door. What happened to the sweetheart I’d known at the faerie court? He was back to being J. B. Bennett, world’s worst boss.
The driver had dropped us in the same place he’d picked us up—the alley. The car pulled away and Samiel meekly followed Gabriel and me through the backyard and up to the porch. Nathaniel had been as good as his word. A shiny new door hung in place of the one he had torn out of its frame. It was probably a lot nicer (read: more expensive) than one I would have bought myself. This one was actually properly insulated and weather-stripped and everything. And bonus—Nathaniel had been smart enough to make the new lock fit my old key.
I glanced questioningly at Beezle as we all headed up the stairs.
“What’s up with Nathaniel’s face?”
“You were crying out in your sleep,” Beezle said. “And all the men in the car interpreted those cries correctly. Well, Gabriel and J.B. did. I’m pretty sure Samiel thought it looked like fun to hit Nathaniel because everyone else was.”
I felt my face redden in embarrassment. I had not wanted Gabriel to know about Nathaniel’s attempted assault on me. He didn’t say anything as we entered the apartment, and I wondered why he was being so cold all of a sudden. I realized he had barely said a word to me since Nathaniel had healed him.
I dropped my bag in the kitchen and slumped into one of the dining room chairs. “I feel like I could eat a whole pig.”
“Barbecue sounds good,” Beezle said hopefully.
I thought about the tiny amount of money in my checking account that was not Azazel’s. We could probably order out but we wouldn’t have much left over for anything else important until I got a paying job again. On the other hand, I wasn’t capable of cooking anything more strenuous than toast at the moment.
“Bring me the phone,” I sighed.
Beezle clapped his hands together in delight and flew to the portable phone. Gabriel and Samiel watched me in silence. It was eerie. Neither of them looked like Ramuell, thank goodness, so they didn’t resemble each other as siblings. But they wore identical expressions of expectation.
“What are you going to do about Samiel?” Gabriel asked.
“He can live here,” I said.
“And how are you going to explain that to Lord Lucifer and Lord Azazel?” Gabriel replied. “At the very least, he should be brought before the courts for the crime of releasing Ramuell.”
I’d kind of forgotten about that. “Technically, I suppose, he was responsible. But you know that it was Ariell who was controlling him and Ramuell both.”
Gabriel shook his head stubbornly. “The Grigori will not see it that way. He released Ramuell and created portals to draw the nephilim back. He was responsible for his own actions.”
“Are you seriously trying to tell me that I should throw Samiel to the wolves? Don’t you have any compassion at all? Azazel successfully argued to spare your life when you were a baby. Why wouldn’t I be able to do the same for Samiel?” I couldn’t believe he was acting like this. Samiel was his half brother, for crying out loud.
“I was innocent when Azazel saved me. Samiel has committed a crime. That compounds the sin of his birth. He must go before the assembly of the Grigori to face judgment,” Gabriel said.
Samiel watched this argument avidly. I wasn’t sure how much of it he was getting but I already suspected that he was a pretty adept lip-reader. His eyes were wide as he turned his head back and forth between Gabriel and me.
“Why are you trying to pick a fight about this?” I said angrily. “You know I would never consent to such a thing. Samiel stays here with us. End of story.”
“No, it is not the end of the story. I have told you time and again that you do not comprehend Lucifer’s kingdom. His law and his word are absolute. There is no flexing of the rules. Samiel must pay for his crimes.”
Gabriel was white as the moon as he said this, and the corners of his eyes looked tight. Something else was going on.
“This is not about Samiel,” I said. “What the hell crawled up your butt and died? You’d think you’d be happy and grateful that I saved your ass from being used by Amarantha for all eternity.”
“I am indeed happy and grateful, mistress,” Gabriel said tightly.
“What’s with the mistress business?” I said.
“I was Azazel’s thrall until I was taken by Samiel and given to Focalor. Then I was Focalor’s thrall. Then I was Amarantha’s thrall. You have won me from the Maze as your prize; therefore, I am now your thrall,” he shouted.
I looked at him in dawning comprehension. “You belong to me now.”
“Yes.”
I shrugged, relieved that this was all he was upset about. “So I’ll free you, and t
hat’s that taken care of. No big.”
Gabriel stalked forward, his eyes an exploding field of stars on a canvas of black. “You do not understand. It is like you deliberately choose not to understand. How many times must I tell you that Lucifer’s law is the only law? I am a thrall in his kingdom; therefore I am always a thrall. You cannot free me. Only Lucifer can do that.”
“So I’ll ask him to free you,” I argued.
“Which he will not do. It would set a dangerous precedent.”
“Well, so the hell what?” I shouted, losing my temper. “Isn’t it better to be my thrall than Azazel’s or Amarantha’s? You know I won’t abuse you like they would. I’ve always treated you like my equal anyway.”
“But I am not your equal,” Gabriel said, and his jaw was clamped tight. “I will never be your equal. And do you think that I could stand before you as a lover, knowing that I am always below you, that I must submit to your will above my own? Could you accept me thus, never knowing if I was telling you what was in my heart or just what you wanted to hear?”
The anger ran out of me in a rush, my temper deflated. I hadn’t thought about Gabriel’s status in those terms, or really thought about it at all. I’d been so focused on getting him back, and yes, I’d pictured a lot of happy canoodling once we were reunited.
But I didn’t think I would be his mistress. I didn’t think that he would be my slave. It didn’t matter if I treated him as an equal. The fact of his thralldom would always stand in our way.
“Now do you see? You may have kept me from Amarantha, but now my status is a bigger impediment than before. At least before I felt I could speak my feelings to you freely, even if I was unable to act upon them,” he said bitterly.
“You still can,” I said fiercely. “Nothing is going to change between us.”
“Everything already has,” Gabriel said. “And I would advise you not to become too attached to Samiel, for the Grigori will come for him, sooner or later.”
“They won’t take him from me,” I said, and I looked at Samiel as I said it. It was a promise from my heart. “They won’t take you from me. You’re safe here.”
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