by Jaye Wells
The same claw that hit me grabbed a handful of hair to lift me off the ground. Eurynome’s gravelly voice sounded next to my ear. “Where’s your pet now, bitch?” He raised a claw to hit me again, but Lavinia’s voice stilled his hand.
“Enough! We want to be sure there’s enough left of her for the Master.” To the rest of the bad guys she called, “Take them all inside. It’s time to begin the summoning rites.”
The stained-glass dome depicted scenes from the Garden of Eden. Not the story mortals know from their Bible, but the story of Lilith and Adam, the Great Mother’s exodus to the Red Sea and her eventual union with the outcast Cain.
Hundreds of candles lit the rotunda. Set in niches and along the floor, their light cast menacing shadows on the faces of statues standing guard along the perimeter.
Brass chains scraped my wrists and ankles. A linen gag choked my throat and abraded the sensitive corners of my mouth. Cold air raised gooseflesh on my arms and legs, which were exposed thanks to the flimsy ankle-length tunic they’d forced on me.
Turning my head on the black marble slab, I looked across an expanse of polished stone floor to the slab holding the prone body of my sister. The Caste members had dressed her in the twin to my gown, but the fabric nearly engulfed her emaciated frame. She looked too still lying there, too brittle. She hadn’t made a sound since passing out after the vamp struck her. Part of me hoped she remained unconscious during whatever horrors our grandmother had planned for us.
Lavinia entered leading a procession of her flunkies. Eurynome and the Caste members came first with their golden eight-point-star pendants flashing in the light. Behind them, the robed and hooded Brotherhood silently followed, chanting low over the candles they each carried.
At the end of the dark procession, I spied a flash of golden hair and bare flesh. My chest ached. Lavinia probably got some sick glee out of stripping Adam and forcing him to wear nothing but a scrap of fabric around his waist. Hoped to degrade him. But the truth was, he’d never looked stronger than with his head raised high as the Brothers led him to his death. The Hekate’s Wheel on his lower stomach stood out in sharp contrast to the stark white of the cloth over his hips.
His eyes flicked to mine. For a brief instant, I swore I saw a trace of longing and regret in the green depths. But the Brother leading him shoved at his back, forcing him to stumble. He regained his balance quickly, but he moved out of my line of sight. I craned my neck, trying to see him again, but Lavinia moved in, filling my vision.
An icy finger ran down my cheek. She leaned over me with a swish of silk and the scent of dirty pennies. “I’ve changed my mind,” she said. My eyes flared, but inside I knew better than to hope her next words would be our salvation. “Even though I’d love to make you watch as I drain your mancy lover, I’ll admit I detest the flavor of mage blood. It has its benefits, naturally, but the taste is just,” she shuddered, “vile.”
She pulled away. “But this opportunity is too good to waste. Luckily, the perfect solution presented itself.” She snapped her fingers. Three Brothers rushed forward and begun loosening Maisie’s bonds.
I shouted against the gag and jerked against my own chains.
“Having your sister feed from your lover is just good sense. Because you took so long to find her, she’s weak and in desperate need of blood. A good feeding will restore her enough for the rites. And, well, the poetic justice is just delicious.”
I fought harder. The fabric muffled my screams into impotent moans and the metal dug into me until blood ran freely. Lavinia patted my shoulder. “I’m thrilled to see you agree.” Turning to the Brothers, she called, “Begin.”
The men slapped Maisie’s face until she woke with a start. Her body had already used up the little bit of blood she’d consumed and now yearned for more. Three more Brothers came forward to help restrain her. She fought against them like a berserker, all claws and fangs.
Lavinia groaned, clearly annoyed by the complication. “Eurynome, please assist the mortals.”
The Avenger demon emerged from the clump of beings. His hooves stomped against the stone, and his ram’s horns lowered with purpose. He pushed the mortals out of the way. He subdued Maisie easily, wrapping his arms around her like steel. Then he lifted, carrying her toward Adam.
Two vampires grabbed Adam’s arms and pushed him forward. Now that he could see what was happening, his composure fled. His hands were bound, so he used his shoulders and head to fight. For his insolence, he received a fist to the gut. As he fell to his knees, I strained against my bonds. Tears streamed down my face, and my throat burned from muffled screams.
Lavinia clapped and nodded to the vamp to Adam’s right. He unsheathed a knife. Adam saw the glint of metal and shied away. The blade slashed across the skin just above his heart. Blood bloomed and spilled down his chest and his abdomen to stain the white fabric.
The scent of blood hit Maisie like an electric shock. She strained and hissed in Eurynome’s grasp, eager to feast.
“Release her,” Lavinia said. The second the demon loosened his grip, Maisie flew at Adam. I squeezed my eyes shut as bile and tears choked me. It was bad enough to hear what was happening, to hear Maisie’s greedy sucking and Adam’s agonized groans. But Lavinia was determined to milk every possible ounce of pain from this moment. She pried my lids open, holding my head captive with her arms. Forced me to watch my twin bent over the neck of the male I loved.
“Look at what you’ve done to them,” Lavinia whispered. I jerked my head, desperate to block out the sight of Maisie’s red-and-black head bobbing against his chest. So much blood. Too much. A grimace of pain contorted his pale, dear face.
Her fingernails dug into the soft skin around my eyes, drawing blood. But I was too crazed with guilt and horror to register the pain. If anything, the red blurring my vision was a blessing. “Oh, no, you must watch and understand. Your existence brings pain to all unfortunate enough to meet you. Witness how you destroyed them. Just as you killed my beloved Phoebe.”
I stilled. I’d always known I served as a painful reminder to Lavinia of my mother’s death. But I never understood until that moment the depth of her depraved hatred. The unfairness of laying blame at my door. My mother’s choices had been her own. My birth was neither my choice nor my fault. Her death was not my doing, but her own.
The simple truth hit me like a bolt of electric clarity.
I remembered Adam’s accusations earlier about me having a death wish. And I realized he’d been right. Just like Lavinia, on some level, I, too, had blamed myself for the horrible circumstances and ensuing drama of my birth. Believed I didn’t deserve to be alive because of my shameful heritage. Didn’t deserve love or understanding, affection or empathy.
Lavinia orchestrated these horrors. She’d kindled the self-hatred for decades. Manipulated me from the start. And I’d bought into all of it because I didn’t know another way to live. But I knew better now. I knew because of the mage who offered his love, the sister who’d taught me about family, and the loyal demon who showed me the meaning of friendship. They’d stood beside me despite my protestations that I didn’t need anyone. I’d been a godsdamned fool to allow Lavinia’s poison to cloud my judgment. She was the worthless one. The selfish one. The one who allowed hatred and vengeance to fuel her actions. Not me. Not anymore.
But even as these realizations dawned, so did the knowledge it was too late. My eyes burned as I watched Adam grow paler by the second. Already the fight had fled his muscles and he slumped into Maisie’s eager grasp.
Then, like someone flipped a switch, his entire body stiffened. The whites of his eyes overwhelmed his pupils. A final gasp signaled his surrender. And then the mage I loved slumped to the floor.
Dead.
The scream that rose in my throat came not from my vocal cords but from the very root of my soul. My body filled with a rage so strong it could crumble mountains.
Maisie stumbled back, her limbs trembling as she stared down at Ad
am’s bloodied body. The infusion had restored some of her awareness and the realization of what she’d just done. With wide, haunted eyes, she threw back her head. “No!” Her haunted scream echoed off the dome.
Lavinia released me and went to go inspect his body. I slammed my stinging eyes shut and gathered my strength for another primal scream. Only instead of air rushing from my lungs, something shifted. The raw emotions gave way to power building in my diaphragm. This time the rage and love combined, twisting together like DNA to create a force more powerful than any I’d called upon before. I embraced the burning ache of it. Stoked the fire. Called out to Hekate and Lilith to aid me.
Lilith, Great Dark Mother and Goddess of the Night. Hekate, Goddess of the Crossroads and Bringer of Light, hear my pleas. Lend me your great and terrible power to balance the scales. Break my bonds and fill me with your dark energy. Help me avenge this blasphemy.
A loud crack echoed through the chamber. A tidal wave of dark power washed over me. I threw back my head as it slammed into me. Filled me. The force of this primal magic jerked my body upright. Sent a shock wave of power through the room.
The dome overhead shattered. The colorful glass fractured into a million fragments and rained down on the rotunda. Shouts and cries filled the room as humans and Caste members ducked and ran for cover.
All around, the walls cracked like eggshells. Falling plaster and stone joined the glass. The building creaked and moaned with the promise of collapse.
Black and red auras danced on the edges of my vision. I blinked and realized my chains had shattered along with the glass. The release of energy and the sharp shards had sent several of my enemy to the ground. But my focus zeroed in on the bitch in red. She sat on the ground near Adam’s body, looking dazed.
My burning gaze locked on Lavinia like a heat-seeking missile. With deliberate movements, I removed the gag and tossed it to the floor.
“Lavinia Kane.” My voice was different. Deeper, echoed, as if I spoke with three voices now: mine, Lilith’s, and Hekate’s.
Lavinia’s eyes flared. She rose quickly, backing away before stumbling over Adam’s body, kicking at Brothers and Caste members who got in her way. I rose slowly. There was no fear now. Only power and purpose.
My senses buzzed, taking in every sound, shape, and smell in the room and beyond. The air vibrated against my skin. My tongue tasted her fear and confusion. And it pleased me.
Eurynome stepped between the Domina and me. I tilted my head to look up at him. Sounds in the distance registered in my expanded consciousness. A smile spread across my lips. The demon’s black eyes flickered to a chunk of plaster that fell just to my right, barely missing my shoulder. I didn’t flinch.
The air shimmered, signaling the demon’s intent to deliver another of his signature pain spells. The aura around him flared up a split second before the doors to the temple burst open. Eurynome’s spell shot toward me like flame. The spell licked up and over the cone of Chthonic power the goddesses wrapped around me. The demon’s black lips fell open in shock as cavalry rushed in the door.
“Eurynome!” a familiar voice shouted.
His head swiveled to the right to see a flash of green rushing toward him like a freight train. Giguhl tackled Eurynome, and the two demons slid across the stone floor before slamming into the wall.
I didn’t have time to watch Giguhl finally get his chance to finish the Avenger once and for all. Nor did I stop to see who else my minion had brought to the party. I could feel each of them—Rhea, Pussy Willow, Mac, Georgia, and about twenty other mage, werewolf, vampire, and fae allies both inside and outside the building.
As much as I appreciated their assistance, my sole focus was pursuing the Domina. “Lavinia!” Her head whipped around, her eyes finding me through the haze of dust and the bodies littering the path between us.
“Quickly!” she screamed. “Summon the Master!”
To her right, two Caste members—a vampire and a mage—huddled together with an ancient tome. A third Caste vamp held a knife to Maisie’s neck in front of the two with the book. She stood limply in his grasp as he used her body to shield his comrades. Her wide, haunted eyes met mine across the space. Her pale face, the bodice of her chiton, and her hands were coated in Adam’s blood. She looked up, and for a nanosecond I could have sworn that behind the broken gaze I saw a spark of the old Maisie. The one I knew before Lavinia conspired to rip us apart and break our spirits.
Decision time. I could take the Caste members out now. End the chance of Cain joining the party. But Maisie stood directly in the line of fire.
An ear-splitting crack echoed through the rotunda. One of the beams that held up the dome crashed to the floor, crushing the bodies of two human Brothers. Lavinia sprinted toward the door, pushing the chanting Caste members and Maisie ahead of her. Bodies scattered as the other combatants rushed to follow her example. The urge to give chase was strong, but I wouldn’t leave Adam and Giguhl behind. Dead or alive, I’d never abandon my team again.
I raced through the room, leaping over bodies of the falling, fighting against stragglers running toward the exit. I skidded to a halt several feet from where Giguhl still battled Eurynome.
“Giguhl,” I said. “Finish him!”
As if spurred on by my command, Giguhl seemed to expand and harden. Eurynome raised his claws to deliver a spell. As the white-hot flash of magic zinged through the air, Giguhl ducked and rolled. He came up hard and fast at the Avenger. Claws slashed Eurynome’s face. Black blood oozed from the wound. Before the ram-horned demon could retaliate, Giguhl delivered swift jabs to Eurynome’s midsection, pushing him back toward the curved wall. The impact forced a new, thick crack up the already unstable wall.
I rushed toward them, determined to help Giguhl finish this quickly. My minion didn’t have access to the kind of magic that could send the Avenger back to Irkalla. But I couldn’t get a clear shot with Giguhl in the way.
I grabbed an iron spear from the hands of one of the statues. “G, catch!”
His uppercut slammed into the Avenger’s chin. Turning his head slightly, Giguhl saw the spear flying toward him and caught it. In a smooth motion, he spun around and slammed the metal through Eurynome’s chest. The iron impaled the demon and pinned him to the wall.
“Move!” I yelled.
Giguhl didn’t stop to argue or question. He simply lunged to his right, clearing a path for me.
My hands thrust forward. “Iddumu bara nadzu!” A bolt of black energy sizzled from my fingertips. The spear acted like a lightning rod and delivered the spell directly to Eurynome’s chest. One second the Avenger squirmed and screamed to avoid the spell, and the next he was a pillar of black coal and ash.
My mouth fell open in shock as Giguhl jumped off the ground to run toward me. “Holy shit! You just incinerated him!”
I swallowed the bile that rose at the scent of burning flesh and brimstone. “We need to get the fuck out of here!” I jerked my gaze to Adam’s body.
Beside me Giguhl stilled. “What happened?” he whispered brokenly.
Another loud pop echoed through the crumbling chamber. No time for post mortems or mourning.
“Lavinia happened.” I pulled Giguhl with me. “C’mon, we’ve got to go.”
Crisis mode kept me insulated from the horrific reality that I was staring at the lifeless form of the male I loved. That reality would hit me like an atom bomb once the crisis was over. If I survived.
Giguhl gently lifted and cradled Adam’s body. With a hand on the demon’s back, I ran for the door, keeping my eyes averted from the mancy’s closed eyes and the blood covering his chest.
Together we reached the opened doors a split second before the rest of the shattered dome’s steel frame broke free. We lunged into the night as the impact boomed and a cloud of dust exploded behind us.
We stumbled out onto the stone balcony. Leaning my back on the stone railing for support, I looked back at the imploded room. I blew out a breath. “That was t
oo close.”
A magical percussion burst through the night. In its aftermath, I finally heard the sounds of fighting far below in the cemetery. I turned slowly. “Oh, my gods,” I breathed.
While I’d been busy inside, Lavinia’s goons had run straight into the waiting arms of my own personal cavalry. And they’d brought reinforcements in the form of several Pythian Guards and Queen Maeve’s knights, judging from the uniforms. Plus, on the periphery of the fighting, Zen and PW gyrated and twirled among the tombs.
As I watched, a cyclone swept through the cemetery. A clump of Brothers flew through the air like so much confetti. I’d seen that maneuver before. My eyes sought out Erron Zorn, who stood on the roof of a tomb with Ziggy by his side. I don’t know who or what convinced him to change his mind, but I didn’t have time to do anything but be grateful for their presence. I had to find Lavinia before she could summon Cain.
“Giguhl, take Adam to Rhea. Then go look for Lavinia. We have to stop her.”
Giguhl nodded solemnly. “Watch your back, Red.”
I met my friend’s eyes. “You, too, G.”
With a final nod, he shifted Adam’s limp body in his arms and ran toward the stairs.
I turned and climbed up on the railing. On the far side of the battle I spotted Lavinia, the three Caste members, and Maisie. The Domina attacked a faery from behind. Her fangs ripped out his neck so fast he didn’t know what hit him. As his body fell, she relieved him of his sword. She looked up then and saw me. She wrapped an arm around Maisie’s neck and raised the sword in salute. The iridescent faery steel glinted wickedly in the moonlight.
I’d felt the sting of such a blade before. Specially designed by the fae for killing vampires, the magical blade was made even more deadly in the hands of my grandmother.
