by E. A. Copen
Spyder pointed at me. “You just wait. Before this is over, Josiah will be unrecognizable. You think you know him. You don’t. You have no idea what he’s capable of, the evil he can do.”
“And you have no idea what I can do. We’re all evil men.”
“Some of us more than others. All I’m saying is that his hands aren’t clean. He tossed me under the bus and abandoned his own daughter. What makes you think he won’t leave you the first chance he gets?” He leaned forward. “He’s using you, Stefan Nikolaides, just like he’s used everyone else who ever loved him. Just like Christian did to me.”
“Fuck you. You don’t know him. Not anymore.” I left the room and almost ran right into Beelzebub, who was drying his hands on a paper towel.
He grinned wide. “Hello, human.”
“Out of my way, demon.” I tried to sidestep him.
He moved in front of me again. “Or what?”
I met the demon’s eyes and almost threw up. He had cockroaches where his irises should’ve been.
Beelzebub chuckled and gave my shoulder a little push. “I’m kidding. I’m not allowed to eat you. Hazard of signing the accords. Means I have to go hungry for a while yet.”
I pushed past him and stormed down the hallway with him laughing behind me.
“Run, little human! Run and hide.”
I didn’t know where to go or who to find. Everyone else at the talks was more than me: demons, a succubus. Even Josiah was a half-angel, which made Maggie a quarter angelic. I was the only human in the whole place. Although I’d known that going in, I hadn’t felt alone until I left the meeting room.
I slid around the corner and stopped, pressing my back to the wall with a sigh. Was this how it was always going to be? Josiah dragging me along on some mission to save the world? When does it end? Is this really what I want for the rest of my life? I knew I wanted Josiah—the good, the bad, and all that came with it. But there were other things to consider. As a Nephilim, would he age or stay young while I got old and died? How many more monsters would hunt him? Would we ever have peace?
Did I want peace more than I wanted him?
“Dammit, why am I even thinking about this?” I put a hand to my forehead. It was Spyder’s fault. He did have a point, though. Josiah had already said he was worried something would happen to me. He had a history of breaking off relationships because he had this ridiculous belief that the people around him would get hurt simply because they were near him.
Maybe it wasn’t so ridiculous. Maggie had been targeted by Remiel, and so had I. Danny was dead. Even Reggie had gotten roped into working for God’s Hand because Josiah dragged him into things. The only way I was going to get what I wanted was if I asked Josiah to walk away from the world of magic, something I knew he would never do. He loved it too much.
Metal hinges whined, and a door closed down the hall. I pushed away from the wall. Maybe it was Josiah. Khaleda and Leviathan were outside, Beelzebub and Spyder were in the meeting room. I supposed it could be another vampire, but I didn’t see anyone go by. “Hello?”
No one answered.
I followed the sound, trailing my fingers along the wall. There was only one door in the hall, a plain white door, unlike any of the others in the house. Strange. After looking around to see if anyone was nearby, I tried the knob. It opened, revealing a set of wooden stairs leading into a darkened basement.
A vision hit me, searing itself into my skull like a brand. Black stone pathways lined by blue fire. Pitch-black beyond. Footsteps echoed in the dim light, rhythmic heels on slate. Feminine, even, but not familiar. Ahead, light bounced off the edges of some rectangular thing. The light shifted, revealing a tank full of thick red liquid. Bubbles rose to the surface. A hand moved inside, pressed against the glass. Cracks formed and spread. In an instant, the glass shattered, allowing the bloody fluid to rush out. It carried with it a creature from the tank, deformed like the homunculus Josiah had created, except this one was full-grown, practically the size of a man. He crawled into the light, gills fluttering, wings twitching, webbed appendages slapping the floor, and huge, lidless eyes wandering. The creature landed on the fire-lined path and let out a wet gasp.
A familiar face slithered from the dark. Maggie, dressed in scarlet and purple, her body adorned in gold and jewels of every kind. In her hand, she held an empty ruby-encrusted goblet. She placed her heel on the creature’s forehead even as he reached for her. “Mystery. Whore. Mother of harlots and all the abominations of the Earth. That’s what they’ve called me, even as I’ve reigned over them. But look at you. More than my own flesh and blood, the embodiment of all that I have loved and hated in this life. They call you a great beast.” She removed her shoe from the creature’s head and offered her hand. “But I call you my son. Rise, child. Do as you were born to do.”
The creature’s arm shook with the effort of taking her hand. Slowly, she pulled him to his feet. Wet eyes stared at her. A noise rose from the creature’s throat, a sound like words. “Moth…er…”
Steel flashed and caught the light. Blood spurted from the creature’s throat. Even on a face that twisted, it was impossible not to recognize the pained expression of betrayal in a living thing. The creature fell into his mother’s arms, bleeding out, tears welling in the corners of his strange eyes.
Maggie slowly lowered the dying thing to the ground. “There, there, child. Shhh. Sleep. Victory is within our grasp.”
I came back from the vision with a sudden sense of vertigo that sent me tumbling down the stairs. My head hit something solid at the bottom and I just laid there, groaning in pain and trying to process what I’d just seen. What the hell was that? Christ, I need to get control of these visions before I break something.
My eyes adjusted to the dark environment slowly, only to reveal it wasn’t completely dark down there. A dim red light emanated from behind me, along with the gentle hum of machinery. I would’ve left it alone if I hadn’t heard footsteps moving away from me. Someone was down there, someone who didn’t want to be found, and I was going to get to the bottom of it.
I pushed up from the floor with a grunt and put my hand out to feel for a wall. Instead, my fingers brushed something cool and smooth. Glass? I couldn’t tell. All I could see were shadows drifting around me. To my untrained eye, they looked humanoid, but that wasn’t possible. They’d have to be several feet off the ground for that to be true. It was probably just old furniture, water heaters, and a trick of the light.
I need to be able to see. There has to be a light switch somewhere around here. I walked forward, trailing one hand along the glass and sweeping the area above my head with the other, looking for a chain to pull. A string brushed the back of my hand. Maybe that was it. I grasped the string and pulled. A dim light clicked on above my head, pooling over me and a tiny section of the floor. Well, that was a start, but not really enough to see.
Footsteps rushed across the floor to my left. I spun toward them. “Who’s down here?”
Silence answered.
“I know you’re here. Come out.”
Nothing.
Maybe this was a bad idea. I started to move back toward where I thought the stairs were but spotted a lever on a support beam. Maybe those were the lights. Turning them on would expose whoever was hiding from me. I grabbed the lever and flipped it up.
Fluorescent lights flickered to life in a straight line across the space, revealing tanks lining the basement walls. Each one was easily eight feet tall and five feet wide, large enough to hold a human body, which was exactly what was inside each. A dozen or more identical human bodies floated in strange red liquid, not unlike the tanks and fluid I’d seen in my vision. Why were they identical, and what were they for?
Machinery hissed farther into the basement and around a corner. Fear knotted in my gut as my feet carried me forward unbidden to investigate. There, beside a giant vat, stood one of the bodies, except this one wasn’t in a tank. He’d been clothed. He stood over a copy of hi
mself, watching as the lid to one of the tanks slid closed. Machinery lifted the tank and moved it to a conveyer belt that carried it off somewhere, presumably for storage.
He turned his head and narrowed his eyes at me. “You’re not supposed to be down here.”
“Who the hell are you? What is all this?”
“This,” he said, gesturing to the seemingly endless display of tanks behind him, “is a solution.”
“To what?”
“To my body problem.”
I took a step back. It was the eyes that gave him away, more than anything he said or did. I’d never forget those cruel gray eyes as long as I lived. Although he shared the color with Josiah, my lover’s eyes would never look at me with that much malice.
“You don’t approve, Stefan?” said Remiel, grinning. “I have to admit, I’m surprised I didn’t think of it sooner. Homunculi as vessels. Of course, it takes a great deal of magic to create them. If I had to do it by myself, I’d be drained. Luckily, I found myself a Spyder. He’s quite talented when it comes to magic of the flesh, a skill that idiot Christian wasted. His creatures are far more perfect than most homunculi, wouldn’t you agree?”
I took another step back. “Whatever body you’re in, you’re still fucked the minute Josiah finds out you’re here.”
“I think my son might be in a bit over his head for once.” He stopped advancing on me and crossed his arms. “Just the same, I can’t allow you to go running back to him and spoil the surprise. You understand.”
A hand came down on my shoulder, and I turned my head to peer into the empty eyes of another copy. With a hiss, a container opened, spilling red fluid onto the basement floor. Another copy gripped the side of the container and pulled itself free to march toward me on wobbly legs. Then another freed itself. And another.
Remiel grabbed me from behind and struck me in the back of the neck. The last thing I saw as I went to the floor was more of those things crawling out of their tanks.
Chapter Seventeen
Khaleda
A stroll through the garden was so cliché, I would’ve found it an adorable suggestion if it’d been anyone other than Leviathan leading me. He might have looked like an attractive human, weak and feeble, but he was far more dangerous than the paranoid Beelzebub, who was still inside. That was why Father had banished him to that faraway castle. Wasted potential, if you asked me.
He folded his hands behind his back as we passed the first bench. “Congratulations on your victory in Faerie. I heard about the battle afterward. You had an interesting assortment of forces to command.”
“I can’t decide if I should thank you for the congratulations or be offended by what you’re insinuating about my army.”
Leviathan paused and turned to face me. “Make no mistake, Ms. Morningstar. If I’d meant to insult you, you would know it. I don’t waste my words on double entendre and backhanded compliments.”
“I believe the proper address is Your Highness. My disputed status as queen aside, you must concede I’m at least a princess since my father was a king.”
He offered a tight-lipped smile in response.
I smiled back. “Your honesty was one of the reasons Father disliked you.”
“Many say they want honesty. Few have egos equipped to tolerate it, demons and Fallen least of all.” He gestured to another stone bench. “Shall we sit?”
“Father may have disliked your honesty,” I said, sitting, “but I view it as an asset. I believe leaders should surround themselves with people willing to speak up. What’s the point in having advisors if all they do is hang on your every word? Those are worshippers, not advisors.”
He settled in next to me. “I think it was more than honesty that made your father dislike me. He never trusted the Fallen, and rightly so. Most of them, he kept close, but for a half-blood like me? There was no room in his court for me. I’m told I’m the reason it’s been outlawed for Fallen to fuck demons now. A pity. Who would’ve thought Hell would have so many rules?”
I shrugged. “But without rules, it would be chaos. Even Hell needs structure. Structure gets things done. A chain of command.”
“When you’re the queen of Hell, how will your court be structured?”
I raised an eyebrow coyly. “When? Not if?”
Leviathan rolled his eyes. “Come now. We both know it will be either you or Remiel, and I would prefer you.”
“What about your designs on the throne?”
He laughed. It sounded more like a purr from a big cat than laughter. “Oh, I don’t want it. But I couldn’t let Beelzebub have it, could I? He would’ve left me in that castle at the end of nowhere by myself for an eternity if he let me live. That’s why Beelzebub and I can never be allies, Highness. He’d have me killed. You too, given the chance. He doesn’t like half-bloods or the Fallen.”
“I see.” I considered what to say next. I hadn’t known he didn’t want to be the king of Hell. “Why bother to come to the talks, then?”
He smirked. “Because you would be here, and I’d hoped to judge your worth.”
Time for a performance. I rolled my shoulders back and touched my neck with my fingertips. The beast inside woke at my call and uncurled as if yawning. Lazy, seductive power stretched into the garden around me. “And? Have you judged me, Leviathan?”
Leviathan’s black eyes sparkled. He leaned in, his lips so close to my neck that I could feel his breath. “I’ve often wondered if your power would work on me, Highness. A dangerous curiosity. The sheer number of humans who’ve fallen under your spell must be staggering. You are a pretty doll.”
His hand unexpectedly closed around my throat, squeezing with just enough pressure to let me know he could crush it if he wanted to. Leviathan leaned back to meet my eyes. “Unfortunately, that’s all you’ll ever be if the only thing you have to offer me is the warmth and softness of a woman’s body. I can buy that on the street, pretty doll. Sell me something else.”
I fell forward when he released me, holding my neck. “You’re brave to lay your hands on me here. We both signed the accords.”
He shrugged and spread his arms over the back of the bench. “I haven’t harmed you any more than you wished to be harmed. I know you could’ve broken my hold on you at any minute. I’ve seen the aftermath of your handiwork before, Highness. Your father trained you well, but I’m not one of your human marks. If you want to snare me, you’ll need a more attractive hook than a quick fuck in the dirt.”
“Very well.” I lowered my hand from my throat. “What do you want?”
His eyes slid over me slowly. Despite his claim to the contrary, he wanted me. I didn’t even need to use my magic to make that happen. “First, I want out of that dreary castle. I want a suite in Lucifer’s palace.”
“A suite?” I laughed.
“Yes, a suite befitting a royal consort.”
I almost choked. “Excuse me?”
“A consort. You’re familiar with the term? That would make you my wife. In such an arrangement, of course, I would have absolutely no claim to the throne. That’s fine with me. Let the pressures of ruling fall on someone else. Our marriage would be mostly political, of course. I don’t believe in fidelity.”
“Then why bother?”
He sighed and wrapped his fingers around one knee. “You’ve heard the rumors about me? That I’ve never known the touch of a woman or a man? Your father ensured that by sending me as far from companionship as possible. Now I have the opportunity to place myself at the very center of Hell, where I can have any creature of my choosing. Status, power, and the opportunity to father children who will rule. Your father robbed me of all those things, and I hated him for it. Imagine, Highness. He thought I would rot there. Instead, I’ll wed his vicious daughter and seed a dynasty. Every minute I’m in that palace, his memory dies. That’s enough for me.”
I licked my lips. “There’s just one problem with your plan, Leviathan.”
“What’s that?”
�
��You haven’t endured the full force of my power yet. What if in the throes of passion, you’re overcome? I make you more a slave than a consort. Then what?”
Leviathan smirked. “Then I die a happy man, still having had my vengeance against Lucifer.” He rose and tugged down his suit jacket. “But, if you’re open to testing that theory, we have a few hours yet. I plan to retire to one of the suites upstairs. You know where to find me. Until then, Khaleda.” He bowed and walked away.
I deflated against the tree behind me with a sigh. That wasn’t at all how I intended for our meeting to go. He’d surprised me by being so open, but I suppose it was bound to happen. I wasn’t the only one who hated my father. I was just the first person to do anything about it.
A proposal of marriage, though? It wasn’t something I’d ever thought would come my way, not even a political marriage. Leviathan had no illusions about how things would be between us, of course, which ticked another box under the pro category. So far, I hadn’t thought of any cons to accepting his proposal.
A political marriage was a marriage, nonetheless. Perhaps if I held out, I could get other offers that might be advantageous to me down the road. Then again, who in Hell was more powerful than Leviathan? There were other gods in the underworld who ruled other kingdoms, but none of them would be interested. Most of them had been ruling their kingdoms for centuries and already had wives, or consorts at least.
I glanced toward the upstairs windows. What if he’s awful in bed? That seemed a stretch, but perhaps possible. If the rumors were true—and he’d all but indicated they were—the great Leviathan was as close as you could get to being a virgin in Hell. I’d never cared for virgins, but then, my experience with them had been limited to whoever Father sent me to kill or woo. For a virgin, he was pretty confident about himself if he was inviting me up to sleep with him in a house full of vampires and potential enemies.
