“Sabina?” Adam shouted, sounding far away.
He lay far below me on the sand, his arms outstretched and his mouth wide as he screamed my name. My body launched through the air, away from the safety of his arms, like I’d been shot from a catapult.
My landing was not gentle or graceful. I hit something hard and tumbled ass over ankles. Pushing my hair from my eyes, I realized I’d fallen at someone’s feet. Feet encased in familiar sandals.
“Shit.” I scrambled back, my eyes rising up the white robes to meet the fierce scowl of Asclepius. “Did anyone ever tell you your timing really sucks?”
He crossed his arms and said nothing. Uh-oh.
I rose awkwardly, surveying my new surroundings. He’d brought me to the Crossroads in the Liminal. Eight roads created the spokes of the wagon-wheel pattern. In the center, where we were, a tall pole was topped by a red flag.
A chill crept down my spine. The last time I’d been in the Liminal was the night Cain murdered Maisie. I had a feeling Asclepius hadn’t chosen this spot to deliver happy news.
“Why is Nyx still alive?”
I held up my hands. In my head, I tried to read his expression for any clue he already knew I’d found her. If he was unaware Nyx was a member of Tristan’s team, I didn’t want to be the one to tell him. But instead of outright lying, I went with vagueness. “There are some… complications.”
He made a disgusted sound. “I grow impatient with your excuses, Mixed-Blood.”
I held up my hands. “I’m doing the best I can here.”
“I know you have found her.”
My stomach flip-flopped like a fish choking on air. “How?” No sense denying it. “I thought you couldn’t see her?”
“I can hear, Sabina. You have spoken her name numerous times tonight. That tells me you’ve made progress.”
“Look, what do you want from me? I’ve got Cain on my ass and my father just showed up out of the blue after fifty-odd years. And on top of that the chick you want dead is his friend.” I shook my head as stress threatened to overwhelm me. “Thanks for forgetting to mention that little detail, by the way.”
He smirked and offered a careless shrug. “If I told you Nyx was an ally of your father’s, it only would have complicated matters prematurely.”
“And by that you mean I would have refused to take the deal.”
“Precisely. But you took the deal and now you must see it through or suffer the consequences.”
“Can’t I just kill her after I take care of Cain? If I kill her now, Tristan won’t help me.”
“Not my problem.”
I scrambled to think of a solution. There had to be a way to appease Asclepius without ending any chance of getting Tristan’s help. “What if I can convince her to give me the vest? That’s what you really want, right?”
The god pursed his lips. “If I just wanted the vest, I would have said so. No, Nyx must be punished for her treachery.”
I threw up my hands. “I can’t do it now! If you can just hold on until I figure out this Cain situation, then I can take care of Nyx. Otherwise, it cannot and will not be my priority.”
“I could easily make it your first priority.” The threat in his tone made goose bumps spread over my skin. “Did you know Cain thinks you’re still somewhere in Rome?”
I just stared at him. Inside, I was bracing myself.
“Perhaps Cain would kill Nyx for me. He is, after all, He Who Kills to Get Gain.” The god tilted his head. “I figure it wouldn’t take much to buy his services. Just a simple address.”
I clenched my teeth. “You wouldn’t do that.”
He smiled. “Wouldn’t I?”
“If it’s that easy to sell me out to Cain, why haven’t you already?”
His expression became thoughtful. “Because watching you amuses me. Also, I am no fan of Master Mahan, as you’ll recall.”
I nodded, remembering that Cain and Asclepius fought each other in the Liminal when the god tried to help Maisie at my request. “Then how can you even consider helping him?”
“I am a fair god, Sabina. I believe in chances, which is why you have had three opportunities to make good on your promises.”
I snorted. “Yeah, you’re a real upstanding guy like that.”
“Silence yourself before my good humor flees.” He shot me a glare that would make lesser women cry. “Because I am so reasonable, I will give you seventy-two hours. If Nyx is not dead and the vest is not in my possession by then, I will go to Cain.”
“You are a real bastard, you know that?”
He smirked. “I do.”
I sighed. “Okay, fine.”
He looked surprised by my easy acceptance. “You’re going to kill her?”
“What choice do I have?”
He banged his staff three times into the packed dirt, just like he had when we’d made our original deal in New Orleans. His way of sealing our contract, I guessed.
“I’m relieved that you’re being so practical, Sabina. It’d be such a pity to unleash Cain on you when you’re so close to achieving your goal.”
I tilted my head. “What do you know about it?” I asked carefully. I didn’t want to act too eager and give Asclepius something else to hold over my head.
“Stay on your course and you’ll get your chance.”
“What does that even mean? I’ll get my chance to kill Cain?”
The god shrugged in an infuriating manner. “We’ll see.”
I made a disgusted sound. I was so sick of vague prophecies and the god’s love of verbal chess.
“All right, then,” Asclepius said. “Off with you. Don’t forget—you have three nights.”
A flash of lightning tore through the Crossroads, blinding me. When I opened my eyes again, I was in bed. Adam snored quietly with his back to me. I sat up slowly so as not to wake him. I tiptoed to the bathroom and splashed some water on my face. When I looked up into the mirror, I stared hard at my reflection.
It had been months since I killed someone. Even longer since I’d killed someone who hadn’t tried to kill me first. While I was eager to kill Cain in the most painful manner possible, Nyx didn’t deserve to die. Sure, she’d jilted Asclepius out of a favor, but in my mind that just proved she was cleverer than I’d given her credit for. It was the god’s own fault for not collecting before giving her the means to hide from him.
But the fact remained that Asclepius was serious about his threat to reveal my location to Cain. Dead serious. If I didn’t kill Nyx, Cain would kill everyone anyway and then force me to take him to Lilith.
I ran a hand over my damp face. Sometimes my recently discovered conscience was a real pain in the ass. The old me wouldn’t have thought twice about removing Nyx as an obstacle. But the new me? Felt like the entire situation wasn’t just needlessly complicated, but also unjustified. Even if I could convince myself to kill an innocent being, I couldn’t get over the harshness of Asclepius’s punishment. Did anyone deserve to die just to soothe the ego of a god?
Also playing into my resentment was the fact that Asclepius had backed me into a corner. If he’d known me better, he’d understand that blackmail pissed me off more than it intimidated me. No matter how this all played out, I was now determined to make the god pay for putting me in this position—that is, if I survived long enough to deliver the just desserts.
I groaned and pulled away from the mirror. Despite my qualms, the consequences of not killing Nyx were worse than the ding my conscience would take doing it. So, unless the moonrise brought one of Adam’s miracles with it, it looked like I would have to add murder to my To Do list.
Chapter 20
The next evening, I woke alone. For once, I was relieved Adam had already risen. After I’d fallen back to sleep following Asclepius’s ultimatum, my subconscious had become a nightmare realm.
The fright fest had featured all the greatest hits: Maisie calling me a murderer, Cain taunting me with promises of pain, and Tristan telling me I was a huge disappointment.
Maisie and Cain I could handle. I didn’t have to face them that evening. But Tristan was waiting for me not a hundred yards from the safety of my bed. I had no illusions that convincing him to see me as more than an inconvenient guest would be easy. But I refused to take no for an answer. I wasn’t sure if I was the Chosen, but I knew I was the most motivated to do whatever it took to end Cain.
Including, it appeared, murdering Nyx.
I’d hoped that sleeping on the issue would present some sort of new solution, but I just couldn’t figure out a way around it. I still needed to talk to Adam, but I had a sinking feeling he wouldn’t be able to offer me a viable solution either.
I sighed and forced myself from the warm covers. My feet slapped the cold hardwood a split second before Giguhl rushed in.
“Oh good, you’re up.”
I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and yawned. “Barely. What’s up?”
“Nyx already came by. Said Tristan was getting antsy waiting for you.”
The vampire’s name made my stomach cramp. To cover my reaction, I glanced at the windows. It was already full dark. “Shit. What time is it?”
“Seven.”
I started rushing around looking for clothes. “Why didn’t you wake me?” Freaking great. I’d planned on going in strong and forcing him to listen to my reasons for teaming up. Now he’d have the advantage because I felt rushed and guilty for sleeping in.
“Adam said you needed the rest,” Giguhl said with a shrug.
I pulled on a pair of jeans. “Where is he?”
“He went to check on the security for the rest of the estate.”
I tossed on a long-sleeved T-shirt and ran a comb through my hair. “Okay.” I blew out a breath. “Let’s go.”
“Um, Red?”
I stopped. “What?”
“Shoes.”