He removed something from the bag and clasped it in his large claw. I couldn’t tell what it was beyond the brief flash of gold. Frowning, I held out my hand to receive the mystery object. “What’s this?”
The instant the warm metal touched my hand, a zing of magic zipped up my arm. But I was too busy dealing with the emotional pain of seeing the amulet that I didn’t register the brief flare of physical pain. The moonstone in the center of the gold setting winked at me like some sort of cosmic joke. “Why did she give you this?” I choked the words out over the pain tightening my throat.
Adam craned his neck to see what the demon had given me. When he recognized the necklace, he hissed out a breath.
Giguhl patted me on the shoulder. “Rhea thought you might want it. You know, for strength.”
I’m sure Rhea’s heart was in the right place when she’d taken this necklace off my sister’s corpse, but it was having the opposite effect. My hand started to tremble.
“What is it?” Erron asked, clueless.
“It belonged to Maisie,” Giguhl said. “It’s the amulet that identified her as the High Priestess of the Chaste Moon. Sabina’s got one just like it.” I normally wore my amulet inside my shirt, so at that moment only the one Zen had given me was visible.
Adam scooted closer and put an arm around me. “You okay?” he whispered.
I looked up at him. The tears stinging my eyes made him blurry. I didn’t know what to say. Was I okay? How could I be? My twin was dead and my fucking father was alive.
Instead of answering, I groped with my free hand for my wine.
“Speaking of Maisie,” Erron said, oblivious to my impending breakdown. “You never told me exactly what happened with her.”
My hand stilled with the wine halfway to my mouth. When I’d approached Erron in New Orleans to ask for his help, I’d kept the details pretty vague on Maisie’s death. I feared if I’d told him everything, I wouldn’t get through the request without tears. She’d died four nights earlier and the extra ninety-six hours hadn’t done much to ease the pain.
Luckily, Adam sensed my chaotic emotions and said, “I’ll tell you later.”
I appreciated him sparing my feelings, but the damage was already done. The legs of my chair screeched against the marble floor. All the males froze and stared at me with concern. “Excuse me,” I whispered, and rushed out of the room.
I didn’t stop until the bedroom door was closed firmly behind me. I slid down the panel until I was crouched on the floor with Maisie’s necklace clutched between my trembling hands. The rumble of low male voices reached me beneath the door. I couldn’t make out the words, but I could imagine Giguhl and Adam filling Erron in on what had gone down the night Maisie died.
My own memories forced me back to that night, too. After we’d figured out Maisie was responsible for four murders under Cain’s influence, I’d entered the dream realm to try and free my twin’s subconscious from Cain. Unfortunately, his hold was too strong. Just after he forced Maisie to break the binding spell, Cain slit her throat. She bled out in my arms.
I lifted the necklace to the light. It spun in blurry, hypnotic circles. The Hekatian symbols engraved in the gold caught my eye. In my mind, I translated the words: For she is the torchbearer, this daughter of Hekate, she will light the way.
I snorted and closed my eyes. Maisie wouldn’t light the way for anyone. Not anymore. Not since Cain had snuffed out her flame.
I bit my lip to hold back the sobs I’d stored up. Things had been so hectic since we left New York that I hadn’t really had time to mourn my sister’s death properly. In all honesty, I hadn’t wanted to. Not because I didn’t miss her. Not because I didn’t think she deserved to be mourned. But because I worried that if I unbridled my grief, it would consume me. Far better to just be angry about it and use that anger to fuel my resolve. Anger made me a better fighter. Crying just made me weak. Then I remembered what I’d told Georgia about the only way to get over pain is to face it head-on.
Maybe it was time to take a dose of my own bitter medicine. I allowed the tears to fall. Fat, hot drops rolled down my cheeks. Sobs made my throat ache and my stomach cramp. I gripped the amulet until the metal cut into the skin. But that pain paled in comparison to the deep ache of Maisie’s loss. The void she left behind haunted me like a phantom limb.
“Maisie,” I whispered brokenly. “Gods, I’m so sorry.”
My left shoulder warmed. It wasn’t the warning sting I’d felt right before Asclepius arrived, but almost like a comforting hand’s weight. Maybe it was just some trick of my mind born from a longing for connection. As much as I liked to believe my sister was communicating with me from the grave, I knew better than to indulge in the fantasy.
Maisie was dead. Period. And mixed with the pain of loss was an all-consuming guilt. Because no matter what anyone said, I felt responsible for what had happened to my sister. If only I’d seen the signs earlier. If only I’d intervened faster. If only I’d killed Cain before he’d killed her.
The irrational side of me whispered that it didn’t matter that killing Cain would have doomed us all. Given Cain’s murderous track record, I wasn’t so sure any of us would survive, anyway. It was only a matter of time before he killed again. And now that he knew how to hurt me, he’d go after each person I loved until I gave him what he wanted.
To make things worse, I’d just found out that in order to get to Cain, I’d first have to get through my father. Gods, how fucked up was that? The very idea of meeting the man who was responsible for my birth and the subsequent punishments I’d faced for carrying his blood in my veins made me nauseous. I had no interest in knowing that bastard. But if I wanted to save everyone, I’d eventually have to deal with dear old dad so I could finally ask the questions that needed to be asked.
Chapter 8
I was dreaming again.
I hadn’t had much sleep in the last three nights, so the fact that I was able to rest long enough to enter the REM state should have been a positive thing. But my subconscious had ulterior motives.
Maisie stood in the Sacred Grove at the mage estate in Sleepy Hollow. She wore the ceremonial chiton that identified her as the Hekatian Oracle, and she stood in front of the old stone altar in the center of the clearing. For some reason, a peacock in full display was strutting around in the background. I ignored the bird and focused on my sister.
“Maisie?” I whispered. She looked so… alive. So vibrant and healthy. So unlike the gaunt specter who haunted my waking hours in the months before she was murdered.
When I arrived, my sister smiled widely and raised her arms to greet me. I ran to her, wanting to believe her death had been the nightmare and this dream was reality. Soon, her arms were around me and I breathed in her copper and sandalwood scent. Felt her warmth and heard her pulse.
“I thought you were dead.” The words squeezed out of my tight throat in an agonized whisper.
She ignored that and pulled back to look me in the eye. “There’s no time for that. I’ve had a vision.”
My stomach tightened. From the sound of her voice, this prophecy wasn’t going to be positive. Not that they ever were anymore. “Tell me.”
She stepped back and took a deep breath. I crossed my arms to brace myself for the news. “The Great Goddess Hekate has blessed me with a vision. I have painted the symbols and am ready to deliver my interpretation.”
In her role as Oracle, Maisie had prophetic dreams and then took those images and painted them to interpret the message the gods were sending her.
I nodded to encourage her to continue, but the scene shifted. Suddenly, hundreds of other beings filled the space. In fact, the area looked almost exactly as it had the night of the botched peace treaty signing in New York.
Over to the side, a black dog entered the clearing. I instantly recognized the animal as Asclepius. He didn’t approach me, though, just hung off to the side, watching the proceedings.
On a raised dais behind Maisie, High Councilman Orpheus, Despina Tanith Severinus, and Queen Maeve watched over the proceedings like judges. Behind me, mages, vampires, faeries, werewolves, and a smattering of demons waited to hear my sister’s verdict. I frowned. Why did I suddenly feel like I was on trial?
Maisie didn’t seem bothered by the sudden appearance of so many observers. She raised her arms and called out in a loud, clear voice, “I will be murdered.”
Gasps filled the clearing. I frowned, confused. Time tangled in on itself.
“I know the identity of my killer,” Maisie continued in a dire voice. She paused dramatically. In real life, Maisie had been murdered by Cain. But I suddenly had a very bad feeling that his name was not the one on her lips. “Sabina Kane!”
“No!” I yelled. “It was Cain!”
But my denials were lost among the outraged shouts of the dark race leaders and the angry boos and growls from the crowd. Suddenly, the mass of beings swarmed me. Rough hands pulled my clothes, my hair. Sharp nails scratched my face. Someone punched me in the gut. There were too many of them, so all I could do was cover my head with my arms and scream impotent pleas for mercy.
Over the cacophony, Maisie’s voice rang out loud and clear. “How could you do it, sister? How could you kill me?”
“It wasn’t me!” I screamed.
My attackers knocked me to the ground. I blinked through the blood running in my eyes and saw a feminine figure standing over me. At first, I thought it was Maisie come to do me in. But Maisie didn’t have midnight-black hair. Plus, the instant the female appeared, all of my attackers backed away and bowed like they were in the presence of royalty—or a goddess.
“Lilith?” I whispered.
The Great Mother’s lush red lips spread into a seductive smile. “Finally, you’re mine.”
She pulled back her lips, revealing black metal fangs.
Time slowed. Lilith launched at me, her fangs aimed at my jugular. In a flash, my entire life passed through my mind’s eye. All the beings I’d killed. Everyone I’d hurt and betrayed. Every mistake I’d ever made, every lie.