I stared at him, confused. “What do you mean?”
“That’s what Valva told me in the Liminal. Phoebe and I didn’t fall in love because we wanted to. We fell in love because Cain had one of his Caste of Nod mages cast a love spell on us.”
I stepped away from him, as if it could protect me from what he was saying. “But why? Why would he do that?”
He raised his hands. “Don’t you see? If my negotiations with your grandmother had continued to go well, then Cain would be that much further from his goal. He needed to do something to ensure that lasting peace was never achieved. What better way to do that than to orchestrate a forbidden star-crossed love affair between the daughter of the Alpha Domina and the son of the Hekatian Oracle?”
My breath whooshed out as if he’d punched me.
“Once I found out that all our suffering was based on a lie, making Cain pay became my sole purpose for living. The irony is Cain’s plan backfired because his love spell led to the birth of the Chosen. And according to Valva, the Chosen is the only being capable of killing Cain without repercussions.”
I’d fallen silent as I tried to absorb the concussions of his bombshells. Only instead of getting all introspective and considering how this information changed my view of myself and my purpose on this earth, I gathered my rage like a lightning bolt in my midsection.
“So to summarize,” I said, keeping my tone even and cool, “a Vanity demon showed up when you were crazy and drunk and told you a story where the father of the vampire race forced you to fall in love and make babies with the wrong chick. She also told you not to feel too bad about it because eventually one of those kids would make sure the revenge you craved was carried out. You, naturally, latched on to this explanation because it was easier than accepting that you had any responsibility in the situation.”
“No,” he said, his voice rising. “It wasn’t like that.”
I slashed a hand through the air. “You know what?” I said, my voice trembling. I hated that I couldn’t hide my anger. “You could have just admitted that you didn’t want us.” I shrugged but my hands were trembling with rage. “Maybe the thought of being around Maisie and me would just remind you too much of Phoebe. Maybe you’d never wanted kids period and it was more convenient to pawn us off. Whatever. It wouldn’t have been easy to hear, but at least it wouldn’t have been as insulting as that bullshit you just fed me.”
“I know you are angry. It’s probably well deserved. However, it doesn’t make the facts less true.”
“That’s funny,” Adam snapped. “I haven’t heard one fact yet.”
“Then maybe you’ll believe this.” Tristan turned and retrieved one of the books from his orderly desk. “This is a ledger listing members of the Caste of Nod.”
Adam and I exchanged looks and practically ran around the desk.
“How the hell did you get it?” I demanded.
“We confiscated it when we managed to bring Cain down a decade ago. It lists members of the Caste going back centuries. If you flip to the 1950s era, you’ll see a mage named Birch Jericho listed.”
Adam’s head snapped up. “Birch? I remember him. He was a friend of my father’s.”
Tristan nodded. “Yes, I remember you back then. You were what? Five, six when all this happened?”
Adam swallowed. “Yeah. Birch would come visit me every now and then after my parents died and tell me stories about them.”
The mancy continued scanning the page. His finger scrolled down the names for a moment before he stopped. “I’ll be damned.” He kept his eyes on the page while Tristan started explaining.
“Birch was the highest ranking Pythian Guard under Orpheus at the time, so he was with us in Los Angeles.” He sighed. “The night I was attacked, a vampire showed up on my doorstep. This was shortly after Lavinia discovered my affair with Phoebe, but of course I didn’t know we’d been found out yet. The fighting was furious but I somehow managed to kill him.
“I ran, figuring Lavinia had sent the assassin after me.” His hands tightened on the desk. “I ran into Birch on my way to find Orpheus. At first he pretended to want to help, but the instant I turned my back he attack me. After I killed him and dumped his body in the Hudson, I ran. Eventually Orpheus found me, but I was convinced he was there to murder me, too.”
“Why?” Adam asked.
“What would you think? Birch was a friend of mine. The only thing I could figure was that Lavinia and Ameritat had decided to kill both Phoebe and me as punishment for breaking the Black Covenant.”
“You thought your own mother wanted you dead?” I asked.
“Once Orpheus convinced me he was on my side, he swore I was wrong and said that maybe Birch had gone bad. I didn’t believe him and demanded he help me escape to Europe.” He nodded. “It was only later that I realized the vampire was sent by Lavinia but that Birch worked for the Caste.”
Adam scrubbed his hands over his face. “Okay, so maybe Valva wasn’t lying about what happened in the past. But we have no way to know if her predictions for the future are accurate. You said it yourself—prophecies are slippery, and in our experience, so is Valva. Not to mention, how can we be sure Lilith wasn’t just fucking with you?”
“Why would she do that?”
I crossed my arms. “Because deities are assholes. They enjoy screwing with our lives and watching us squirm.”
“What do you know about deities?” Tristan demanded.
I glanced at Adam. He shook his head. I knew he didn’t think this was the time to tell Tristan about my deal with Asclepius, but the perverse part of me wanted to. After the bombshells he’d dropped, I wanted to share one of my own. However, if I told him now, it’d be impossible to convince him Nyx’s death was an accident later.
“Because,” I began, and paused. Adam shot me a worried look, but I ignored him. “The gods are always manipulating things behind the scenes. So when you tell me that Valva brought you a message from Lilith, I’m immediately suspicious about her motives.”
Tristan fell silent. He watched me with a speculative glance, as if he was questioning my motives, too. Finally, he said, “Let’s assume for a moment that you’re correct.”
“She is,” Adam said.
Tristan ignored him. “What’s our move? Cain is still out there.”
“First,” Adam said. “We need to get Rhea here. She needs to know what’s going on. Besides, she also believes Sabina is the Chosen and I have a feeling you’ll trust her word more than ours.”
My father sighed. “Okay.” There was a phone on his desk. He lifted the receiver and handed it to Adam. “This line’s secure. Get her here ASAP. The longer we delay making a plan, the more the risk of Cain finding us.”
Adam nodded and dialed. While he spoke to Rhea, Tristan turned to me. He opened his mouth to say something, but a female voice interrupted. “Tristan?”
We both looked up to see Nyx and Valva standing at the top of the steps. Valva’s eyes were red rimmed and puffy. She wouldn’t look directly at me, which was fine because my gaze was glued on Nyx. And Tristan’s narrowed gaze was on Valva.
“Valva has something to say to you.”
Adam hung up the phone. “Rhea’s on her way. She’ll manifest in the courtyard.”
I nodded, but my eyes were still swiveling between Tristan and Valva.
“Tristy…,” Valva began.
He looked away from her. “Sabina, why don’t you and Adam go meet Rhea. We’ll all convene in the living room upstairs.”
Without comment, Adam and I made hasty progress to the door.
As we approached Nyx and Valva, the demon glared at me. Dismissing her, I glanced at Nyx and saw something golden wink from the V of her shirt. My eyes widened, realizing I was seeing the top of the magical vest. I jerked my gaze away as if staring too long might singe my corneas.
Something in my gaze must have startled Nyx. Her smiled faltered and she stepped aside, pulling the edges of her shirt together. I nodded as I passed but couldn’t look her in the eye.
Asclepius’s deadline hung over both our heads like an executioner’s ax, but only one of us was aware of the danger. But I couldn’t do anything about that situation until I had a chance to talk to Adam so we could figure out all the angles. In the meantime, I prayed Rhea would be able to convince Tristan to listen to reason.
Chapter 22
If Rhea felt one ounce of relief or nostalgia at seeing Tristan in the flesh for the first time in almost fifty-five years, she didn’t betray it. Instead, she marched onto the scene like a short, silver-haired general.
We were in the meeting room, which I’d taken to calling the War Room. Tristan tried to take the reins of the meeting early on, but Rhea was having none of it. “Adam, tell me what you know.”
What followed was an hour-long rehash of recent events interspersed with bickering and shouting from both our side and Tristan’s team, as well as the occasional whine from Valva.
Finally, Rhea executed an ear-piercing whistle. “All right,” she said once everyone shut up. “Valva?”
The demon crossed her arms and raised a bitchy brow.
“Are you certain that the Chosen can kill Cain?”
“Yes. Mom also said that we needed to be sure Cain didn’t kill Tristan’s progeny because then we’d be stuck with Cain for eternity.”
“Did she say ‘progeny’ or did she speak of Maisie by name?”
Valva squinted, trying to remember.
“You told me the Chosen would be capable of powerful magic, remember?” Tristan prompted.
Valva frowned. “Yes, but I never used Maisie’s name.”
“You did,” Tristan said. Then he paused and frowned. “Didn’t you?”
She shook her head. “No. Mom just said I should reveal that you are the father of the Chosen. She didn’t tell me which twin would fulfill the prophecy.”