Chapter Five
FIVE
BERRY
“I am happy to pay for your lunch,” Owain said, nodding toward the menu when I sat down opposite him. “You look hungry.”
“I don’t look anything of the sort,” I argued, despite the fact that I was near ravenous after having had only a yogurt for breakfast. My salary from the Committee wouldn’t hit my bank account for another few weeks, and Jericho wouldn’t pay me until I produced her son, which meant I was on an unavoidable diet.
He raised that damned eyebrow again, and I thought a great many rude things at the same time I consulted the menu. “Fine, I’m a bit peckish, but I do not look hungry, although ... well, it is nice of you to offer to treat me. Thank you. Can you not eat food?”
“I can, but it doesn’t provide me with any nutrients. I must take in blood to survive. Why are you embarrassed about enjoying my lip and jaw and hair? I feel no such embarrassment looking at you.”
I sat up very straight, shooting him my best piercing glare, about to unleash my thoughts upon him when he stopped me dead in my tracks by placing his hand over mine, which was clutching the menu with fingers made white with anger.
“Do not lash me with your words. I simply meant that I am not embarrassed by the pleasure I take in looking at your face and ... er ... other parts. You are quite comely, and I admire your mouth, as well. Also, your hair. It is blacker than Orla’s feathers, and is glossy, like a shiny piece of hematite. ”
Warmth blossomed in my belly at the compliment, but it was quickly ruined by guilt, touched with a bit of annoyance. It was a confusing mix of emotions that I didn’t know how to process. “I ... OK, that was nice, thank you, but you don’t get to comment on my body. That’s not cool.”
“Not even if it is a compliment?” he asked, his eyes steady on mine, and I realized with a jolt that he was actually interested in my answer. He wasn’t just bullshitting me to get me to work for him.
Now I felt worse than ever that I’d told his mom I’d found him.
I tried desperately to think of some way out of the difficult situation without ruining my burgeoning career, but short of admitting what I’d done, I didn’t see any other option.
“Strictly speaking, no. Although ... well, I guess I compliment people sometimes, and I don’t mean anything bad by it.
I suppose I’ll let your comment about my other parts pass. For now.”
“Do you find compliments offensive?” he asked, pausing until the server took my order for a plate of spaghetti Bolognese. “Do you have body dysmorphia?”
“No,” I said, trying to hide the fact that I was pulling down my shirt at the same time I squared my shoulders. “I am quite comfortable with my appearance.”
“Good,” he said, pulling out his phone. “May I have your number?”
“Sure.” I handed him my phone so he could add his number to mine while I munched on the green salad that had been delivered.
I tried hard not to stuff the whole thing in my mouth, and instead eat with at least a hint of civility.
Not even remorse at finding myself in such an untenable situation could completely quell the ravages of hunger.
“Since I feel mildly awkward eating in front of you, why don’t you tell me about this Desislav guy, and why you want me to find him?” I suggested, fighting to keep from diving face-first into the delicious spaghetti when it was placed before me.
“Very well.” He leaned back in the chair, his gaze taking another trip around our end of the restaurant.
“Desislav the Destroyer, along with two other men who later became princes of Abaddon, used a relic known as the blood moon to form Abaddon. Centuries later, my brothers and I were born, and after dealing with our mother’s father—he was a druid—and his kin, we became aware that Abaddon was having a greater effect on mortals than was safe. ”
I managed to keep from moaning at the taste of the food, but it was a close thing. “Can you give me an idea of the time this happened? Was it, like, thousands of years ago, or within the memory of modern man?”
“Modern? No. As best I can pinpoint, it was about the year the mortals call two hundred CE.”
“Gotcha.” I eyed the garlic bread the waitress brought, and gave in to its carby lure, munching it as I asked, “So, you and your brothers wanted to protect the mortals? Or did you have another reason for closing down Abaddon?”
“It was wholly for the benefit of the mortal world.” He thought for a moment, and I couldn’t help but admire yet again how handsome he was.
The corners of his mouth quirked. “And the immortal world, since the princes were testing the limits of their powers outside of Abaddon. Unfortunately, my brother Rhain believed we weren’t strong enough to go against all three princes, not with Desi holding the blood moon.
So he convinced us to draw upon our druid grandfather’s clan, and also involve mortals in the planned destruction. ”
“Why mortals?” I asked, this time waiting before I swallowed to speak. “Aren’t they powerless compared to demon lords?”
“By themselves, yes, but as thanes, our origins lie deep in the mortal races, and we gain our power from them. Rhain felt that with their backing, we would be able to do what we couldn’t do alone.”
“But it wasn’t enough?” I asked, waiting for him to look down to his hands before stuffing a big wad of spaghetti into my mouth.
I might have to eat in front of the man, but it didn’t mean I had to make a pig of myself.
“It may well have been, but we will never know. The mortals betrayed us, and the Court of Divine Blood—you know of the Court, yes?”
I nodded.
“The Court, which at that time was heavily involved in working to make the immortal and mortal races live together in harmony, decided that we were putting the mortals at risk, and threw their support in with Desi and the two other princes to defeat us.”
“Heaven joined up with hell to destroy you guys?” I asked, my fork now frozen halfway to my mouth. “How on earth did that work? Also, that’s horrible! Did you tell them that you guys were trying to help the mortals, not crush them?”
“I do not know what deal the Court made with Abaddon, but I have heard a rumor that the Sovereign at the time knew Desi personally, and that it was she who was responsible for the Court siding against us.” He wiggled his shoulders a few times, as if he was stiff.
“They weren’t incorrect that the mortals who were to work with us would be at risk, but we had sworn to do all we could to protect them from the wrath of Abaddon. ”
“Were they, for lack of a better phrase, cannon fodder? The mortals, that is?” I asked, setting down my fork. “Is that why the Court thought you were putting them in danger?”
“No. I told you that thanes’ power is sourced in mortal beings. It would be counterproductive to destroy that which gave us our abilities.”
“How do they do that? I’m sorry if I’m diverting the discussion, but how do you get power from mortals?”
He shrugged. “How do you talk to birds? It is something that is bred into us. A few years ago, my brother Cadell was raging against our confinement, and likened mortals to batteries that gave us the ability to power our form of magic. I suppose that is as apt a description as any.”
My sympathy for him grew, which in turn made regret at texting his mom all that much more painful. “So, everyone turned against you four, and Desi tossed you into the Seventh Hour?”
“More or less, yes. A few hundred years later, Desi himself was condemned to the Thirteenth Hour. We thought that was the end of it—he was gaoled, just as we were. But more importantly, his relic was no longer in his possession, so when I was expulsed from the Hour, I could focus on lifting the blood curse placed on us without fear of repercussion by Desi.” His jaw worked a couple of times.
“Then my mother informed me that not only had he been freed from his prison, but the blood moon was still in circulation, and was being sought by everyone. That is why I must have you find it, first.”
Guilt rose up and swamped me until it made it hard for me to breathe.
“Wait, I thought you wanted me to find Desislav?” I asked, shaking my head when the waitress asked if I wanted anything else.
I avoided looking at the half-empty plates that she removed from before me, regretting the loss of a good meal, but knowing it would all turn to the proverbial ashes in my mouth.
His lips tightened. “I do, although I want to know the location of the blood moon more. Without it, I am vulnerable to being sent back to my imprisonment in the Hour. I have spent almost two thousand years there. I don’t wish to return.
It would also allow me to break the curse on my brothers and me, although I doubt it would help existing Dark Ones.
Still, it’s another reason to ensure no one else gets the relic. ”
“Oh, goddess,” I said, clutching my head for a moment in order to hide the shame at my actions.
“What have I done? Owain, I’m sorry, but I .
.. goddess, I’ve screwed everything up, but I was trying to do my job.
My cousin Savian told me how important it is to not fail clients, and how the Committee takes a stand about thief takers who don’t honor contracts, but this isn’t right.
You’re a nice guy. I mean, I’ve only known you for what, half an hour?
But I can tell you’re nice. You take care of a bitchy bird who tried to kill you, and you brought me here where I’m safe, and what did I do to repay that kindness? ”
He stilled at my words, a frozen look on his face. “Why are you consumed with guilt? What have you done?”
“I texted your mom we were having lunch,” I admitted, so miserable I wanted to cry. “I didn’t realize—I didn’t know you had suffered so much. She said it was important I find you as quickly as possible, so I assumed that meant you were at risk. But you’re not, are you?”