Chapter 16
Purgatory was not at all as I had imagined it to be.
Black silk drapes strung up on every wall that surrounded lavish furniture and an abundance of the most insanely attractive men and women I’d ever seen.
They lounged together, some stroking and others who had moved on to kissing, and some were even biting.
I did a double-take when I realized some had very pronounced fangs. Were these… vampires?
My gaze was immediately drawn to an angel with massive white wings.
He oversaw the gathering from a throne atop a platform with a sour expression on his face.
He was the epitome of angelic holiness—and hotness.
Short hair, the body of a warrior, and muscles that bulged as he leaned over his knees and watched us with those incredible crystal blue eyes.
Behind him was another angel, but this one had a mischievous glint to his gaze that contrasted against his angelic appearance. He sat on his chair sideways with his legs hanging off the edge. He wore a leather jacket that revealed his spectacular body, ripped jeans, and boots to top off the look.
Now I’d seen everything.
Silvia perused the situation before walking confidently to the platform. “Didn’t realize you were having a vamp party,” she said, sounding extremely unamused. “You do realize I’ve brought my daughter.”
“Blame him,” the black-haired angel said, thrusting a thumb behind him.
He lowered one of his wings so I could see past him, revealing a vampire with his teeth sunken into a female’s wrist. I stared for a long time, watching her blood drip to the satin sheets they sat on, only to realize I recognized this woman.
How could I not? Her statue watched over every corner of Fortune Academy.
This was Renee, Fate Witch and Keymaster of the three gates—Heaven, Hell, and Earth.
Now I understood why she had three mates.
They were her keys to each realm and she seemed to thoroughly enjoy her vampire’s attentions.
I would have assumed that the key to Earth would be a human, but vampires had once been human, and were near-immortal just as a Fate Witch like Renee would be, so it made sense in that regard why the universe would choose a vampire.
Her hooded gaze flickered with recognition when Silvia entered the den where Renee lounged with her vampire. The angel’s heavenly glow brought light to the room and Renee blinked away the spell she’d been under.
“Oh, Silvia! What a nice surprise.” She patted her mate’s shoulder, who growled and unlatched from her wrist. He watched us with an irritated stare as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Yes, a nice surprise,” he said sarcastically, then his emerald gaze fell on me, flashing briefly with a hint of red.
One of the only vampires I had ever seen had been at the Monster Arena, but had obviously been a poor representation of the race.
This guy was just as drop-dead gorgeous as the angels.
His shirtless body rippled with muscle as he stood and his arms looked like they were made for wrapping around Renee’s body, his bloodied fangs accentuating all the dangerous intimacy they shared.
Wow, I don’t think I could ever be with a vampire.
Or could I?
Olivia squeezed my hand and brought me back to my senses. “You can stop staring,” she whispered with a chuckle.
“I was just admiring him,” I shot back. “I’m not blind.”
Renee chuckled as she cleaned her wrist with a towel, wiping away blood and revealing that her wound had already healed. Her eyes glimmered with excitement as she homed in on me. “You’re Lilith, aren’t you?”
“Lily,” I corrected. I wasn’t comfortable with my demonspawn name.
Silvia rustled her wings before bringing them tight against her back so that she could duck into the low-ceiling den with us.
“My daughter has come here and I was hoping that you and your mates could help her with her struggles. She has yet to Awaken her full potential.” She stroked a strand of hair behind my ear again that had gotten loose.
“She’s the Champion of the Third Echo of Calamity, it seems.”
Renee gave me the biggest, genuine smile I had ever seen. “How exciting! Have you found your mates yet?” She tapped her lips as she pondered. “This is the Third Echo, which means that we’re on Virtues now. It doesn’t usually get this far, but I do suppose that’s my fault.”
What on Earth, or Heaven, as it were, was she going on about?
“You’re confusing her, my love,” the warrior angel said as he joined us, somehow squeezing his way into the small room.
“I think you should start at the beginning.” He waved his hand and the room widened as the walls morphed into a lighter shade of grey.
The piles of pillows and silk sheets transformed into a seating area with sparkling refreshments and a screen erected between us and the weird vampire orgy party going on just outside.
The black-haired angel joined us and grinned at my bewildered expression. “Welcome to purgatory.”
If I had thought my dinner with Orion was awkward, this one took the cake. I sat between Olivia and Silvia while sitting across from Renee and her mates.
Edwin, the angel of Heaven, sipped his drink before clearing his throat. “You’re the third Champion to have appeared, Lily.” He took another sip and I appreciated that he used my preferred name. “You’re a unique creature. I can see why the universe chose you.”
“Because of my heritage,” I supplied.
He nodded.
“Are we going to get into that?” I asked.
Everyone looked at Silvia who bristled. “Well, if you want to jump right into the thick of things, I suppose I should leave.”
Renee patted Silvia’s hand. “We understand your situation. It was sweet of you to even come here.”
Silvia eyed the veil that separated us from the vampires. “Hopefully this doesn’t cross my ascension agreements.”
Edwin grunted. “If there are any problems, I’ll vouch for you. You didn’t know Jason was hosting one of his parties.” He glared at the vampire. “Renee indulges him too much.”
The group chuckled as if this was just another gathering of friends.
I pushed away my untouched plate of delicacies and ignored my drink.
I’d had enough of pretending that I wasn’t about to flip the fuck out.
“Can you all just stop for one second? I’m in purgatory.
There are a bunch of vampires just beyond that wall having sex, or whatever the hell they’re doing, and meanwhile I’m in here speaking to a bunch of angels.
” I glanced meaningfully at Silvia. “And one of them is my mother!”
Silvia rested a hand on my shoulder. “I know it’s a lot—”
“Let her finish,” Renee interjected with a raised palm. “Go on, Lily.”
I drew in a deep breath. This had been sitting on my chest for far too long.
“Before I arrived at Cindy’s bar covered in someone else’s blood, I had no idea who or what I was.
My memories were gone and now I’ve found out that I am the reason that so many other supernaturals have lost their memories, too.
I thought that Fortune Academy was where I could figure out where I belonged, but now I’ve met my Virtues and I feel like the universe made a mistake.
Fortune Academy isn’t a good place. It locks up human families and makes monsters fight in a cage for reasons I haven’t figured out yet.
The students, the professors, the Dean, and most especially my Virtues all have agendas of their own.
My Virtues are supposed to be on my side, but they are just using their connection with me to their own advantage, or rejecting me outright.
” I slammed my hand on the table, resisting the sting in my eyes as tears threatened to fall.
“Orion came here to break his bond with me. What if I don’t want to be the Champion?
What if the universe is already so screwed up from the first two Echoes of Calamity that it made a mistake? ”
They all stared at me for a long time until finally Renee motioned for the others to leave. “I think it’s best if I’m left alone with Lily to discuss these matters, Champion-to-Champion.”
“Olivia isn’t going anywhere,” I insisted, holding onto her.
“I will take her home.” Edwin offered his hand and Olivia gave me a nod.
“It’s all right,” Olivia said, lowering her voice. “I shouldn’t be here, anyway. Let Edwin take me back.”
“Are you sure?” I didn’t like the idea of splitting up, especially in a place like purgatory.
“Only I can help her return home,” Edwin said. “Unless you want to risk using one of Renee’s cards again.” He gave Renee a knowing look. “Which were not supposed to be on Earth in the first place.”
Renee grimaced and flipped up her hands. “Oops.”
Olivia smiled, looking more confident through the glow of her golden eyes.
“Lily, it’s all right. I have a soul again.
No matter what happens to me, I never have to worry that I’ll just cease to exist. I never really wanted to be a Dark Mage, not when I learned what that meant, and now I’m something else entirely.
You’ve given me so much, let me do this for you.
” She kissed my cheek and squeezed my hands.
“You need some one-on-one with this Champion business. Don’t worry about me.
Edwin will take me home and I’ll be waiting for you when you’re ready. ”
Home. Fortune Academy was a lot of things, but I didn’t know if it really felt like the place I belonged.
“What about Melinda?” I asked.
“I’ll go straight to Hendrik’s. He’ll be dying to study me and I’ll exchange myself for his alliance. I can probably even waive our Blood Debt to him.”
I really didn’t like the idea of that.
“Come on, Lily,” she pleaded. “We can’t just stay up here forever and we have to play Melinda’s game. If she wants a war, then she’s going to get one.”
With a heavy sigh I finally agreed. “Fine. But if I come back and Hendrik has you cut up in a hundred tiny little pieces, I’m putting you back together so I can kill you again.”