Chapter 10 Lily
LILY
I sat on the grass outside my old villa underneath the oak tree.
I hadn’t lived inside that villa since before the war, and while it had been home to me for years, it felt different now.
Felt haunted—by a ghost that I couldn’t see, touch, or feel.
I pulled my knees to my chest as I watched the sun set farther over the horizon, the breeze starting to cool as it danced over my cheek. A new wave of tears slid down my cheeks as my bottom lip trembled slightly. “Callum, where are you?”
Viper had left with his fleet early that morning. I watched them sail across the Great Sea until the last row of ships disappeared. Viper continued to force me to face the doubts that bubbled inside my chest, that Callum didn’t return by choice.
But I refused to believe that.
I refused.
Sunieth, what’s wrong? Zehemoth’s words came into my mind.
I loved being fused with Zehemoth because of the closeness we shared and the strength and focus he provided me. But I hated that my feelings were streamed to him every hour of the day, that he knew my despair when I tried to hide it from the rest of the world. I’m fine, Zehemoth.
Your despair is like a hurricane, Lily.
Just give me some space, okay?
You don’t need space. You need love.
I wiped my tears away on my sleeve, my private moment shattered by unwanted company.
Is it because the handsome vampire general left?
I closed my eyes because that couldn’t be further from the truth. Yes. Now, please just give me some space, okay? I lied to my dragon and felt terrible about it, but I needed silence right now. Needed my own thoughts. Needed to grieve for someone I still hoped would come back.
Okay. You know I’m always here for you.
I know, Zehemoth. Thank you.
The silence returned, and I felt my dragon leave my thoughts. Giving me the space I needed to untangle all the knots inside my heart. But then another dragon spoke to me, Khazmuda.
Zunieth, I just spoke with your father.
Does he wish to speak to me?
Your father’s memory has been unclear since he woke up.
There are large gaps in time that he can’t recall.
Your mother informed him about your ability to raise the dead, so he questioned me about it.
I told him what happened in the forest because he couldn’t recall.
I’m sorry for my part in this, but I was obligated to tell him.
This day couldn’t get worse. He’s angry.
Extremely.
This is bad.
Your mother wanted to wait until he had fully recovered, but she felt too guilty deceiving him.
I don’t know if I should take Zehemoth and fly away for a while…or face him.
Khazmuda said nothing to that.
I’d faced Barbarians and vampires head on, but the idea of facing my father over this…fucking terrified me. I wasn’t ready for the conversation, not when I hadn’t seen Callum in weeks, not when doubt had started to fester in my heart. Thank you for letting me know.
Good luck, Zunieth.
The guards eventually found me on the lawn outside the villa.
Like I was an enemy of the Southern Isles, I was escorted into the castle like a prisoner.
I wore a long, sleeveless dress, relieved not to wear my heavy armor anymore.
I got to feel the breeze on my skin, let my hair down instead of keeping it back in a tight braid.
But my shoulders felt heavy from the invisible weight I carried. The dread made my lungs stiffen, made it hard to draw in breath and let it out again. When my mother knew the truth, she trusted me to see it through on my own. But my father was not rational or calm, not the way she was.
I’d just gotten him back, but now the distance between us would return.
It was normally a long journey to the royal chambers on the top floor, at least ten minutes, but when I dreaded the conversation, it passed in a second. I didn’t knock before I let myself inside, and I flinched when I saw him standing there.
It was clear he’d been pacing the second before I’d turned the door handle. Now he stood there, arms crossed over his chest, his dark eyes as violent as the flames in the hearth. There was no love in his gaze now, just vicious accusation.
It was so quiet in the room I could hear every crackle and pop of the flames from the fire. Without checking the other rooms, I knew my mother wasn’t there. That he wanted to have this confrontation in private.
I’d never been scared of my father, but I was scared of him now.
He was so mad he didn’t even say anything, like there were no words.
I remembered him lying on the grass below me, the enormous sword sticking out of his chest, his face so angry when he realized what I’d done. When he thought I’d made a deal with his greatest enemy.
He showed the same look now.
I stayed behind the armchair while he was on the other side of one of the couches, but the space between us wasn’t enough to stop the heat that burned from his flames.
“You. Promised. Me.” That was all he could get out, so angry that only the simplest words came to mind.
The cords in his neck popped like rivers in his flesh.
He was in a black shirt and the trousers he wore when he had retired after a long day, but he might as well be an assassin in his full armor and cape.
“It was the one thing I asked of you, Lily Lena Rothschild. I let you live your own life the way you wanted. Let you sail across the world on a galleon with a crew. Never pressured you to take the crown if you didn’t want it.
Did everything for you—and you couldn’t give me this one thing? ”
“If you let me explain—”
“How much time do we have?”
“What?”
“How much time do we have before he collects payment?” He stepped close to me, moving past the couch but stopping before the coffee table.
“There is no payment.”
“There is always a debt. Evil does not work for free.”
I did my best to sound calm, to know that my father was livid in both anger…and fear. Fear that he was about to lose me forever. “Please let me explain.”
His arms were already crossed over his chest, but he noticeably tightened them. His chin was so rigid, it looked like it was about to split through the skin. Flames from the hearth danced in his eyes.
“We got blown off course because of the storm. That was how we ended up on that island. It was not intentional. I didn’t realize where I was until…I felt it. Then he revealed himself to me, Wrath, God of the Underworld and King of the Dead.” And the man I loved.
My father started to breathe harder, like he was on the verge of a scream.
“He told me you hadn’t paid your debt. That you cheated the system.
Other words were said… I basically told him to fuck off.
I returned to the ship, and we prepared to disembark as quickly as possible.
But he told me not to go because the Barbarians would come upon us if we left.
I didn’t believe him, and I wish I had. That was how I lost my whole crew and how I ended up in a cell under the deck. ”
He swallowed, his throat shifting.
“He raised a kraken from the depths and had the dead unlock the cell. Told me there was a boat in the back…and helped me escape. Then I made the long journey back home to you.”
He didn’t interrupt me, probably because the story had taken a different trajectory than he’d expected.
The rest of the story would be awkward for him to hear, so I tried to choose my words carefully. “He continued to visit me…and we fell in love.” That was all I said, shared no details or explanation. I didn’t tell my dad that I’d fucked Wrath for his freedom, because that seemed so irrelevant now.
He sucked in a hard breath when he heard that declaration. His eyes watered, but I suspected it was from the raw rage pumping through him, an anger so aggressive he couldn’t keep it in his body.
“When the Barbarians attacked Riviana Star, he told me not to go. But I went anyway, and when the battle took a dangerous turn, he somehow stopped time…and gave me the power to raise the dead. And not only that, but he gave me his strength…the strength of a god.”
He was seething now, his anger boiling.
“It was the reason I was able to make the Barbarians flee the forest. It was the reason I was able to save you. And through the rest of his journey, he’s advised me and helped me.
He’s been the eyes in the back of my head in every battle.
He’s shown himself to my enemies to keep me safe.
He’s done everything he possibly can to keep me alive. ”
“Never let a man take credit for your accomplishments, Lily Rothschild.”
That was not the first thing I expected him to say.
“You prevailed because of your skill with the blade. You won because you’re smarter and wiser and faster than your enemy. You defeated our enemy because your soldiers and allies felt honored to serve you. Don’t you dare, for one fucking second, let a demon claim your crown.”
“He’s not a demon—”
“He is. He presents himself to the world as a beautiful man so his victims will approach, but in the underworld, he’s an eight-foot demon with twelve horns that feeds off the souls he claims. I would know this because I have seen it.”
“I understand Bahamut was a demon, but Wrath is not—”
“He lied to you, Lily.”
“He didn’t.”
“The Covenant would never choose anything but a demon to represent their desires in the mortal world. He didn’t help you out of love. He helped you to earn your soul—and he will try to take it.”
“He said he gave me his gifts freely.”
“And you were foolish to believe him.” He stepped closer to me, making a lunge like he wanted to grab my throat and squeeze it. “He will come, and he will try to rip it from your chest, but I’ve killed a demon once and I will do it again.”
“Dad, you need to trust me.”
“I can’t trust someone who trusts the word of evil.”
“Dad—”