Chapter 15 #2
Oh, sweet summer child. He really did not see the truth right in front of him.
He’d been brainwashed and gaslit for too long.
I didn’t have any high hope that he’d switch teams at this late in the game, but everyone should understand the truth of what they were fighting for.
Even if he wasn’t going to like what I was about to say.
I push up on my toes and pressed my lips to his, then slid my hands up his chest to his jaw.
He groaned and buried his hands in my hair, twisting my head back to deepen our kiss.
I kissed him with total abandon, like I was just a silly little human girl with a silly human boy she liked.
Despite every reason I had not to, I definitely, definitely liked Vosen.
Avoiding him since our evening together had been torture.
Part of me wanted to insist I was on Lilith’s side just so I could drag him back into bed.
If I was being honest with myself, I’d admit to having a crush on him.
I had from the moment he first sniffed my hair.
I could’ve just played the game as I had been and enjoyed some benefits of it .
. . but for some reason I couldn’t lie to him.
Not when he asked me point-blank.
It was one thing to keep up my charade if he was clueless, however he wasn’t.
He had seen through me from the beginning .
. . and yet he hadn’t tattled on me. He could’ve had me killed by Sweyn or Lilith.
Could’ve fed me to the demons or drained me for my blood himself.
He definitely could’ve locked me away or avoided being alone with me.
Instead, he seemed as drawn to me as I was to him.
He growled against my mouth, sending shivers down my spine, then he shoved me against the wall. There was but an inch between us now. His lips were puffy and parted, like he was still trying to catch his breath like I was. “Stop distracting me with your mouth—”
“You kissed me first.”
He cringed, then his lips were on mine again. Then he jumped back, leaving a whole foot between us. “Do not belittle my intelligence by playing with me. Speak your truth.”
I took a deep breath. “Fine. You say Lilith is the one giving you life back, right?”
He nodded. “Yes. She’s the one who gave us a way to re-enter Earth and Seelie—”
“After she took it from you to begin with.”
His eyes widened. I’d never once seen the look of pure shock on his face. When he didn’t speak, I took that as a sign.
“I’ve been getting all the details of what happened among the Seelie before Atzaran overturned the crown and exiled half of his own people to another realm.
A realm that was dying. A realm with no way to provide sustenance to its new inhabitants, their bodies and magic had to evolve in order to survive.
” I reached forward and tapped on his fang.
“None of the Seelie have fangs or drink blood.”
He narrowed those yellow cat eyes. “Atzaran betrayed my father and stole life from us.”
“And how long was your father King of Seelie before Atzaran managed to overthrow him?” I cocked my head to the side and licked my lips to savor the taste of him still lingering there. “Do you really think Atzaran was able to do what he did without help? You tell me. You were there.”
His mouth opened, then shut. A scowl pulled at his eyebrows as his thoughts drifted into ancient memories.
“Or perhaps Lilith found a Seelie who was evil and fucked up enough to succumb to her tricks in order to get his glory . . . but not one who would ever stop to think of how she’d set him up for failure.
” I shrugged one shoulder. “Did Lilith really think Heaven would not burn Seelie to the ground in order to rescue the angel Eithne he’d stolen from them?
Did she think his own children would not carry the power of Heaven in their veins?
Or perhaps that was her plan all along? Maybe she had no intention of Atzaran and Seelie surviving.
Maybe she hoped Atzaran would bring The Coven down for her?
Maybe she always intended to let you all kill each other and completely miss her true plans to take Earth for herself? ”
Vosen took a step back, his face ashy and pale.
He hadn’t ever considered it.
No reason to stop now, not when I had his attention. “For that matter, where did the realm the Unseelie have been living in come from? What did it look like before she gave it to y’all? I can’t help but wonder how many species of life she destroyed there long before you arrived.”
He frowned and his stare moved to the ground.
“Have you seen her realm, Vosen?”
He jumped at the sound of his name. His gaze slid back up to me. “No,” he whispered.
“Well I have. And it is nothing but fire and death.” I swallowed the nausea that bubbled up my throat at the memories of my time there. “Death literally floats through the air. There’s no light, no warmth, no colors . . . there’s no joy. I know you feel joy, Vosen.”
He closed his eyes.
“You feel it every time I speak your name, don’t you . . . Vosen?”
He didn’t look at me, but he nodded.
“Look at me, Vosen.”
His eyes flew open.
I cocked my head to the side. “Why is that a thing, by the way? This whole knowing an Unseelie’s name shit? Because that’s not how it works for Seelie.”
His eyebrows sank low.
“Maybe Lilith planned that little loophole to make it easier for The Coven to destroy you . . . After all, it would save her the effort.” I leaned back against the wall and crossed my arms over my chest. “You’ve been around a lot longer than me, but I just don’t get why anyone would want Lilith to win.
Take a look around this realm and ask yourself why you’d want to see it destroyed.
It’s beautiful here. There’s more to life here than just magic and dumb humans.
Maybe before you help destroy it, you should venture around and see what you’re destroying? ”
He narrowed his eyes. “Are you trying to get me to join Heaven’s side of the war?”
“I don’t believe in manipulation or the lack of free will.
I would never get anyone to do anything.
” I shrugged. “I’m just asking you to stop and use that intelligence of yours to ensure you’re happy with your loyalty.
I mean, did Heaven or Earth harm you in any way?
Or have you been manipulated all your life? ”
A muscle in his jaw popped. He put his hands on his hips and just stared at me.
I pushed off the wall and took a step forward.
“I’m not telling which side of this war to fight on.
I’m just suggesting you make sure you’re happy with the ending you’re fighting for before it’s too late.
You’re here now and you’re powerful. Do with these thoughts as you wish.
But I know what she has in store for this world, and I intend to do everything I can to prevent it. ”
He stared at the ground for a long minute before he peeked up at me through dark eyelashes. “Does The Coven know my name?”
The door to the room flew open so hard it slammed into the wall and snapped off the hinges. I gasped and leapt back, pressing myself to the wall again. Vosen looked but otherwise seemed unconcerned. He merely turned to the side to see who had joined us.
“My, my, what are you two doing in here?” Queen Sweyn strolled inside carrying the demon-glass orb in one hand. She glared at her brother, then turned to me and batted her eyelashes. “Making friends, I hope?”
Real subtle, Sweyn.
Behind her, Vosen rolled his eyes and shook his head.
I smirked. She was quite a fool, yet somehow didn’t know it. Her demise would be fun to watch. I just hoped I was around when Everest or Frankie did the honors.
Vosen growled. “Why are you smiling, Sister? Or did your pea brain already forget what just happened?”
“I spent centuries with my anger and my grudges, Brother.” She looked to me and winked, as if I hadn’t realized what she was hinting at before. “I’d much rather focus my energy on plans and strategies now.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall opposite me, as if he was trying to look bored. “And I suppose you have a great one for while we’re trapped beneath the ground hiding from the sunlight?”
Sweyn stopped right in front of me and held the orb out in both of her palms. “Lilith has a new plan. Would you like to hear it?”
I nodded but didn’t speak because I did not trust my voice or Vosen’s reaction.
Big red eyes flashed within the orb. Lilith’s eyes. My stomach sank. But at least Everest had taught me how to keep her out of my mind. I took a deep breath to try and steady my pulse. I had to keep my cool now more than ever since Vosen knew my truth.
Black smoke billowed from within the orb and into the room. It swirled down to the ground like fog, then shot over to coil around my feet. I gasped and tried to move but the smoke pinned me in place like my legs were cemented to the floor. My pulse quickened. My feet and ankles burned and vibrated.
I looked up and my gaze met Vosen’s. For the first time since arriving in this dreaded place, I didn’t bother to hide my fear, especially not as the black smoke slid farther and farther up my body.
Vosen’s yellow cat eyes were narrowed on Lilith’s magic, his lips pressed into a firm line.
I saw his own pulse pounding through the vein in his neck. His fangs poked into his bottom lip.
Everywhere it touched me my nerves screamed in protest. It was like being tied to a stake and set on fire.
My whole body trembled, yet no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t move anything the magic had touched.
I swatted at it with my left hand, but the moment her magic caressed my skin, my left hand dropped to my side and refused to move.
My breaths were labored now as panic set in. Tears pooled in my eyes.
“Vosen, what’s happening to me?!” I asked telepathically, my fear squeezing me like a vise grip and making me reveal one of my tricks to him.
His eyes widened. He’d heard me.
My heart was pounding. “I’m scared. It hurts! Make it stop!”
His whole face fell as he looked back and forth between the orb and the magic now up to my waist. He leapt forward. “What are you doing to her?”
“I . . . I . . . don’t know,” Sweyn stuttered. Her red eyes were wide as she also looked back and forth between me and the orb. “Lilith? My lady, what is this?”
“You didn’t ask?” Vosen hissed and snarled at Sweyn. He threw his hand out toward me, so I grabbed it with the one hand I still had control of. The fact that he squeezed it back sent my tears sliding over my lashes. His face flushed with anger. “You just volunteered her without asking?”
Sweyn growled in his face. “How dare you suggest I question Lilith? I am doing as she asked—”
“Well, stop!” he shouted, still squeezing my hand.
“Relax, little Prince,” Lilith’s voice purred in echo around the room. “I am not going to harm my pretty little granddaughter. I am merely going to use her body until I am strong enough to bring my own to Earth.”
Vosen’s eyes widened in horror.
Sweyn gasped. “Wait, what? My lady, you are not ready to come here. This will slow your process down—”
“And so has your idiocy,” Lilith snapped. The eyes in the orb glowed like neon-red signs. “Since I clearly cannot trust anyone on Earth to do the job right, I will have to come do it myself.”
Sweyn’s face turned red, but she didn’t speak.
Her magic was up to my neck now and sliding down to my right elbow. I blinked and tears slid down my face. I kept my eyes on Vosen’s. “You see now? Do you SEE, Vosen? Look what she’s doing to me.”
He shook his head ever so slightly but did not drop my hand.
“Let go of my hand now, Vosen.”
He dropped it immediately because I’d used his name as a command. He scowled.
“Consent is everything, isn’t it?” I took a deep breath. At least the burning was cooling off a bit. “Don’t let her kill me, Vosen.”
His eyes met mine . . . and then he nodded. Just once, and subtly, but he nodded all the same.
And then darkness swept over my vision. My eyes burned for a second and then everything went totally and entirely numb.
I felt nothing. Well, no. I felt the tingle of her magic on my skin.
I felt my clothes against my body. I felt the cold floor beneath my bare feet.
I still tasted Vosen on my lips. My now steady heartbeat still beat through my chest.
I was here . . . just not here.
Lilith had possessed my body and let me stick around to watch the show.