Chapter 47 #3
Proserpina inhales deeply, shoulders rising as she turns to her son. “By the look on your face—” I glance up at him, his stare so intense my knees nearly buckle. “—you don’t know what’s going on.”
“No.” His answer is clipped.
“You didn’t bring her here, did you, son.”
“No.” He grabs my arm gently, but still moves me slightly behind him.
“Oh, Lucifer, don’t do that. Not with me. I’m not your father.”
I won’t lie… I’m worried.
Not about one of them.
All of them.
Her.
Lucifer.
His father.
“Amarah, dear,” she continues. “Why don’t you return the mirror to me. I can take care of the person inside—”
“What!?”
Proserpina ignores her son. “If the person you trapped is sending the Grimhorn…”
“That is impossible. They barely listen to me, and I… am…”
I swallow as he trails off.
“It would seem that a strong, possibly angry Yldarwright, has the ability to cast a spell even through the Verraketh.”
“No.” At this point, there is no point in lying about it or allowing her to be misinformed. “She summoned them, and they willingly went to her. I don’t know why or how, but even the strongest of my kind can’t push magic in or out. I tried when I put her in there.”
Lucifer’s grip on my arm tightens and I slowly lift my gaze to meet his.
His entire body is so stiff, I’d fear he was made into stone if his lips didn’t move. “How do you trap someone in the mirror?”
I swallow so roughly it’s audible, and the hesitation claws at my chest until it hurts so badly I could pass out.
“Tell him, dear,” Proserpina murmurs.
I shut my eyes, taking a trembling breath. “A sacrifice.”
“A? Singular?”
Dear Gods, I could throw up. It’s a good thing I didn’t eat that breakfast.
This is so bad. He’s going to tell Kayn.
“Depending on how strong the person is that I’m trapping…” I can feel the exact moment he looks at me differently, right when the sharpness of his gaze turns into an assessment of me. “For this particular Yldarwright… I needed one hundred and thirty-six.”
He drops my arm and steps away from me.
“It’s not what you think, Lucifer. They were already dead.”
Warm tears roll down my cheeks so fast I’m unable to stop them. What else I can’t keep from coming, are the images of what I’d done. “She had already slaughtered them. I tried so hard to put myself between them, but I could only do so much.”
“Why…”
I chew on my bottom lip, and flick my gaze to his mother. She seems keen on knowing the answer, but I fear her knowing equally as telling Belial himself.
“They were an offering. To summon your father.”
His eyes flare—wide circles, violet brightening with panic.
“She was aiding Vaeloris—”
“What?!” he nearly shouts.
“Yes. The King of Gods.” My voice breaks. “Vendra warned me what was coming, and I did what I thought was right to prevent it!”
“Your God would betray her own ruler, for what?”
“Vendra doesn’t kneel before a king, Lucifer, do not disrespect my God that way. She answers to no one…” I squeeze my eyes shut and shake my head. “Every single choice was taken from me the night I met you. Even Vendra took that away from me…”
I don’t know why I look at Proserpina, but when I do, she wears a mix of concern and anger.
Not at me.
At him. Her son.
“I sacrificed more that day than anyone could ever understand. But I didn’t kill them—”
“But you knew you’d have to. If you wanted to trap her, Amarah, you knew—”
“Son.” Proserpina cuts him off. “Children’s hearts are pure and hold energy yet to be expelled over time. However, a Yldarwright can also sacrifice someone equally as strong as the person she was trapping.”
It’s like I can hear his heart shattering. The look of absolute devastation breaks through the anger that had consumed him. I get it. He had no personal connection to those people, but they were still kids. Only the heartless would see what happened as anything but cruel and evil.
“I’d begged them to kill me,” I whisper.
“I promised the mirror my life to trap hers, but it wouldn’t let me end my own.
It had to be done by someone else.” I shake my head, disappointment burning in my chest. “Vendra wouldn’t let me die.
Then, when she found out about the deal I made with the mirror, I was playing defense trying to put myself between the people of that town, and her attacks. ”
His lips part, but nothing comes out. Instead, his hand lifts to my cheek, thumb gently sweeping away my tears.
Lucifer is anything but stupid, and the puzzle finally begins to put itself together in his head. His eyes flick between mine. Searching. Assessing. Piecing together everything I’ve told him from our very first encounter up until this moment. Putting together the parts I hadn’t said aloud.
“Your family.”
“Yes.” I breathe. “She killed them because they were a threat to her plan.”
“Oh, Amarah.”
I sigh through a sob that gets caught in my throat. No, stay strong. Please, stay strong. “Don’t tell him, Lucifer.”
“Shh.” He places his hand down behind my neck and pulls me into an embrace. “Bloody Beyond. What is going on…”
“Don’t tell Kayn. Please…”
“Kayn?”
Oh, fuck. Why did I say that?!