Chapter 35 #2
The high sentinel raised his brows in surprise as he approached Imani and Kiran. Shadows of black wings appeared on the wall behind him, and power emanated from his magical signature. Imani could see that this man held magic she couldn’t even begin to understand.
“Is this truly her? And you managed to convince her to follow you here?” Depthless eyes scanned her body as the death angel sized her up.
“Yes and yes.” Kiran’s voice was even, unafraid.
“I must admit, I didn’t expect you to return so quickly. You’re impressive, Kiran. Quite impressive.”
Concern started spreading in Imani’s chest at being singled out. It dawned on her that it wasn’t simply her brands Kiran wanted … it was her, specifically.
What could this stranger possibly want with me?
Is Kiran handing me over? Didn’t I already do what I came here to do?
Why me? Her thoughts were spiraling at all the lies Kiran had told her, but she kept her mouth shut.
If this man was able to tell her more about herself, she was willing to be compliant.
The death angel stood in front of her now, his own shadow magic snaking out to lightly brush Imani’s arms and neck.
“Hmm.” He turned back to the prince. “She is very beautiful, Kiran. And part-Norn elf. Entirely unexpected. The gods have smiled upon your fate with her. Those eyes remind me of Beliana …” He trailed off, almost reaching to touch her, but pulled back when Imani flinched.
Kiran stepped in front of Imani, hiding her from the male’s pervasive inspection.
She peeked around the corner of his waist to watch, annoyed at his overprotectiveness again. The prince lifted his shirt to reveal a binding mark to Mateus that was so large across his abdomen Imani had wondered more than once what bargain he had struck for such a thing.
Mateus, in robes and a tunic, lifted his own shirt to show a matching brand. “The bargain still stands,” he replied.
Kiran nodded and tucked in his shirt.
Anxiety frayed her nerves. Did this bargain involve her? She’d been told this would be simple for her—in and out, no questions—yet the air continued to take on a sinister feeling as the conversation continued.
“I must speak with her alone,” Mateus stated, dropping his shirt.
“Never,” Kiran hit back immediately, backing her farther behind him, his hands touching her. “You said all I needed to do was bring her to enter—you do not have to speak with her.”
“You think I don’t know your reputation, Serpent Prince? Before I give you what you ask, I must interrogate this creature alone to ensure she is who you say she is to you.”
“We have the marks to prove it.”
“I don’t trust marks from you as proof.”
This death angel was wise.
Imani fisted the back of Kiran’s shirt as she hid behind him. Did she want to speak with this man? Maybe he had answers for her. Answers that Kiran had denied her.
“No,” Kiran growled. “Speak to her with me here. This wasn’t part of the agreement. She stays with me.”
Either Kiran was being an obstinate asshole … or he was hiding something.
Mateus gave Kiran a placating look. “It’s a simple conversation. Alone. Then I will give you what you seek.”
What had Kiran come for? And why did he really need me? She was far more critical to this escapade than she’d originally thought.
Of course, Kiran had fooled her once again.
Imani stepped around Kiran and lifted her chin to look at the death angel. “I’ll speak to you alone.”
Kiran snarled and nearly snatched her back around him, but before he could, shadows of her own ensconced her body, protecting her, and the death angel grinned.
“Excellent.”
It was as if the dam on Mateus’s power disappeared.
Darkness surrounded Imani. Filled her. Shadows shifted, and wind howled past her ears, tossing her hair around in a whirl of power, welcoming her to the world of night and enigmas.
It called to her. But, while similar, this was not Imani’s darkness.
Hers was total blackness; this was a fog—a lesser version of her power.
The inky magic dissipated slightly, but it hung around them like a dome. A veritable privacy wall that Kiran now stood outside of.
Imani’s eyes widened as she let the wisps of shadows twirl around her finger and dance off into the air. “You have magic like mine,” she whispered.
“I have the brand, but I’m curious if anyone has magic quite like you.”
Imani didn’t know what that meant. “I’d like some of my own answers in exchange for yours,” Imani offered, moving back to the altar as he stared at her with a look burning in his eyes that was both terrifying and intriguing.
Imani glanced back at the prince.
“Imani, do not believe what he tells you,” Kiran shouted. “Whatever you do, do not—” He was panicking. She could see it in his expression, in his taut muscles. In the way he stammered. She had never seen him afraid before.
Whatever conversation was going to happen between her and the death angel, it had spooked Kiran. He was losing control. Imani didn’t know how to react to it, or to Mateus. But she knew she needed to stay a while longer for answers she’d been waiting for, for a long time.
“I’d like us to be honest with each other,” Mateus stated while still staring up at the statues of the Saints.
“Agreed,” Imani said, her eyes on the death angel’s face.
Imani withheld a smile as she finally dared to look at Kiran, who grabbed at his hair and paced outside the barrier, wand out, appearing to grow more insane by the second.
“Show me your brands.”
Imani didn’t hesitate. She bared them all, heartmate marks included.
“No glamour. These are real?”
“We promised to be honest with each other.”
“Oh, His Highness did well for himself. It’s more than his black heart deserves,” he murmured seductively, pointing to the heartmate brands. “We won’t know for certain right away, but you have all the markers. These are exactly as your grandmother described.”
Imani’s mouth gaped. “Have you …? Have you met my grandmother down here?”
“I knew her before her unfortunate demise. But no, I have not spoken to her since then.”
She breathed a sigh of relief. Imani didn’t think the souls she consumed had made it to the Under, but she could have been wrong, especially after overhearing Zadie’s conversation with Kiran. Especially after her episode when passing through the slip. Maybe they were free after all.
“Unlike the prince over there, hiding in plain sight, she and your father kept you well hidden from the world, and for good reason. I can feel your powerful magic from here, and that anger coursing through your veins is deadly. It seems Ara created quite the little monster.”
Imani scoffed. “My grandmother created nothing. And even if she did, it was by mistake, given how much she loathed me for killing her heartmate.”
“She and your father don’t make mistakes. They find solutions to maneuver themselves to be in the best position possible, especially since the realms are in crisis. Unfortunately, you’re a pawn in a much larger, more complicated world than you know.”
Imani didn’t think he was talking about her adoptive father.