Chapter 61
Caspian’s Return
Elizabeth started, and Charlotte stood swiftly, staring at the window. Charlotte edged closer to the window, raising her hands as if they were weapons. Elizabeth was taken aback all over again that her friend was a witch, and after all these years, she’d never known.
A shadowy figure was behind the window, just visible behind the curtains. Heart pounding, Elizabeth tossed the covers aside and stood as the window slid open. A black boot stepped onto the window jamb.
The figure crept into the room and, when their eyes locked, he stopped dead.
“Elizabeth.” Caspian looked dishevelled and out of breath, like he had run through half of the kingdom to find her. His tunic was wrinkled and half tucked into his pants. He was looking at her as if he couldn’t believe his eyes.
“Caspian, you’re here,” Elizabeth breathed, and he ran to her side. She looked him over for any wounds. “You’re alright! I was so worried you’d never heal.”
He looked at her curiously, as if touched she would ever care for his well-being. “You saved me. I would not be here if not for you.”
Caspian glanced warily at Charlotte, who had her arms crossed, glaring at him. He inclined his head mockingly towards her. “Lady Charlotte.”
“Demon,” Charlotte said rudely.
Caspian ignored this and turned back to her. As soon as their eyes met, his expression softened. “Please lie back down, Elizabeth. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
She sat on the edge of the bed, and he came to her.
Elizabeth touched his cheek in wonder. “You’re alive.”
He squeezed her hand, as if to be sure that she was real. “When I came back and saw you gone with your blood on the floor, I was so worried.” He closed his eyes. “I thought I would die from the pain of it.”
When he opened his eyes, she saw they were earnest and green.
She smiled, and he smiled back, as if it was infectious.
Charlotte cleared her throat loudly. “Well, this is touching. I assume the two of you want a moment alone? Hopefully for you to yell at him for putting you in mortal peril and hiring servants that tried to kill you?” Charlotte looked at Elizabeth hopefully. “With name-calling and cursing?”
Elizabeth smiled slowly.
“Och. Lizzy, you always were too nice. I suppose, I’ll be going then.”
Charlotte moved towards the door, pausing at the threshold. She looked back at her, and their eyes locked. Charlotte raised her brows and said emphatically, “You know what you need to do.”
Elizabeth sobered and nodded firmly. “I do.”
“Then good luck,” Charlotte said with a wry smile. She glanced at Caspian and gave him a final, withering look. “This doesn’t mean I like you, demon.”
After Charlotte departed, Elizabeth chuckled. “Sorry. I don’t think she likes you very much.”
“She can loathe me as much as she wants.” Caspian gave her a half-hearted shrug. His eyes grew earnest. “I never thought I’d see you again.”
“How did you get captured?”
Caspian was quiet for a moment, a shadow crossing his features.
“When I arrived on the burning plains, they were already waiting for me. Someone must have told them I was coming.” He paused, his lip curling.
“After Raziel captured me, he drugged me, and his minions tortured me, hunting for information on the portals.”
Elizabeth stopped cold.
Oblivious to this, he continued, “As you might have seen, I have one, but the other … It’s been lost for centuries. No one even knows where it is.” He grimaced. “Being tortured for something that you don’t have any idea about is … an experience.”
She squirmed, suddenly uncomfortable. He surveyed her for a moment, and she wondered if he could read the guilt on her face.
“I have some murky memories of the days that followed. I just remember them asking me over and over about the lost amulet and the portal. What we knew of their plans. They kept me in that dungeon, carved me up, and left me to rot. They forced me to drink something that made me feel disoriented and unable to access my magic.”
He paused. “And then you appeared in front of me. I remember seeing your face and thinking I was dreaming.” He looked down, then back up at her.
“The next thing I knew, I woke up in my circle of Hell, and you were gone. Asmodeus told me what happened, and I came back here as fast as I could to make sure you were alright.”
Elizabeth hesitated. “Well. I’m alive.”
He studied her intently, as if checking for injuries. “Are you hurt at all?”
She winced and said truthfully, “I was, but not anymore.”
His gaze darkened, and his head fell forward. “Asmodeus told me what I did, how I hurt you when I was … incapacitated. Elizabeth, I am so sorry. Forgive me?”
She swallowed. How could she forgive him for nearly killing her, and apologizing like it was nothing worse than being late to dinner?
His eyes were unspeakably sad. So she said stiffly, “There’s nothing to forgive.”
Caspian smiled broadly at that and placed a hand on her cheek. “I’m sorry living with me has brought you such pain.” His eyes searched hers. “You must know I care for you deeply, and I never meant for any of it to happen.”
She hesitated. “I know.”
“I will not let any harm befall you, this day and onwards. I swear it.” He grasped her hand and held it.
How can you possibly promise that after everything we’ve just learned?
She smiled and shook her head, saying nothing.
She glanced around Risna’s guest room and—wanting to change the subject—asked wryly, “So how did you find me?”
He frowned. “I returned home to find Iago and all the servants trapped in a room with magic.”
She started at that. “You left them trapped?”
“I thought you were dead.” He shrugged. “I made sure they weren’t in any immediate danger, then I took Draugr and raced to find you.” He flexed his hand. “Several of the city guards tried to stop me.”
“I hope you left them alive,” she said drily.
He winced.
“Caspian!”
“I thought you were dead,” he repeated, his voice softening.
“Nothing else mattered. I couldn’t lose you.
Not again.” Caspian swallowed. “I caught your scent in the great hall and followed your trail here. I found Fiza’s body in the woods and smelled your blood in the snow.
” He hesitated, appearing to choose his words with care.
“I thought she had run off with you, to protect you from whatever foe had come to call. It wasn’t until I found your blood under her talons that I figured out what must have happened. ”
Elizabeth tensed at the phantom memory of Fiza ripping into her arm. She touched her forearm absentmindedly. Nothing remained of her ordeal besides a faint pink scar.
Succinctly, she said, “Fiza and Maud were the ones who betrayed you. Leviathan is the traitor, and from what Fiza let slip, whatever is happening with Raziel in the Underworld is just the beginning.”
Caspian said slowly, “Leviathan gave Fiza and Maud to me. He said they were a peace offering.” He twitched his nose. “I was thrilled to have shapeshifter demons in my household. They’ve proved to be dutiful servants and useful for running errands in mortal cities. I had no reason to suspect.”
She shuddered. “They don’t like you or me very much, I can tell you that.”
Caspian stroked his beard. “So, Raziel is the face of the revolution, but it’s Leviathan who’s been financing it. We wondered how he’d been able to amass so much wealth in such a short amount of time.”
“Ambriel is wrapped up in it too, somehow,” she said, speaking through gritted teeth. She knew Caspian didn’t like him, but he deserved to know. “The angel worked with Fiza and Maud.”
Caspian blinked, and she watched the wheels turning in his mind. “Angels siding with demons?”
She nodded grimly. “It would appear so.”
“So, we have a Fallen angel as our enemy, and now we have a demon prince and an angel as our enemies as well.” He huffed a laugh. “Where does it end?”
Our enemies.
She pursed her lips. “Were you able to find out anything about my parents? Who went after them?” Her voice turned pleading.
He paused and spoke slowly, “I learned Raziel hired two demons to go after your parents. I wasn’t able to catch the names of the demons who did it. But he hired them.”
She stilled.
“I was … incapacitated before I could demand more information.” A shadow crossed his features. “But for what reason he went after them, I don’t know. It still doesn’t make any sense to me.”
She swallowed, choosing to stay quiet rather than reveal to him why they had gone after her parents. Why Fiza had gone after her.
“When the dust settles, I’ll go after them, the ones that did this to you,” he said, his voice serious. “I will find them, I swear to you.”
She chewed her lip. “I want to find my parents’ killer more than anything, but it’s too dangerous for you to go back there right now.
” She paused and left it unspoken that they might not be able to get him out a second time.
“Find out what you can from here. It might take some time, but we’ll find them eventually. ”
“We’ll figure it out. Together.”
She nodded, and Caspian grasped her hand, holding it loosely.
He tilted his head. “So … a dragon.”
Elizabeth laughed. “It seemed like the only way to get you back.”
He smiled and reached over to tuck a piece of her hair behind her ear. “My brave, brave woman. You know, hardly any demons have gotten close to a dragon and lived to tell the tale?”
She smiled. “Only a little worse than riding Draugr.”
He burst out laughing, and then quickly sobered, his expression growing serious.
“I was so focused on saving you. I spent every hour in that castle worried, trying to get out, so that I could come back and help you. And in the end, you saved me.” He looked at her for a long moment. “I am—I am in awe of you, Elizabeth.”
He leaned forward, and his lips found hers.
They kissed slowly, hands searching for injuries, reassuring themselves that the other was real and safe. Caspian deepened the kiss, drawing a small sound from her throat.