Chapter 7
TWENTY-FOUR YEARS OLD
Dean lounged in the chair across from his father’s desk, leather creaking under his weight. He sprawled like a man with no crown waiting on his head just to watch the vein in his father’s temple throb. “What can I do for you today, Your Highness?”
His father’s jaw ticked, as it always did when Dean needled him. Every smirk, every careless quip was a small rebellion, the only blades he dared slip between his father’s ribs. He trusted Lilith’s protection, but he also knew his father, and until Dean took the throne, he kept himself in check.
Except for meetings with the council to train Dean to take over the throne in a month, his father ignored him.
His mother sat by and watched his father treat him like shit his entire life, and now she wanted to mend their relationship.
He pretended to be open to the idea, but deep down, he’d never forgive her.
“It’s time for you to learn more about Lilith,” his father gritted out. The name alone tightened the air, a ghost whispering in the corners of the room. Dean straightened despite himself.
He’d not seen Lilith since the day she revealed herself. But he carried her shadow everywhere—her nearly translucent eyes, her voice like prophecy curling around his nightmares. The Fallen Fate crossed his mind often, wondering what other secrets she held.
“You will meet with her regularly from now until you pass the throne on to your daughter and her mate,” his father continued.
Daughter. Knowing the sex of his future child before conception unsettled him even now. The idea of a Fate walking among them was inconceivable—and yet true.
“Additionally,” his father went on, “it is time for you to take a wife.”
Dean’s spine stiffened. “No.”
His father fucking smiled. “Lilith has informed me of this herself. You can ask her.” He grabbed a sheet of paper with a few names jotted down and held it out. “The council has put together a list of suitable women from noble families.”
He’d known this day would come, but he’d hoped he’d have more time. “Implying that I must marry someone of noble birth is disgusting. Any woman, high born or not, is suitable. I’ll need time to find a bride.”
To Dean’s surprise, his father nodded. “Their lineage has nothing to do with suitability, but a woman raised in a noble family is familiar and comfortable with court etiquette. It took your mother years to adjust to court life. Your bride will not have the luxury of adjusting. She will be queen in a year.”
Dean hated that his father had a point. He picked up the paper and scanned the list. Most of the women were familiar, but one stuck out more than the rest.
Cali Galla. Braddock’s cousin.
He tucked the paper away in his pocket and stood, gesturing for his father to lead the way.
To Dean’s surprise, his father led him to the dungeons and through a hidden door into a massive cave.
A pool of crystal-clear water filled the middle of the cavern, and the walls sparkled with crystals.
The cavern breathed with its own heartbeat, droplets echoing off jeweled walls while the pool shimmered as if lit from beneath.
Lilith appeared from around one of the cavern walls.
Her pale lips pulled into a smile that calmed Dean instantly.
The sight of her unraveled something inside him, a tether snapping between fear and awe.
He hated how easily she rattled him. “I’ve been looking forward to this day.
” She glanced at the king. “You may leave.”
Dean’s father glared at him and left, leaving Dean and Lilith standing in silence.
“You have many questions,” she stated.
“You have no idea.” He grimaced. She knew, of course she did. A Fate knew everything. It didn’t make it any less unsettling.
She smiled kindly and motioned for him to follow her. “Come. We have much to discuss.”
He followed the mysterious woman through a corridor into a simple sitting room.
He’d expected someone as regal as a Fate to live lavishly, but he couldn’t be more wrong.
A couple of oversized chairs sat in a corner with a table and lantern between them, and three plush couches formed three sides of a rectangle with a table in the middle.
Dean paused on the various paintings of landscapes and people, some which he’d seen in other paintings around the palace. “You keep pictures of past heirs?”
Their painted eyes seemed to follow him, centuries of kings and queens staring as if weighing whether he was worthy of their place on the wall.
She appeared beside him, and he jumped. Lilith snorted; a sound so mortal it confounded him. “Not all, just the ones I counted as friends.”
Dean smirked. “I don’t see my parents on your wall.”
Lilith’s face darkened. “No, you don’t.”
One painting caught his eye. A man with golden hair, blue eyes, and a mischievous grin. Something about this painting was different somehow. “Who is this?”
Lilith’s eyes flashed, and her throat bobbed. Interesting. “Cain. He’s a god, as you call them here. His father, Adam, created Eden and sent Cain and three other gods to oversee Eden after creation to ensure things went smoothly. The high king of the heavens insisted I accompany them.”
Dean stared at the painting with wide eyes. No one knew what the gods looked like, and it amazed him that he stared at one now. “Why did you not return to the heavens with them?”
Lilith left his side and sat in one of the oversized chairs. He turned to her expectantly, and his face fell at her expression. Dean knew the look well. Heartbreak.
“Cain had an affair with a human,” Lilith said softly. “She bore the first fae—half god, half human.”
Dean’s stomach lurched. The gods weren’t holy—they were liars with lust like men. Fae had been born from betrayal. His chest tightened.
Lilith’s gaze flickered with pain. “That birth infused the Garden Kingdom with powerful magic.”
Dean swallowed hard. “So, all of Eden was built on treachery?”
“Yes,” she confirmed. “The other three gods followed suit, taking human lovers and creating the other three kingdoms.” Lilith’s voice quieted. “Then they left, and someone had to stay and deal with the aftermath.”
Dean stared at her, speechless. He wanted to ask if she and Cain had been lovers before he betrayed her with a human but couldn’t bring himself to.
“Thank you for telling me,” he said eventually.
Lilith’s expression shifted to one of calm and smiling. “Let’s move on to more important things.”
Dean leaned back in the chair. “Father tells me I’m to take a bride.”
“You are,” Lilith confirmed. “You must betroth yourself to a woman before you take the throne, or Eden will fall.”
No fucking pressure at all.
“Is there a war coming?” Just what he needed: a war to break out when he takes the throne.
“Not for many years.” Lilith gazed off, her eyes glazing over. She blinked, and they returned to normal. “The Mountain heir will have a daughter, the most powerful fae to be born.”
Dean’s brows raised. “How powerful?”
“At only three years old, she will break the barrier that binds the royal fae heirs to their kingdoms.”
“Shit,” Dean muttered. Too bad she hadn’t been born before him. “What does this have to do with me getting married?”
Lilith pinned him with her terrifying gaze.
“If you are not betrothed by the time you take the throne and married before you are twenty-seven, you will have no heir.” The words didn’t fall like suggestion.
They landed like shackles, each syllable locking tighter around his future.
Her eyes pinned him. “The Mountain Princess cannot defeat the coming evil without your daughter’s help. ”
Dean’s brows furrowed, and Lilith raised a hand. “Do not ask more questions. I am only allowed to tell you so much.”
“When you tell me, could you be less cryptic?” Dean joked lamely.
Lilith smiled. “Fae and humans have free will. I can nudge you in certain directions, but it is up to you if you take the advice or not.”
Free will, she called it, but to Dean it felt like being shoved down a corridor lined with locked doors with one narrow path masquerading as choice.
“How do I know you’re not lying?”
Lilith shrugged a shoulder. “You don’t.”