Page 108

I’m processing these words when her eyes flash open. She blinks, then stares at me. Her eyes are clear gray, with a black ring around the iris.

A smile curves her lips, and a look of wonder fills her expression. “Lilith, my daughter. I have waited for so long for this moment.”

Shock grips my body, every muscle locking solid. It can’t be. My mother’s been dead for five thousand years. Hecate told me so. Could she have been wrong? I stare at the woman, trying to see some resemblance. Her eyes are gray, but then I already knew I got my eyes from my father. Her skin is pale, but then,no doubt mine would be the same if I’d been in this dark cell for thousands of years. How could you even survive that and not go insane? My heart is racing, I need to do something, say something. But I have no clue what.

I swallow, then sink down to the cot bed beside her, searching her face. “You’re my mother?”

“I am.”

“I thought you were dead.”

“I will be soon. I have held on to the last remnants of life so I could see you once more.” Her eyes have a sheen of tears. My own are pricking.

“Why are you here? Locked in this cell, I mean.” Though I suppose it’s obvious.

“I displeased my husband.”

Yeah, I’m betting she totally pissed him off. She broke all the mirrors to Hell.

“He kept me alive in the hope I would regain my powers and make more mirrors, but my powers are gone forever, drained when I sent you forward in time to my sister’s care. Has she been good to you?”

Sort of. When she was around. But I don’t think that’s what I should be saying right now. “She was wonderful.” I reach out and take her hand. She’s nothing but skin and bone. “I thought he loved you. How could he do this?”

“He loves me still. But he is the devil—it is not his fault.”

“How can you say that?” I’m almost shouting the words, and she flinches. I bite my lower lip. “I’m sorry, but I just don’t understand how he could be so evil.”

“Then let me tell you a story,” she says. “And maybe things will become clear.”

I doubt it, but I keep quiet.

“Once,” she begins, “there was a powerful Astrali prince who lived in a castle on a beautiful estate with his young and lovingwife who was also the most powerful mirror mage since Selene walked the lands. They were happy.”

“You’re talking about my father? And you?”

“Of course. He was a good man. The best.” I remember Hecate saying something similar. “The only darkness in their lives was that he hated the way his world was being ruled. He vowed to make it a better place.”

“Well, he’s doing a great job so far.”

She ignores my comment. “Khronus became aware of this. At the same time, he was struggling with another problem. We Astralis are descended from the first gods and since the making of the worlds, we have been worshipped. But people are fickle. They like to get something back for their worship, and for a long time, they got nothing from the Astralis. Khronus decided that perhaps if there was a devil, then the people would turn back to the gods for protection. But it was just an excuse—he hated Lucifer because the people loved him. And becauseIloved him. Khronus wanted me for his own. But I never considered him as a suitor. I always saw him for what he was. Evil.”

It’s weird; I can hear the hatred in her voice when she talks of Khronus—hatred that is absent when she speaks of my father. And he locked her up in this dungeon for five thousand years, as well as did goodness knows what else. There are burn-like scars all over the bits of her that I can see. I hate him. I hate my fucking father.

She’s fallen silent, her eyes are closed, and panic shifts inside me. I reach out a hand, touch her cheek, and her eyes flicker open. “What happened?” I prompt. “What did Khronus do?”

“There was a coven on Astrali, a group of witches who studied the magic of Vortex. They were good people, but they got a new leader appointed by Khronus. A powerful witch. Under Khronus’s orders, she delved into the dark magic, longforgotten. And she created a powerful spell. They took Lucifer by night, to the mountain of Morvain and they worked the spell.”

“And…?”

“And they created the devil. They drained everything that was good in him and locked it in amber.”

At her words, shock holds me still for a moment. Then my hand creeps to my throat and the pendant that hangs there. Really? I look down at it trying to peer inside and see…what? What does goodness look like?

“All that remained” she continues, “was the bad, and with nothing to balance it, he became pure evil. The spell spread over our lands. All that was his was cast from the Astral Plane and into the void, forming this place of darkness and shadows.”

My mind is whirling. Khronus created my father? Is he insane? I suspect the answer is a resounding yes. But I see it now. “It was never Lucifer’s fault. He was a pawn in Khronus’s desperation for ever more power.”

“Yes. But dark magic is also the magic of Vortex. The spell created the devil, but it also bestowed on Lucifer unimaginable powers.” A brief, bitter smile flickers across her face. “Khronus wasn’t expecting that. It must have come as a nasty surprise to realize that instead of a pawn, he had created an almost invincible enemy.”