Page 115

“Aw. You’re all heart.”

She grits her teeth. “I loved you.”

I don’t even bother to answer that. I’m trying to put together what happened back then. Get it straight in my mind. “When they married, you left Astrali?”

“Yes. I was the head of the Coven of the First Flame at—”

I hold up my hand. “Wait. You were head of the coven that made the spell that created Lucifer, the devil?”

“Yes, but I was gone by then. I handed my position over to Zeryth.”

“But you’d been researching this dark magic?”

She looks a little uncomfortable, as well she might. “It wasn’t all dark. Khronus had set up the coven. We were studying all aspects of Vortex’s magic. It had been lost for so long.” She glares at me. “I had no clue what Khronus meant to do.”

“So let me get this straight. All along, you meant to save Lucifer, not destroy him. Why did you lie about that? Why not tell me the truth? I loved you. You were the only mother I’d ever known. I would have gone along with anything you asked, believed anything you told me.”

“I meant to tell you as soon as you were old enough to understand.” She reaches out a hand to me, but I step back. “I wanted you to share my dream. But then, when you were four, the shadowguard found us. And I knew they would keep coming. I couldn’t risk them taking you. Not without me. Not before we were ready.”

I sort of wish I hadn’t asked now. This just gets worse. “Go on.” We might as well finish this sordid tale, though I can guess the rest.

“I needed allies. But I knew no one would help mesaveLucifer. So I told Khendril that you were destined to destroy your father. And he jumped at the chance to help with that.” She sounds a little bitter. “I couldn’t tell you then.”

“Would you ever have revealed your true plan?”

She nods, almost eager. “I was going to tell you when you came into your magic. Once you had all the facts, I knew you would want to help me save him.”

Yeah, right.“But I vanished.” And now we’ll never know. Though I got my memories back, I’m just finding out that most of them were lies.

What a tangled web of evil. And stupidity. And blind ambition. I sigh. I’ve had enough of her. I want her gone. “You have the stone?” If it’s on her person, I will kill her for it. Right now. Without hesitation.

“It’s in a safe place.”

Damn.“You know, it’s not too late to do the right thing.”

She stares at me for a moment. “I am doing the right thing.” Then she turns and walks to the door. As she opens it, Grimlet dashes across the cell, picks up the bowl of stew and hurls it at her. “Wicked witch,” he snarls.

Hecate doesn’t turn, just opens the door and disappears. As it clicks shut behind her, and the bolt slams home. I turn to Grimlet. “Nice shot, but I wish you hadn’t done that.”

He sniffs. “I don’t like her.”

“Neither do I, but I’m hungry and I don’t want to die on an empty stomach.”

Chapter 48

Finding Khaos

Istare at the stew decorating the walls and floor. Shuffling forward, I pick up the bowl, but it’s empty. I think about crying again, but I’ve done enough of that for a lifetime.

There’s also a jug of water on the tray and I take a long drink. It’s not the same as eating but it helps. I hand the jug to Grimlet, and he sips it delicately.

Then I look around for a clean bit of floor and sink down, resting my back against the wall. For the first time, I notice how cold it is in here—I guess I was preoccupied with other things. But there’s a chill in the air—isn’t Hell supposed to be hot—and I hug my knees to my chest and wrap my arms around them. So, Hecate thinks she’s in love with my father. I wonderhow long that will last, because I can’t help but think right now, she’s gazing at him through really thick, probably opaque, rose-colored glasses. Maybe she’ll come around after she’s spent some time in his company. But I somehow doubt it, because I suspect she’s no longer entirely sane. She’s been thinking about this for so long that she can no longer tell the truth from what she wants to believe.

I don’t predict a happy ending. Certainly not if I have anything to do with it.

Which means I have to destroy Lucifer.

Unfortunately, there are a considerable number of things standing in the way of my success. So many that I decide not to think about them en masse but take it one step at a time. So first thing on the list of just about impossible things I have to do…