Page 44 of Queen of the Wicked (Afterlife #1)
An hour later, Alessia curled up in the chair she decided was now hers.
Erebos had already started the fire before she arrived, covering her with the heavy quilt that seemed to soothe her to sleep.
For the majority of their night, they worked in companionable silence.
Him looking over papers while she continued to read the Book of Death.
The ancient tome provided detailed information about virtually everything in the realm. The customs, history, and previous laws. But it wasn’t until she found a picture drawn in the margins of the page that her interest finally grew. “What is Mose’s amulet?” she asked.
“Hmm?” Erebos lifted his eyes briefly from the paper on his desk.
“Mose’s amulet,” she repeated, tapping on the drawing resembling a necklace. It was a triangular gem, hanging from a chain, crafted from three equal parts. “There’s an arrow drawn to a paragraph about the Makers and a course of destiny?”
Erebos thought about it for a moment, mulling it over. “Earth had some unrest many centuries ago, and, just as the Makers are doing now, they sent a soul to act as a harbinger. Someone who would usher in a great change and reset the balance.”
Alessia’s eyes narrowed into slits. “Are you talking about Jesus? ”
He shrugged, unwilling to give her a direct answer.
“They placed someone upon Earth who humans would trust, but it is rumored that the Makers feared placing a harbinger in the world to reset the balance, only for it to go terribly wrong. Mose’s amulet was created as a means to override the realms and start anew if their plan went south.
” Then, as if a light popped on in his head, he beckoned for it with his hand. “Can I see it?”
Passing him the book, she couldn’t help but think that this was what the Seeker had been trying to hint at for her to find. She hadn’t encountered a drawing since reading the Book of Death. It couldn’t be a coincidence.
“Why are there three separate gems in the triangle?” she asked.
Erebos ran his fingertips over the inked margin.
“Keeping the amulet hidden was dangerous in itself, so legend has it the Makers hid a gem to complete the triangle in each realm. If one happened to stumble upon the gems and make it whole, they would have the ability to erase everyone in existence or…” He swallowed thickly. “Create a world they wish to live in.”
Alessia paled at his words. “You don’t think?—”
“Normally, I would say this is a ridiculous theory, but it would explain why Bastian has been adamant about wanting this decree to be over. He is unable to explore this realm or Earth unless it is for his annual visit, so he?—”
“Wouldn’t be able to find the gem,” she finished. “Do you think he’s found the one in Heaven?”
“I certainly hope not. If Bastian got his hands on the completed amulet…” He shuddered at the thought.
“This is good work, Alessia. After the ball, we’ll travel to Earth and revisit Allegra.
She is the oldest demon in the realms. If anyone were to know something about the amulet and the locations for the gems, it would be her. ”
Pride swelled in her chest, and she hated getting satisfaction from a man, but Erebos wasn’t just a man.
She wanted to make him proud, and she hadn’t gotten a chance to do that much with everything new to her in this realm.
“I think it’s at least worth looking into,” she admitted.
“Do you think this is why I am the harbinger? Because the Makers suspected this coming and needed someone to find the amulet before Bastian destroyed what they created? Is that why I have black magic instead of dark magic?”
“To be fair, you have both forms of magic since you took mine, but yes. These are all possibilities.”
She winced, continuously forgetting that little tidbit. “I’m sorry, by the way, about taking your powers. If it helps, I never wanted them. I never wanted any of this.”
“I know you didn’t, but honestly, I’m not as upset as you believe.” He twirled a quill between his fingers, deep in thought. “When I was in Bastian’s hold, I despised my magic. I never wanted the ability to kill, nor did I enjoy it. It became a crutch when the king and your mother rescued me.”
Alessia’s eyes grew wide as saucers. “My mother?”
“She and King Amos found me moments before he was murdered. He knew hardly anything about me, yet he chose to save me. Gave me full rein over Earth and Hell before your mother Traveled me to this realm. I was still in binds when the news leaked that he was murdered. It confused me. It still does.”
“Why does it confuse you?” she asked.
“Because I was unworthy of it.” His sentence left her raw; flayed open and bleeding out right before him at the pain laced behind it.
“King Amos was nothing but a righteous man,” Erebos continued.
“He ran the realms like a well-oiled machine, providing justice for those who required it and doling out forgiveness to those who even I feel were unworthy. Everyone in the realm looked up to him, and out of all the seraphims and archangels at his disposal, he chose me to save as the last thing he did before he died? I have killed countless people and made them suffer. Death is a constant storm cloud over my head, choking me as a reminder that it’s all I’ll ever be destined to live and breathe. ”
His fingers absently dusted the skeletal hands tattooed around his throat, and Alessia’s eyes filled with tears now that she understood the meaning behind it.
“To answer your question, I am not upset that my powers are gone, but I feel immense guilt that you are now their next inhabitant. It is something I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy. ”
Unable to sit a second longer, she strode to his desk and didn’t think twice before sitting on his lap.
He seemed to sigh in relief, slipping an arm around her waist to pull her closer.
“Do you remember what the Seeker told you, Erebos? He said you weren’t meant for destruction.
This responsibility isn’t your weight to bear anymore, and maybe…
” Alessia shifted uncontrollably at the words about to tumble from her mouth, but she realized as she watched him hold back tears that she meant them.
“I’m the harbinger, if what the Seeker claims is true.
I am meant to usher in a great change or find the amulet or whatever they have planned, and I took space to process it because you’re right.
These powers are an immense weight to bear, but…
” She gently placed her hands over the skeletal ones around his neck.
“If taking on this weight means you are free from all those years of torture, I will find whatever amulet I need to restore the balance. If that is what Bastian’s end goal is, we will beat him to it, and I will allow you the final blow when his time inevitably ends.
” She was surprised at how regal she sounded in that moment, almost as if she were a leader—someone who had a plan moving forward.
Erebos, seeming to think the same, placed his hands over hers. He stared up at her like he was seeing her in an entirely new light, and maybe he was. “Did anything else the Seeker had to say confuse you? Did you need…clarification on anything?”
She thought about it for a moment, but eventually shook her head. “Not that I can think of. Why?”
“Merely curious,” he replied, rapping his knuckles on the armrest of his chair. “I thought the 'made for you’ comment was pretty obvious, right?”
“Yeah,” she agreed. “I get it. I’m the harbinger, and for unknown reasons, I need the powers you carry to restore the balance. Couldn’t the Seeker have given us more advice on how to accomplish that instead of literature is the greatest tool bullshit? Why do I need the powers you had?”
Erebos scanned her eyes, an emotion akin to disappointment flitting across his face.
He seemed to be in his head, at war with his feelings, but Alessia chalked it up to this loaded conversation taking its toll on him.
She had to remind herself that although she had significant changes to adjust to, so did he.
His entire existence was spent housing powers that were no longer there.
He was thrust into this position to save his life, forced to have the entire realm cower in fear of him, only to then be powerless while attempting to navigate that same authority.
Did that mean she would have to torture demons?
Was Erebos still in charge of the realm if he was powerless?
Deciding to table that for later, she slowly rose to her feet, taking his silence as a request to be alone. “So, after the ball, we will visit Allegra and see what she knows? That’s the plan?”
“Yes.” Erebos gave her a small smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “That is the plan.”