Page 43 of Shadows Ascend (Remnant Archives #2)

R emi darling…you will come to me…

I hissed, jerking awake at the distant cooing voice of my former lover and blinked back the final visages of her manipulation. I knew it was only a matter of time before she grew stronger, using the spirit realm against me—before she became my nightmares.

Licking at the blood coating my face, I hung from a thick wooden post in a large yurt of a war camp where my wrists seared against the irons wrapped around me.

Tilting my head, I listened to the howling and beastly grunting outside my sheltered prison, the stench of sex and hedonistic gluttony thick on the warm night air.

The demons were celebrating.

When the flap of the thick canvas of the yurt was drawn aside, moonlight poured in accenting a full figure too sensual to be male.

"Fifty seven," the silky voice said from the entrance, dropping the heavy flap and enshrining us both in darkness once again. "You killed fifty seven of my demons before they were able to subdue you."

I withheld the wince when my grin reopened the split in my lip. "Not my personal best but not too bad either, considering…" I jerked my head up to the irons still searing my skin.

A blast of fire lit a wooded pit to the right of us, sending a wash of light into the large yurt, the sudden brightness blinding, and I squinted through it to keep eyes on my newfound cousin—or enemy. It entirely depended on the choices she made from here on out.

Bright violet eyes regarded me for a brief moment before she sniffed and strolled past me towards several trunks lining the back side of the enclosure.

Unlacing her linen top coated in ash and blood, she let it drop from her shoulders to the ground, revealing small pert breasts and smooth olive skin before stooping to open a chest. Donning a clean white shirt, similar to the one she just was wearing, she glanced up at me as she tied the laces. "And if there had been no irons?"

I sucked at my lip, tasting the sharp bite of my own blood on my tongue. Releasing it with a soft pop, my gaze bore into hers. "You would no longer have an army."

Her violet eyes sparkled, her soft red lips forming into a small smile before turning back around and stripping off her soiled pants and boots, a supple ass greeting me as she bent yet again to rummage through her trunk. "What is your name?"

Admittedly enjoying the view and her feminine curves, I answered simply. "Remnant."

"And how exactly do our dads know each other?" she called, her ass wiggling as she shifted through her clothing.

My brow rose, did she really think she could interrogate me by distracting me with her naked sex? "And your name is…?"

She snorted, rising up to hold up a pair of faded blue pants, sniffing at them, before turning them side to side. "I am called Avalon."

I nodded. "Our fathers…both deal in death. Shea is a the death god of Faerie. He sorts souls for the afterlife. Yours is a fallen angel that tortures souls that have been sent to Hell. It would seem their lands overlap each other."

Her long blonde hair fell over her shoulder as she half turned to look at me, shoving a foot into her clean pants.

"Lucifer never bothered to torture souls, they torture themselves just fine enough, there’s a realm for everyone here.

” Her grin flashed in the firelight. “Hell will do that to you if you're here long enough.

Half those beasts you and your pet cat plowed through earlier today were once humans, powerful ones, whose souls were so warped they became what we call centurion demons.

" Shoving another leg into her pants, she turned back to me, shimmying her hips into the tight fitting clothing.

Emon would love that she called him a pet…but at least that told me she was still ignorant of shifters—and my daughter.

"Where is the dark angel now? Your father?"

Avalon's eyes bored into mine, brief pain passing in them as she fastened her pants. "Dead."

I tilted my head. "My condolences. I do hope he was a better father to you than mine to me."

Her expression grew wistful for a moment before she frowned.

Waving her hand, a large cushioned chair suddenly appeared with a glass of a strong smelling spirit in her other.

Settling into the chair, she crossed her legs, her bare feet with brightly painted red toes bounced as she regarded me, sipping her drink.

"He was the best father actually…and then he was betrayed by his own inner circle. All because I begged him to protect a strange being I had never seen before. I wasn’t even eight summers, my birthday was the next day. "

My mind raced, piecing her story together, my eyes widening slightly, “Your angel?”

Brows raising, “Yes,” she hissed. Taking another drink, she swallowed, licking her lips.

“So you see, I don’t like it when strangers come to my lands uninvited because then I must decide what to do with them…

and if I release you from those irons, just as Lucifer released my angel from its cage, what price will I pay this time? ”

Suddenly, Riella was in the forefront of my mind—vulnerable and alone.

My stomach clenched and my heart twisted in my chest, seeing Lucifer's daughter for what she really was.

A child that had to grow up too soon, a young ruler that was bound to play the games of court, rules she was still learning so that she could one day break them and finally be free.

"I am sorry," I said sincerely. “Sorry that you were left alone. And so very sorry that you cannot trust without fear.”

She tilted her head for a moment, a lock of her blonde hair falling across her flawless face, showing the angel innocence that she hid well enough in the world outside this tent. "Those irons look like they hurt."

I shrugged, the hateful metal clinking. "You get used to them, but the smell of your flesh burning never truly leaves you."

She leaned forward, biting at her wet lip, considering me. "I believe we got off on the wrong foot."

I arched a brow, amused by her play at seduction. "Is that what you call this?"

It was her turn to shrug, leaning back in her chair. "Like you said, I have trust issues."

I snorted and twirled my wrist in the chains, my flesh sizzling for dramatic effect while the young queen’s eyes widened slightly. "Clearly. Speak then, make your deals demon, state what you want of me."

Recovering quickly, she took a sip from her glass, then swirled the contents thoughtfully. "You're not the first trespassers to come through here recently."

"Sounds like a you problem and I still did not hear a question," I said dryly.

She hummed and picked up a piece of her long blonde hair, studying the ends. "I want to know why you are in Hell and how the fuck you just appeared in the middle of a controlled centurion mating frenzy?"

My brows raised. "That was controlled. I hate to see what uncontrolled is."

"You would, they’d destroy half this realm." Her violet eyes looked at me pointedly.

I sighed. "This realm is called the Vagari in my world. It means to—"

"Wander," she finished for me with a frown. A shadow slowly edged across the olive skin of her high cheek bones and my fingers twitched, aching to summon it to me. When the small casted darkness shifted unnaturally, my eyes widened—.

Lucifer's daughter snorted, reading my shock for the completely wrong reason. "No point in looking surprised fae, I am not so uneducated."

Recovering, I schooled my expression. "Apologies.

But yes, the wandering lands are for souls that are banished with no gift of an afterlife, and like I said before it seems to overlap with Hell," I said, waving my hand subtly and watching the shadows shift slightly again.

My heart began to quicken, they were responsive to me, I glanced subtly down at the irons that were also wrapped around my thighs, realizing their burn was not as severe and my raw flesh was beginning to heal.

"Which means you have come here looking for someone.

A soul perhaps?" she said calculatingly and I picked up the sudden fear in her eyes, the way she glanced towards the entrance of the yurt where sensual demon howls and screams were still at full peak.

But it wasn't them she was worried about and I would bet my life that it had everything to do with the arrogant white feathered angel that slayed my firedrake—her response when I had threatened him was strong, lover strong… even if it was misplaced.

"Not someone…" I reassured her and saw the slight release in tension of her wide shoulders. "Something. The Well of Souls."

Her entire body stilled. "You will not find The Well of Souls in Greed territory, although no one has heard from that damned recluse demon for years, you think that ass would at least show himself…

he is greed for fuck's sake, he should be attempting to take everything around him, a public swindler. "

Raising my brows, I waited for her sudden rant to end.

When she noted my wry expression she waved me off, sighing deeply.

"Yes I digress, what I mean to say is that The Well of Souls is in Wrath territory.

" Slugging her drink back in one gulp, she slammed it down on the arm of the chair, the glass cracking ominously in her grip, her lips pressed into a firm line.

"And it is the one place in Hell, I cannot allow you to go.

That bastard betrayed my father and if what you boast is true, then allowing you to leave would be trusting that you are not his ally.

You are far too powerful to deliver into his hands anyway.

I have worked way to fucking hard to control this kingdom.

Cousin or not, I will not risk it. Not ever again. "

I laughed dryly. "Then you are making a foolish mistake, demon queen. What is your plan then exactly? Keep me your prisoner till the end of days?"

She pursed her lips, standing to wave away her chair and glass, sauntering towards me in her bare feet.

My fingertips twitched slightly and the shadows moved along the ground behind her.

" Honestly, I do not know what the fuck to do with you now, hopefully my demons will drag your pet cat here soon and then I will meet with my council to discuss your fate. " She turned to walk away.

"He cannot be trusted."

"Zazion has been with me since the beginning," she said dismissively, her blonde hair swaying along with her confident stride.

"Not your demon, oh mighty queen of Hell. He will be loyal to you indefinitely." I said sweetly at her back and grinned when her violet gaze turned back to me startled.

"Who then do you mean?" she snapped and I could see fire burn in her eyes. It reminded me much of the emerald flames in my father's eyes…perhaps it really was a family trait.

"Your angel lover, his aura is wrong. I'd be very careful if I were you."

Her face darkened and I could feel the power inside her lashing out, wanting to be released. "You know nothing about Shaniel and I care not for your warning that sounds more like a fucking threat. Be very careful with your next words, fae."

My irons clanked loudly, flesh scorching just like my smile leaning in towards her. "If I am wrong then you have nothing to worry about, cousin, but if I am right…it won't be just your father you lose."

Her eyes flashed with real fire then. "I'd start worrying more about your own fucking future," she hissed before reaching out to snuff out the fire, her violet eyes glowing murderously at me.

"Any hope of you leaving this place alive is growing slimmer and slimmer, little fae.

And yes, that is my own threat, cousin .

" Exiting, she left me in the deep warm darkness, the demons outside roaring in greeting to their leader.

I grinned into the pitch black night of the yurt, feeling its peace wash over me. "Hello friends," I whispered to the shadows, pulling them from around the room and twirling them to dance to the heavy hedonistic drumming outside. "It's now our turn to play."