Page 75 of Wings of Darkness (Daughter of the Seven Circles #2)

Chapter

Fifty

LUCILLE

I opened my eyes to find myself in Aspen’s arms. Two large doors loomed behind him, blurred by his blue flames.

Dark, haunting marble comprised the walls, veined with red cracks.

To the left and right, rows of towering circular pillars framed archways draped in mauve fabric.

The curtains whipped in a vicious wind, revealing balconies and the brooding Elorian sky.

But the air never reached us, blocked by Aspen’s searing barrier.

We were no longer in the bedroom. This room had minimal furniture. Only a couple tables in the spaces between windows, holding candles and statues of females cupping red five-pointed stars.

Where were the others? Did they listen to Oliver and let me go? Or did they fight Aspen—and end up wounded? Or worse… dead.

No. I would know if something happened to them. Aspen wouldn’t hurt Oliver. There was still something left in him. And the rest of them were strong enough to protect themselves, even if their powers were suppressed. Right?

My Infernus skittered across my arms as I searched Aspen’s impassive face for blood or some sign that he might’ve hurt them. But would there be any evidence? His flames reduced anything in their path to nothing.

“Are they alive?” I whispered.

Aspen didn’t react, keeping his empty gaze straight ahead.

“Darling, bring her here.”

I stiffened, resisting the urge to turn toward the sickly sweet voice behind me, then latched onto Aspen’s wrists.

“Are they alive?” My words fell into a soft cry as my body arched, taking in the torturous heat. I clenched my jaw, holding back the rest of my screams.

Aspen clutched me closer, shaking as he stayed planted. The barest hint of pain slithered through our bond. I could feel him again.

“Yes.”

Blistering heat ripped up my arm, stopping any relief I might’ve had from his answer. I should’ve let go. I wanted to let go. But his gaze was no longer impassive. It was tortured and glassy.

“Make me remember,” Aspen whispered through clenched teeth, spittle spraying.

Remember what? I wanted to ask him. But I knew if I released my jaw, I’d never stop screaming.

The shots of pain were extending up to my shoulder, and I couldn’t hold back my whimper.

The runes carved fire through my flesh, burning me from the inside out, while the energy that wouldn’t allow me to hurt Aspen—that demanded I save him—calmed.

It eased beneath the agony like it somehow knew I was helping him, even if I was suffering myself.

“Aspen. Come here,” Lilith snapped.

“Make me—” He struggled to get the words out, every inch of him vibrating as he resisted her commands. “Remember.”

I dug my nails into his skin, needing him to look at me, to see the question I couldn’t voice in my eyes. He had asked Oliver to make him remember his fear. But what fear? The one about his mom? How would that help him?

The last time Oliver had shown him that fear, it triggered Aspen to become a ruthless pawn.

“Obey me!” Lilith’s voice rang out, echoing through the high ceiling and slamming against Aspen’s flames. The Hell Runes sent a new jolt of agony into my body. I screamed, letting go. His barrier fizzled out, and a coppery rot blew my hair back.

His hold on me lightened, and he moved forward, walking down the open hall toward Lilith. The little emotion I had felt from him was gone. The Hell Runes were now a steady dark red, like the color of blood when someone died.

“Make you remember your mom?” I rasped.

“Why would I need to remember? She’s right in front of us, sweetheart.” He pointed ahead of him. I turned my head, unable to ignore her any longer.

Lilith stood clothed in a sinuous black dress at the other end of the room.

Her long black hair framed her deathly white face and draped over her shoulders.

The blood-red rings in her irises stood in eerie contrast to her pale skin, matching the color of her lips and the six-pointed star inked low on her chest. But it wasn’t the tattoo that caught my eye.

It was the ebony quill, suspended from a chain around her neck and peeking from the V of her cleavage—Ronen’s feather.

I had a feeling she’d keep it on her. Someone who enjoyed gaining power as much as she did wouldn’t let an item like that out of her sight.

“Darling.” She smiled, opening her arms wide in welcome. They angled toward the large white and brown slab before her, as if she were presenting me with a gift.

I had an odd sense of déjà vu staring at the slab meant for me. Michael flashed in and out of my mind. I could almost feel the cold press of metal at my back and the rough chains digging into my limbs. My scars burned with the remnants of the slicing pain.

Aspen led us closer, and my Infernus perked up. The slab, which I’d thought was made of white and brown stone, revealed hints of red. Then, the glistening blood grooves came into view. They outlined the stained slab and led to the half-filled basins beneath.

“Is that—is that blood from the females you’ve brought to her?”

He shrugged. “Some. I don’t normally watch. I just bring them and leave.”

He just brings them and leaves? Heavenly Hell, how did I wrap my mind around that?

I knew he had a hand in murdering female angels.

We all knew. Yet I was the only person who pushed that fact away, blamed it on the runes, and welcomed him with open arms. The rest of them hated him.

The rest of them would rather see him dead than alive.

My eyes stung, staring at the large buckets of blood. We were halfway to my slaughter.

“Will you leave me too? ”

“Yes.”

My chest ached. “Why? Are you scared to watch me die, Aspen?”

His forehead wrinkled before smoothing out.

“Are you scared to watch Lilith murder me like she did to Nalini and your mom?”

Aspen lurched to a stop, yards from Lilith and her sacrificial slab. His grip on me tightened. “Who?”

“Miri—”

I screamed as a cloud of red smoke swarmed me, searing like acid. It scalded my face, ate through my uniform, and left my limbs bare.

“Now, now, let’s not go around telling lies. I’m glad the king’s sigil worked for you and you made it here, but I’ll make this more painful for you if you say another word,” Lilith threatened.

My Infernus raged in my ear, and I pulled at it. Purple flames burst free, attacking Lilith’s acid cloud and pushing the substance back.

She laughed. “There’s that beautiful power I need.”

I ignored her, searching Aspen’s face and weighing my options.

Time wasn’t on my side. I could spend my last few seconds of freedom attempting to convince Aspen that Lilith murdered Nalini and his mother, resisting Lilith’s attacks as I did, hoping it could help him.

Or I could make a plan to steal Lilith’s feather, which would save Aspen and never allow him to be runed again.

I’d just need to get close to rip it from her chest, and I’d only get one shot.

“What? You’re not strong enough?” I taunted, turning to face her.

Aspen stopped next to the slab, holding me over the blood-stained stone. The smell of copper and rot made my fingers itch to reach for a dagger. Instead, I let Hell’s melodies flood my senses, each chord a spark, each itch along my skin a promise of violence.

Lilith bared her perfect teeth in a smile.

“Very few are stronger than me. Our handsome prince isn’t even on that list.” She wiggled a patronizing finger near his chin.

He didn’t react, but I had half a mind to bite it off for him.

“I mean, look what I’ve created.” She gestured toward us, gloating.

“Just one drink of our magnificent blood and it birthed my first experiments.”

Our blood? Didn’t she mean her blood?

“I thought your first experiment was your demons.” I didn’t care either way. But she seemed like someone who enjoyed hearing herself speak, and I needed her distracted.

If I let Aspen set me down, I could reach the feather. The slab didn’t have any chains to prevent me from moving.

“You and Aspen were experiments of a different kind. A pet project to snub the sanctimonious bastards for twisting the demands I required. But I suppose that’s what I get. Dream-walking is finicky.”

“So you were the one to give me that power.”

Lilith examined her manicured nails. “An unfortunate accident. But no worries, I’ll remedy that mistake and take back all I’ve given you and more.” She waved toward the slab. “Darling, I need to start the ritual. Set her down.”

I squirmed in Aspen’s hold, fighting just enough to convince her I wanted to escape. And I did—just not yet. My Infernus sang in my ears, ready and waiting.

Aspen forced me onto the stone slab, and I pulled at two melodies—glaciation and suffocation.

In my head, my plan worked seamlessly. I’d suffocate her and slam an icicle into her stomach, forcing her to bend over where I could snatch the feather and roll off the slab.

But there were obstacles I didn’t account for.

My icicles formed a second before I could pull on the purple cloud of her breath. She noticed at the same time Aspen did.

“ Attrahere .” The tattoo on her chest flashed bright red, and my body slammed back into the stone. Not a second later, a wall of blue flame erupted between me and Lilith.

I tried to lurch up, to squirm, but each pull stretched my skin painfully, threatening to tear it from my muscles.

Lilith sighed. “I’m a blood-witch. I specialize in spells that relate to my namesake. Currently, the blood inside your body is magnetized to the dried blood on the slab that we gathered from Michael’s torture. My death is the only way you escape.”

Fuck.

Aspen plucked the icicle from my hand. It hissed, melting in his flames. Then he extinguished Lilith’s protective barrier.

I pulled at my hallucination melody and speared into Lilith’s mind, only to hit a solid steel wall.

Lilith raised a brow. “Darling, you won’t get into my head, but try as hard as you like. Maybe you’ll see your mother then.”

“Why would I see my mother?” I released my hallucination powers and tapped into the haunting melody that seduced my rage. I wouldn’t be able to hold my Hellfire for long, and I had no idea how I’d hit her with it when I couldn’t touch her and could barely move to see her.

Lilith pulled out a dagger with a line of rubies in the hilt. “Because you’ll kill her. But she seemed ready to go when I dream- walked to her last, so carry on. Maybe you’ll both end up in the same place.”

My power stuttered.

“No. I’ve been feeling fine. My father has been giving her his energy.”

“Even better. You’ll kill them both.” She bent over inches from my face while blood sloshed beneath me, her hands dipping into the buckets. She smiled like a cat watching a mouse caught in its paw.

“You’re lying.”

Ronen’s feather dangled within reach, reminding me what I was here for. I couldn’t fall for Lilith’s tricks.

Lilith stood, her hands and dagger dripping with dark, gelatinous gunk. “Why would I lie? Because I’m scared of your powers?” She scoffed and reached toward my face. I tried to turn away, but my head had no give against the magnetized slab. “Darling, I benefit whether you use them or not.”

A sour, metallic tang infused my nose as she painted my face with her finger, murmuring words I couldn’t understand under her breath. She straightened and painted her own. “I almost wish you would. I’d make taking over Hell a whole lot easier.”

I thought that when I used up my energy, it left my mom with no choice but to draw from my father instead.

He was the King of Hell—he had all the strength to give.

More than I did. He told me Sam said this was the best solution.

But I never, not once, imagined I was taking energy from both of them.

If I had been, someone would’ve told me.

My father would’ve stopped my training. Sam would’ve.

Even… Ronen . Was that why he ordered Alexei to train without powers ?

No. He wouldn’t. He valued truth. He must’ve had a different reason.

I shouldn’t even be considering Lilith’s words. But if that was her goal, then the death of my parents would indeed benefit her.

Except, why warn me? She didn’t do that out of the kindness of her heart. She had to be nervous of my powers. Still, if there was a chance that using them was killing my parents… I couldn’t. Which left me with only one option.

“Lilith murdered your mom, Aspen! She murdered Miri?—”

A cloud of red smoke slammed into my mouth, swarming my lips—blistering and burning. I choked on a scream.

Aspen jolted forward. “Wait.” But his face resembled someone attempting to figure out a puzzle.

A sharp pain slid down the length of my arm, and I tried to cry out, but Lilith’s power suffocated the sound.

“Aspen, leave. Now.”

“But—”

“ Leave —” Lilith’s voice broke off at a loud bang.

The pain in my arm vanished, along with the acid burn corroding my lips and throat. I heaved a breath into the wispy darkness.

But was it from relief or fear?