“That’s hard to believe.”
“He loved my mother more than anything once. But he loved power more.”
I went still. My father, so attuned to my every movement, noticed.
“What is it?”
“I just… what if the same thing happens to Samael?”
Agates was silent for a long time. Then he sighed. “My mother was many things, but she wasn’t a fighter. When my father began to choose the dark path, she withdrew. When someone you love begins to change like that, you have to ignore the instinct to pull away if you want to help them. You have to fight for them, no matter how much it hurts. Something tells me you’re not the type to withdraw when Samael does something that displeases you,” Agates’ lips twitched, and I let out a choked laugh.
“No. No, I’d never let him become obsessed with power. Even in my realm, if power was all he wanted, he could have taken it all. But instead… he took just enough to keep his people safe and allow him to search for what he needed to take back his throne.” Relief made my hands shake. “Samael’s not interested in power for the sake of it.”
“That’s what I thought.”
I chewed on my lower lip. Being so helpless, seeing the people who had suffered under Lucifer’s rule… I now knew I would do anything to keep the people I loved alive. Anything. For a moment, my mind froze. And then it replayed all the times I had lost control of my power. The time I blew the Mage Council facility, the time I almost killed a defenseless griffin. The time I coldly threatened Mariam with war if she didn’t do what I wanted.
It wasn’t Samael who would be at risk of becoming an evil overlord. It was me.
Well, this was a disturbing and unwelcome revelation.
“Danica?”
I pushed the thought away. Samael and I would just have to work together to make sure neither of us ever lost sight of who we were. That was a problem for another day. We all had to survive this day first.
I gazed at my father. “I can’t wait for you to meet Samael. Can’t wait to get you out of here.”
Agates smiled, but his eyes stayed serious. “You’re more than I could have hoped for, Danica. Your mother would be proud.”
I tucked my knees into my chest. “She always told me to stay away from the demons. A few weeks ago, I drowned when I was visiting the merfolk. And I saw Mom. She was still so beautiful. She told me it was okay that I was with Samael. That I was supposed to meet him.”
“I hope I’ll get to see her myself one day.” His eyes were suddenly filled with so much longing, I had to look away.
That reminded me. “I better get back,” I murmured. Even with my ring, I didn’t dare spend too long on my visits down here. All it would take was one guard to be suspicious and to check my room, and I’d be in deep shit.
“I’ll return soon.”
“Look after yourself, daughter.”
“You too.”
I made my way back up the stairs and to the door. I’d brought Kyla meat earlier, and she hadn’t bothered eating it while I was there. Instead, she’d let out a low warning growl from where she was lying in the back of her cage.
I took a deep breath of the fresh night air and froze.
My instincts drove me closer to the gardens which backed onto the palace wall.
And that was when I saw her.
Gloria was sneakinginto the palace. Which meant she had left without permission.
I could use this.
Stalking toward her, I glanced around, but there were no guards in the area. Likely why the black witch had chosen this entrance.
I couldn’t let her learn about my ring, so I took it out of my mouth and slipped it into my pocket. Gloria was so intent on ducking out of view of the guard, posted ten feet away on the wall, that it took her a few moments to notice me.
She jolted. I smiled.
