Daigh watched the burning bodies. He didn’t flinch as the fire demons curled around his sons, their forked tongues tearing out their eyes and flaying away their skin. Their screams scarred my soul, but they didn’t seem to faze him. The coldness of his decision would haunt me far longer than the horror I’d just witnessed.
As the fire demons smacked their lips, causing sparks to fly across the barren floor, Daigh turned his back and left. I slunk around the walls and slipped out into a long, low hall, lit with flaming torches. Between each torch was a mirror that shifted and wobbled, revealing different tortures and realms of the dead. The plains of suffering, the archipelago of agony, the topiary maze of mild irritants. I knew them all from our myths. I was more interested in what Daigh was up to now.
Daigh’s steps fell heavy as he moved through winding halls. Liah trailed after him. Her lips moved to speak; it took her several tries before she got any words out.
“Master,” Liah said. “I have an idea I wish to discuss with you.”
Daigh whirled around, his face twisted with rage. “I have spared your life. I do not appreciate my kind deeds being thrown back in my face.”
“If I could explain?—”
“You threatened my daughter. The only reason you still draw breath is because I haven’t decided which torture is most appropriate.”
Liah held up her hand. “You can torture me all you like. It won’t be worse than what Blake did to me.”
Ouch.My stomach clenched as if she’d punched me.
“I never intended to shoot Maeve,” Liah continued. “I merely wished to figure out Blake’s mind and hers. It worked.”
“I don’t care about his mind. You had Blake in your sights. You could have taken him down. But you hesitated. I should have known better than to trust you, after your friendship?—”
“Our friendship is over.” Liah’s eyes flashed with fire, and with a sinking heart, I knew she spoke the truth. “I did not hesitate. I did everything as we planned. I was ready to kill him. But it occurred to me that his death would not serve us.”
“I didn’t keep you alive to do my thinking for me.”
Liah powered on as if he hadn’t spoken. “The very fact that Blake leapt to defend Maeve…he cares about her deeply. And the feeling is mutual. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t felt it myself. Her spirit magic flared when he was endangered. She cares for him, which means that killing him will ensure she will never return to you.”
Daigh’s lips flattened. I knew that look. She’d got to him.
“He needs to be punished for his betrayal,” he said slowly.
“He will be if the vision comes to pass.” Liah folded her arms. “But you don’t always get to be the one to do the punishing. This is much bigger than you and your personal demons.”
I grinned at her choice of words.That’s my Liah.
Daigh’s lips curled back into a placid smile. I knew that look, too. Beneath that smile, he seethed with anger. It usually preceded some particularly evil torture. “Careful what you say to me.”
“I know what happened last time, why you couldn’t raise the Slaugh,” Liah said. “I figured it out because of something Blake said to me about a portrait that moves.”
Daigh’s body stiffened. I leaned forward.This is it. This is what we need to know.
“You had the chance to remake the world again, and you blew it all because of ahuman. If the fae knew the truth about what really happened, they’d overthrow you in a heartbeat. I am not helping you out of love for my King – weak fae do not deserve my loyalty, even if they wear the crown. I’m here because I have seen the tortures humans have inflicted on the earth, and Iwillset it to rights. You failed at this once before. You may think you’re close now, but you’re going to make the same mistake again. When you do, I will step in and lead the fae to victory.”
Daigh stepped toward her. Liah shoved the stump of her arm into his face, her mouth twisting back into an evil smile I’d never believed possible of her steel-cold features.
“Lay a finger on me and I’ll reveal everything I know. Your own fae will tear you limb from limb,” she growled, low and dangerous. “The only way out of this is with me by your side. And you’d do well to remember this advice – your daughter is half-human, so if you want her to join with you, you’re going to have to think like one. That shouldn’t be hard for you?—”
A rough hand grabbed my shoulder, tearing me away from Daigh and Liah. I yelped, trying to turn my body to see my attacker.I’m a shade. No one can grab a shade except?—
“What the ‘ell are you doing here?” A cold voice rasped in my ear. “Shades aren’t ‘asposed to be in these ‘alls.”
Shite.
He twisted my shoulder, sending a shriek of agony through my non-corporeal body as he spun me around. The demon pulled me close to his face, studying me with eyes that reflected back all the dark things about myself I’d never wanted to acknowledge. “Let me see, where have you escaped from? You don’t look to be one of mine. You one of Tartarus’ punks? ‘is shades is always escaping. Pretty face like yours, I bet I can beat that pride right out of you.”
He dragged me back down the hall. The next step was him tossing me into a torture chamber and who knew if I’d be able to get out of that. I called up every scrap of power inside me, conjuring the image of Maeve’s face, of the world and the family I’d left behind on Earth. I imagined Flynn lying next to my sleeping body. I channelled my spirit toward him, focusing on just three short words.
Wake me up. Wake me up.
