“Now we have the voice of Erlik himself, a messenger sent straight from the beyond, we can sway the masses toward a righteous and pure worship,” Tome agreed, his eyes shining with fervor. “Even the king would wish to meet you!” He finally glanced at me, as if remembering I was standing in the room right beside them.
“What does the king know?” I inquired, curious despite myself. Although all seraphim had tried to keep quiet, it was unavoidable some people would know about us—like these bastards.
“Everyone knows of your coming,” Nelson said after clearing his throat. “But it’s been fifty years. I was a young man when you arrived. By now some believe it was a mass hallucination. Others think you’ve disappeared. A few search for you, unsure of what your motives are. And, of course, there’s people like us, who have waited with hope until now.”
Hmm. The coven we stayed at fifty years ago was isolated, and the women promised to keep quiet regarding us. Now, Gabriel and Azrael were practically ghosts—almost no one knew they existed. The village surrounding Mirkwold knew me, but only as a strange figure in their midst. Daniel was dead, lost to the sea. A few of the others in my sedge had formed relationships with humans, some enjoying human culture from afar. I imagined one of the seraphim now ruled over a remote village, enjoying what he could out of our exile.
But there was always the threat of the Gar, always the hope we could slip home, always the desire to remain apart from annoying human affairs.
I had to end this plan quickly. “I’m not going to meet the king.”
The men stared at me, eyes wide with shock.
“I’m not going to meet the other reverends of other churches until I decide it’s time. Not you.”
“Herald, of course,” one of them sputtered. “Forgive our enthusiasm. We are so pleased to have?—”
“My timing,” I repeated firmly.
They frowned, clearly unused to being naysayed. I bit the inside of my cheek to hold in a smirk. They deserved to hear no every once in a while.
The door opened, and the scent of wildflowers drifted into the room. I stiffened, refusing to look at her.
Lilith silently came to the table, setting a metal pitcher and ceramic cups in the center. The smell of fresh, cool water hit my nose.
The men leaned forward, pouring and distributing as Lilith stepped away again.
“Thank you,” I said.
Lilith glanced at me, brow furrowing in confusion. The men didn’t notice our exchange.
I gestured to the pitcher. “For the water.”
Her brow furrow deepened. “You’re welcome?”
The color in the room faded when she left. I stared at the middle-aged and older men and wished I was anywhere but here. I normally liked humans, found them interesting, but these ones? No. I was tired of their company and it had only been a few moments.
The rest of the meeting was dull. My mind wandered to Lilith. What was she doing right now? What would she say to some of these ideas? She was clearly smarter and more observant than all of them put together. Was she with her mother, grieving? What work did she have when not attending the elders?
I shook myself mentally. Lilith was an alluring woman—all contradictions with soft hands and sharp words, sweet face and piercing mind—but I was looking for a way home, not a distraction.
Stars, it had been ages since I’d had sex. Far, far too long. After a drought, several of us seraphim had looked to one another for comfort. As far as I knew, only a couple of my sedgemates had actually slept together. We’d all decided it felt incestuous after fighting and surviving together for so long. We felt like siblings, with Gabriel our grim older brother.
That left either short affairs within the coven, which had stopped forty years ago, or quick couplings in the dark with humans who weren’t observant or curious about the bulky, oddly-shaped cloaks we wore. Intensely unsatisfying.
Unlike Lilith. Introducing her to desire would be a delight. I could imagine that face slack with pleasure, her mouth turned tender for once, and that suspicious mind put to rest. And the fight to get there? I grinned. It would be unmatched. I’d never battled with words so intensely, and it was arousing. She was arousing.
“Does it meet your approval, Herald?”
I blinked. “Er, yes.”
The men were leaning back in their chairs and White was standing. The meeting was over, and I hoped I hadn’t agreed to something important.
Elder Nelson thumped the table with his knuckles, nodding in conclusion. “We shall see where Lord Erlik leads us now the Grimshaw line has died out.”
“And their mission has successfully been accomplished,” Dalton put in with a wry tone. “Perhaps Erlik has called Zorababel home because he completed his part.”
I kept my face impassive, but the casual way they spoke of their lifelong leader’s death disturbed me. And nothing at all had been said of Absalalom, Lilith’s brother. Was he so disliked, even among the other elders?
