He was trying to tell me something, his eyes intense and hard as stone, but I didn’t understand.
Hands grabbed my shoulders, and it took a heartbeat for me to understand what they were doing.
“No!” I jerked in the hard grasp, fighting to get free. I needed to help him!
Twenty-One
Lilith
“Lilith, come here!” Elder Nelson barked.
Startled by the harsh tone, I looked up at him.
He leaned on his cane, peering down at me. “Lilith, he is not a Herald.”
It was so unexpected I could only blink.
He nodded sadly, though his eyes threatened violence. “Did you know, my dear? Were you hiding the enemy’s lies from us?”
What enemy? I shook my head.
He looked over my head to the young men. “We should not assume the bar on his door will hold him. Take him away.”
I turned, my knees tangled in my skirts. I tried to push myself off my hands and knees, but the elder’s cane suddenly appeared, blocking my path.
I watched, horrorstruck, as the young men struggled to grab Castiel, still vomiting and abdomen surging, and drag him away. “Where are you taking him?” I demanded.
“Fret not, Lilith.” The condescension dripping from his words curdled my blood. “It shan’t kill him. Saltwater might be poisonous to his kind—whatever his kind is—but I saw them walk away from a fall that was hundreds of feet.”
I had to do something. I took a few breaths, regaining control of myself and struggling to put my thoughts back in order.
“I don’t understand.” I pushed myself to my feet. “Please, what makes you think he’s an enemy?” I had worn a blank expression for so many years it came like second nature.
His ego didn’t let him consider the possibility I was hiding my true reactions. “If we learn you have been hiding this information from us, you will be severely punished,” he warned. “You may be but a woman, one who does not study the precepts, or notice the discrepancies and missteps this…this… creature committed. But that means women need a firmer, guiding hand, hm?”
I stared, barely hearing him as I tried to make sense of what was happening.
“He’s not a Herald of our god Erlik. And will be dealt with accordingly. That is all you need to know for now. Go home, Lilith. We will question you later.”
Something in me snapped, and in a rage I did something incredibly stupid. I fought back. For the first time in a decade, I didn’t smile and tell him he was wise.
“No!” I ran. “This is wrong! Erlik surely didn’t tell you to do this.”
His face changed, going from indulgent shepherd of souls to furious tyrant. “Lilith!” His voice cracked like a whip. “You forget yourself.”
Heedless of his final warning, I raced through the door and back into Castiel’s room. Drops of blood splattered the ground, mixed with a few frayed feathers, giving me a trail to follow.
“Get back here!” Elder Nelson’s voice echoed behind me, faint with distance and age.
For a heartbeat my heart filled with savage glee. Was it this easy to defy them? Why had I let myself believe these men held the power of life and death over us? I was younger, faster, perhaps stronger than every single one of the elders, especially now Absalom was gone.
I charged into the corridor and saw the tip of Castiel’s wings around a corner. “Stop!” I yelled. Speeding around the corner, I grabbed Castiel’s foot.
Three men hefted Castiel’s weight, fighting to maneuver him through the narrow hall. He writhed, pushing against them, but his normally brown face was pale and he wasn’t making any progress.
I wrapped my hands around his ankle and tugged. “You can’t have him!”
“Lily,” Castiel gasped, his eyes bloodshot from he retching. “Go, Lily.”
