Yusuf shook himself. “I don't understand what I saw. It was not a person.”
“What about a god?” I asked.
“No, Your Majesty. Not unless that god is a glowing, white surface.”
“Asurface?”
“I don't know what it was the surface of. It was an expanse so large that I couldn't see the ends of it. I think it was crystal. Clear and translucent, it glowed as bright as the sun, and there were lines of bluish-pink light shimmering through it.”
“Bluish-pink light within a glowing crystal?” I whispered and looked at Tiernan.
“No,” he said. “No, it can't be.”
“Did those lines pulse?” I asked. “Like a heartbeat?”
“Yes!” Yusuf's eyes widened. “You know what I saw?”
“You saw Hell's Light—the source of magic for the planet.”
“Damn it all.” Tiernan rubbed a hand over his face.
“Hell's Light?” Aylin asked. “The power of Hell is giving you nightmares, Your Majesty?”
“It is not power, it is life,” I quoted King Tarelor, the King of the Caverns of Life. “And I believe I know why it's been giving me those dreams. Thank you, Yusuf. Thank you so very much.”
“It was my honor, Your Majesty.”
“Excuse us. I need to speak to my husband privately now.”
As Yusuf and Aylin bowed, I took Tiernan's hand and drew him out of the community house. Once outside, I took him further, under the branches of a bare tree. At least now I knew why the village was so creepy. They liked it that way. Nightmares were their thing. Tim Burton would have loved it there.
“This is a good thing,” I said to Tiernan. “Now we know it's not an Angel or even Anu who has been tormenting me. I can tell Sever to bring Miri home.”
“Yes, but now we have another issue.” Tiernan pulled out his scry phone. “We need to scry the others.”
“Wait. Why are you upset?”
His eyes went wide. “Seren, the Light of Hell is giving you nightmares.”
“It's not, though.”
He lowered the scry phone. “Excuse me?”
“It's not trying to give me nightmares. It's a source of magic, Tiernan. It's life, pure life, but with a different kind of sentience than we have. I believe it wants me to return to Hell. It must sense the connection between Star and me, and so it used him to get to me. It doesn't know I'm trying to resist Astaroth. It only senses my emotions.”
Tiernan's eyes twitched. “And your emotions tell it that you want to fuck Star?”
If I hadn't been so calm, I might have slapped him for that. As it was, I just cocked my head at him again. “You know I love him. You also know that our love was fostered by God. I cannot control what I feel for Astaroth. Sex is a physical demonstration of love. Therefore, you must also know that I want to make love to him. So why are you saying it like that? Why are you angry with me? I may not control what I feel for him, but I have tried my best to control how I behave toward him. I do that for you. Because I love you more than I love him, and I made vows to you. You are my husband, not Astaroth.”
Tiernan gaped at me.
“Well?” I prompted.
“I . . . yes, you're right. I'm sorry I said that. I think I was channeling Raza for a moment.”
I snorted a laugh. “Thank you.” Well, damn, this whole rational thinking and speaking thing worked. I'd have to remember to try it when I got my bad emotions back. “So, back to Hell's Light. It's luring me to the planet, and I think I know why. It's something I've recently discussed with Star.”
“What's that?”
