“No, Sever. It's the Light of Hell.”
He blinked. “Excuse me?”
I was about to talk about the prophecy when I realized that I had told Sever about the Underground Demons and their caverns. I had betrayed my oath to those Demons. But then I remembered the words of my vow. I had promised not to reveal them to the Demons on the surface. It was all right to speak to Sever about them.
“Seren?”
“Sorry. I was just remembering what I vowed to the Demons of the Caverns of Life.”
“Hell's Light,” he murmured. “You're saying the source of Hell's magic has been sending you nightmares?”
“Technically, they're not nightmares. Hell's Light isn't a person. It can't read all the intricacies of what I feel, and so it wouldn't be able to conclude that I don't want to be with Astaroth. All it knows is that I have feelings for him, a connection to him, and he is the King of Hell.”
“All right.” He held up a hand. “You're confusing me. Why would Hell's Light want you with Astaroth?”
“It doesn't. What it wants is for me to fulfill my prophecy and heal Hell. I think I'm supposed to help the Underground Demons reunite with the Surface Demons.”
“Then why the dreams?”
“Because it thinks that's the best way to get me back to Hell. It doesn't know it's doing the opposite.”
Sever sat back, his expression turning pensive. I waited while he processed.
“Daddy!” Mirielle's voice came. “Daddy! Uncle Dax is here.”
Sever froze.
“Who are you scrying?” Daxon's voice came next.
“You're with Daxon?” I narrowed my eyes at Sever. “You left me to stay with Dax?”
“No, he's just visiting.”
“Is that Seren?” Daxon came into view. “Hello, wandering wife of mine.” Daxon's mesmerizing blue eyes narrowed. “Where are you now,darling?”
I grimaced at his sharp tone. “Drop the attitude, Dax. I don't feel bad anymore, so you can't make me feel worse. The dreams aren't my fault. Yes, I should have told you about them, but I did what I thought was best, and I won't apologize for that again. I was just telling Sever that the Light of Hell has been sending the dreams to me.”
Daxon blinked. “What?”
“Evidently, a Basty told her that Hell's Light is behind the dreams. Seren has concluded that it's trying to lure her back to Hell to fulfill the prophecy.” He looked from Dax to me. “What was that prophecy?”
“I'm supposed to heal Hell,” I said.
“Yes, but what else did it say?”
I shrugged. “It was given to the Underground Demons so there was a lot of 'she will come and do not fear her' stuff. It said I stand between shadows and sunlight, a bridge to the past and future.”
“Through her, Hell will be healed,” Daxon finished.
Yeah, he'd been there when I met the Underground Demons, and he'd seen the carving on the wall—the image of me and the prophecy.
“Rowan was right,” Sever murmured even as he helped Miri onto his lap. “You're leaving. And you're going to Hell.”
“Mommy!” Miri smacked the crystal.
“Hey, my baby girl! You're going to come home.”
“I am?” She looked at Sever.
