The High King opened his throat and roared with impossible fury.
It was a roar so great, the entire underworld shook. The plains trembled, cracks snaking along the hardened surface. Boulders tumbled from the tops of lifeless mountains.
Demons from all across the land screamed and covered their ears. Some fell into the fissures opening in the ground. Others were crushed by falling rock and debris.
Lucifer angled his wings and turned his great body around, flying back toward his territory with all the speed he possessed. But he already knew what he would find. He already knew who had fired the first shot and rekindled an ancient feud. He was the High King, and he could sense the presence of his oldest, greatest enemy within the center of his territory.
Belial wanted a war? Then he would get one.
With a startled gasp, Suyin lurched back, away from the body she knelt beside, falling onto her hands. Behind her, outside the sigil, Iris cursed and Lily muffled her scream with a palm.
Murmur’s pitch-black eyes had opened. His chest rose and fell with breath.
Suyin waited, her heart slamming in her chest. Would he speak? Would he recognize her? Everyone knew the consequences of necromancy could be disastrous. He was awake, but that didn’t mean their spell had been successful.
It happened in a blink.
One minute she was staring at his vacant expression. The next, he was moving.Fast.
He lurched upright and his arm shot out, fixing around her throat. With a single, fluid movement, he slammed her down onto the floor and loomed over her. Her breath rushed out as she hit the ground.
“Where am I?” he snarled into her face. If he was in fight-or-flight, he’d gone withfight.
But the sound of his voice triggered something, and it hit her suddenly. That gravelly, deep voice, always rougher than she expected … It washim. He was really here.
“You’re alive,” she whispered, her throat tightening with emotion.
He blinked and went still.
Slowly, she lifted a hand to his chest, not daring to believe she’d feel a heart beating beneath her palm.
But it was there, thudding steadily.
“Suyin—” Iris’s panicked voice cut through the haze.
“I’m fine,” she replied, careful to keep her voice soft. “Don’t come closer.”
Murmur’s grip tightened on her throat, and he glanced over to where Iris and Lily stood. With his eyes solid black, she could only tell where he was looking because his head turned. The twins obeyed her request and didn’t approach, but their faces were full of shock and disbelief.
Suyin could relate. They’d done it. They’d actually brought Murmur back from the dead. It was going to take a while for that to sink in.
But he was obviously confused. Did he know who she was? Had he suffered some kind of brain injury because of the time his body was in stasis?
“It’s me,” she said. “You were dead, but we brought you back.”
His frown deepened, drawing a line between his brows.
“Do you remember what happened? When you died?”
His face scrunched up, like he was struggling to remember.
“You did a spell to free Lucifer’s trapped souls. You were successful, but you had to sacrifice yourself in the process. You left me those books, and I found the marked page and figured out how to resurrect you.”
He continued to stare blankly at her. She had no idea whether she was getting through to him or not. She had no idea if he even knew who she was.
“Murmur? Do you remember me?”
“Yes, I—” He squeezed his eyes shut as if in pain. “The voices.” His eyes snapped open again.
