He pauses, long, talon-tipped finger extended in my direction. “That is an excellent question, isn’t it? Why you? Perhaps it has something to do with the new Usher inside you.”
I recall Veyn’s hand on my stomach, his dark eyes warm when he promised that my baby would be cherished.
“Let me out,” I bite out, refusing to listen to anymore.
“You can’t free him,” the demon warns, making a full circle to stand before me. “He will end the world if given a chance. It’s why he was bound to that talisman. To protect humanity. You need to find it and destroy it.”
“Won’t that free him?” I mutter.
The creature shakes his head. “That is what’s keeping him bound to this mortal plane. Without it, he will be cast back tohell. Think of your baby,” he adds when I hesitate. “Are you prepared to give him your soul now that you have that life growing inside you?”
The truth plummets into my gut as cold and vicious as a chunk of ice. It paralyzes me of all thought, except … he’s right. I’ve given Veyn my soul. I did so before I knew I would have this baby, but now…
“Why are you telling me this?” I bite out. “Doesn’t destroying Veyn also destroy you?”
He sighs and straightens. The almost skeletal hollows of his features draw into one of deep contemplation.
“It’s time,” he mumbles at last. “Rase and I have been here for so long. We have watched our brother destroy life after life, causing chaos and death for centuries. Men, women … children. No one was safe from his brutality.” Dark, red eyes pivot in my direction. “You have seen what he is capable of. The torture and pain.” He shakes his head slowly. “We’re tired. We just want to rest.”
I hate that I understand. That I know exactly what he means. I hate that I believe him even while a tiny voice seems unbothered by the facts.
I know what Veyn is.
I know what he is capable of.
Maybe not fully, but he’s never pretended not to be … well, a demon.
“Let me out,” I say again.
Something like anger flares behind his eyes. A flash of crimson before it’s gone.
“I hope you will reconsider before it’s too late.”
He motions over my shoulder with his chin and I spin, expecting the other creature to attack, but the door is back like it had never vanished.
Without waiting, I hurry towards it only for him to call me back.
“The talisman is inside the dais, should you change your mind and save us all.”
I don’t wait to hear more.
I hurry down the corridors in the direction of the main part of the house. My head spins wildly, a top whirling with more information than I know what to do with.
Of course, Veyn isn’t perfect. He’s a demon. By definition that makes him evil and a liar. And I made a promise to him. I willingly offered him my soul for revenge, but that was before I was given this gift. I can’t die now that I have a second chance.
“Linny.”
I yelp and spin at the sound of Marcus’s voice.
He’s charging towards me from the opposite end of the corridor, strides wide and angry.
“I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” He stops when he’s practically on top of me. “Where did you go?”
“Chapel,” I murmur. “I … I went to tell the boys.”
There’s no point hiding the truth from him. It’s only a matter of time he realizes my stomach is only getting bigger.
But he doesn’t ask me to explain. Doesn’t ask what I told them. Isn’t even curious.
