I keep my strides even. Unhurried. I’m not sure what I’m going to do once we get to where we’re going, but at least if I die, he will have no idea how to get back and hopefully he’ll get lost and die. Or the demon will eat him.
“Did you always know they were your sons?” I blurt as we round a narrow bend.
“What are you talking about?” he snaps a little too harshly.
I steal a peek at him from over my shoulder. “Augustus and Bernard. You were sleeping with Sarai, weren’t you? Did your brother know his sons weren’t his?”
The gun is back in my face, and I think I deserve it.
“Who the hell told you that? Who were you talking to?”
I shake my head. “You did,” I lie, but can’t exactly tell him I overheard Sarai talking on the phone, telling her friends about her affair with her brother-in-law. “By coming here looking for them. You could have sent your men, but you came because you were concerned. I get that you could really care about your nephews, but something tells me that isn’t the case.”
“Shut your mouth.” The barrel stabs into my shoulder blade hard enough to send cobwebs of pain exploding down my arm. “You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. They were family. Their dad would want me to look after them.”
“Sure,” I mutter. “It’s not like I was going to tell your wife. Just making conversation.”
“Well, keep your damn mouth shut. Nobody asked you.”
I agree.
No one asked me and I don’t even know why I bothered to ask. It’s none of my business. I guess I was just curious.
We arrive at the top of the stairs before the long corridor of slumbering angels. I can feel Julen’s unease as he stares down at their solemn expressions shrouded by shadows and a light that shouldn’t exist.
“What the fuck is this place?” he growls. “What sick shit are you into, Usher?”
I don’t bother telling him that I also had no idea this place existed a week ago, but we’re already so close and I just want to return to Lenora. She’s been alone with that demon far too long and I don’t trust that fucker. Not because I think he’s going to hurt her. I saw him when he thought she was in danger and couldn’t reach her. He may not understand the emotions he’s feeling, but I know a man in love when I see one.
I saw it in Eliah’s face.
Ames’s.
Mine when I look in the mirror.
Lenora is a steep row of stairs in the dark. A man can’t help falling deeply in love with all that she is. So, I can’t even blame him.
Julen huddles against my back as we approach the curtains. So close I can smell his unwashed body brushing against my shoulder.
I get it.
The angels are terrifying. It’s unclear if they’re warning people away or blessing them forward. Regardless, their absolute stillness is haunting in a way that makes my skin crawl no matter how often I pass them.
At the velvet drapes, I push inside and pause to wait for my companion to follow.
After having been down here a few times with Lenora, I have suspected that no one sees the chamber the same way. It’s filthy and dingy from my perspective, but Lenora finds it beautiful. I’m curious how Julen Duval sees it when he shoves through the curtains and freezes. His dark eyes widen as they sweep along the stone and dust. His gaze lingers on the filthy altar before drifting up to the black hole in the wall.
“What the actual fuck is this…?”
“Not sure,” I answer honestly.
The weapon in his hand rattles as it wavers in his grasp for the first time. I pretend not to notice as I resume my strides along the path to the platform containing the swollen lump of wood at its helm.
“Destroy the box.”
The voice that came out of Lenora echoes through my thoughts, interrupting this crucial moment.
The box.
