Belial lay against the prickly, sweet hay, his body aching in twisting, heated agony. At this moment, he didn’t even possess enough strength to change into his true form and leave this desolate world.
Not that he cared.
Not after the secret he’d just learned…
Those roving little bastards thought themselves so smart. And here he’d thought they’d come to protect Ariel.
He would laugh if he were able.
Valteri the Godless was in fact Valteri fitzJaden.…
Bloody figured.
His plan had cost him much, but it’d been well worth the price of staying in this wretched human body for so long.
To get the soul of Jaden’s son, he’d gladly do it all again. There was no telling what Kadar and Azura would give him for this. He could only imagine the reward.…
A giddy rush surged through him. Now, all he had to do was plan Valteri’s death.
With the curse fulfilled, he’d escort that bastard straight to his master’s throne.
His smile widened. How simple. He’d chain them both to Kadar Noir’s throne.
And reap his eternal reward.
Out of nowhere, an image of Seth went through his mind. What they’d done to the boy when he’d first been brought into Azmodea.
Against his will, he flinched at the memory.
That child had been brutalized.
For a second, he felt guilty for what he was doing to another innocent. But neither Ariel nor Valteri were as young as Seth had been. Unlike Rezar’s son, they were trained warriors who’d taken their fair share of lives.
They wouldn’t hesitate to killhim.
No one had ever taken pity or mercy where he was concerned. Not even his own mother. From his first breath, she’d saddled him with a name that meant “worthless,” and that was how she and everyone else had treated him. How everyone looked at him.
But if he returned home with the son of Jaden he would be worthless no longer. And they’d finally have to give him his due.
People were weak and petty. Mindless guppies following wherever their group swam. The few he’d known with their own minds usually fell to his temptation in no time.
Nay, there was nothing about human beings that couldn’t be corrupted—given the right inducement.
Arelim were just the same. And he had even less use for them.
They held themselves far above him and everyone else. As if they were somehow better. Smarter. When they were all cut from the same chaotic goo.
The same vengeful gods.
Taking a deep breath, he steeled his will for the coming deaths. He would have no pity for either of them. Better they suffer than him.
He’d had enough for a million lifetimes.
“There you are!”
Belial looked up at Brother Edred, who stood at the stall’s opening, leaning against a wooden post. Worry filled the old man’s gray eyes and for an instant, Belial feared Edred might be able to detect his real appearance.
“Greetings, Friar. What brings you to the stable?”
