“Lucian treated the injury. It’ll leave a scar, but its function is perfectly fine.”
“Do you…” I tried to think of a gentler way to ask, but there really wasn’t one. “Do you torture people often?”
“I don’t take pleasure in hurting humans, but there are some instances when I feel I must. I try to do it sparingly and preserve life when I can.”
Well, that confirmed my suspicions. What else did I not know due to your selective truths?
“Do you expect me to do that sort of thing too?” I asked.
You cupped my face with your rough hands and placed a gentle kiss on my forehead. “Not if I can help it.”
I watched you leave, then decided to drink some bottled blood to pass the time. I wondered when the last time Seneser or his human host had eaten, so I ordered room service for the both of us. When the food arrived, I removed his gag, since it was the only way he could eat. Rather than cut the zip ties that bound his wrists behind his back, I offered to feed him myself.
While we ate, I asked him to tell me more about the prophecy.
“It’s an ancient and well-known prophecy among the Grigori elders, that a child of the bloodborn will rise up as the sovereign leader of a great empire in the earthen realm, one more powerful than any that has come before it. And under their rule, Nephilim will walk again as giants among men.”
“Giants among men,” I repeated, recalling Mater’s stories of our kind’s great feats of strength and valor in a time long ago. “Is that how it used to be?”
Seneser nodded. “Around the time of Andro—Henri’s imprisonment, Azrael convinced the Thrones that Nephilim were too many and too powerful, that under the direction of the Grigori, they would overtake the earthen realm. With their blessing, he systematically shrunk tribal territory, then instituted angelic law, trapping and enslaving those Nephilim who dared stray outside the boundaries of their ancestral lands. The Grigori were too divided to combat him. They didn’t know they were at war until it was too late.”
“And Mater really thinks I’m the one to lead this revolution?”
“To be fair, she once thought it was Henri. And then Lucian. But now? Yes, she believes it’s you.”
“Do you believe it?” I asked.
“If fates don’t align, prophecies are often reinterpreted or abandoned altogether, but this one has remained steadfast for thousands of years. If it were true, that you or one of your brothers might one day rule over a vast empire, then I’d certainly want to be at the head of that receiving line.”
I believed Seneser’s selfish motives. And if his past dealings with Azrael were true, he must be looking for revenge at every turn.
“What is Mater’s Shade Vale like?” I asked. I knew already how they were created—death, worship, natural disasters… Sometimes areas of dense ecological harmony could act as Shade Vales. Wherever spiritual energy concentrated.
“Unpleasant,” he said. “You may see things there that you wouldn’t normally—malevolent or benevolent spirits, objects that appear as treasures but are actually very deadly, animals that might be innocent in the real world, suddenly seem monstrous.”
“Mater has snakes for hair in my dreams. If they were to bite me in a Shade Vale, would it hurt?”
“Terribly.”
“Would their bites leave marks on my body?”
“Not on your physical person, but on your spirit. Any violence you endure in a Shade Vale can impact your energy, and those types of injuries take a long time to heal.”
I wondered if your time spent in a Shade Vale had affected your spirit in a similar way.
“Henri was imprisoned in a battlefield, and he said part of the reason he chose to be a reaper was because he feared he’d only want to murder people when he was able.”
Seneser nodded. “Shade Vales can corrupt even the most honorable of beings.”
Like war, I thought, and situations where survival made you do things you normally wouldn’t. I shouldn’t judge you too harshly. You’d endured things no being ever should, while I’d only recently left the boundaries of Miami.
“Your brothers are nearby,” Seneser said. “Should you gag me before they arrive?”
I shook my head. “I don’t want to lie to Henri.”
He eyed me curiously. Moments later, you and Lucian entered through the front door, both of you loaded down with shopping bags and travel packs. You immediately noticed the food and Seneser’s lack of a gag. I stared at you, prepared for a lecture—expecting it—but your brow only furrowed in frustration.
Funny, it didn’t devastate me nearly as much as I thought it would.
