The remainder of the night was a blur of those who had joined the procession. Offerings were made to Lilith and left beside the bier: herbs for the pyre, tea and small cakes, and the occasional pouch ofoyistato help pay for the funerary rites. The silence was bone-chilling. Noah and I stood sentinel at the places the priestesses had put us beside the door. We nodded to each who passed while Lord Azad stood beside me, steadfastly refusing to move. The silent standoff with the high priestess might have been comical if all the happiness hadn’t already leached from the world.
Before dawn, Lord Azad left my side to approach Lilith and the bier, but he did not leave an offering on the pile of gifts. Instead, he pulled twooyistafrom the inside of his waistcoat. Lilith watched numbly as he placed them over Jules’ eyes before stepping back and lowering to his knees in front of the last remaining Searah. I choked back my sob as he pressed his forehead to the marble before Lilith. It was a sign of thedeepest respect in Kysol—one reserved for funerals and marriages.
When he stood again, it was to kiss her brow and back away with slow, even steps as the priestesses and everyone who visited had. His face crumpled in pain as he turned. I reached for him in the same moment he did me, his mouth moving over my brow, my cheeks, and my lips.
In the next breath he was gone, vanished through the door and out into the waking dawn.
And we kept vigil while we waited for the pyre to be built.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The wind was calm as we stood beside the ramparts of the city and stared at the pyre threaded with flowers and herbs. The final streaks of day died around us as we awaited the priestesses and the final death rite. My legs trembled with fatigue; I had one arm wrapped around Lilith’s waist while Noah kept all three of us steady. I couldn’t imagine how Lilith was standing now—around mid-morning the priestesses had offered Noah and I a small stool to sit on. Lilith, however, had refused.
Drumming began far off, growing louder with the procession, but we stared straight ahead at the pyre as the bier arrived, now decorated with lush herbs and dripping with incense smoke. Humans, Lycans, Vyenurs, and vampires filed in behind them. A familiar hand slid up my back and curled around my nape.
He was here. I wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, to turn and press my face into his chest. We stayed as we were, though, watching as Jules’ body was placed on the pyre, the wreath ofasivasstill perched on her chest. The high priestess was last to arrive, carrying a bright torch spluttering and sparking with embers.
She approached Lilith, holding out the torch to her with wide, expectant eyes rimmed in kohl. My friend’s hand wassteady as she took it, though the older woman waited a moment to ensure her grip was strong before she let go and gestured for her to approach. Smoke stung my eyes and I blinked rapidly while Lilith stepped toward the pyre.
Waves crashed across the beach, close enough to break through the silence. She laid the torch across her mother’s body before bowing forward with her sobs.
Noah and I surged forward, drew her into our arms and pulled her away from the flames catching the dry wood. Lilith crumpled in our embrace, clawing at Noah’s tunic as if beneath his skin she might find the way to restore Jules. I kept one hand on her hair, rubbing her back with the other.
Another priestess approached with a smaller torch. It was Lord Azad who took it and moved around us to light the lower section of the wood close to the head. When he stepped back, the firelight illuminated the blood tears on his face. He slipped between us to gather Lilith into his arms and cradle her like a child.
Like the child he’d watched grow, as he had the woman whose body would soon be nothing but ash and memory.
Another torch, this time handed to Noah who placed it at her feet. A fourth torch handed to me. I felt it should go to someone else, but the priestess pressed it into my palm and gestured toward the center of the pyre. By now almost all the wood had caught, but I took careful steps forward and thrust the torch into the center. The heat licked at my hands and face as I moved away in fear my skirts might catch.
One final torch was handed to Lilith, who had quieted in Lord Azad’s arms. He let her go, steadying her with a hand on her shoulder as she took the final, smaller flame, the handle wrapped with fragrant herbs, to throw onto the fire. As one the crowd behind us lowered to one knee with their head bowed, three fingers pressed to theirlips. When I’d first seen it at Solange’s rite, I hadn’t understood the gesture. It was Noah who had explained after.
They were bowing to Keryes, god of death, who came for us all.
Shortly after, most filed out without a word, slipping back up the path they’d come down and into the city. Lilith watched her mother burn with wide, horrified eyes. I wrapped my arms around her, resting my chin on her shoulder while Noah embraced us both.
“Leave me,” Lilith murmured.
I shook my head. “No.”
Her cold palm wrapped around my forearm, squeezing it once. “Please. Allow me this time to say goodbye to her alone.”
Noah and I exchanged a look. He nodded once, leaning forward to press a kiss to her temple. “All right, love.”
Thethank youshe whispered was barely more than breath as we let her go. I reluctantly led the way back toward the path to where Lord Azad stood, watching the flames as Lilith was. Noah tugged me under his arm. “I’ll keep my distance, but I’ll watch over her.”
As we approached, Lord Azad shook his head slightly and ran a hand over his face. Noah slipped between two trees, leaning against one trunk with his arms crossed over his chest while he watched Lilith stare at the flames.
“What do you need?” I asked Lord Azad, unable to stop myself from squeezing his elbow.
He dropped his hand to tuck me into his side and pressed his nose to my hair, inhaling deeply. “This. This is what I need.”
I didn’t fight him as he guided us up the path and to the ramparts. People milled around on the edge overlooking the sea and I wondered if the flames had caught theirattention. But as we grew closer, I realized I knew at least two of the males standing at the wall.
Henry was closest, his chocolate-brown curls tied back, arm slung around the shoulders of a small female with black hair twisted into an ornate bun on top of her head. Mateo leaned against the rampart, his head hanging between his forearms as his shoulders shook. A male with blond hair ran a hand over his back soothingly, though he was not looking at Mateo. Instead, he watched the pyre burn with an intensity that made me wonder if he did not often see the ritual. He took a step closer, his eyes fixed on the flames.
“Callum,” Lord Azad called. The blond male looked up with silver eyes. “Make sure he feeds.”
“Yes, Uncle,” Callum answered, his attention sliding back to the fire and the figure of Lilith standing before it.
