I gasped when the words clicked together in mybrain.
“It says that Berith once lived here, during the reign of Henry the Eighth. It was part of their deal. The King gave the demon this land in exchange for his support and counsel. This was Berith’s home,Az.”
Az gave a nod, his own eyes lighting up with excitement. “If this was his home once, he might have taken the amulet there for safe-keeping. We know where we need tosail.”
Chapter Three
Erela
The house burstinto activity after Az, Lizzie, and I delivered the good news to Ramiel. He agreed that it seemed like the best (and only) lead we had, and Berith’s old castle home was a likely location for the amulet. It was finally time to make amove.
I took the stairs two at a time and grabbed a bag of clothes from my room. We hadn’t lived here long, but I’d gathered enough shirts and jeans to fill a small backpack. Most of the clothes had belonged to Lilith. We’d been about the same size, though she’d been taller. At the thought of my demon friend, I slowed as I shoved another t-shirt into my pack. If only she were here now. She’d be jumping at the bit to track down Berith’s oldcastle.
A pair of whiskers twitched across my cheek just as a tear slid from my eye. “I hate that we’re leaving without burying her, Mr.Whiskerson.”
Berith had made certain that we couldn’t. When he’d done his little teleporting trick to steal the amulet away, he’d also taken Lilith’s body along with him. He’d left nothing behind but a pool of blood on the sandy beach, the only remnant we had of her. It was the worst thing he could have done to her, even after her death. Both demons and angels had to be buried with the proper ceremony. Otherwise, their souls would never get torest.
I had vowed to find where he’d taken her. Her soul deservedpeace.
Of course, there was no telling how long that might take. If Berith had taken the amulet to his old castle, he probably hadn’t taken Lilith there, too. That would be making things far too easy forus.
“Let’s do something,” I said to Mr. Whiskerson, tossing my bag onto the bed. We might not have Lilith’s body, but we knew where she’d been slain. We could say a few words, send up a belated goodbye to whoever might be listening, if anyone was. It was the next best thing to a properfuneral.
I hurried back down the staircase with my little rat friend perched on my shoulder, passing Uriel and Az on my way out to the beach. They each shot me a questioning glance, but they didn’t stop to join me. There was far too much for us to do before we couldleave.
When I pushed open the back door that led to the wooden walkway, the cool winter air settled over my skin like a cocoon. Ever since realizing my new demon powers, my body heat had definitely gone up several degrees. Now, the cold felt comforting. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. I didn’t want to be part fire demon, and I definitely didn’t want to bemoredemon than angel. With a deep breath, I strode down the walkway, the wood creaking underneath my feet. I came to a stop at the edge, at the very spot where Berith had blinked out of the shadows to take Lilith’slife.
I hadn’t seen what had happened, but Ramiel had. He just hadn’t been quick enough to stopit.
The wind had blown the stained sand away in the days that had passed, but there were still flecks of red amongst the pale brown. I sunk onto my knees and placed my hand on the spot where she had fallen. Closing my eyes, I sucked in a deep breath, whispering my sorrow onto the light wind. Mr. Whiskerson sat still, as though he realized the weight of mywords.
I was sorry. My heart hurt from the guilt of what had happened to Lilith. It was definitely my fault in a sense. Ramiel blamed himself, too. Lizzie told us both that we needed to focus all the blame outward, but neither of us were able to bear it. Ramiel had tasked himself with spotting Lilith while she scouted the beach. He’d been distracted from that. Because ofme.
I’dmade him turn his eyes away from thelookout.
“I’m so sorry, Lilith,” Iwhispered.
Quietly, I pushed up from the ground and gathered a cluster of rocks that Sam and I had been using for target practice these past few days. He’d been trying to teach me how to control my fire power, but I had barely improved. In fact, I could have sworn I was getting worse instead ofbetter.
With the rocks in my arms, I strode back over to Lilith’s spot and placed one stone on top of each other. It made a lopsided mound, but it would do. I pulled my dagger from the sheath strapped to my thigh and pricked the tip of my thumb. I winced at the contact, but only long enough for the blood topool.
“I hope you rest in peace, Lilith,” I sighed and pressed my thumb on the rock before drawing a jaggedL.
Mr. Whiskerson twitched his nose and then scurried down into my shirt, burying himself beneath the fabric, right on top of my heavily beatingheart.
“This was a niceidea.”
I jumped, my heart jolting as I whirled toward the unexpected noise. Sam stood just behind me, his brilliant hair backlit by the setting sun. “Sam. Don’t sneak up on people like that. You scared me half todeath.”
“I’m sorry.” He smiled crookedly, and heat filled my cheeks. “I’m so used to my silence that sometimes I forget to makenoise.”
I pressed my hand to my heart, taking comfort in the warm little bundle beneath my shirt, and pushed up from the ground. “I just thought I would make a little memorial for Lilith. I know it won’t help her soul find peace, but I feel like I can’t leave here for good without doingsomething.”
“You never know. It could help her.” He nodded at the mound. “But just as importantly, it will help you. I can tell you’re still hurting over herdeath.”
Hurtingwas anunderstatement.
“I’ve never met anyone like her. And I probably never will again. She was one of a kind, Sam, and there’s no reason in hell she should havedied.”
