Then he did it. He opened himself enough to allow me to feel his essence along with a singlefluttering emotion. I could tell some emotions still hid behind a barrier, but it was a start. More importantly, he gave me the last emotion I’d expected him to reveal. Anxiety.
A small smile crept across my face at his gesture—his vulnerability. His nervousness was endearing, and it also hurt to know it stemmed from someone else’s abuse.
Part of me wanted to soothe his nerves, but I couldn’t allow him to move me that easily. Anyone could offer a single gesture and slip back into old habits. I needed time to see his dedication and willingness.
My hand wrapped around the library door’s cool metal handle. I was about to leave when I thought of the image on the doors. Not the one it had just shown me, but the one before, with my father. Ronen was the only person I knew who truly talked to him, and I needed a favor.
“Ronen, the next time you see my father, can you look at the back of his neck? I think there’s a Velatus Rune there.”
“Which one?”
“I don’t know. But I plan to figure that out.” Then I walked out.
Chapter
Twenty-Six
Ronen
Ifell back against the table, rubbing my face, probably spreading the lingering sand everywhere. Now she had a foothold. One I had no idea what she’d do with. I believed that was the terrifying, gut-twisting point. It almost killed me as much as giving her the one emotion I didn’t want to.
“Did you gain what you were looking for from that unnecessarily loud argument?” Cato inquired.
Seven Hells.
It was only then that I recalled the words the hellion used, revealing what she was to me. I stood, all my anxiety moving aside for my praesidium. Cato and I never had problems. I respected his space when I came in here, and he respected mine. That would all change if he dared utter a word of what he heard to anyone, specifically Lucifer.
“Will you tell him?”
“No. He’s not in his right mind. I’m here to advise you to check on him. He’s still locked either in his rooms or the hall.”
Dammit.
I nodded and turned away to do just that. It’d always been my plan.Except after I showered and talked with Anya. But the fact that Lucifer still hadn’t come out forced him to the top of my pressing matters list. Plus, the hellion wanted me to check whether Lucifer had a Velatus Rune. She’d piqued my curiosity with her favor.
What did she think her father was hiding?
“I’d consider the consequences of free-falling into a bond at this time.”
Free-falling?More like she came streaking across my night sky and utterly entrapped me in her devastating light. There was no falling. She came. She destroyed. Now she was building me into a shape that’d only fit with hers.
“Lucifer will come out of this.”
I had to believe that. I would not rule Hell. I would not give her up.
Cato stared at me, unblinking and unmoving. He gave no indication of his thoughts or judgments.
“His cordistella’s soul is dangling by a shrinking thread of time.”
“Then why isn’t he figuring out a way to open the gates?”
Cato blinked. “Why indeed.” He clasped his hands within his billowing robes and turned. “Let me know if you find a rune on the king,” he called back as he walked away.
I left the quiet library, heading toward Lucifer’s chambers. His hall stretched empty before me. My normally soft footsteps padded loudly on the red carpet, interrupting the odd cracking and popping that teased my eardrums. It may have been late, but not seeing a single castle worker scurry by didn’t bode well. My breath became a thick cloud of vapor the closer I got to his rooms.
After rounding the corner, I stopped.
Frost crowned the carpet, licked up the walls, coated the fireless sconces, and covered every other surface within reach. The hall practically screamed with Lucifer’s emotional instability. No wonder no one remained in this area. They were probably too scared Lucifer would turn them into an ice statue. Which wasn’t uncommon.
