“How?”
At this point, I’d take anything.
“Melanie controls the Spinewalkers. We were always taught they were voids—once something went in, nothing came out. She has to be using powerful blood magic to open them. And blood magic is tied to the caster.”
I frowned. “So if we kill Melanie…”
“The Spinewalkers can’t release the souls,” Anya finished. “But there’s something else.”
Of course there was. I waited.
“When the Spinewalkers assault one end, she’ll have Lilith’s demons from the Tenebrous Kingdom waiting on the other side of Hell’s gates.”
Another answer. Another shift in perception. “That’s why Luciferwanted Tsal-mawet.” Not to save my mother’s soul, but to add to their numbers. “She knows how to open them, doesn’t she?”
Anya’s expression darkened. “I think so. And I think the answer is you.”
“Me?”
The Doors of Moirai had clearly depicted Lucifer and the dagger.
“You opened Portal Lake. You don’t think you’ll be a part of opening the gates?”
“Even if I was, I…” Wouldn’t?
My mom’s existence relied on the gates opening. Along with many other souls in Hell. No. I would. But in a way that’d benefit us and hurt Melanie.
I didn’t know how much Anya knew about my mother or our situation, but understanding flickered across her face, and a cunning grin twisted her lips. She looked like Lilith. “If she thinks you’re the key to opening them, then use it against her.”
“Lead her into a trap,” I murmured, liking the idea. “But how? Wouldn’t she see it coming?”
“Yes. That’s why every action you perform, everything you say, needs to make her believe you found a way to stop her.”
“But then stop her in a different way.”
She nodded.
“How?”
“That one I don’t know.”
Heavenly Hell.
“Fine. Do you know what this is?” I materialized a piece of paper with the same six-pointed star we found under her bed and that the doors had shown.
“It’s our Siphoning Rite.” She started at the first rune. “Unbinding—we unbind ourselves from their morals.” Then moved through the rest. “We destroy the restraints of this world. We forsake any who would stop us. We overtake them—body, will, and power. We sacrifice in blood. We remake ourselves with what we take.”
I frowned. “Remake? Doesn’t it mean unmake?”
“No. The purpose of this rite is to steal the power and life ofanother, then remake ourselves with it. This is what Lilith used on the angels she killed.”
Why would Cato say unmake then? Unless he knew what I had read. He’d seen me in his dream. Did the Unmaking Ceremony play a part in this?
“Would it work to kill her?” I asked.
“No. Rites can only be used by blood-witches.”
Then what purpose did it serve? The doors showed it to me for a reason.
