Soul of Shadows

Zeella

Lazarus left not long after Desterium was dragged away in chains, her threat to hunt me down still rolling around the back of my mind even as I poured a glass of wine for everybody, Triton remarking, “The girls are quite powerful now, are they not?”

“Reannatiel and Desterium are terrifying,” Abel corrected with a shudder, “All speaking in unison and matching. Although Desterium does look much nicer than Reannatiel now, I think, almost like she became a full-blooded, hm? It isn’t impossible, I suppose, considering I made her Connected a half-blood Demonic-being.”

“Focusing on the war effort,” I cut in with a hiss, glaring at Abel until he smirked, returning to his phone, Lilith nodding enthusiastically, “Karmona has been destroyed. Ordeallan should be our next target.”

“About that…” Triton’s squeak from across the table had us turning to face him, his bulging face turning red with shame when he choked out, “Ordeallan is out of our reach.”

“Why?” Lilith bit out slowly, eyeing him like he was a slab of meat to be carved up, and I lowered my hand to the knife on the table, happy to do it if she ordered for him to be executed.

“When we attacked Karmona and Ordeallan, I managed to corner Cain and threaten his family so he would surrender. He agreed to be executed peacefully provided I left Ordeallan and his family alone. Told me they had to be ‘left to their walls’.”

Rolling her eyes, Lilith grumbled under her breath, “We don’t have to honour that, idiot!”

“Except we do. I gave a Blood Oat- OW!” Lilith slammed her powers into him, shackling him to the chair and piercing his wrists with sharp spears, snarling, “You gave a Blood Oath?! Are you a fool, Triton?! Is there ANYTHING worthwhile in your head other than recipes?!”

Reaching across the table before she could slit his throat, I placed my hand on hers, gently lowering her back into her seat, pinching the bridge of my nose and muttering, “Fine, we will have to honour that bargain. We will leave them to their walls.”

“Besides,” Abel purred, leaning back in his seat and scrolling lazily through his phone, “They are all in Karmona, aren’t they? Just attack them again. A second attack now, while they are reeling from the first and struggling to find supplies, will end them.”

“We stand to lose everything if we fail now,” Lilith snapped furiously, her eyes flaring red, “I want them eradicated!”

Sighing deeply, I warned, “Desterium will end us if we brutalise them in any way. A swift death would be better.”

“Going soft, brother?” Triton goaded with a belch, and I shook my head, baring my teeth and saying, “I haven’t wanted to reveal this, but since you leave me no choice… Abel is, unfortunately, right. Desterium has made herself into a full-blooded Demonic-being. She is onpar with our strength. The two glasses of blood Lional force fed her at dinner will make her twice as strong. We would be wise not to taunt her into attacking. If she were to realise how strong she was-”

“Then we would all die,” Lilith finished for me, raising an eyebrow until I nodded, Triton sucking the sauce of his meal from his fingers and asking, “Is Reannatiel a threat? I have tried to have her eliminated, but she is too clever.”

“She’s on guard constantly,” my sister complained, Triton summoning a fourth plate, this time one of fruit, and picking his way through it until he found an apple, the ‘CRUNCH!’ of it splitting beneath his teeth making Abel grimace at his phone, muttering about how he lacked decorum, even for a Sin.

“She knows we aren’t happy about her current position, and she is more than aware that we are enemies.”

Clicking his tongue absentmindedly, Abel said, “Her promise to right things for Desterium is not a comforting one. Somebody,” he eyed me at this, a disdainful look appearing in his eyes, “Would be wise to watch their back when they are alone. Reannatiel might just be spiteful enough to remove your favourite parts, Sin of Lust.”

“I doubt she has the guts to do so.”

“Then you clearly never spoke to Reannatiel for more than five minutes. Because despite her soft personality, she would do anything for her twin… Or are we forgetting the dance teacher? Or the school bully who mysteriously vanished? That wasn’t Cain, and it certainly wasn’t Desterium or I.”

“Reannatiel was cleared from the investigation,” I muttered, Abel shrugging, “I think it was her. Maybe we should ask, now that she’s older.”

“Reminding her of her capability to kill is not a good idea, Abel,” Lilith snapped, “We need to focus! Where do we attack next? Karmona is the obvious choice, but where in Karmona? Desterium already grabbed the Sacreds and the Stones for us, as well as two of the swords, and two of the rings. We need one more ring, Inferos, and Inanis.”

“They weren’t in the chest?” My question rang out across the now-empty hall, our Guardians having ushered the remaining guests out, and Lilith shook her head, gritting out, “No, they were not.”

“Do you think they are in Karmona?”

“I believe they might be… The boy, the Nephilim one, had Inferos for some time. Was it on his body at all? You visited his grave after Destiny was there, Abel.”

“Yes, I visited his grave, Lilith,” Abel snapped in annoyance, lowering his phone to glare at Lilith across the table like a jilted child, “I didn’t have the foresight to dig him up and shake him upside down for lunch money! If the cord or the dagger was on him, then it got buried with him.”

“Or his allies took it.”

“Who would they trust with the Cord? We still know nothing about Desterium’s innercircle.”

“Cain would be the best bet. They trust him, and he has some standing in their hierarchy, considering his status as the King of Ordeallan.”

“We have to get to him before he goes to Ordeallan, and becomes untouchable within the walls, because soon enough he will think to head there to recover, once he remembers the Blood-Oath. His family is off-limits, thanks to Triton.”

“I think I have an idea,” Lilith purred, “But it will require us asking Lazarus a favour.”

“What are you planning?” Triton sighed, sipping from his drink and letting out another belch that had Abel summoning perfume, spraying it across the table with a disgusted hiss before shoving his plate away- and into the eager hands of Triton, who began eating it. Lilith simply summoned another glass of wine, turning to me and saying, “We have Lazarus disguise Reannatiel as Desterium, and offer Cain a trade: The Paradoxin Cord for his beloved cousin. Lazarus can ensure Reannatiel looks and sounds like Desterium, while being unable to say or do anything to give up the ruse. We can meet him in Ordeallan.”

“He’s too smart to fall for that. He would know we wouldn’t trade Destiny for the Cord, not when we can have both.”

“Or we simply frame it that we are being arrogant, and assume we can simply kidnap Desterium back later. The longer Lazarus can keep that ruse on Reannatiel, the more time we have to plan.”

“They would figure it out when Desterium doesn’t speak.”

Smirking, Lilith clasped her hands together dramatically, cooing, “Except she’s traumatised, poor thing. So scarred she can’t get a word out right now. Cain is stupid enough to give her time to recover, as are her allies. Zeella, this solves two problems in one: First, it gives us the Paradoxin Cord, something we desperately require, and second, it removes Reannatiel Maladur from our table. She will vote against everything that hinders Desterium, which will spur Lional into voting the same.”

Sighing heavily, I said, “We can attempt it. Are we all in favour of attempting it?”

Lilith rose her hand, prompting me to raise my own, despite thinking it was a foolish idea, and Triton shrugged, lifting his greasy fingers. Turning to Abel, I questioned, “Well?”

Tapping out a message on his phone, he held up a finger to us, Lilith grinding her teeth furiously as the minutes rolled by, and I briefly contemplated summoning a sword to kill him when his phone rang, and he said, “I have to take this.” He rose from the table, excusing himself down the stairs and out a small side-door, answering the phone with a purred, “What do you need now?”

Turning to me, my sister ground out, “I would kill him if he wasn’t the last heir to my throne left.”

“Have another one, for the sake of the Manor,” Triton muttered, and Lilith hissed, “Their father is dead, and the only other man I had ever been with has another woman to keep him occupied!”

“Then find a different one. Another Maladur child would surely help, since we appear to be a dying breed at this point. Hell, sleep with Zeella- not that you aren’t already.”

Lilith snarled, baring her teeth at the same time my powers slammed Triton’s head onto the table, hissing, “Don’t be insolent!”

Triton groaned, rubbing at his head and arguing, “I wasn’t! It’s the truth, you fools! It’s not like every single one of the Sins can’t see it. The two of you having a child would be monumental for the Manor.”

“It isn’t happening.”

“Why?” Triton goaded with a smirk toward me, “Six children finally enough for you? Or do you only sleep with half-breed trash?”

I snarled, summoning a sword and leaping across the table, intending to maim Triton, if I didn’t kill him, but before I could, Abel returned, raising an eyebrow at the sight of my hand wrapped around Triton’s fat throat, my sword aimed to kill. Lowering his phone, he ended his call, saying, “One condition.”

“Name it,” Lilith said, rolling her eyes dramatically toward me. Her son waited until I had released Triton, the Sin of Gluttony shaking, to say, “I want to speak with Destiny. The real Destiny. Privately.” Glancing to Lilith, I shook my head, saying, “The point of the Dark Cell, boy, is that she does not receive any kind of contact. We are here to break her, not have tea parties with her.”

“I doubt my ten minute visit will ruin half a year of upcoming solitude, don’t you? Besides, she would hate that her last contact with the world was from me, Abel Maladur.”

“Fine!” Lilith snapped impatiently, “You can speak with her! Just raise your damned hand so I can begin!”

With a wink, Abel lifted his hand, and in his pocket, his phone began ringing again. Summoning the key to Desterium’s cell, Lilith tossed it toward Abel, who caught it, sliding it into his pocket and saying, with a bow, “Apologies, I have to take this call, too.”

Triton rose, stammering out an excuse to leave, and I turned to Lilith, the Mother of All Demons already designing a plan, her nails tapping on the table as she hummed to herself. Leaning forward, I ran a hand through her hair, earning a purr of appreciation in response, her power flickering around her.

Maybe Triton was right…