‘Voodoo? Devil worship?’
He shrugged. ‘Like everything, there is both light and dark. Sammael would’ve seen it as appropriate – to create a religion to feed off the power of the dead. New Orleans has had a colourful history, changing hands more than once between the French, Spanish and Americans, but perhaps it is Sammael who has truly owned the city all this time.’
‘Do you know anything about this?’ I asked Onyx.
He looked away, as if embarrassed. ‘If I did, it’s gone from my mind. My memory conjures nothing but fury and fear every time I hear his name.’ Dispensing with sips, he settled instead for throwing back the rest of his drink. ‘When I think of New Orleans, I feel nothing but bloodlust.’
I stared at him.
Wow. Thanks so much for your contribution.
He shrugged, getting up to refill his glass while Dapper tracked his movements with a concerned expression.
I shook my head. ‘Why was he helping Lilith if he’s so adamant about the division between light and dark? Why would such a powerful exile stand by while Lilith made her power play, especially since she was the first dark exile?’
Dapper raised his eyebrows. ‘Lilith and Sammael have crossed paths more than once in human form. They formed a secret alliance, among other things. Phoenix will be able to tell you more. But it’s safe to say it was a volatile relationship based on keeping one’s enemy close.’
I nodded. ‘I’ll speak to him.’ I paused, looking up at Dapper. ‘What does Sammael want?’
He sighed and took off his glasses. ‘I don’t know. I’ve put word out to some of the other Patriarchs to see if they know anything else. But when all else fails, you can assume he’s after what the rest of them are, just on a bigger scale. Death, Doom and Destruction.’
I left shortly after, with one thought on my mind.
If Sammael just wants destruction, why did he take my blood?
CHaPteR tweNty-two
‘It is the strange fate of man, that even in the greatest of evils the fear of the worst continues to haunt him.’
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Carter, Taxi and Milo were already on the plane with Gray by the time I boarded. I was the last to arrive, having chosen to make my own way in. But I’d needed the solo time to get my head – and heart – straight.
I passed the Academy Grigori who’d congregated at the front and paused when I saw Phoenix sitting at the midway point.
‘You okay?’ I asked.
He smirked in that way of his. ‘Your pals at the back tried to jump me when I boarded, but I think we made friends.’
I glanced beyond him to where the Rogues were sitting. Milo had a large bruise forming on his temple. I rolled my eyes but found myself smiling back at Phoenix. ‘Please play nice.’
He sobered and glanced out the window. ‘I’m trying.’
I nodded awkwardly, knowing that he was saying a lot in that statement.
‘Thank you,’ I said, causing his eyes to flash up and meet mine. I wanted to cry when I saw the pain that churned within them and wondered if he saw something similar when he looked in mine. ‘For saving me. I never said thank you.’
‘Definitely beats killing you,’ he said, as if pondering this very idea himself.
We really are a twisted bunch.
‘I’m glad,’ I said, suddenly aware of more than one set of eyes on us. I shifted from foot to foot. ‘I’d better go and …’ I gestured to the back of the plane where the guys were sitting.
‘Yeah,’ he said, looking back to the window. ‘You’d better.’
Making my way down the aisle, I noted that they looked incredibly uncomfortable despite their outward bravado. I shook my head when I saw Milo.
‘You just couldn’t help yourself, could you?’ I said, pointing at his bruised face.
He smiled, cheekily. ‘It’s like a compulsion I can’t control. I see an exile and I have to have it.’
I bit my lips to hold back the laugh. ‘And did you learn your lesson?’
Milo nodded. ‘Fast bastard, isn’t he?’
To that, I couldn’t hold back the chuckle. At least Milo looked like he’d got it out of his system.
‘’Bout time you turned up to your own party, purple,’ Carter said by way of greeting.
‘Boys,’ I nodded to them. ‘Miss me?’ I stifled my own surprise when I realised that I had missed them.
Carter snorted while Taxi and Milo chuckled. ‘You know we did,’ Milo said.
‘This gig paying?’ Carter asked, cutting to the chase when I sat in the spare seat across from him.
I shrugged and glanced over at him. ‘Well, I guess that depends on what value you put on the world as you know it.’
‘Oh, please, spare me. Are you seriously going to pull some save-the-world crap on me?’
I rolled my eyes. I’d known it was a long shot. ‘I’ll figure something out,’ I grumbled.
‘Damn right you will,’ Carter threw back.