Human men lay on the floor around her, barely dressed, exhausted and nearing death. They were chained to her throne and looked as if they had been there for weeks with no food or drink and yet each of them watched Lilith with desire. They were smothered in a dense black coating, which I suddenly realised was actually shadow. I was tapping into Lincoln’s shadow-finding abilities.
Lincoln took my hand in his. There was a time I would have shrugged free of such a display, would have thought it weak. But I no longer cared. I didn’t want to stand alone any more, or prove I didn’t need anyone. I did. And what Lincoln and I had went beyond that now.
I didn’t miss Lilith’s look of frustration when she noticed Lincoln’s attention was not on her, but she covered it quickly with a killer smile.
I glanced around quickly. Evelyn was nowhere to be seen.
‘Remarkable really,’ Lilith said, her musical voice and rounded accent timeless. She looked at me. ‘Such a plain girl – nothing striking about you, and yet I find I must compete with you. And most disturbingly,’ she turned a less friendly look on Phoenix, ‘you hold the heart of my offspring, even though you have clearly given yours to another. My, my… well, I suppose I should thank you.’
She turned her smile up another notch and I was almost surprised a choir didn’t start to sing in the background.
‘I must assume that without your actions my son may never have discovered his backbone and brought me back. Unfortunately for you, my gratitude has always been short-lived and your heritage inspires a specifically … passionate response.’ She stood up and I braced myself for her to approach me, but she just looked down on us.
‘We’re here for the children,’ I said, seeing no point in encouraging chitchat.
‘Of course you are. And I am sure that it has been explained to you that I am not without compassion.’ She moved towards one of the men at her feet and patted him on the head. His cheeks were completely sunken in starvation yet he moaned in delight at her touch. ‘I will grant you the chance to win the lives of the children in my captivity. For as many arrows as you endure a child will be released.’
I nodded. ‘I’ve been told. But we will need someone to take the children to safety once they’ve been freed.’
Lilith waved a hand dismissively. ‘You may not bring another of your kind within these walls.’
We were ready for this. ‘What about another that was once one of yours?’ I asked.
She raised her eyebrows.
‘I know an exile who is now only human,’ I explained.
She stepped back with shock and then responded, appalled. ‘He chose this?’
Time to learn a little something about me.
I held her eyes. ‘No. I took his powers from him.’
She tilted her head as if replaying my words, her attention flitting around the room considering them. Eventually, she turned a thoughtful look back to me. ‘And then we will have an agreement?’
‘We will,’ I replied.
She looked at Lincoln and waited. He took a deep breath and hesitated. Lilith’s smile simply broadened.
‘We will,’ Lincoln finally conceded.
Lilith’s eyes shot to Phoenix and she resumed her position on her throne. ‘Make the arrangements,’ she said to him, before dismissing him with a harsh flick of her hand. ‘Take him to the south cell and put the girl below with the children. Let her see the filth she is about to die for.’
Out of the shadows emerged dark exiles. Two dozen of them quickly surrounded us and my instincts screamed Fight! Flight! Anything! Something! But I forced myself to still as they approached, gritting my teeth as they pulled Lincoln and I apart and started to lead us away in different directions.
When one of them elbowed me in the side, Lilith spoke up. ‘No one harms the girl. Let her be at her best for tonight’s festivities. You may, however,’ she paused as if deciding, ‘play with her love, if you must. Just make sure he can still stand by the evening.’
I closed my eyes as the exiles hovering around Lincoln snarled.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
‘There is no chance, no destiny, no fate that can circumvent or hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul.’
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
‘Go with Lincoln,’ I snapped under my breath at Phoenix, who had remained by my side. He ignored me.
‘They won’t hurt me. Go.’
His eyes flashed to mine briefly. ‘I’m not leaving you. We agreed to this,’ he whispered back.
We? Not he and I … Since when have Phoenix and Lincoln been making deals?
We made it back into the halls and the exiles led me to a set of stone stairs. The exile behind me pushed me down and I almost lost my footing. I righted myself in time to see Phoenix take a step towards him in anger. I sent Phoenix a sharp look. He was supposed to be on their side after all.
When we reached the bottom of the stairs I struggled to control my reaction to what faced me, but I couldn’t stop my despair and had to close my eyes for a moment. The basement was a similar size to the ballroom we had just left, except this room was all concrete. The space had been divided into square cells by floor-to-ceiling metal bars.