They’d emptied the chamber of everything except for the oversized wool rug, a high-backed chair, two stools, and a small table to set the chalice on. And chains.
“Too soon to tell.” Envy lifted a shoulder, forcing casualness he didn’t feel. His gaze slid between the demon strapped in the chair—his unfocused eyes feral with fear—to the clock. For the hundredth time in a second. Thus far, there was no discernible change. The demon seemed as terrified and as lost to that terrible fog as ever.
“Now?” Alexei pressed.
“Does he look restored?” Envy snapped as the demon struggled against his restraints. Envy blew out a breath, bringing his emotions back under control. “We’ll know when it works. He’ll recognize us.”
It had begun when Envy had picked up the Chalice of Memoria, the activation runes glimmering hunter green. It looked like it used to. Envy had cast the same spell he’d always used before, then offered the chalice to Lord Alden.
The demon had knocked the first attempt out of Envy’s hands.
Then Alexei had come in, held him down.
When that didn’t work, they’d strapped the demon to the chair and forced the chalice to his lips, tipping his head back to pour the spelled drink down his throat.
Forty-seven excruciating seconds passed. The fog didn’t dissipate from behind the demon’s eyes. Frustration built in Envy’s chest.
Winning the game was supposed to save his court.
To think it had been one more false hope…
“Fuck!” Envy paced around the room, mind whirling.
He could seek the Crone again—the creator of the Underworld itself. The Crone was to goddesses what Titans were to mortal gods. If anyone could help, it would be her. But he’d been desperate once before, had asked her years back.
She’d laughed in his face and vowed to do worse next time.
He supposed he could kidnap her daughters, force her hand.
But that wouldn’t end well for any of them.
Envy walked to the arched window on the far side of the room, gazing out at the grounds. It was twilight, a soft blanket of snow falling, the flakes tumbling and swirling as they danced down to the winter grass.
“Your Highness?”
There was an odd edge in Alexei’s tone.
Envy twisted, gaze snapping to Lord Alden. The demon blinked slowly, then squeezed his eyes shut. His head moved from side to side, as if shaking some internal nightmare away.
Envy moved closer, hope igniting once again.
He paused a few feet away, his breath lodged deep in his chest.
Another thirty seconds ticked by.
A minute.
Come on, he silently urged. Open your eyes, recognize where you are, remember who you are.
Lord Alden’s hands fisted, his wrists twisting, testing the restraints on the arms of the chair. Envy and Alexei both leaned forward, neither daring to speak. Lord Alden opened his eyes, squinting at first, then glanced down at his bound arms.
He looked back up, brows knitted as his focus moved from Alexei to Envy.
“Is this some new kink, Your Highness?” he asked, sounding annoyed. “I despise chains.”
Air whooshed out of Envy. He wanted to grab the demon by the lapels and plant a kiss on him but refrained. Lord Alden was properly aggravated. A personality trait he’d had for the last six centuries.
“How do you feel?” Envy asked instead.
Lord Alden’s gaze flattened. “Like House Wrath is looking appealing, Your Highness. Unless I’m being held for treason, untie me.”
Alexei snorted. “Same old prick.”
It had worked. Envy expelled another breath, relief barreling through him. The Chalice of Memoria would stop the memory blight. After years of turmoil, that dark, unending descent… the nightmare was finally ending. Part of him couldn’t believe it.
Alexei began untying Alden, then directed him to the Gallery of Dreamscapes, where Envy had set up refreshments in hopes the newly saved demons would need a safe space to wait until they’d restored everyone’s memories.
Once Alexei returned with the next demon, they started all over again. After the second successful restoration, they brought in more chairs and restraints.
Days passed, Envy staying right there with his court, even though plenty of volunteers had come together from the healed, helping their fellow demons.
Once it was clear the tide had turned, days later, Alexei cleared his throat.
“You haven’t said a word about her.”
Envy stiffened, then carried on as if he had no idea what the vampire meant. Alexei gave him a look that said he knew better.
“There is nothing to say. She’s Unseelie royalty.”
“You don’t honestly give a shit about that,” Alexei said. Envy’s attention snapped to his second. The vampire’s smile was all fang. “Your Highness.”
Envy assisted the next demon in line, then strode to the other end of the room, swiping an icy glass of water from a tray. His cursed second trailed after him.
“Everything is under control here. You can go back to the Wild Court. Talk.”
Envy’s jaw strained. “Talk. Yes, open and honest communication worked so well for us before. There is nothing left for us to say.”
“You knew she had secrets. You’re just angry that she outplayed you. I didn’t take you to have so much… pride.”
Alexei was pushing Envy too far. Envy’s eyes flashed and Alexei held his hands up, slowly backing away.
“You like her. Enough to consider breaking your rule. Don’t let another sin get in the way. Do you think Wolf is sitting back? If you’re all right with him taking her to his bed, his cock pounding all memories of you out, then fine. Leave her to it. She’ll be better off.”
Envy stood in one of his favorite galleries—where a statue of a fallen angel was proudly displayed. All the years his wings had been trapped, he’d come here, sipping a drink as he was doing now, plotting. With his court almost fully restored, his power was growing stronger, hour by hour. He summoned his wings now, allowing them to spread wide.
It felt good. The muscles between his shoulders straining as he moved them, testing the weight. His thoughts turned to Lennox, to the final battle.
Camilla hadn’t been the one to deal the killing blow, Envy had made sure of that. He’d seen something in her face just before he drove his dagger through the Unseelie King. She did not like her father, but it would have cost something precious for her to murder him.
Camilla was good. Lennox had seen it. Hated it.
He tucked his wings in close, then leaned against the wall, his Dark and Sinful going down easy. A detail flickered across his memory. In the cavern where the Twin Pillars were, Camilla had been about to confess something to him.
Envy sipped his cocktail, turning that conversation over in his mind. Looking back, it was easy to see she’d been about to tell him who she really was. She’d known, the moment they entered the Wild Court, that he’d figure it out.
He had, though. Already known.
He scratched the back of his neck.