She pointed at me. “That’s it. Johnny wanted to speak to them. To tell them Adonis was rebelling.”
Even if that injured angel hadn’t made it back to the Heavenly Host, Johnny could drag them here at any moment to destroy me.
I clenched my fists. “Did Kratos try to stop him?”
“Why do you think Kratos would want to stop Johnny? I think they’re on the same side.”
My chest tightened. “I don’t know. He’s a psychopath, yes. He left me stranded there after dragons ripped Marcus to shreds.” The memory pierced my chest. “But then he did a kind thing for us. He brought you back to me.”
She scrunched up her features. “Huh? Kratos?”
“Yes, Kratos. I told him I was looking for my sister, and he sent out a search party for a succubus in the dragon lairs. He didn’t stop until he found you.”
Her brow furrowed. “No, that’s not what happened. First of all, do you know how much effort it takes an archangel like them to find anyone they want?”
I crossed my arms, wearing the floor thin with my pacing. “Not really, no.”
“It took Adonis a few hours to find me. He’s the one who turned up in the dragon’s lair. When he did, he sent word to Hotemet Castle to say I was coming. Apparently Kratos took credit for it.”
Surprise knocked the wind out of me. “Adonis reunited us?” I shook my head. “He never told me. Kratos didn’t specifically tell me that he’d found you, but he certainly implied it.”
“Oh. I thought you knew.”
When I cast my mind back to Hotemet Castle, I remembered telling Adonis about Hazel, that I wanted her back. Adonis had said Kratos would never find her for me—that he’d want to keep me dependent on him. The next morning, my sister had been found. And it had been Adonis’s doing.
For most of the time I’d known him, I’d been positive Adonis only ever acted for self-interested reasons. He’d done nothing to convince me otherwise, never mentioned that he’d been the one to find Hazel. Clearly, I wasn’t the only one playing a part, pretending to be someone I wasn’t.
My heart thudded hard, and I tried to focus on the problem at hand. Now, we had two potential problems headed our way: two horsemen, and the Heavenly Host. Still no gleaming blue gemstones.
I crossed to the bed and slid my hand under my pillow, snatching my knife and the holster. I slipped the sheathed knife into my boot. “Okay. First things first. I need to find Tanit and Kur and tell them what’s going on.”
“And what is going on? What’s our plan? Run? Hide?”
I swallowed hard. “I don’t know. Maybe I can speak to Aereus again. Find out what he knows.”
“We have a dragon. I can take you anywhere you want. We could leave now, let the archangels sort all this out between them, and we charm whoever wins.”
I scowled at her. “I’m not leaving without Adonis. And anyway. It’s like you said. An archangel can find us if they want to.”
With my arms folded, I continued my pacing in Tanit’s room while the two demons stared at me.
Tanit’s dark hair snaked around her head. “So the Heavenly Host know that you’re the Bringer of Light, but they don’t necessarily know that Adonis is working with you. He could be oblivious, for all they know.”
“I think so.”
Tanit cocked her head at Kur. “We could simply hand the fae over, if we must. We could say that we found her out, and Adonis had no idea, and the archangels can do with her what they like.”
I paused, glaring at her. “I’m right here, you know. I can hear you.”
She looked between Kur and me, reading our expressions. “What? I’m not saying it’s a good idea. I’m just saying it’s an option. We should consider all options. That’s what brainstorming is, right?”
Kur shot her a sharp look. “Let’s not sacrifice the little fae just yet. I have a feeling Adonis may not be thrilled about that particular option.”
I bit my lip, desperation building in my system. “I’m going to talk to Aereus again. I’m going to see if I can get him to drop any kind of information about the stones, whatever it takes.” A quiet panic had begun to race through my veins. I’d torture the bastard on his own instruments if I had to. “At least give me a few more hours before you throw me to the wolves.”
“Be careful!” Kur called out as I yanked open the door.
I walked through the stone halls, closing my eyes and trying to tune in to the Old Gods around me. As a Bringer of Light, would I be able to sense the stones? I ran my fingertips over the stone walls, inhaling deeply. A faint smell of roses tinged the air, the bloom of Devil’s Bane... Was that them?
I followed the lure of roses until the smell of roasting meat began to overpower me, and a primal violence churned in my gut. That meant only one thing. Aereus.
When I opened my eyes again, I found him towering over me, his eyes blazing with flames. His fire-tipped wings spread out behind him.
“Ruby,” he growled. “A little black crow just delivered the most interesting message to me.” He grabbed me by the ribs, lifting me from the ground, and his fingers tightened over my bones. “He tells me you’re the Bringer of Light. Tell me. Does Adonis know?”
Sweet earthly gods, Hazel needed to get out of here. Fast.
Hot rage—Aereus’s magic—sparked through my nerves. I wanted his revolting hands off of me. For just a moment, I envisioned my thumbs plunging into his eye sockets, blinding him.
“No. Adonis doesn’t know,” I managed to say evenly.
With a roar, he yanked me from the wall, then threw me through an open doorway. I landed hard on the stone floor, and pain shot through my bones.
From my prone position on the floor, I flicked my tongue over my lengthening canines, blood roaring in my ears. I couldn’t let my feral instincts take over completely or I’d never find out what I needed to know.
The sound of a slamming door echoed off the walls.
Aereus stood above me, staring down, and his immense body blazed with fiery light. “No one will hear you scream in here. Your friends won’t be able to find you.”
It was just as Adonis had said. Aereus liked to isolate his victims.
I began pushing myself up on my elbows. We were in a stark room—one with stone walls and iron chains and brackets inset into the walls. Sharp, iron instruments lay in the corner on the floor, tipped with old blood. Fear pounded into me like a fist when I looked behind me—a wooden table stood in the center of the room. Torture tools jutted from its surface, and crimson stained the wood.
My heart slammed against my ribs. If any one of those iron instruments pierced my flesh, there’d be no way out of here. The iron would work its way into my blood like a poison.
Before I could reach for the knife in my boot, Aereus lifted me by the neck. He slammed me into the wall, holding me aloft so my legs kicked futilely at him.
“I knew there was something inside you,” he said. “A woman at war with herself. A woman fighting not to remember the truth, what she really is.”