I moved on, gliding gracefully over the marble floor, past empty alcoves and into an arched hall. I wasn’t sure what had once hung on these walls, but now they all featured war gods—Saturn, Mars, some of Zeus hurling lightning bolts from his fist.
My muscles began to ache as I moved, my ribs and neck bruised where Aereus had attacked me. This glamour, so different from my real appearance, drained my energy. My head swam.
When I turned the corner into the next hall, my throat tightened. A group of cherubs swarmed past a statue of Aereus atop his horse. Would they notice anything strange about me?
I kept my eyes straight ahead, the way I’d seen the taller cherubs behave.
The others passed me without comment.
At last, I found myself in the hall that led to the garden.
The idea of spending any more time in the torture garden filled me with dread, but I pushed through the door anyway. Cold air greeted my skin.
Outside, moonlight washed over the plants, the shards of bone. My footsteps crunched over the mosaic bones beneath my feet.
As I moved deeper into the vegetation, I tried to tune into the feel of the Old Gods. I closed my eyes, envisioning their blinding light—that pure warmth that had filled my body.
I slipped past the iron wheel, where Aereus delighted in torturing his victims.
With my eyes closed, I could feel the plants around me, and my fingertips skimmed over their leaves, thorns, petals, summoning that inner light I’d managed to capture once or twice before…
A dull, warm glow moved up my chest. The power of the Old Gods—still, it wasn’t telling me where to find the stones.
A faint movement caught my eye—a bobbing tail—and my gaze flicked to the line of scorpion guards in one corner of the garden.
Bingo. Of course Aereus would guard the stones, and of course they’d be among the thorny, poisonous plants. I already knew he didn’t give a flying fuck whether or not his servants poisoned themselves. He’d want to keep people from discovering the gems that could ruin his plans.
I moved closer to the scorpions, trying my best to go unnoticed—just a simple haunted-eyed cherub, out for my nightly patrol.
My gaze landed on the flowering, purple plants behind the guards. Devil’s Bane—just as I’d thought.
I took another step closer, trying to peer through the thick, arachnid bodies of the scorpion guards at the plants behind them.
One of them grunted, moving forward. He gripped his spear and snarled. Still, I didn’t think he saw me. Maybe he smelled me. After another moment, his body seemed to relax again.
My throat had gone dry. I needed to see what lay behind them without arousing suspicion, to find out if the stones were here.
I glided from the shadows—a cherub, nothing more. The scorpions didn’t seem to notice me.
One more step closer, and—just soil. Disappointment coiled through me until—faintly—the soil began to shift, trembling. Light warmed my chest, and I stared as the unmistakable gleam of blue stones emerged from the soil, drawn by my presence. A wild euphoria bloomed in my chest. I ached to touch them, to harness their power. As soon as my eyes locked on them, I could feel them calling to me, demanding that I pluck them, that I feel their magic. They wanted something from me as much as I wanted something from them.
I could go feral at this moment and possibly slaughter the guards. But then—I’d never remember what I was doing here in the first place, and there’d be no point.
Adonis! I mentally screamed at him. I found them. If you can hear me, I need your help.
As I glided away from the scorpions, a pale, pearly light in the night sky pulled my attention. My heart slammed hard against my ribs. Focusing my keen fae vision, I made out the outline of powerful, feathery wings. I stared, my pulse racing, as ten gleaming archangels loomed brighter above us. And at their forefront, a scrawny, gray-winged angel. The horseman of famine.
My heart stopped.
The Heavenly Host were coming for me now—and Johnny was leading the charge.
Panic sank its talons into my heart, and I clamped my eyes shut. Adonis! I screamed through the mental link. They’re coming. The Heavenly Host are coming for us—now.
Where the hell was he?
My gaze flicked back to the line of scorpion men. I didn’t have any more time to waste. I had to kill them now, and I had to get my hands on the stones.
My hand twitched at my thigh, and I sank back into the shadows again to let my glamour fade.
I’d have to go just a little feral, and I’d have to catch the guards unaware.
Under the boughs of a sycamore, I let myself fade just a bit—a little of my primal side to give me extra strength.
My canines began to grow in my mouth, my body buzzing with wild energy. I breathed in the scent of Aereus’s violent power all around me, and it electrified my wild fae body even more. Keep a leash on it, Ruby. Stay in control.
In the shadows, I yanked my knife from its holster, breathing fast. Scanning the guards, I made a quick calculation—kill the small one on the right, steal his sword, use it to slaughter the rest. Do it all as quickly as I could, without letting too much of the primal side take over.
A small swarm of cherubs moved along the mosaic path toward me, their murmuring growing louder. They’d noticed something amiss here—that I wasn’t one of them.
And they were about to notice something very amiss when I dropped my glamour. My gaze flicked to the skies.
It didn’t matter. I had no more time to waste.
With a primal growl, I launched myself at the first of the scorpions. I lunged through the air, slashing my blade across his throat before he had a chance to react. Blood sprayed over me before my feet hit the ground. When I landed, I yanked the guard’s sword off his fallen body.
Whirling, my blade crashed into the next guard’s, the metal sparking in the shadows.
The scorpion roared, his tail pressing closer to me, and I lunged away from him.
Rip apart the enemy. Put him in the dirt.
As my sword clashed against his in a violent waltz, I wanted to taste his blood, to feel his veins and tendons ripping in my teeth. My sword arced through the air, an extension of my body, and the glory of battle fury trembled along my bones. I was made for this.
I drove my blade into his neck, then drew it out to kill again.
Dimly, I was dimly aware of another presence nearby—one forged of night and ancient power. One that I needed like plants needed water.
I couldn’t remember his name—the beautiful one with the wings. For just a moment, my gaze flicked to him and I watched as he sliced his fingertips through the air in a brutal gesture.
The three remaining scorpions split down the middle, their severed bodies slumping to the dark earth.
I snarled. They’d been mine.
I moved toward the angel—the arrogance of him—didn’t belong on earth—an abomination. His icy, alluring eyes designed to seduce, to confuse... Growling, I gripped my sword, ready to swing it into this abomination.
But he was speaking to me—pulling me out of my feral rage.