“P-pardon?”
Her mother had laughed and taken the kernel back to return it to its caged nest in her locket. “On the day we’re born, all Deruvians carry a harthfret in their navel that falls free when they lose their umbilical cord. ’Tis said that it was from the first Deruvian and his harthfret that mankind was born to the earth. But because mankind lost their harthfrets, they lost their immortality and higher powers. It’s why they’re so much weaker than we are.”
“But we kept ours?”
“Aye. And so long as we have it, we are virtually immortal. With it, we can call on the powers of the universe and command them. It’s our connection to the higher mother. To all that runs through the vast heavens and all the worlds.”
“Where’s yours?”
Her mother had smiled. “I planted mine here in the nemeton beside your father’s. One day, you’ll meet the man you love and the two of you will plant your hearts together to put down your own roots. But be warned that when you do so, you will be forever bound to that one place. For all time. So never do so lightly, daughter. It’s the same as a binding spell. You might leave, but you’ll never be whole. And if gone too long from your roots, you will wither and die. For no Deruvian can exist without their life source.”
“Then I shall never plant my harthfret.”
Laughing, her mother had tucked her hair behind her ear. “Careful of those convictions, little one. They have an awful way of coming back to haunt us.”
“I’ll be careful, Mam.”
“Good, and whatever you do, never let anyone steal your harthfret.”
“Why?”
“Because that is the essence of who and what we are. It’s the source of our power. Whoever possesses it can command us to do anything they want. They become our owners and we are enslaved to them, especially if they combine it with their blood. Then there is nothing we can do so long as they live. We are forever their slaves. So guard your harthfret as you would your life, for it’s much more sacred. It, my precious, is your freedom.”
Mara cursed herself for the day Duel had captured hers. It’d been her own arrogant stupidity that hadn’t believed him capable of knowing its significance.
In all these centuries, she’d never known how it was that he’d learned the carefully guarded Deruvian secret.
Now she did.
He was one of them. Which meant he had a harthfret, too. And if she could find it …
Then he would be hers to command for all eternity.
*???*???*
“So, you didn’t lie. How ever did you manage to get one of his ilk here?”
Vine smiled at the dark Seraphia who stood before her. Clad in the ancient bloodred armor her species had once donned for battle, Gadreyal was a winged beauty of extreme and utter grace. Tall. Sleek. Voluptuous. It was easy to see why she was the first among those sent to tempt the army of the Kalosum to their downfall.
And as a member of that same loathsome, sanctimonious army, Paden shrank away from her approach. He cringed even more as Gadreyal reached for him. “Don’t touch me!”
His Seraph form activated, turning his hair instantly white and causing his own wings to spring out of his back. The golden feathers extended out and slashed at them both.
Laughing, Gadreyal caught one of his wings and snapped it. The sound of breaking bone was harsh even to Vine.
Paden cried out and arched his back against the pain.
With a fake, sympathetic tsk, Gadreyal cradled his head against her shoulder, exposing his throat. “There now, little one. Don’t come at your betters. I’m not one of the halflings or mickles you’ve been fighting.” She ran her silver talon over his Adam’s apple. “And I can make all this misery go away in an instant. All you have to do is give me your vow of loyalty. Fight for us and I’ll free you.”
Tears welled in his eyes. “Never!”
“Awww.” She mocked his pain with a treble note. “Poor little Seraph. All alone in this hole. No one to care for you. To rescue you. Do you really think the Sarim will come? That my brother cares what happens to you? I promise Gabriel laughs at your suffering. Michael even more so.”
“I will not turn.”
“Aye, you will,” Gadreyal whispered in his ear. “And you will cut the throat of your own sister to give me that medallion before all is over, too. Trust me, little man. Far greater warriors than you have fallen to my wiles.” She kissed his cheek and stepped away.
Her gaze turned bright red as she closed the distance between her and Vine. “You should leave now, Deruvian. I will take it from here.”
“What of my reward?”
Gadreyal smiled coldly. “I haven’t forgotten. The moment I have his medallion and his soul, you will be freed. That is what we do.”
*???*???*
Thorn felt the shift in the air around him and knew instantly what caused it. Fury spread through his veins like lava, demanding satisfaction.
And blood.
“Misery!” He summoned his demon companion from her hole. Honestly, he should have killed her long ago. She was a feckless bitch who could never be trusted for anything.
Other than sheer treachery.
Which was why he trusted her. Because he knew better, and therefore she was incapable of betraying him. His guard never laxed around her.
She appeared before him with an irritated grimace. “You shouted, my rampaging overlord?”
“What are your sisters up to?”
Shrugging, she started to leave, but he caught her wrist and jerked her back toward him.
“Don’t play this game with me, Misery. Or I’ll make you earn that name.”
Fear replaced her smug expression as she saw the face of Forneus and realized the tenuous ground she stood upon. For all her arrogance, she was his slave and at his utter mercy.
Something he ran very short on, especially when it came to creatures like her.
She gulped before she gave up her answer. “They have the spawn of Michael.”
“Tell me where he is.”
Shaking her head, she pulled away from him and went to cower in a corner of his study. “I don’t know.”
Thorn reached for her, which caused the shadows that were concealing her to shrink away and leave her exposed to his gaze. Even they knew not to tempt him when he was in this mood. No one, other than his own father, dared his wrath when he was like this.
Squeaking, she tried to teleport out of his study, but he used his powers to trap her here.
“Don’t, Misery. Just don’t.”
She visibly shook as she sprang to her feet and moved to put a chair between them. “I swear to the Source, I have no idea. They … they know I serve … that I’m bound to you. T-t-there’s only so much they’ll say in my presence.”
He threw his arm out and drew her to him so that he could wrap a single hand around her throat. Not tightly, but enough to remind her of how much power and how little regard he had where her life was concerned. “I hate you for what they did to me. Do you understand?”