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“Some Aeons are already talking of finding a new home, but others are positive that the curse can be reversed if only they can get their hands on the witch,” said Eve. “They refuse to admit defeat and leave the only home they’ve ever known. They are also panicking. Adam told me that if Aeon falls and the underground city wastes away, they would all be doomed.”
Inanna’s brow creased. “That is a little dramatic. There is plenty of other landscape they could claim. To lose their current home would not be ‘dooming.’”
“I had the feeling that there was more to it than that,” said Eve. “But he didn’t elaborate when I asked. He said that it was not something I needed to know.” She paused. “As I have already told Cain and Seth, I wish for myself and my grandchildren to stay here.”
Ishtar snorted. “I am not even sure I trust any of the information you have given us, let alone trust that you will not betray us.”
“I, too, struggle to believe that you do not have an ulterior motive, Eve.” Inanna pursed her lips. “If Adam were to send someone to infiltrate our people, you would be the obvious choice. You are the one person he’d know that Cain and Seth would wish to spare and protect.”
“You rarely contradicted Adam, no matter what he did,” Dantalion said to Eve. “Now suddenly you have been bold enough to flee and also join a band of ‘traitors.’ I find that rather odd.”
“As do I,” said Lilith. “Perhaps you are being truthful, Eve. Perhaps your life was at risk and you were not sent here as part of some plot. But if so, I would have to question if you are purely here to give us information. Another of your sons will likely come here to kill the other two. Do you have it in your head that you have some way to prevent that? That Abel will back down if he sees that you are here? If so, you are a fool. In his mind, you will have sided with the brother he hates. You cannot stop what is coming.”
Eve sighed. “I have spent years trying to get through to Abel. I never could. He has been lost to me for a long time. He takes on his father’s view of people. Adam has no respect for me, and so neither does Abel. Adam ensured that. It was part of my punishment. He let me keep one of my sons close, but he ensured that that son would always hold me in contempt. So yes, I know I have no influence over Abel.”
“Do you believe you have influence over Cain or Seth?” asked Azazel.
“No,” replied Eve. “And I would never ask them to not defend themselves—not even against their own brother. Of course I would stop this war if I could, but it is out of my hands.”
Ishtar looked at the other Aeons. “And what of you two? How do we know you’re not here to somehow help your father?”
Rima jutted out her chin. “I guess you don’t.”
Cain licked his front teeth. “The other Ancients and I will need a moment to discuss the matter,” he told Eve. “You may wait here.”
She nodded. “As you wish.”
In the hallway, Ishtar bounced her gaze from Cain to Seth. “I know that is your mother, niece, and nephew in that room, but I am not comfortable with them staying in Devil’s Cradle.”
Dantalion rubbed his nape. “Eve said all the right things, but she would have been coached to do so by Adam. That said, I don’t find it difficult to believe that he plans to kill her. I have the feeling that he only let her live this long because she was unhappy. Her suffering pleased him.”
Azazel folded his arms. “The only reason I haven’t outright dismissed her story is that not even in his most ruthless moment would Abel send his children here whether he cared for them or not. He wouldn’t trust that Cain wouldn’t kill them to spite him—Abel wouldn’t give him the opportunity to do so as he’d see it as Cain scoring yet more points against him. Also, he’d worry that Cain would brainwash them just as he did Seth.” Azazel looked at Seth. “Yeah, I know he didn’t brainwash you, but that’s what Abel chooses to believe.”
Dantalion bit his lower lip. “What could Adam or Abel have to gain by sending them here?”
“He could intend to use them as spies,” suggested Lilith. “He could want them to throw us off course by feeding us false information.”
Dantalion inclined his head and then looked at Cain. “When Kali spoke to you via Wynter, She warned you that someone might betray us. Perhaps She meant them. I know they weren’t here at the time, but still. What are your thoughts on all this?”
Cain poked his tongue into the inside of his cheek. “I don’t trust them. Not even a little. But I don’t believe they’re lying about why they came here.”
“Oh, you cannot be serious,” snapped Ishtar. “Surely you are not getting sentimental just because they are your relatives. Perhaps spending so much time with the witch has made you go soft.”
Ignoring the childish outburst, Cain went on, “Adam’s greatest goal was to keep me and Eve apart. He would never want to reunite us. He also wouldn’t trust that she wouldn’t betray him—he’s a paranoid bastard, and he’s hurt her enough that he knows her love for him has long since died. She was always under his thumb, yes, but not to such an extent that she didn’t have her own mind. What she lacked was a way to exercise it.
“Plus, I agree with Azazel: Abel wouldn’t want his children in our grasp. He’d never credit us with enough mercy to believe we’d let them live, let alone allow them to stay here and have the opportunity to end us. I’m not saying he gives much of a fuck about them, only that he wouldn’t want me to have the ‘victory’ of killing any of his offspring.”
Inanna hummed. “You do make good points.”
“Another thing to consider is that, assuming they’re truly not here by design, Adam and Abel will be furious that they have left and will no doubt guess that they’re here,” Cain went on. “They’ll want them back. Perhaps even badly enough to come here themselves to retrieve them.”
Dantalion cocked his head. “You would use them as bait?”
“If it meant getting out of this cage, absofuckinglutely.”
Azazel smiled and slapped Cain’s back. “Your mind is a merciless place; I like it.”
“I am inclined to see just what good bait they might make, but there is only one way I would consent to them staying here,” said Lilith. “They would need to pay the usual price.”
