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“We couldn’t cover all the reflective surfaces in the cottage to prevent him from spying or contacting me again,” added Wynter. “But we covered as many as we could to make it less easy for him, particularly the mirrors.”
“You also provoked him. On purpose.”
“It wouldn’t have mattered if I hadn’t. The result would have been the same—he wants to ensure I suffer an agonizing death.” She glanced around. “You might want to cover some of the mirrors and other reflective surfaces around the Keep, too.”
“Right now, the only thing I want to do is to fuck a promise right out of you.”
Her brow furrowed. “What promise?”
“That you won’t antagonize Saul again. You can’t underestimate him, Wynter. Don’t mistake his willingness to flee for a lack of courage or power. Don’t think he hides out of fear. He’s a sneaky little bastard who’ll do whatever it takes while he works to get what he wants—cheat, lie, flee, hide, kill. Poking at his ego will sting him, sure, but it won’t provoke him into making a fatal error. He’s been alive too long to fall for such a trick.”
“Don’t be so sure. Even immortals can do dumb shit. In fact, they do it often. Mostly because they have no need to be cautious when very little can end their lives. But I get what you’re saying, and I hear you loud and clear.”
Cain grunted. “Good. Then you can vow not to antagonize him again.”
Wynter slid onto his desk and parted her legs in invitation. “I’d much rather you did as you said and just fucked the promise right out of me. It sounded pretty interesting.”
He growled. “Awkward little witch.”
She fisted his shirt. “Shut up and do me.”
Lightly breezing his finger over the body of a blue racer snake that was curled around a tree branch, Azazel sighed on hearing of Saul’s latest stunt. “That Aeon sure likes to taunt Wynter, doesn’t he?”
Cain draped his arm over the back of the wrought-iron bench on which he sat. “It’s a two-way street these days. She hopes to goad him into making a fatal mistake. His aim appears to be to frighten her—hence the constant insinuations that she’s unsafe with me.”
“In all actuality, she wouldn’t be entirely safe with you if she was a mere toy to you as he believes.”
“As he believed. Past tense. He saw her seal when he appeared in the bathroom mirror at her cottage. He now knows she’s far more to me than a toy. But I suspect he won’t switch tactics; he’ll continue trying to frighten her. After all, she would be much easier for him to grab if he could scare her into leaving me, leaving Devil’s Cradle.” As if Cain would allow that to happen in any case. He would chain her to his bed if need be.
Feeling something touch his foot, he briefly peered down at the serpent slinking along the ground there. There were a plentiful amount of snakes in his garden, and most were highly venomous. They could be found just about everywhere—the trees, the long grass, the wall ruins, the bog-like pond, the skull rockery.
The gothic garden was ripe with various kinds of flowers all in shades of black, burgundy, and scarlet red. Several of the plants only bloomed at night, when they’d exude intoxicating scents. There were also ancient herbs, many of which were often used in forbidden magickal spells.
Most were unnerved by the garden. Not Wynter. To his surprise, she found it as relaxing as he did. She liked it better for its imperfections, gothic nature, and lack of plentiful colors. Which pleased him immensely, because it meant that they could both sit out here and relax together; that it was slowly becoming their place.
“I don’t like what a fantastic job Saul’s doing of evading the search parties,” said Azazel. “They’ve explored the town and the surrounding land. They’ve checked every cave, since they know that Aeons rarely go out in the sunlight and so would seek somewhere dark to hole up. He leaves tracks behind, but said tracks always end abruptly.”
“He likely uses the wind to relocate himself whenever people get close to him.”
“Has he succeeded in prodding Wynter to ask you uncomfortable questions? Because that seems to be another of his aims.”
Yes, Cain had noticed that. So had she. But his consort wasn’t so easily manipulated. “She doesn’t push me for answers because I’ve already assured her that I’ll tell her in time. She accepted that. My witch has her own secrets to guard.”
“I doubt hers are quite as big as yours.” Azazel stepped away from the tree. “Has she done anymore sleepwalking out here?”
“Not since the time Kali spoke to me by possessing Wynter, telling me that She and I have similar goals. I still can’t work out what She meant by that.” It nagged at Cain day and night that he had no idea what the deity wanted with his witch. “I’ve been reading up on Kali, trying to discern Her history and figure out what it is She could want with Wynter. The trouble is . . . not much is written about Kali. She’s quite an elusive deity.”
“It has to have been Her who was making Wynter sleepwalk out here. Kali must have been possessing her each time.”
An aggressive hiss caught Cain’s attention. He looked to see two snakes on one of the wall ruins eyeing each other in a rather unfriendly way. Not unusual. “Kali said that ‘other things’ drew Wynter out here, but I’m not inclined to believe that. Kali’s a deity, She could have prevented ‘other things’ from bothering one of her Favored if She so wished.”
“Exactly. It makes no sense that She’d allow it to happen. And like She told you, She knows what we hide here. She might have been indirectly threatening to lead Wynter into the temple if you ever cross Her.”
“It does seem the most likely explanation, though deities aren’t known for making indirect threats. Particularly Kali.” They were incredibly bold beings who, considering themselves superior to Earthly creatures, wouldn’t hesitate to throw their weight around.
“She also isn’t known for creating none-too-normal revenants and hiding Her mark from their skin ninety-nine percent of the time.”
“Touché.” Cain licked the edge of one incisor. “I’ve asked myself time and time again what Kali’s game could be. I just don’t know.” He hated having that blind spot.
