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“She was bound to make her move eventually,” he said with a sigh. “Is Lyra okay?”
I shrugged. “She’ll live. There is something I wanted to ask you about, though.”
He took a swig of his whiskey. “Anything.”
“You must have spent quite some time with Theia if she was dumb enough to sleep with you.”
His face remained unmoving, unaffected by my blatant insult. I wasn’t surprised. A man like Asmond would have had practice keeping his composure, even in the worst possible situations.
“I’m waiting for a question,” he said.
“Did you know that Lyra would one day be the keeper of the veil?”
His eyes widened, only slightly. Enough to let me know he wasn’t expecting that question.
Good.
If Asmond knew that this would be Lyra’s fate, he damn well should have told her.
“The keeper of the veil?” he repeated. “No, that’s Theia’s job. It will always be Theia’s job.”
I took a long sip of my drink. “Not according to Theia.”
His brows drew together. “Are you telling me that Theia confronted Lyra and told her she would now be in charge of the veil?”
Bingo. “That’s exactly what I’m saying, and I’d like to find out how much Theia is bullshitting her.”
Asmond shook his head and returned his gaze to the bar, resting both forearms on the wooden surface on either side of his whiskey glass. Asmond, unlike my father, was no monster. He had a decent side to him—one that cared about others. One that cared about his daughter, even if only an ounce.
At one point, he had cared deeply about Theia. Either that, or he had some drunken one-night stand, but the Goddess of Light didn’t strike me as someone who would casually sleep with one of the most powerful demons in existence.
“Theia was always very secretive with anything that had to do with the veil.”
“Clearly,” I spat with a scoff.
“Does your father know you’re here asking me about this?” Asmond questioned, raising an eyebrow.
Now he had my attention. “Why would he care? He doesn’t care about what I do anymore. He’s not exactly the king of demons around here.”
He laughed, and it was enough to put me on edge. A laugh filled with evil and darkness and something recognizable. “Marcus is not the type to simply move on. If you haven’t heard from him in a while, it’s because he’s up to something.”
My mind swarmed, but only for a minute. I quickly reminded myself that I had one mission here, one piece of information I was searching for.
“Stop changing the subject.” I leaned forward and dropped my voice, trying my best to intimidate the demon father of the girl I loved. “Does Theia’s fate fall on Lyra? She is her heir, after all. Surely there’s something about having a half-goddess daughter that gives her some sort of responsibility in the world.”
Asmond finally dropped the calm, collected mask he wore on his features. When he looked at me, his eyes held something else. Worry.
“I’ve known Theia a long time. Granted, I haven’t been around in a while…” At this, I cringed. “But I know her enough to know that she never loved Lyra, not the way a mother should. She has used her as a pawn. As a sick tool to get what she wanted. She kept Lyra hidden for as long as she could because her blood was the key to the veil. If Theia wishes for Lyra to shield the veil, there isn’t much Lyra can do about it.”
“You’re kidding, right?” I sputtered in disgust.
“When it comes to the veil, Theia makes the rules. There isn’t a thing that goes on there that Theia doesn’t know about.”
Right. Except for the fact that her own daughter passed through the veil just yesterday. “Do you think this was her plan all along? To force Lyra into this?”
Asmond took another drink, then shrugged. “I wouldn’t put it past her.”
Great. Real fucking great.
