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I didn’t want to say too much in front of everyone, but that moment might be the only chance I had to get the truth out in the open.
“Where’s Zander?” I asked, the room spinning and the heat coming directly under the ruby pendant blazing my skin.
“Zander. Zander. Zander.” Asmodeus groaned in annoyance, then shoved a bite of cake into his mouth. “Is that the only name you know? Or perhaps the only being you care for? And just so you know, the divine sword isn’t the only weapon that can kill a Seraphim.”
I banged the table so hard, the goblets, the candles, and the small plates with cake jumped. “What do you know?”
Asmodeus reclined in the chair, a smirk spreading across his face as remnants of frosting remained on his lips.“Did you know some gems can be fatal to a Seraphim?” He lowered his gaze to my pendant. “After all, humans didn’t call rubies “burning flame” for nothing. And you should be feeling it right about …”
I whimpered and grabbed my neck. The pendant seared my skin even more where it touched. As I tugged on the gold chain, struggling to take off the necklace, the vampires stared with wide eyes but did nothing. Levia and the demon lords held smug grins.
“Evangeline, yank at it.” Dawn’s desperate voice reached my ear.
It was just a necklace, why couldn’t I tug it off? No hematite cuffs bound me. I reached lower to my boot to take out my dagger but sucked in more air and accidentally slammed my hand on Asmodeus’s cake and knocked his goblet off the table.
Fire blazed through my bones and pain radiated every inch of me like mini lightning strikes. Saving Grace, the raw unadulterated torture.
I pulled on the pendant with my trembling hands, my palms smeared with frosting, scalding. “What are you doing to me?” I hollered. “What kind of sorcery is this?”
Asmodeus swiped some frosting off my hand holding the pendant, then sucked his finger. “Just a taste of what’s to come if you don’t cooperate. And I’ve added just a tiny …” He put his thumb and index finger together but left a small space between. “Tiny bit of hematite in the ruby. The reason you’re struggling. And the reason why it took this long for the burning sensation to take place. I wanted you to enjoy your necklace first.”
I growled, the sound bouncing off the walls. I drew up all my energy, my body trembling and the room spinning. Finally, the chain broke and I flung it across the room.
The necklace hit the grand doors and clattered off to the side near a cluster of lit candles. My red blistering palm and my chest cooled, and the boils and raw skin vanished.
I slumped on the chair, utterly drained. Panting, I said to Asmodeus as I thought of Tank. “Ass cow. I’m going to kill you.”
Asmodeus hiked an eyebrow. “Interesting choice of words. Like I said before, the divine sword isn’t the only thing that could kill a Seraphim. Can you imagine being locked inside a casket made from rubies and hematite? The Seraphim will feel the wrath of the eternal fire with no escape.”
Abacus stiffened and swallowed. “Does the ruby only work on angels?”
Levia licked frosting off her fingers. “As far as we know. We’ve never tested on vampires and demons. But we know it has no effect on humans. We added hematite crystals for precaution.”
Asmodeus wore a diamond, emerald, and a sapphire ring, but no ruby. Why?
“How many of these caskets do you have?” Victus drummed his fingers on the table, inching toward the goblet. He must be starving.
Asmodeus chuckled, twirling gemstone rings on his fingers. “If you decide to rule your people under my command, then I’ll tell you.”
Victus showed no emotion, his features cold and hard as the stone floor below us.
Asmodeus released an odd cackle. “It’s a jest. I would never ask you to bow before me. But I do need to ask a dire question, the reason you are here sharing a fine meal with me. Will you be taking Dawn? If not, take anyone but Levia, because the pretty bird is not leaving. No one is leaving until we make a deal one way or another.”
Markane hissed, showing his fangs. Abacus’s nails lengthened. The demon lords placed a hand on their sword hilts while Levia pulled out a dagger from under her dress.
Victus looked like he was in some kind of trance, his gaze fixed on Dawn on her knees. Did he have some kind of sick fascination toward her? And why did my heart prick with jealousy. What the hell was the matter with me?
Victus craned his neck to face Asmodeus as the veins under his eyes settled. “You can keep the feather being, and I’ll take the red bird.”
“You’ve made the right—”
“But …” Victus’s fingers intertwined on the table. “I want a generous number of rubies with hematite. I have some prisoners and I need answers. Do we have a deal?”
Sarah. James. Tia. No.
“You can’t use the rubies on them.” I gripped Victus’s tunic. “They’ve been through enough. How would you feel if your people were treated the same?”
“I already know how that feels.” He pried my fingers off his shirt. “You do not get to question me.”
