“The Infernal Eye,” Deidre purred.Then she leaned forward and whispered, “Daddy can see you now.”
As though the inanimate object could hear her, it suddenly cleared, and a pair of crystal blue eyes peered out at me.The instant those horrifyingly familiar eyes blinked at me, my heart lurched into my throat.A chill raced down my spine, and my grip on the orb tightened.It felt wrong—wrong in a way that made my skin crawl, as if the very air surrounding it pulsed with dark power.
My breath quickened into shallow gasps, and without thinking, I hurled the orb against the farthest wall with all the force I could muster.It shattered on impact, shards of obsidian and metals raining down on the dirt floor.A thick, black mist oozed from the broken fragments before dissipating into the air.
For a heartbeat, there was nothing but silence.But then Deidre’s laughter echoed through the space.The sound was so haunting, so chilling, it might as well have been Lucifer’s.
“I did it,” she crowed, her voice dripping with devotion and reverence.“I found you and completed my mission.I did it for him.I doeverythingfor him.”
I couldn’t listen to another word.My heart pounded and adrenaline flooded my veins.Without another thought, I gripped Inferno’s Kiss’s hilt with both hands and swung.My blade sliced through her neck without any resistance, and her head toppled from her body.
Just like that, it was over.Deidre was dead.After ten long years of desperately dreaming of this, I had finally killed her.And yet, I had absolutely no idea how to feel about it.Deidre had betrayed me, yes—but she had also been my only companion in Hell, my only friend.
I’d contemplate my mixed emotions later.Right now, I needed to get out of this mine, away from the stench of her blood.I moved forward, gripping the daggers embedded in her hands, and yanked them free.Her body, finally released from the wall, slumped heavily to the ground, lifeless and silent.
“Wow,” Eliza murmured behind me.
I startled, having nearly forgotten about her presence here.
“I have so many questions,” she continued.
Of course she did.But I couldn’t answer any of them.Hell, I couldn’t even answer my own questions.I just knew I needed to get out of this damn mine.
I wiped all three weapons on Deidre’s shirt, then slid them back into their sheaths with trembling hands.The blades would need a proper cleaning once home, but for now, this would do.
“Let’s get out here,” I muttered, my voice steadier than expected.“We have a bounty to collect.”
“What?No.Hold on.”Eliza stepped in front of me, blocking my path.“You’re not going anywhere until you tell me what the hell just happened.That vampire—who was she?And how did you know her?”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said, side-stepping her.
“Don’t worry about it?”Eliza barked a laugh.“I deserve to know what happened here tonight.”
I met her gaze, my expression hardening.“Eliza, it’s safer if you don’t know.”
“Safer for whom?”she demanded.“You?Or me?Because that vampire had blood-red eyes, and I’ve never seen that before.What does that mean?And what was all that talk about bringing you home to your father?”
“Eliza—”
“Lily!”she yelled, her voice echoing off the mine walls.“It feels like I just walked into something way bigger than I signed up for.Clearly, you’re not who you say you are.Your swords, this vampire, your father—youoweme answers.”
I sighed.Andthiswas why I’d spent the last ten years keeping to myself.It was simply safer for everyone if I kept to the shadows.A lesson I’d apparently forgotten.
“Listen,” I said, “She was just…an old friend.Old enemy, more like.She betrayed me.And now she’s dead.What you saw here tonight was personal.Too personal.”
Eliza’s eyes narrowed.“That’s not good enough, Lily.Who are you?”
I shook my head.“I can’t tell you.”
“Why the hell not?”she snapped, frustration clear in her voice.“I’m not stupid.You’re obviously more than a bartender.So?”
“No,” was all I said.
Eliza balked.“No?That’s it?Just, no?”
“Yes.”
I stepped around her and headed toward the mine entrance, then froze when Eliza suddenly gripped my arm.
