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"Okay, but I don't understand the whole thing with Olryg," he said, turning his attention back to Luca. "He's, what did you say, an archdemon, right? And he's searching for you. For Abigor, I mean. And he can't find you while you're inside a human."
"That's right."
"Okay, but why does it matter? I mean—he wants to take you back to Hell. But Lilin's a demon now. So he wants to take her back to Hell too, right? Why is that a bad thing? Wouldn't you two be together then? Isn't that what you want?"
Luca's face fell, his eyes turning haunted. "No. Olryg's task isn't simply to return us to Hell. What we have done is no mere transgression, worthy of a slap on the wrist. Angels and demons are not supposed to interact, let alone…all that we have done. It dilutes our purity, affects the way we influence our human charges. No, it was made clear from the start what the punishment for our sins would be. And if he learns of Lilin's transformation…there is no doubt that her punishment will be equally severe."
"And what punishment is that?" I whispered, unsure if I really wanted to hear the answer.
Luca looked a little ill. "We are to be eliminated. Destroyed."
Theo made a choking sound.
"But you must understand, it is more than that," Luca went on, strain clear in his voice. "If it was only the two of us that would be affected, we would have accepted our punishment long ago."
I leaned toward him. "What do you mean?"
"The relationship between a human soul and its celestial guides is, as I said, a symbiotic one. One cannot survive without the other." He closed his eyes. "If Lilin and I are destroyed, every human we are linked to will perish as well."
"What?" My hand flew to cover my mouth. "Wouldn't they just assign those souls to another demon?"
He shook his head. "It is part of the punishment. So others will understand the severity of our offense and not repeat our actions."
Theo took a long sip of his whiskey, then set the glass down a little harder than necessary. "So, let me make sure I have this straight. What you're saying is if we attempt to remove Lilin from River, her presence will summon Olryg, who will murder Abigor and Lilin, and we will then be responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people." His face was pale.
Luca's eyes opened and he gave a slow nod. "Precisely."
I leaned forward and passed my still-full tumbler to Luca, who accepted it with a grateful nod and took a deep drink.
"Not that it matters," Theo muttered with a wince, "but I don't suppose you know who you're linked to? Who we would be sentencing to death?"
Luca shook his head. "No. They are just souls to me. I do not know their identities."
I had a sudden vision of my father, leaning over the counter in his store, collapsing mid-conversation with a customer, his half-moon glasses clattering to the floor. Vanessa, her freckled face pale in death. It could be Raheem, or Dr. Blanton, or Theo's dad, or Theo. Oh God.
"River."
I blinked out of my reverie to find Theo kneeling by my chair. He lifted one hand, swiping a thumb across my cheek to catch my tears.
I gripped his hand, finding comfort in the solid strength of him by my side, and glanced over at Julian.
"That's why you refused to help at first, isn't it? Why you never told Luca where the book was? Why you turned us away?"
His face twisted and he gave a jerky nod. "What I did to Lilin was horrible," he said in a hoarse voice, "and I regret it every day. But what is her sacrifice when weighed against so much death and destruction? I cannot have a hand in that. I can't."
Is that what was going to happen to me? Sacrificed, like Lilin, to safeguard all those humans? Julian was right, of course. What was one life, or two, even, when weighed against hundreds of thousands. But why did one of those lives have to be mine?
I shook my head. "No." My voice was firm. "We'll find another way." I wiped the tears from my cheeks with the back of one hand and squeezed Theo's fingers tight with the other. I wouldn't risk him. Wouldn't risk the life of a single stranger or friend. "There has to be another way."
31
"So you're sure this is, like, the only book on demon…ology, right?" Theo said, yawning. He stretched, his back cracking. "Ow."
Julian looked amused. "Five hundred pages does not suffice?"
"It's not that it doesn't suffice," Theo said. He stood up, wincing. "It's just that it doesn't have what I'd call a broad range."
"Cheer up," Luca said from where he was stretched out beside me on the floor. "We're only a third of the way through. There is still time."
