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Onlywitchesshould be able to do that, and male witches are weak. Then again, Kai and Asmodeus’ mother wassomething. Not a true witch, but perhaps a godly version of one? She could scry the future, and her altar at the tree of life is proof she could channel magic and yank it from nature. Though she wasn’t my version of a witch, it doesn’t mean she couldn’t manipulate magic. Maybe the genes just skipped Kai.
I’ve never had a strong poker face. It’s not a talent of mine, and likely never will be. I’m sure panic is running a marathon across my features and the predator lurking on the other side of the barrier is reading me like an open book. Maybe he’s doing this to scare me… Like a performance to get me to spill my secrets out of fear.
I’m not willing to bet money on it, though. The cost of being wrong is too great. But if I’m going to continue stalling, I need to give him a reason to keep talking to me. He tugs just the slightest bit, causing the barrier to shudder. If that’s an act, it’s a damn good one.
“Why do you ask?” I say, speaking so fast that the words seemingly blend.
He snorts, turning to the group of men behind him. Dire wolf shifters, by the look of them. “Leave us.” None of them voice the detest they feel toward the command, but they don’t hide it either as they back away, joining another handful of creatures and men waiting with horses a few hundred yards away.
Asmodeus turns back to me and Luri, pressing his lips together for a long moment. “We’re going to do this one last time. Who is inside the castle? Are there soldiers or families? And don’t even think about lying to me. I’ll know if you do.”
“Just women and children. The only person here who can fight is me, but as you know, I’m far more capable than most—”
He cuts me off, whisking a hand up into the air. My mouth snaps shut and my teeth clash together. He shouldn’t be able to do that through the boundary… but he did. My nostrils flare, releasing smoke in thick streams.
“There are tunnels beneath the castle. Make sure the barrier extends there, too.Youneed to put it up. Not my father or your prince.”
My eyebrows scrunch together. “Why are you telling me this? Why are you helping?”
“Not all of us are monsters, Alice. Some of us are doing what we need to in order to survive and I don’t feel like murdering women and children today, but if the king commands it, I’ll have to do so.” He settles down on the ground, pulling his knees up and wrapping his arms around them. “Sit with me.”
A villain with a moral code…Interesting.
“And if I don’t?”
His eyes dart up across the glassy surface of the barrier. With a huff, I plop down onto the grass in the fields surrounding the castle. He plucks blade after blade, twirling it between his fingers… It’s something I’ve seen Finn do hundreds of times.
“I’m not evil, Alice. I don’t wish to hurt anyone besides the man who wronged me and my mother.”
His mother? What did Lucifer do to hurt her? I’ve only ever seen him grieving her loss. The man spends hours staring down at her glass coffin, dying to bring her back. Michael did that, not our king.
“If you’re fishing for sympathy, you won’t find it—”
Both of his eyes flash dark as veins surge to the surface, then recede just as fast as they came. He sucks in deep, filling his lungs all the way up before letting the air out through his nose.
“That’s not why I’m here,” he breathes.
“Fine. I’ll listen, but only if you answer something for me.” Pulling my sword from this sheath on my hip, I lay it over my crossed legs. “This should’ve killed you. Why didn’t it?”
He smirks. “Even when I hold all the cards, you still make demands…” Shaking his head and tossing the grass in his hand to the side, his eyes meet mine. “The answer is right in front of you, little mouse. I know I’m not as pretty or regal as my brother, but take a closer look. My scars hold secrets.”
Canting my head, I bite, letting my eyes rove over the strong features of his face, slipping down the scarred line on his brow and cheek as his amber gaze studies my every movement. Drifting lower over broad shoulders and thick pecs, I pause. Where Kai has tattoos of snakes and symbols to ward off spells that could influence him, Asmodeus has none.
Scars slice down his left pec, like a creature with talons tore into him, determined to rip out his heart. There’s a thick line that’s pinker than the rest on the right side of his chest—where my sword slashed through him. I flick my eyes back up to his, flexing my jaw when he urges me on with a nod.
I exhale heavily, swallowing the lump forming in my throat as I analyze the smaller gashes that have healed into thin, shiny lines, but the ones layered on top, raised and puckered like braille, make my pulse quicken.They’re ruins…like the ones on my sword. It was right in front of my fucking face.
“There it is…” he says, narrowing his eyes before letting them round to their normal size. “I knew that sword was a threat. I also knew it was only a matter of time before my father found someone else who could take it out of the sheath.”
Someoneelse… That’s peculiar phrasing.
“You warded yourself from it… How did you know—” I gasp, as the puzzle clicks together, forming a clear picture. “The High King.”
“Clever girl,” he coos. “Zeus created the damn thing. It seemed fitting that his son be the one who helped me evade it. It cost my pledge of loyalty to the throne, but it’s better than dying.”
“Has he ever touched you?” I ask, praying to God the answer is in our favor.
“No. I’m a survivor, not stupid.” He slides closer to the glossy film between us. “Listen. Villains aren’t born. They’re created. Remember that… My father isn’t a good man, Alice. He’s a master manipulator, and you’ll see it soon enough. If he wants something, he’ll take it, regardless of who it hurts. Half the scars on my body are proof of it.” He draws his fingers over the one on his face.
