AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Ambri? Ambri, can you hear me?”
His eyes opened—black-upon-black. His lips were stained black too, and black tears spilled down his cheeks.
“Cole,” he said.
And then he smiled.
“God, Ambri. I have to fix this. I have to stop the bleeding…”
“No. No time. Cole, listen to me,” he whispered, ragged from screaming.
How long had he been screaming?
“Gods, I missed your face.” His eyes fell shut, more tears streaking inky trails down his cheek that was pressed to the floor. “I’m so bloody happy to see you. But I have to tell you something.”
“I have to help you first.”
“You can’t. And there’s no time—”
“He’s right,” said a smooth voice coming from the doorway. “He has no time.”
My stomach clenched to see Eisheth, Picollus, Daeva and Zerin, all in their demonic forms. Pale skin, black eyes, and feathered or bat wings—and all emanating terror and dread like a stench. I saw their deaths in the depths of their eyes, full of fear, loneliness, desperation, and—in Eisheth’s case—terrible violence.
I sprang to my feet and grabbed a poker from the fireplace. I brandished it like a baseball bat, keeping between Ambri and the demons.
“Take one step toward him and I’ll fucking end you.”
They froze…and then laughed.
“He’s not worth it,” Pico said. Black feather wings protruded from an old eighteenth-century coat. His breeches were dirty and threadbare. “Trust me, I know. He’s good for a fuck and that’s about it. Pretty little tart, he is.” He tilted his head with a sneer. “Now he’s not even that.”
The others laughed again. My hands tightened around the iron.
“Now, now,” Eisheth said. “There’s no need for hostilities. Your protectiveness is sweet, Cole, but futile. Wewilltake him back. But you don’t have to stay behind, alone and missing him for the rest of your life. There is a way…”
“No,”Ambri gritted out from behind me. “Don’t listen to her, Cole.”
“On the contrary, you should listen to me,” Eisheth said. “Because I am providing the only means by which you two can remain together.”
I swallowed hard. “How?”
“Give yourself up to us, Cole Matheson. Join us. Leave behind this human world of frailty and ego, where the opinions of a few fools wield power over your art.Youwill wield power over them.Youwill sink your teeth into their desire for recognition and feast on their desperation to be heard. You will remain powerful and beautiful. Serve our dark lord at Ambri’s side and you will be together. Forever.”
“She lies,” Ambri snarled weakly. “It’s all lies…”
I shook my head, my heart pounding, feeling as if I were in a dream. “I don’t want to hurt anyone…”
Eisheth’s smile hardened, and anger glinted in her eyes. “What about Ambri? Do you want him to hurt? Will you let him suffer? Because he will. He’s only had a taste of the torture that awaits him.” She held out her hand to me—now bloodless white. “Or you can come with us, and he’ll be spared.”
“He will?”
“Of course. Join us and he’ll be free of his pain at last.”
“Cole,” Ambri cried softly. “Don’t…”
His helpless agony trapped me in a limbo of terror and confusion.
“You cannot stand guard forever.” Eisheth’s tone was now deadly pleasant. “You must sleep and when you do, we’ll take him back. He will suffer like none have suffered before. Only you can save him, Cole Matheson, by joining us. Or you can stay and live out the rest of your life, knowing you’ve consigned your one true love to an eternity of pain. The choice is yours.”
