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He scoffed, his eyes fixing lazily on my chest. “Your magic works again, then?”
I let the snarky comment go right over me. “Yes, and it’s more powerful than ever. I can bring her down, but I can’t do it without your help. Do the right thing, Astor. I know you’re capable of more than everyone else thinks. Yes, you have hurt me deeply,” I added, trying to make the plea sound more realistic. “But I can forgive. You know I can. I know what the fear of dying can do to a person. I killed that boy, back at the mansion. You’re not the one here who’s done something unforgiveable.”
My heart skipped a beat as I thought of the boy, his terrified gaze a permanent reminder in all my dreams.
Astor’s brows furrowed, examining my expression as he parted his lips. “I care about you, still. Even after you tried to kill me.”
I fought back a shudder, the desire to punch him building to a peak. “I know,” I said, but holding back my anger was becoming harder. I couldn’t believe I had ever loved this prick. I briefly closed my eyes, thinking about Sebastian holding me, his lips on my forehead as he cuddled me to sleep each night. The memories brought a sense of peace, and I directed that at Astor, the rage dissipating. “You wouldn’t have helped me in the house if you didn’t. So, show me Astor, that you care,” I begged. He needed to believe I cared—that I was still the same girl that he always had a pull on.
“What does it matter? You’re with Sebastian now.” His face contorted, and I pressed my lips tightly until they turned white.
“You were with Salenia,” I pointed out. “It doesn’t matter now. We can be friends, possibly, and you can live your life. If I destroy her, we can all have our lives back. You can see your mom,” I explained, a pang of guilt shooting through my chest as I piled lie on top of lie. They would never let him go, and I wouldn’t want them to. He manipulated everyone, me included, and for a moment I felt an odd sensation of power as I watched him relax around me, knowing, for once, I was out manipulating him. “You can meet someone new,” I said. “We’re not the bad guys here and won’t hurt you if you help us. But you have to prove to me you’re not. I know there’s something you’re not telling me.”
He pulled his bottom lip between his teeth, then loosed a sigh. After a few excruciating seconds, he relented. “I want to be freed.”
“You will, once we bring her down,” I promised.
He shook his head, his matted brown strands catching in the light. “And if you don’t survive? I’ll be signing my death warrant. No. I want out now.”
“I can’t offer you that. I’m sorry. But perhaps better conditions? A room here?”
“How’d you know I wouldn’t escape?”
“I don’t,” I said, earnestly. “But I must believe you won’t. You can stay, help us. But we can’t let you go back to her, and why would you want to?”
He held his breath, clenching then unclenching his fists over and over, until he finally stilled, his eyes fixed on me. “I’m trusting you,” he admitted, vulnerability crossing those delicate features. “Despite everything, I know you. You’re not like your friends,” he spat, glancing up the stairs. “Salenia wanted you dead, but not originally,” he divulged, and I nodded along. “She knew if you died, the gods would bring you back from death to fulfill the prophecy. But she only believed it could happen once. I knew better.”
I arched a brow. “How?”
“You were brought back a second time, right? But it wasn’t really a second time. The first time you died, it was a transition, in the Shadow Kissed ceremony. It didn’t count. You didn’t properly die. They made you immortal, not a vampire. I don’t know how it all works, but Salenia told me the gods have the power to revive a person once. She believed when you supposedly died this time, that you couldn’t come back.”
“Then why didn’t she have me killed at the house? She thought I’d already been brought back once?”
“She needed to know more about what happened during the Shadow Kissed ceremony,” he said. “Remember? I told you that.” He let out a clipped sigh, and I forced understanding into my expression. “You so easily forget important information and I’m supposed to trust you to take her down?” He snapped.
I swallowed thickly, grinding my teeth as I fought against every instinct to kick him in the balls. “I was half-dead when you told me,” I explained, keeping the hatred from spilling into my tone. “But I’m paying attention now.”
He sighed. “You’re going to get us all killed.”
“I won’t. My magic is powerful.”
He sighed, then shook his head, disappointment thick in his expression. “I guess I’m fucked, anyway. Look, Salenia wanted to know what her siblings had said to you, to find out everything you knew about the prophecy. I stalled her, because I didn’t want you dead no matter what you think.”
No.I thought to myself.Just tortured and humiliated.
He continued. “Without you in the picture, she can have everything she wants again.”
“Which is?”
“Her revenge, on Vener. Everyone believes Salenia killed Anastasia, but she didn’t. She couldn’t. The underworld isn’t like that.” He shifted uncomfortably. “I overheard enough from Salenia and those around her. It’s not like the afterlife. It’s a prison realm, and it’s all made up of Salenia’s magic, which went wrong.” He tangled his fingers together, casting his gaze to the floor. “The aniccipere and demons are integrated into it. They’re born out of it. Unlike us. We’re cursed with vampirism, but those creatures belong to her realm, thus an extension of her. Without the underworld, they can’t exist.”
My mind raced as I imagined a world with the aniccipere, or demons like Hamza. It only made the lure to kill them stronger. “So, what happened to Anastasia?”
“She made her mortal again.”
My eyes widened as realization pulsed through my mind. “Anastasia is here, in our world?”
He shook his head. “It’s unlikely. She was made mortal a long time ago. But Vener likely is. He escaped, and when anyone escapes the underworld, the curse is stripped from them. So, vampires can return mortal.”
