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Something was wrong. I could feel it now. I was falling into another trap, and this time Kelsey would be the one to pay. Kelsey….and her baby. I stood, a little panic starting to flare inside me.
How foolish had I been? How selfish that I hadn’t even considered the consequences?
“The house. She speaks to me as a woman with a lot of blonde hair.” I tossed out the idea that this collar was coming off any time soon, and honestly, after what I’d recently learned, it shouldn’t. Until I cleared the blood from my system and had my memories restored, I wasn’t reliable. I’d been the unreliable narrator of my own story for twelve years. “She’s the one who told me the brand belonged to you. She has a room in the library.”
Casey stood. “Baby, that’s not the way the house works at all. You said she has blonde hair?”
I nodded. “She’s thin and not too tall and has a ton of blonde hair. She…she offered to help me get away if I helped her.”
Lilith’s head shook. “That’s not the house. The house doesn’t need anything. What did she want in exchange?”
Casey was moving toward the desk Gray kept in the salon.
“She wanted me to make sure Kelsey wore this necklace when she went to Lucifer’s realm,” I replied. “I didn’t see any harm in it. She said it soaks up some kind of energy that will make it easier for her to take corporeal form.”
“Is this her?” Casey had a framed photo in his hand.
I nodded because it was obviously the same woman I’d met in the library. “Yes, she’s older, but that’s her.”
“That’s Gray’s mother.” A groan came from Casey. “All this time we thought we were dealing with Gray’s asshole father and it was his mom. He has a shitty family. Now we have to figure out what she really wants.”
“She wants everything.” Lilith stood, straightening the skirts of her dress. “Is it the Eye of Night your mistress is wearing?”
I snorted. “She’s so not my…”
“Liv,” Casey cut me off.
It probably wasn’t the best time to correct her. “Yes. But I didn’t even have to talk her into it. She wanted to wear it.”
“Because it’s a focal point,” Lilith explained. “Each realm has one. The Eye of Night, in particular, helps focus certain energies, and one of those is portal energy. Normally it’s not dangerous. I would be surprised if Lord Sloane even knows what it does. Once it’s been in Lucifer’s presence for long enough it will be fully powered and ready to take a soul where it wants to go, if she knows how to use it. If this woman doesn’t have a body, she’ll need one, and there’s nothing easier than displacing a babe in the womb.”
Now I was in a full-fledged panic. I couldn’t be the reason Kelsey lost her son. She’d already lost so much time with Fenrir. “We have to go. We have to warn Kelsey.”
Casey set the photo down. “I can’t get to Lucifer’s realm. Eddie went with them. There’s no one here who can teleport.”
“You can’t,” Lilith said. “But I assure you I can. Get close to me. Being an ex-wife of the Lord of Hell comes with some privileges.”
“Ex-wife?” Casey asked, his hand finding mine and pulling me close.
“Yeah. I had a bad-boy thing going for a little while. Rebellion. I’m over it now. What I’m not over is the loss of my only daughter, but I think you’re going to help me with that—after I save Lady Sloane a world of heartache and convince everyone I’m not trying to hurt her.” She held her hands out, and we were enveloped in a bubble.
And then we were traveling, and I prayed we got there in time.
* * * *
Kelsey
Gray and Trent were both at my side as our enemy made his way into the room. My stomach took a deep dive, twisting a bit in a way that made me wholly uncomfortable, but I stood there forcing myself to be strong.
“What exactly is he doing here?” Gray moved in front of me, and I noticed his horns were starting to come out.
The Lucifer who’d been talking to me shrugged and poured himself another drink. “Well, it is a party. You can’t expect you would be the only guest.”
“Eddie,” Gray called out.
Trent’s fingers threaded through mine and gave me a squeeze. “Go with Eddie. Gray and I will get the kids out.”
Like I would leave them behind in Lucifer’s realm. I took a long, steadying breath, trying to push the panic down. Something was happening. I couldn’t explain it, but I could feel a shift in the air like a cold wind pulsing across my skin. “I’d like to know exactly what Lucifer thinks he’s going to get out of putting me in a room with the man who tried to kill my son for years.”
