“OH, YOU’RE AWAKE.”
I recognized the voice. It was Demetrius’s real one, not the very impressive fake he’d used when he’d shape-shifted into an exact replica of Costa. Yeah, I was awake, although I didn’t know why. Demetrius had me and he had the spearhead. I should be dead, not waking up. I almost wondered if I was dead, except the dead couldn’t possibly hurt this much. At least, I hoped not.
“I have to tell you, Davidian, when that gargoyle slammed into me, I wondered if the spearhead wasn’t here and this entire thing had been a clever setup.”
Demetrius’s voice was so cheery, I kept my eyes closed a little longer. The only thing worse than listening to him gloat would be seeing him gloat. But then I heard an extended moan from another familiar voice, and my eyes snapped open.
Adrian was in the corner of whatever room or building we were in. I couldn’t tell which because all the windows had been blocked off, and the interior was so plain that it could have been part of the monastery, or it could have been a freestanding hut. Either way, the floor was sprinkled heavily with what I now knew to be ground-up minion bones. The eclipse might be over, but the combination of cursed earth plus shuttered windows blocking out any remaining sunlight meant that Demetrius had time to gloat. He had all the time in the world.
The bodies of several monks were scattered across the floor, and at least two dozen living minions filled the room, too. It wasn’t small, but with all of them in it, it was now standing room only. Of course, they were giving Adrian a wide berth, and for good reason. His shadows were extended as far as they could reach, their tips formed into knifelike points that stabbed at everything around him. Thick metal chains covered his legs and his torso, and he must be injured, because blood seeped out through them. More blood covered his face, and some of it had gotten into his eyes. He’d obviously put up a ferocious fight, but just like me, it hadn’t been enough.
“Ivy.” His voice was as broken as I felt in that moment. “I am so sorry.”
“Don’t sound so dejected, my son,” Demetrius chided him. “Yes, I had initially intended to kill her right away, but now I’ve changed my mind. For one, it should be quite fun to let her watch what happens when I transform the spearhead from a hallowed weapon into a cursed one. Who knows? If she’s miserable enough, I might even let her live on for years.”
Adrian lunged at him, but all those chains must have been anchored to something sturdy, because he made it only about a foot.
“I’ll fucking kill you!” he snarled.
Demetrius wagged a finger at him before returning his attention to the items on the table in front of him. They were rubber storage containers, of all things. He popped the lids off while smacking his lips appreciatively. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting to use what’s in these containers?”
“I don’t care.”
My voice was a whisper, and I hadn’t meant it to be. At last, I looked down and understood why Demetrius hadn’t bothered to tie me up, let alone use the same overkill restraints he’d used with Adrian. The holes in my sweater showed me the two places where I’d been shot. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to tell how many times that had happened. The entire front of my sweater was soaked through with blood, and when I tried to move, I couldn’t.
But that wasn’t what forced a cry from me that I bit back as soon as I saw the pleasure light Demetrius’s face. It was my right arm. Or, to be more specific, the bloody, tied-off stump at the end of my elbow where my right arm should have been.
“I couldn’t allow you to pull that slingshot out and ruin my plans, could I?” Demetrius said with vindictive satisfaction. “Don’t worry—you’ll see your arm again. I’ll retrieve it so I can transform the sling it contains into a cursed weapon, too, after I’m finished with the spearhead. And then you’ll either willingly remove the staff from your body so I can transform that, too, or I’ll cut it out of you, and that, my dear Davidian, you would regret.”
“You think I want to live to see what you’ll do once you transform that spearhead?” I might be reduced to whispering from my massive injuries, but not even that could mask the hatred in my voice. “Kill me. It’ll be far preferable.”
Demetrius clucked his tongue. “And murder my own grandchild along with you? What kind of monster do you think I am?”
He knew. He knew!
I’d thought I felt cold before. I hadn’t known the meaning of the word. When Adrian’s stunned gaze met mine, I couldn’t stop the tear that slipped out even though I hated to give Demetrius one more thing to gloat over.
“I didn’t realize it until earlier today,” I whispered.
“And you didn’t tell me?” The hurt in his eyes hit me like a sledgehammer. “How could you not tell me that?”
“I’m sorry, Adrian!” I must’ve tried moving closer to him, because a fresh spurt of blood leaked out from my sweater. “I couldn’t tell you when...when I knew it would only hurt you, considering what was going to happen.”
“See? All loved ones lie,” Demetrius said, his dark gaze landing on Adrian. “You disowned me and your entire race for lying to you, yet your own wife admits she is no different. Come now, Adrian, stop being petulant. If not for me keeping her from using that spearhead, she’d be dead, as would your unborn child. Can’t you see you have no reason to hate me? I am giving you everything you most want!”
“More lies,” Adrian spat. “She’s bleeding out in front of you, yet you’re busy taunting her and playing with your Tupperware. She’s probably lost the baby already!”
“She hasn’t,” Demetrius said, a wave of his hand dismissing the pool of blood around me. “I can still hear its heartbeat. And if she does lose it, I’ll raise it back to life. I already brought you back from the dead today. How else do you think my minions managed to get you wrapped in those chains without your shadows ripping them to pieces?”
“He was dead?” I was sick at the thought, and sick over feeling grateful to Demetrius for bringing Adrian back.
“Killed him myself,” Demetrius replied, and my momentary gratitude vanished. “He had to be shot repeatedly first, of course, which is why I made sure all my men were armed, and—”
“The baby,” Adrian suddenly said, his gaze burning as he looked at Demetrius. “That’s how you’ve been able to track us lately. You used to be able to track me through our blood tie before I blocked you by tethering my soul to Ivy’s. But the baby isn’t tethered to anyone, and it has your blood, too.”
I thought I couldn’t be shocked by anything else, yet I was wrong as Demetrius’s slow smile confirmed Adrian’s suspicions.
“Blood calls to blood, son, always. When I heard it again, I thought it was your blood breaking through your tethering to call to me, but it wasn’t. I didn’t realize that until I was about to break the Davidian’s head open, and realized I heard two heartbeats coming from her body instead of one.”
Adrian stared at me, and the knives formed by his shadows blunted until they were no more than wisps against the writhing, inky darkness around him. Then he looked at Demetrius.
“You have the spearhead and the other hallowed weapons, so you have everything you want, except for me. But you can have me if you heal Ivy, and leave her and the child alone. Do that, and I swear I will stand by your side for the rest of my life.”
“Adrian, don’t,” I gasped. “You can’t!”
“Yes, I can,” he said, and didn’t look away from Demetrius. “You can punish me as you see fit, and you can direct me to use my shadows as if they were your own. All this I give to you in exchange for the life and safety of Ivy and my child.”
“You think your word is sufficient for me to believe you?” Demetrius mocked. But from the sudden gleam in his eyes, he was tempted. Not even he was a good enough actor to hide that.
“You have more than my word,” Adrian said, his voice hardening as he ignored my continued pleas for him not to do this. “As long as they are alive, you also have matchless incentive for me to remain loyal to you, because we all know the first thing you’d do if I wasn’t.”
“I do have a temper,” Demetrius agreed.
“So do I,” Adrian said, flashing a cruel smile at his father. “And if you think I’ve caused you problems over the past several years, you don’t want to see what I’m capable of if you break this deal. I don’t care if you control all the realm gateways and our people crown you king, I will lay waste to your universe if you betray me on this.”
Demetrius stared at Adrian. Then he began to chuckle in that low, malevolently amused way that was unique to him. Those deep rumbles of mirth soon gave way to full roars of laughter.
“I knew you’d come back to me! I didn’t expect it to be under these circumstances, but life never fails to surprise, does it? Besides, you are far stronger now than you would have been had you never left. Very well, my vicious, vengeful son. I agree to your terms, with the understanding that if either of us betrays them, countless bodies will drop, starting with hers.”
“Agreed,” Adrian said even as I screamed, “No!”
At last, Adrian looked at me. “We both gave it our best shot to beat him, Ivy, and we both failed. All we can do now is make the best of what’s left.”
Tears spilled down my cheeks, and they felt warm against skin that had grown so cold. “I can’t let you do this, Adrian.”
“Ivy,” he said with a sigh. “It’s already done.”