The Brightest Embers, Page 7

  “Fine. What else can the spearhead do, if I were to find it and wield it?”

  Demetrius’s eye roll was contemptuous. “You? No one believes you could wield it long enough to do anything other than turn into a pile of bones.”

  His continued insults had me tapping my foot to keep from hurling curses at him. “Don’t draw out the drama, Demetrius.”

  He smiled, showing all of his teeth. “Let’s pretend a miracle happened and you didn’t die wielding it. You know that the spearhead would cause special, human-only gateways to open in all the realms, thus providing a way for those miserable meat bags to escape. But if a demon harnessed the spearhead’s power, another type of gateway would open in all the realms, and this one would allow my kind free passage back and forth again.”

  I stared at him. Yes, I knew every hallowed item could be turned dark. That was why demons had wanted David’s sling. In my hands, it killed demons, but in their hands, it could kill Archons. Likewise, Moses’s staff had sealed up the realm walls when I used it, but if demons had wielded it, it would have sent them crashing down. In context, I don’t know why it hadn’t occurred to me that if the spearhead were turned dark, its other purpose would be the exact opposite of its hallowed one.

  And if that happened, everything I’d done to help people would get undone. It would be hell on earth in no time, and here I was, without any hallowed weapons to fight it because they had disappeared when I’d renounced my destiny.

  I was reeling from horror and guilt, but one question roared to the surface. “Why are you telling me this?”

  “Because I don’t want that to happen.” After my instant scoff, he said, “Yes, under other circumstances, I would love nothing more than to have the realm gateways reopen. Aside from the obvious, I’m sick of being stuck in a small slice of your rotten world. However, whoever wields the spearhead would have complete control over the gateways, and that, my dear despised Davidian, I cannot abide.”

  Now his concern made sense, and of course, his own selfishness was at its core. “That would make the spearhead-wielding demon top dog over you, wouldn’t it?”

  He shrugged, but there was nothing casual in his gaze. “I’m not the only demon who doesn’t want a king. We had one once, and it did not suit. We might have minor power struggles, but no demon since Lucifer has ever had the chance to rule all of us. This would change that.”

  I couldn’t care less if Demetrius chafed at the thought of being ruled. In fact, his misery would make my day, if it didn’t come at such a high cost. I couldn’t stand the thought of the demon realms reopening, and the demon staring at me knew it.

  “So you want me to find the spearhead to stop another demon from finding and using it.”

  “Yes,” he said, a nasty gleam appearing in his eyes. “And do try to wield it if you do. Having you implode from its power while simultaneously saving me from being under a king’s rule would be—what does your race call it?—a win-win.”

  I almost flipped him off, but I stopped myself because I didn’t want to flash my non-tattooed right hand at him. “Yeah, well, I’m not going to do that,” I said shortly.

  He cocked his head. “Which, go after the spearhead, or attempt to wield it?”

  I glared at him. “Guess.”

  He shrugged. “Could be either after your soul-tying to Adrian.” At my confused look, he said in an almost kindly tone, “You do realize that’s the reason for your newfound apathy toward the humans trapped in my realms, don’t you? Otherwise, you would have never abandoned those mortal meat bags to certain death just to ensure your own happiness.”

  “I didn’t abandon them. I couldn’t have saved them, anyway!” I snapped, fighting a wave of familiar guilt.

  “Oh, you are correct,” Demetrius said, coming forward until another inch would have caused him to breach the mirror. “You never stood a chance because you are weak, Davidian, and this only proves it. When you and my son wrapped your souls around the deepest parts of each other in that tethering ritual, his didn’t come away lighter, but yours came away darker, and that darkness only continues to grow.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  I STARED AT HIM, my mouth opening and closing because I couldn’t think up a strong enough denial. That couldn’t be! If it were true, then I wouldn’t have decided to look for the spearhead after the soul-tying ceremony! But I had, so tethering my soul to Adrian’s couldn’t have had this kind of drastic, “darkening” effect on me.

  “You’re wrong,” I said in a furious whisper. “For starters, I am not going dark side, and more importantly, Adrian might have half your blood and all of Judas’s remaining legacy, but he is nothing like either of you.”

  Demetrius’s laugh sounded like a low roll of thunder. “The fact that you have no idea who Adrian is and what he is capable of only proves me correct. And you might not yet manifest the full effects of having your soul tainted with the essence of both demons and Judians, but give it more time, and you will.”

  Was he implying that it was like an incubating virus? That was ridiculous! Yes, I hadn’t been thrilled about going after the spearhead even after I’d decided to do it, but hey, I hadn’t wanted to hunt down the slingshot and the staff at first, either.

  Still...I hadn’t given up while searching for either of those, and doing so had been just as dangerous to me and Adrian as looking for the spearhead. Yet I had given up on that. I was also catching myself lying for no reason, and several weeks ago, I’d let that poor girl get shot before I finally helped her.

  Could Demetrius be right? Could tying myself to Adrian’s admittedly darker soul have, well, tainted something in me?

  Adrian had worried himself about that happening, saying he never would have done it if he’d known that he was half-demon at the time. Doing so had also cost me access to the light realms that were the beautiful, sunny counterparts to demon realms. What if—partially—Demetrius was right? What if... What if I was kinda evil now?

  The thought was too upsetting to ponder more in front of Demetrius, so I moved on. “You said Adrian’s life depended on me hearing you out,” I said, abruptly changing the subject. “So far, I haven’t heard how yet.”

  “Demons are naturally rebellious,” Demetrius said with a quick, feral smile. “And Judians betray. That’s why Adrian joining the Archons against us wasn’t a complete surprise. I’d expected him to do something terrible and backstabbing eventually.” He sighed. “I didn’t expect it to last this long. I was convinced he’d quickly grow bored with the endless rules and restrictions ‘good’ people are expected to keep.”

  “Get to the point,” I said through gritted teeth.

  He stared at me without blinking. “Adrian is my son, so I love him despite his murderous, extended treachery and rebellion. Oh, I’ll torture him for it—what self-respecting father wouldn’t?—but I won’t kill him, and that makes me in the extreme minority among my kind.”

  I closed my eyes. “And if another demon is crowned king by controlling access to all the demon realms through the spearhead, he’ll likely rally demons to kill Adrian, both for his fighting against your people and for his refusal to fulfill his destiny by betraying me to my death.”

  “Not entirely stupid, are you?” Demetrius said mockingly.

  I did flip him off then, left-handed. He returned the gesture, with an added throat-slitting mime from the remains of his shadows that was a lot more ominous. I’d seen him cut someone’s throat for real with one of those dark, lethal wisps, and it was nothing I wanted to experience for myself.

  “But the spearhead’s been lost for two thousand years,” I said, trying to find a silver lining in the choking darkness Demetrius had described. “Who’s to say it won’t be lost for another two thousand?”

  Demetrius’s snort was scathing. “Hasn’t anyone told you about the countdown?”


  Countdown? “What countdown?”

  He chuckled, low and contemptuous. “You don’t know? Well, Davidian, then I’ll give you the respect that my son and that Archon obviously felt you weren’t deserving of. As soon as you wielded David’s sling, the prophesied countdown began. Do you want to know what it is?”

  Demetrius was too smug to be lying, so once again, I’d had critical information about my destiny withheld by the people I trusted most. Anger burned a hole into my guilt and fear. Time and again, Adrian had had the chance to tell me this, yet he hadn’t. Had he also realized what would happen if the spearhead fell into demon hands? Did he simply not care if the realms opened again? And more frightening—would I end up having that same sort of darkness in me, as time went on?

  “Yes, I want to know,” I said in a stony voice.

  “Prophecy says once the first hallowed weapon is wielded, the others will be found within a year,” Demetrius said with gleeful malice. “That doesn’t leave much time, does it?”

  No, it didn’t. Only a few months, and here I’d spent weeks lazing about in Vatican City. If not for Demetrius, I might have spent several more weeks doing that, and all while Adrian knew that the spearhead would soon be found by someone else.

  I heard the bathroom door open. “Ivy, are you okay?” Adrian called out from the other side of the privacy wall.

  “I’m fine!” I yelled while Demetrius immediately started to fade from the mirror. “Just finishing up!” I’d have it out with him, but not in front of Demetrius. I’d given the demon too much to gloat about already.

  “Okay,” Adrian said after a slight pause, probably surprised by the anger in my tone.

  I turned back to the mirror, which now showed no demon staring back at me, but I knew that Demetrius was still there.

  “Since you want me to find it, got any idea where the spearhead is?” I asked, not really expecting a response.

  His voice was faint, as if he was much farther away, yet his disdain came through loud and clear. “At one of Adrian’s former favorite places in your world, of course.”

  He knew that Adrian was the metaphorical “map”? Oh, shit! We thought we were the only ones who’d figured that out!

  I left the bathroom feeling overwhelmed, angry and grimly determined. I might have given up looking for the spearhead before—and thanks to Demetrius, I wondered if that was me, or my new, festering darkness’s influence—but now I was going after it with everything I had. I couldn’t let another demon find it first. I would not let the realms reopen for human slavery sooner rather than much, much later. Plus, I might want to kill Adrian myself now, but I’d be damned if I’d let demons do that, either.

  “Demetrius and I just had a chat,” I announced as soon as I left the bathroom.

  He ran into the bathroom before I had a chance to say anything else. Several crashing sounds later, I knew he’d smashed the mirror. Too late now, I thought bitterly.

  “If he found us, then we need to leave,” Adrian said moments later, wiping his bloody knuckles on his jacket. That was how rattled he was. He’d smashed the mirror with his bare hands. “And why did you stay long enough to see which demon was using the mirror as a portal? You could have been killed, Ivy!”

  I shook him off when he tried to take my arm. “I made sure I wasn’t close enough to be pulled into the mirror, and no demon could come out of it or the hallowed ground would’ve fried them.”

  “Let’s forget about the fact that Demetrius moves faster than you do, and probably could have pulled you into the mirror with him. What about if he threw a spear at you and impaled you?” he asked harshly. “Or hurled acid into your face? Or threw a powdered, inhalable poison at you? Are you getting the picture?”

  I was, and while his high-handed tone added to my already-simmering anger, it also made me believe that Demetrius had been telling the truth. Well, the part about why he didn’t want me dead. Otherwise, he could have killed me in all the ways Adrian had described, and knowing Demetrius, probably a few more that Adrian hadn’t thought of, too.

  “You know what really would help?” I asked, my roiling emotions causing my tone to turn withering. “If you’d quit waiting to tell me important stuff like that until after the danger has passed.”

  His hands clenched into fists. “You knew that mirrors plus demons equaled danger. I didn’t think I had to spell out all the different ways that this was true.”

  “Of course you didn’t!” I snapped. “In your mind, I never need to know everything that you do, even when it’s my life at stake. How many times do I have to tell you to stop? I don’t treat you that way. If I did, I wouldn’t have told you about my talk with Demetrius in the first place!”

  He flinched, something skipping across his features before he spun around and all I saw was his back. My jaw clenched. He’d done something similar countless times over the past several weeks, and now I knew why. He was giving himself a moment to school his features so his lies would be more believable.

  Fine. I’d give myself a little time, too. But once I had Jasmine and Costa safe, I was letting Adrian have it. All of it.

  After a couple seconds, Adrian sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he turned around to face me again.

  “You’re right. I should have told you all the dangers of demons using mirrors back when I told you that demons could use them as portals, and I’m sorry.”

  That was the only thing he was admitting to? I continued to glare at him. “That’s all you’re sorry about?”

  He pulled my anger-stiff body into his arms. “No, it’s not,” he whispered. “I might be over a hundred years old, but some things are still new to me. God, Ivy, the last thing I’m used to doing is telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, even to someone I love.”

  Yeah, being raised by demons meant that Adrian’s baseline sense of right and wrong had been completely skewed. Add that to being half-demon and the last Judian, and he must fight every day to turn from his lineage, his DNA and his upbringing.

  But he had to keep fighting that battle, and more important, he had to win it, or we were doomed as a couple. I now knew I had to fight it, too. He wasn’t the only one battling demonically fueled inner darkness, and that knowledge caused some of the fury to leak out of me.

  What Adrian had done was worse. Far, far worse, but I wasn’t innocent, and as he’d said earlier, we had to fight our battles, big or small, together.

  “It has to stop,” I said, my voice softer, yet still stern. “Even if we have to stay up all night tonight spilling our guts to each other, we need to tell each other the truth, all of it. No matter what.”

  “Okay,” he said after the faintest pause.

  If that pause was him still deciding what he would and wouldn’t tell me, I had bad news for him later. The jig was up. But as for now...now it was my turn to ante up.

  “I’m going after the spearhead again.”

  He drew away with a horrified look on his face. “What?”

  I began to walk back toward our villa. He followed, and I told Adrian what Demetrius had said about the dark, opposing powers of the spearhead if a demon wielded it instead of me.

  “Demetrius told you that?” Adrian couldn’t sound more incredulous if I’d said that a mermaid had shown up holding Aladdin’s lamp to offer me three wishes.

  “Yes, and as you pointed out, he could have killed me instead of sharing this information, so I believe him—”

  “I don’t,” Adrian said sharply. “If it were true, he would have told me himself already.”

  I stopped walking to stare at him. “When would he have done that?”

  Come to think about it, Adrian hadn’t seemed surprised to hear that Demetrius was one of the demons who’d managed to stay in our world when the realm gateways had closed. Had he gotten a visit from t
he demon that he hadn’t told me about?

  “During one of the million times Demetrius told me to kill the last Davidian before she could find and wield any of the hallowed weapons,” Adrian replied in a cool tone. “That was a recurring theme while I was growing up, remember?”

  “Yeah, I’m aware,” I said, but I was filing his reaction away as something to follow up on later, when all of us were safe. “But since Demetrius endlessly harped on the hallowed weapons and the importance of killing the last Davidian, why didn’t he tell you about the opposing purpose of the spearhead back then, too?”

  Adrian began to walk briskly again. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. As I just said, demons don’t rush to confide the whole truth about anything to anyone, even those they love.”

  I said nothing, keeping up with his rapid pace while I turned his words over in my mind. Adrian’s hatred of demons had been the first thing I knew about him back when we met. Since then, that hatred had never wavered, and its relentlessness had hidden an important fact about him that I now realized. Adrian might have devoted the past several years of his life to their destruction, but deep down, he still thought of himself as a demon.

  Oh, he’d deny it if I said it, but this last statement combined with a thousand other things confirmed it. In fact, now I didn’t know why it had never occurred to me before. I’d known that I was adopted, yet I was still Thomas and Beth Jenkins’s daughter and Jasmine’s sister. Some ties went deeper than blood. Last Davidian I might be, but until my final breath, I would also be a Jenkins. In the same way, Adrian had spent over a hundred years as an accepted, loved and lauded member of demonkind. Hate them he might, fight them he might and kill them he might, but deep down, he still felt like one of them.

  Was that also what Demetrius had meant when he was taunting me about how I didn’t really know Adrian? If so, then the joke was on him. I hated demons, but regardless of Adrian’s destiny, DNA or species identification, I loved him, and he loved me. We had issues to work through—big ones—but they weren’t insurmountable. Not unless we allowed them to be.