Cora
We land in the foyer of the Keep, smack bang in the middle of a troop of demon guards. For a moment nobody moves, and then it’s weapons central as every blade in the vicinity is trained on us.
Grayson and Hunter break into menacing growls.
“Not helping guys!” I hold up my hands. “We come in peace. We’re not the enemy. We’re friends of the Dominus.”
“You smell wrong,” one of the guards wearing a blue jacket says. “You’re no demon.”
They close in on us.
“Never said I was.” I keep my voice even because I’m not entirely sure I can jump out of this situation in time to avoid getting stabbed. My power is super glitchy here, and attacking the guards goes against the whole we come in peace speech. “I’m Seraphina Dawn’s best friend, and these are her Loup mates.”
Having several spears pointed at your head isn’t the most comfortable position to be in, and when you have two hot-headed alpha Loup with you who don’t take kindly to being threatened, things can quickly go from bad to worse. I need to keep things cool.
“Look, I need to speak to whoever’s in charge. Is Seraphina here? Azazel? Malachi? Conah?”
I rattle off the names, hoping that my knowing them will get the guards to back off, but I’m also aware there’s a high chance none of my friends are still here.
“Get Asmodeus,” The guard in the blue jacket says.
Asmodeus? That name rings a bell. Mal’s mentor. “Yes, get Asmodeus.”
The guard glares at me and makes a jabbing motion with his sword.
Irritation flares in my chest. “Hey. Watch it with that. You hurt me and the Dominus will have your pretty blue jacket.”
I don’t know why I think that’s important to him, but he’s the only one with one on, so it must be a rank thing, and when his face pales I know I’ve hit my mark.
He lowers his blade a fraction. “If you are who you say you are, then you will have my apologies, but in this time of war, precautions must be taken.”
Grayson and Hunter have stopped bristling, which helps take the tension down a notch.
The clip of boots echoes down the corridor and the guards part to reveal a tall, broad-shouldered, dark-haired Adonis striding toward us. His gaze rakes over me and then the guys, and his dark brows snap together in a frown.
“Who are you? Spies of Mammon?”
I smile sweetly. “If we were spies, we’d be pretty shitty ones to get caught so easily.”
“Or maybe your goal is to be caught and lie your way into our confidence.”
Oh boy, this isn’t going to be as easy as I thought. “Are any of the Dominus here? Either one of them can verify who I am, or even Minuel, Lilith’s advisor. He knows me.”
Asmodeus’s eyes narrow, and he jerks his chin in the direction of the blue jacket. “Fetch Conah.”
Conah is here. Oh good.
Long minutes pass and not a single guy bats an eyelid as they keep their weapons trained on us and then Conah sweeps toward us like a welcome summer breeze trailed by the blue jacket.
“Cora?” His attention zeroes in on me. “What are you doing here.” He notices the guys and his mouth pops open. “How the fuck did you two get here?”
The guards tighten formation, this time focused on Grayson and Hunter.
“Stand down!” Conah’s voice lashes out like a whip and the guards immediately back off, lowering their weapons. “These are guests of the crown and will be given every courtesy.”
Asmodeus looks down at Conah. “I see you have this situation under control.”
Conah nods curtly. “Apologies for interrupting your meeting.”
Asmodeus inclines his head in our direction and retreats.
The blue jacket barks orders to his troops and they file out the main doors, leaving me with the guys.
Conah crosses his arms. “So, you didn’t answer my question.”
Conah leads us through a network of fancy arches and plush carpeted corridors to a room that Belle would have had an orgasm over. So many fucking books it makes my brain hurt to think about reading them all.
Conah, however, seems in his element here. Grayson and Hunter filled him in on the Tribus deal along the way.
“This is fascinating,” Conah says. “A Tribus.” He grabs a quill and jots a note on a parchment that already has shit loads of scrawls on it.
I can’t help but be touched by his enthusiasm. “New information gives you the feels, huh?”
He shoots me a frown. “Knowledge is power, Cora.” He straightens. “What brought you here?
“Knowledge.” I pull out a seat and take a load off. “Cain is coming for Samael. We believe he wants revenge for having been locked up in Purgatory for centuries.”
“You’re certain?” Conah looks unconvinced.
“He broke into a Magiguard beta site and took the super vamps,” Hunter says. “And a concentrated form of the reaper virus.”
Conah curses softly. “He’ll use it to clear a path to Samael.”
“Yes,” Uri says. “The Oracle in the Beyond was clear that if he isn’t stopped then a world will fall. I believe this one, but I don’t understand how Samael’s death could bring about the end of the Underealm.”
Conah lowers himself into the seat at the head of the table, his expression somber. “I do. There’s a story that young demons are told about the liberation of the Underealm from Satan’s grasp. The story speaks of the three fallen who went forth into the pit to vanquish the daemon who’d terrorized the Underealm and ruled with tyranny. It speaks of the unshackling of this world from the daemon’s grasp.”
“Unshackling?” Grayson asks.
“Legend has it that the Underealm was born from the beating of the high daemon, Satan’s, heart. That the echo created the mountains and the rush of his blood the seas. That the entity known as Satan was a primordial being as old as the divine himself.
“And with his last breath he spewed poison into the air to consume the land and undo all that was done,” he quotes. “The stories say that the poison was meant to spread all across the Underealm, killing everything and everyone. To stop it, Samael consumed Satan’s heart before it could cease beating. This halted the spread of the toxins and saved the Underealm.”
“That’s impossible,” Hunter says. “You’re saying Samael has two hearts?”
“I’m not saying anything,” Conah says. “I’m telling you the stories, that coupled with what the Oracle says, might have some truth in them.”
If Samael dies, his heart will stop beating and so will Satan’s and then… Then the Underealm will be undone.
“We can’t take any risks.” Uri says. “We need to get Samael to a secure location.”
“Samael’s gone,” Conah says. “He went to the pit with the others.”
“Shit,” Uri says. “Cain could arrive here at any time.”
“And Mammon is hovering on the horizon,” Conah reminds us. “We need to focus on the immediate threat. But we won’t be doing nothing.” He smiles. “Lilith didn’t sit idly by after the reaper virus devastated our population. She set the brightest minds to work on a vaccine, should the virus make its way to us.”