“Perfectly understandable,” the vampire acknowledged. “Allow me to explain.” He produced a small cube and Hadrian realized it was a jeweler’s ring box. He tossed it to Hadrian who caught it but didn’t immediately look inside. He wasn’t sure he should. “I’d take care of that now, if I were you. When she finds out that I chose not to keep my end of the deal, things may get ugly.” He nodded at the box. “You don’t want that to fall into the wrong hands.”
Hadrian opened the box and stared at the glittering sliver of ice. It was another splinter, probably with identical powers to the one that had melted from Rania’s heart. “The Dark Queen wants her assassin back,” he guessed and the vampire inclined his head. “She sent you to deliver this.” Sebastian nodded again, even as Hadrian indicated to Rania that she should back away. “Why are you breaking the deal?”
“Let’s just say I prefer an alternative solution,” Sebastian said. He nodded once, then pushed aside the coffee mug, his lips drawing to a resolute line. When he looked up again, his gaze burned. “Sometimes, something—or someone—has to change.”
He put a strange emphasis on the last word, but Hadrian didn’t want to know the vampire’s secrets. He had a lot to do and an invasion of Fae to plan, with his destined mate by his side.
First things first. He closed his hand over the box, feeling the splinter begin to melt.
Thirteen
Semyaza.
Sylvia went through all the online resources she could find, and accessed the academic archives, too. She checked obscure print books in the library collection, doctoral theses, research and new translations. She chased down every lead, compiling information, sources and cross-indexing as she worked. She loved every minute of the hunt, even though it took her a while.
Semyaza was said to be the leader of the fallen angels who had descended to Earth to couple with mortal women. Two hundred angels of the heavenly host had accompanied him—they hadn’t just mated with women, they’d taught mortals a wide array of skills and shared hidden knowledge.
His name meant ‘he who sees the name,’ meaning the name of God.
In the Book of Enoch, Semyaza was the leader who doubted that the renegade angels, despite their desire to seduce mortal women, really would foreswear the celestial realm. Those rebels were called the Watchers—or the Grigori—and they swore an oath together to descend to earth and satisfy their lust.
Their sons were called giants, or the Nephilim, and proved to be a destructive generation. The Watchers themselves indulged in every pleasure and crime, and became a plague on human society.
They did, however, teach men sorcery, metallurgy, weaponry, medicine, seductive ornamentation and the use of cosmetics, and more. This incurred the wrath of God, who sent his angels to compel the Watchers to battle each other and their sons, then bound the survivors in a valley for seventy generations. God then sent the flood to cleanse the lands of their corruption.
Sylvia wondered whether that was the whole story or not.
Variations of Semyaza’s name, depending on the source, included Semyaz, Sahjaza, Semjaza, Shamazya, Semiaza, Shamchazai, Shamhazai, Shamiazaz, Azza, Ouza, and Amezyarak.
One source said Semyaza was tempted by the maiden Ishtahar to reveal the explicit name of God.
Another declared that he remains suspended between Heaven and Earth as punishment for his transgressions. He is said to be constantly falling, with one eye shut and the other open, aware of his plight but unable to affect it. He now hangs, head down, and is the constellation of Orion.
The Book of Enoch said that Azazel had taught men the arts of metallurgy, while Semyaza had taught them of enchantments and root-cuttings.
Enchantments were magick.
Sylvia knew that magick and medicine were two sides of the same coin in many societies. She considered her note, then turned the long white feather in the light. She thought about Mel calling Sebastian the Watcher, about him being present when the fallen angel emerged from Fae with Maeve’s book, waiting for that quest to be completed. She recalled his comment about several thousand years on this spinning rock, then had to acknowledge his interest in mortal women, given her own experiences with him.
He said he hated magick.
Hate was so often the flip side of love. Sylvia had to wonder whether Sebastian was the tutor she needed to master her inherited skills. If he’d been the first instructor in the dark arts, he was the original source.
How had he become a vampire? Sylvia smiled, guessing that there had been a woman involved. What was in his library? She had to believe he had some great books, if he was willing to do anything to regain access to them. She understood that need, very well.
She sat alone in her basement office, studied the feather, and wondered just what it would take to find out Sebastian’s story. She wanted to know the truth. She was sure it would have a price.
But Sylvia Fontaine was ready for both risk and adventure.
She’d go to Reliquary and if she couldn’t find Sebastian himself, she’d talk to Micah. Someone had to have some idea where she could find the vampire who had captivated her so completely.
The Pyr conferred and Rania watched their plan come together. Sebastian had gone to the spare room behind the office, presumably to sleep for the day. Rania was glad the vampire was gone. She didn’t trust him any more than she thought Hadrian did.
Alasdair had set up a virtual meeting, with all of the Pyr logging in. It was amazing to Rania to realize that there were so many dragon shifters, and inspiring to see how determined they were to work together.
Hadrian wanted to get into the treasury soon and Rania knew she could deliver him there. Donovan’s gloves had been destroyed in the fire, but Quinn was finishing up his first batch of the new ones. He surprised them all with the confession that he’d been inspired by Hadrian’s methods to change things up. He was going to send two pair overnight to Alasdair and Balthasar, then the rest to New York as soon as possible. He thought he could finish enough pair by Thursday for the participating Pyr. Theo said he’d talk to Murray about arranging an emergency meeting at Bones to talk to the Others about joining the invasion of Fae. The details of what to do once they were in Fae were being hotly debated.
Rania was wondering how Hadrian would avoid detection in the Fae armory, when he took Alasdair’s notepad and began to write. When he was done, he spun it around for Rania to read his note.
Your mother suggested that I could destroy the gem of the hoard by freezing it.
Rania blinked. Of course, he could. And that would eliminate Maeve’s hold over the magick, which would give them all a fighting chance. She met his gaze, letting him see her excitement and he grinned.
It made sense that they weren’t having this conversation aloud. There should be no chance of Sebastian overhearing and potentially reporting it back to Maeve.
She took the pen from his hand and wrote.
Sebastian was supposed to deliver that splinter of ice: Maeve is going to believe I’m on her side. We can use that.
Hadrian read her note and nodded. She took the pen back and wrote a bullet list.
1. I’ll take you into the Fae armory so you can start melting weapons. How can you avoid detection?