Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 144404 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144404 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
“Lady Sloane is pregnant,” I pointed out. Despite that piece of my soul that was missing, I proved I could still feel some guilt. I’d sent my bestie to Lucifer’s realm to soak up a bunch of energy that would make it possible for her house to go on the lam.
That sounded stupid when I really thought about it.
“He could want to kill Lord Sloane so he could take over easily, though he would have a better hold on the realms if he had a grandchild. Demons take their lineage seriously,” Lilith explained. “Can you be certain they were going after Lady Sloane? Or were they sent to simply create chaos and point a finger my way? Have you asked the house what it saw?”
“The house doesn’t exactly like me,” Casey admitted with a frown. “It likes to make my life hard.”
A curious look came over Lilith’s face. “Why would it do that? You understand that the house isn’t exactly sentient in a way we understand. Think of it more like a giant spell meant to protect and harbor the inhabitants. I’ve heard the humans now have smart houses. It’s a bit like that.”
“I thought the house could take form,” I heard myself say, suspicion creeping along my skin.
Lilith stared at me. “Form? What do you mean?”
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.