Red Blooded (Page 53)
“So what does that mean?” I asked. “The Prince filed a complaint with the magistrate because he had his own agenda?” That wasn’t exactly surprising. “According to this, he went against his own law to lure me here.”
“Not exactly,” Lili replied. “Demons are wordsmiths of the highest degree. That piece of paper does indeed accuse you of crimes. It makes me wonder, however, why he would go to such great lengths to get you to come here. But either way, the Prince has fulfilled the prophecy by luring you here. If you had not arrived, there would be no uprising.”
“That’s what I’ve tried to tell the Prince all along, but he’s too pigheaded to understand. If he would’ve left me alone, none of this would’ve happened. Now I want to know what the new Scriptures say,” I said pointedly, arching an eye at Lili. “That’s information we desperately need.”
“I told you already,” she answered, appearing uncomfortable once again. “I cannot tell you the exact wording, it is forbidden.”
“Forbidden why? And what do you care?” I said. “You’re only half demon and you want to leave this plane behind and never look back. Why would you worry about protocol now?”
“It’s not protocol, it’s superstition,” she replied. “Demons are highly superstitious about only a few things, and repeating the Scriptures to a non-demon is one of them. If I tell you, I potentially place a hex on the Underworld. I won’t do it, so don’t ask me.”
I begrudgingly understood superstition. Wolves are highly superstitious about many things, including myths and legends, which had made my life much harder than it needed to be for a very, very long time.
“Fine,” I said, crossing my arms. “Don’t tell us in exact words, just give us an idea. Paint a picture.”
Her face was grim. “Fine, you win.” She strode over to a far wall in the room and turned. “It says that your being here will ignite a civil war, and once that war is over, there will be a new rule and that’s it in a nutshell.”
“You’ve already said as much,” I retorted, unimpressed. “And the Prince happened to find out about these new Scriptures after you showed them to the Princess? Not before? Correct?”
“That’s correct,” Lili said. “I didn’t tell him. He was not supposed to have this knowledge, but it was somehow leaked. The other demons who discovered this secret were very nervous and afraid of his wrath.”
“But if my presence here was supposed to ignite a war, why would the Prince think parading me around in front of the court was a good idea? Why not keep me locked up where no demon could see me? Keep it all under wraps and keep an eye on me?”
“He is prideful.” She shrugged. “And I may have told him… a few lies once he had me arrested.” She smirked. “He could not find the new Scriptures, because I had hidden them well, so he interrogated me as to what was in them—and I told him… some truths and some falsehoods.”
“So you basically made up enough stuff to make sure a war would indeed start,” I said. “And you took me through the Sholls, and everything else, to make sure we ended up where we needed to be? That seems risky on your part.”
“I took you through the Sholls because your only objective was to get to your brother. There was no other way. And if you remember, we did find him. I didn’t have an ultimate plan at the time, but I knew if we didn’t leave this plane immediately you would be apprehended sooner.” She shrugged again. “It didn’t really matter to me, because I believe wholeheartedly in the Scriptures. Whatever is meant to happen, will. It’s that simple.”
“Simple my ass.” I stood. “You could’ve told me what was at stake from the very beginning, especially if you wanted to earn my trust. You did no such thing.”
“I earned your trust by repeatedly by putting myself at risk,” she argued. “How else would I go about it? Everything I’ve done thus far has been for your betterment.” Her eyes pulsed in her anger.
“You stuck your neck out for your own cause, and nothing more,” I answered. “Don’t fool yourself.” I waved my hand in the air, dismissing the conversation. “We’re not getting anywhere with this and we need to move forward. I ignited a war, the damage is done, and now I want to prove that I don’t want anything more to do with Hell by helping the Princess ascend to the throne, and then I want to go home. In that order.”
“The only way to do that will be to convince the demon population that you seek no rule while the Princess announces the new Scriptures into law,” she said firmly.
Before I could question how we were supposed to do that, Ray’s voice floated into the room. Then he shouted. “What do you mean leaving? Where in the hell are you going to go?”
21
“Anywhere but here,” Selene replied in a haughty tone. “I have my soul back, but not my magic. I’m going to force them to give it back to me.”
I walked into the foyer, followed by Rourke and Tyler. Ray and Selene stood glaring at each other. “Selene,” I said patiently, interrupting them. “That’s not how things are going to work.” I gestured to the still-very-dead doppelganger lying on the floor. “She had your power and magic. I felt it. If it didn’t revert back to you, there’s a reason.”
When the Alpha or leader of a Sect dies, oftentimes their accumulated power seeks out the next in line, making the new Alpha or master the strongest of their kind. I had no idea what happened with true immortals—gods and goddesses were the very strongest of our kind, and if Selene’s power did not willingly go back to her there was likely no way she could reclaim it.
“As a goddess, it should’ve gone back to you,” Rourke said, mirroring my thoughts. “There’s nowhere else for it to go. So, like Jessica said, there must be a damn good reason why.”
“But it’s not fair. I need to heal and they need to pay for this,” she snipped.
“Marching back into the belly of the beast is not the way you want to handle this,” I told her. “You’re still their property, lest you forget. They will toss you into a cell and keep trying to kill you. Or make a new clone. Or something equally hideous.” I couldn’t believe I was arguing with Selene about keeping her safe. It was like my worlds had collided. My wolf growled.