Page 81 of Crimson Soul
THIRTY-TWO
Lilith
Passing a paper filled with information about the heart to Baylor, I groaned. We’d been through all the files that were left in both Zelek’s and Mortala’s offices. “Why can’t we find anything about Mystia? He worked with her before. Surely there’d be something.”
“Zelek was smart,” Baylor said in his timid voice.
“Calculated,” Aziel added, rubbing his forehead as he bent over my shoulder to look at the scattered papers over the desk. “I don’t think he’d be stupid enough to leave shit like that lying around. When we were going through all that shit to get you back, he barely wrote anything down. He didn’t want a paper trail.”
“Fuck.” I leaned back in my chair. “You’re right.” My gaze followed the massive split in my desk that went completely through. It looked like it was broken and put back together and was poorly hidden under all the paperwork.
“I can’t believe you’re our Queen,” Baylor said with his cheeks turning pink. “There’s no one more deserving.”
“Damn right,” Aziel said, nipping at my earlobe.
“Mm,” I closed my eyes. I’d leave the desk situation for now, but I needed to figure out which hot head broke it.
“Lilith!” Thaddeus said as he broke through the portal.
Blaise and Kai came through escorting Mortala who was bound in torbernite shackles, thrashing around and slinging curse words to them.
I blinked, staring at my once sweet demon. He was feral now, his eyes blazing with hellfire that couldn’t be let out due to his restraints. Lifting my ass off the chair by pulling myself up from the desk, I strode over to them.
“What happened?”
“You threw my King into the heart of Hell!” Mortala’s voice was clipped, strained, and desperate. All of which shone in his tearful eyes.
“I threw my father, King Zelek, into the heart to pay for his crimes against the realms.” I crossed my arms. Blaise and Kai held him with a solid grip as he fought against them, baring his teeth at me.
“He brought you life! Not once, but twice!” As he shouted at me, drops of spit flew from his mouth.
Scrunching up my nose, my lips settled into a deep frown. Melancholy snaked around my heart as I stared at what was once a promising, young demon. “Mortala, I created you.”
“But that would’ve been impossible if it wasn’t for King Zelek!” He growled, a deep rumble that ripped from his chest, sending a chill of dread down my back.
My eyes prickled with heat as I blinked it away. “I’m sorry.”
“He was in the heart, helping Zelek escape. We were almost too late to stop him,” Thaddeus told me.
“If Bran and Orenn hadn’t come to help, Zelek would’ve been freed,” Kai said.
“Is that true?” I asked Mortala who met my gaze with intensity and nodded.
“I’ll save him as soon as I can!”
My chest ached as a numbness seeped through my veins. I knew what I had to do.
Taking a couple of deep breaths, I held my hands out and murmured an incantation. My small dagger with a blade of torbernite appeared in my hands. The dark green crystal blade twinkled in the red glow of Hell, and I wrapped my right hand around the silver handle with care not to prick myself. Even though I probably wouldn’t be affected now that I wasn’t a pure demon, I didn’t want to take any chances.
Mortala sucked in a sharp breath as all color drained from his face. His wide, black eyes stared into mine as he was at a loss for words. “You wouldn’t…”
I moved forward in one, fluid motion, too fast for him to react before I plunged the blade into his chest. The blade glided inside of his heart until the handle hit his skin.
Black tears flooded his eyes, pouring down his cheeks. “M—Mother, why?”
A rough breath out caused blood splatters to fly out of his mouth, and I reached up to cup his face. “I’m sorry, Mortala. I shouldn’t have created you to be so loyal to Zelek. Maybe if I hadn’t, you would’ve had a different ending.”
His orange skin turned gray before the flesh started flaking off, turning to ash. My thumb moved to wipe a tear away, but his cheek flaked off before his entire body crumbled to the ground in a fine gray ash with his clothes and the shackles he’d been bound with.
