Page 144 of Hellbound

The beast didn’t respond right away.

“It remains. That is its nature.”

Marian had to hold back tears. There were worlds of souls trapped here? Forever? Her father included. It wasn’t right.

“What,” she said in a quavering voice. “What even are you?”

The monster shifted in the dark, rising to sit up on haunches obscured by the murk. Another pair of limbs shifted behind the first—spindly things much unlike the wolf-like paws in clear view.

“Hexceit, the many made one. We bore the mark. Now we are the memory of the world that was. We released Va’hael when no others would, and now we await his return.”

Marian exhaled a slow, useless breath as the being’s words linked with a memory of Vale in that dark room.

Hexceit. “You were the mortals who betrayed him.”

A flash of monstrous teeth. “We endeavored to undo the damage.”

“To save yourselves.” Marian shook her head. “He can’t come back here. He no longer has that power.”

It’s mine now.

Hexceit cocked its horned head. “An oath was made. Death keeps it. All things must end, by his hand or another’s.” The cavern rumbled as Hexceit rose to stand. The ground trembled beneath Marian’s feet as the creature shook out a bedraggled mane.

“He has given you his memories. See.”

And then Marian saw.

The summer sun bathes Vale’s office in radiance. She sees through his eyes where he sits at his desk, fingers threaded together as he considers the haggard man standing before him. The man Marian now recognizes as her father.

“This will take time,” Vale says calmly. “The Argent stole more from me than I realized. My own memories are not trustworthy.”

Bennett Meyer paces between the armchairs that frame the view of the city.

“But they’re all we have. You may not know your own seal, but there has to be something you remember about where to find it.”

Vale didn’t remember his seal?

“If the memory survived, it will have assumed a form that will be unapproachable. There is nothing, not even thought, that the ixyura cannot corrupt.”

“I’ll find it. Tonight,” Ben replies, resolute. “We can’t afford not to. My spotter’s ready. I’ve got the drugs.”

“Won’t your family suspect—”

“That’s my business, not yours.”

Time rolls forward. Marian recognizes Vale’s home. Her father sits with him in the study. The mood is tense, and Ben Meyer can barely keep still. Vale tears a signed check from his book and hands it to the diver.

“And to think I won’t get to see a dime of it,” her father says ruefully.

“Alimony is expensive,” Vale drawls. “As are lawyers. I warned you, Arthur.”

“You did.” Silence. A long time passes before Bennett Meyer speaks again.

“She won’t let me visit anymore. I already bought a plane ticket.”

More silence. Vale rises slowly and turns to a shelf between the many books, where glittering bottles of spirits sit. He takes the bourbon and sets about pouring two glasses. He sets one in front of her father.

“Give it time.”