“Moloch.”
Orion started leading me through the rambling garden to the front door. Above us, a wooden shutter slammed forlornly against the stone window frame.
He slid his pale eyes to me as we approached the mansion. “The City of Thorns isn’t like your world. Here, magic imbues the air. Memories linger. Tragedy can wrap itself around the walls, the floors, the stone and wood. It stays there like a living and breathing thing. So if you are seeing things, I’m not surprised. This world was never meant for mortals, and even demons see things here sometimes.”
When we reached the door, I slid the key into the lock. And as my heart skipped a beat, I found that the lock turned.
I held my breath as the door swung open, revealing the inside of a palace, one covered in cobwebs. A cold shiver rippled through me as I took in the haunted beauty. Thin rays of moonlight streamed into a hall with towering ceilings. A white marble fireplace was inset into a wall, with a faded mural depicting lions and owls. Statues on columns stood around the hall, their faces smashed. The floor was a mosaic of deep blue and gold, with patterns of delicate rosettes, cracked in many places.
Once, this place would have gleamed with wealth and elegance, but even now, it had its own sort of beauty.
My pulse raced. “Orion?” I asked quietly. “Why would my mom have a key to this place? My mortal mom? Do you think she could have been a servant here at one point?”
“It hasn’t been inhabited in hundreds of years.”
I shook my head, trying to clear the fog from my mind. “Right. Of course.”
“Everyone always thought the duke disappeared during the purges.” His quiet voice echoed off the tile as he walked around the hall.
“And that was the last anyone has heard of him?” I asked.
“Maybe. About twenty years ago, a body was found in the gardens outside. The heart had been cut out, and the corpse had been burned beyond recognition. The rumors were that it was Duke Moloch himself, but no one knew how he ended up here, or where he’d come from. There could be Lilu who escaped, who live outside of the City of Thorns without their powers.”
A cool wind rushed into the room, rippling over my skin. Goosebumps rose on my arms. “Maybe my mom knew him.”
A disturbing thought crossed my mind. I’d never known who my dad was.
“And if he were alive,” said Orion, “Cambriel might have seen him as a rival for the throne.”
I thought I heard a creaking sound above me. When I looked up, I could just about make out the faded paint, a ceiling decorated with vines and ripe fruit. “Why would Moloch be a rival?”
“Long ago, the demons were ruled by a mad king named Azriel. He was obsessed with the idea of returning to the heavens, of reversing the loss in the heavenly wars. He called himself a god. He started killing his own subjects, burning them to death in the forests, ripping their hearts out. If he’d remained king, he could have slaughtered all of his own. He’d have done the mortals’ work for them.”
“He sounds terrifying.”
“It was Cambriel’s father, King Nergal, who challenged him to a trial by combat. By his family’s lineage, Nergal didn’t have much of a claim to the throne. But only the rightful heir can slaughter a king, and Nergal managed to do it. If our gods exist, they didn’t want the mad king to stay on the throne.”
I turned to look at Orion, frowning. “And the duke who owned this place—was he related to the mad king?”
Orion nodded. “Moloch was his bastard son.”
I closed my eyes, then rubbed them. “I’m just trying to process this. My mom—the normal, mortal mom I knew who made me macaroni and cheese and ate too many pizza rolls—she might have known the bastard son of a mad demon king.”
“That seems like a good summary.”
What. The. Hell? Why had she never told me about any of this? I’d spent my teenage years thinking my mom was sweet but boring.
How wrong had I been?
Chapter 35
I kept walking, exploring, hungry to know more. A breeze rushed in, and I crossed to look at a set of old wooden doors, which opened to a courtyard. Out there, arches surrounded a wild garden, and thorny plants climbed over columns and crumbling statues.
Had Mom ever been here?
As I looked out at the garden, puzzle pieces started sliding together in my mind.
I turned to look at Orion, my heart beating faster. “Mortana was born here, right? She was the granddaughter of the mad king. She had a claim to the throne. Maybe this explains some of Cambriel’s interest in her. There are two ways to conquer a rival for the throne, aren’t there? You can either kill them or marry them.”