With the air rushing over me, I raced to the northern wing, tracking Orion by his scent. Shouts echoed through the corridor as Jack barked questions at him.
Fury snapped through me, so sharp and hot I had to take care to temper it with cooler emotions. If I gave in to my rage, this place would turn to dust, and the grimoire along with it.
I was closing in on the drawing room, where iron bars blocked off a stately chamber. Pressing my back against the wall, I had a glimpse only of an antique rug and a stone fireplace, but I could smell Orion here. I desperately wanted to curl around him and keep him safe.
I could easily melt the iron if I had to, but I didn’t want to give them advanced warning. If they had their dart guns ready, this wouldn’t go well.
“Tell us how to get into the City of Thorns!” It was Jack’s voice, teetering on the edge of hysteria.
“I think we need to stop.” An unfamiliar voice. “If he dies, we won’t learn anything from him. A demon corpse is no good to us.”
I tried to block out the particular horror of that comment. Hidden from view, I clutched the book and the antidote tight, and I punched in the code: 1-4-8-6.
The iron gate slid up, and I shifted into the room. For a fraction of a breath, my brain registered what was happening.
Everything in the space looked expensive and luxurious—the antique furniture, the Persian carpet. Everything except the chains and the rickety wooden chair they kept Orion in.
To my left—my Orion, shirtless, pinned down. Jack had carved his body with symbols all over, and Orion’s blood streamed to the floor, pooling red.
Three hunters stood to my right, blood covering all of them.
A fraction of a breath later, I loosed a stream of fire that engulfed those three men, setting them ablaze.
Jack was too close to Orion to risk the flames, and he started running as soon as he caught sight of my fire. The pungent stench of Jack’s fear filled the air.
I’d be going after him, but I’d be healing Orion first. What was better than one ferocious Lilu hell-bent on vengeance?
Two Lilu hell-bent on vengeance.
But when I looked back at Orion, sadness welled in me, along with panic. They’d ripped him apart.
Was he even breathing? I rushed over to him, shaking with horror. They’d carved the word matricide into his chest in vicious slashes. What the fuck?
And it was a merciful thing that my sorrow for him dampened my fury at Jack, or everything around me would be tiny flecks of ash.
They’d carved swirls that looked like snakes…
I cupped the back of his head, and when his eyes fluttered open, relief swelled in my chest. Oh, thank the gods.
“Rowan,” he murmured. “You need to go.”
“Fuck, no.” I lifted the antidote to his lips. “Drink this.”
He’d lost so much blood, he was struggling to keep his head up, and he looked like he was going to be sick. But he managed to close his lips on the edge of the cup. I tipped it, and the earthy liquid slid onto his tongue.
At first, he nearly choked on it. He was barely swallowing, but then he closed his mouth, and I watched his Adam’s apple bob.
“Open, love,” I whispered. “It will make you feel better.” Mirroring Mom’s words, and Kas’s.
One tiny sip at a time, I let the potion slide into his open mouth. And when his eyes started widening to that ethereal blue—almost focused on me—joy lit me up.
“Orion,” I whispered. “Come back to me.”
I tilted the rest of the antidote into his mouth, and he swallowed it, stronger now. His eyes closed as he drank it down, and my gaze swept over his skin. As he finished the potion, his body was already starting to heal. The brutal carvings were disappearing as his demon strength and magic returned to him.
His head tilted down, and he stared at me, a fierce look in his eyes. “You came back for me.”
“Of course I did. I always will.” I slipped behind him. Gritting my teeth, I ripped through the chains that bound him. He slumped forward a little, resting his forearms on his knees. Blood still dripped from his arms onto the floor.
I knelt in front of him, peering up at his face. I’d never seen him look so exhausted. “Orion, I need to know this now.” I gripped his thighs. “If we can bring the Lilu back into the City of Thorns, do you promise that will be enough for you? Or at least that you won’t launch any preemptive attacks on the mortals to satisfy a centuries-old blood oath?”
He looked up at me, weary, a smile flickering over his lips. “I think I like your interrogation better than theirs, although you’re somehow more terrifying.”