II

DEATH

Time moved faster in Limbo.

According to the digital clock on my temporary communication portal between Limbo and Earth, which I'd created with an incantation, an hour had passed since my soul had been banished and sent to the realm of lost souls and memories. I had tried to contact Lucifer, but the dusty old coot was worse with technology than I was and hadn't picked up. Glenn could have helped, but the little crap had hung up on me. He'd get what was coming to him after I escaped.

When my soul had shot through Limbo, it'd landed in a mirrored version of Times Square. The rowdiest, flashiest area of New York. Limbo sucked the life out of the bustling heart of the city. Here, it was a dead land. Cold, gray, depressing as hell, and void of any life except for the distant moans and wails of lost mortal souls.

An ideal vacation spot, if not for my current circumstances.

"Call Ace," I commanded the incantation.

I'd placed the communication portal in the front window of a tourist store. The reflective glass rippled like silvery water as the warlock, my last resort, appeared in the reflection.

" Bonsoir , my old friend." Ace greeted me with a broad smile. He stood before a mirror as though he'd anticipated the call, and I ground my fangs. "You have gotten yourself in quite the dilemma on this mystical night. Another ghost from your past has perhaps awakened, and you are there. In Limbo. Imprisoned. Unable to feed, deteriorating, and poor Faith, votre amour . . . "

My already foul mood flared. He's getting a real kick out of this . I hadn't seen this clown in more than three hundred years. Not since Ace had declared himself neutral like the delicate flower that he was and severed all communication with Hell.

"I want out, Ace. What do you want in return?"

"The Book of the Dead ."

I boomed with laughter. "You're joking."

"When I caught word that you spared a mortal ten years ago, I'll admit I got curious." Ace steepled his fingers together, tapping his various rings against one another. "Curious enough to shift my store to Pleasant Valley. Now I believe I know the truth. Faith's family has a connection to the Guild, yes? Her mother's sister, Sarah Pierce, protects the Book of the Dead . But, like many before her, she cannot read it. Then I did a little more digging . . . "

"Did you dig your grave too?" I growled.

"Lucifer believes that Faith can read the grimoire—"

"Silence." Casting a sharp look at the dull wandering souls around me, I leaned my hand on the glass and lowered my voice. "If that gets out, I'll tear off your good leg and feed it to my hounds."

Ace smiled. In my blind rage, I'd just confirmed for him why the girl had been spared in the first place. I believed she was the prophesized soul that could read the Book of the Dead .

"All I need is one spell," Ace said. "One spell to reverse the black magic that has affected my leg. I have tried everything, believe me. I feel confident I will find the answer in the book. Ensure that I have a look at the grimoire with Faith, and I'll release your soul from Limbo and get you back into your body."

"Your price is steep," I hissed. "Even if I wanted to, I cannot make that promise. The book isn't mine to bargain."

"Then it appears you are out of luck."

It shouldn't have come as a surprise. I'd betrayed him in more ways than one. Nevertheless, the realization that Ace would leave me stranded set me off-balance. My mind teetered between righteous anger and something else, something far too pathetic to admit out loud. I truly had nobody.

"We were friends once," I said in a low, almost imperceptible murmur. "Some might even say brothers."

Emotion flickered over the warlock's face, vanishing like smoke. "That was a time when I could trust you. Trust that you wouldn't stab me in the back, and what did that get me?"

Ace's voice had grown rough and thick with emotion, the quick, jerky movements of his hands communicating hurt. All the weak, mortal emotion surfaced in him like gold in a river of opportunity, and an idea came to me. If Ace left me here, I was screwed. Which meant I needed to get creative and take what I wanted by force.

"If not for me, you'd be dead," I said, lifting my chin. "You would have remained fragments of burnt bones and ash. Don't forget how all of Rome turned on you, how they burned you at the stake, and I brought you back. I brought you back —"

"How dare you hang that over my head!" Ace shouted, and his violet eyes electrified to white, vibrating the portal. "I paid my debt to you. For centuries , you used me for my magic, and I let you, because I thought you were my friend. But the evil that has plagued your soul is incurably foul. You're manipulative, draining—a parasite in every sense of the word. Your mother, Gods rest her soul, would roll over in her grave if she knew what you've become."

I pounded my fist into the frame of the incantation. "Fuck you."

"No, fuck you, Alex." Ace smoothed his hair back with a heaving breath and collected himself. "It's been fun catching up. Real fun, but I have a ball to attend tonight, and I won't be late."

He started to pull back, and I knew exactly where to strike.

"Kalace, wait."

The warlock froze at his true name and evaded my eyes. I gripped the incantation on either side of me, shadow darkening the frame as I leaned toward the portal.

"You gave Faith my mortal name," I began in an imploring manner, "so you must care about her safety. If she doesn't die by my father's hand, then maybe it will be at Ahrimad's. Could you bear it? Letting an innocent die because of an old vendetta with me? I can save her, but not if I'm trapped here."

His silence told me he was not convinced.

"At least tell me if you've seen anything unfolding tonight," I said, hoping I wasn't laying on the pleading too thick.

Ace scrubbed a hand over his face. "Ahrimad will indeed be amongst the guests at D the next, she was there. Think it's a trap?"

Peering through the glass, I saw Faith's petite figure sprawled across her bed. I couldn't tell if her chest was moving, and Ace's stomach felt like lead. She couldn't be . . . dead?

Uttering rapid Latin under my breath, I dismantled the ward. Then I gripped her bedroom window and raised the pane.

"What are you doing? You'll incapacitate yourself."

Creatures of the night couldn't enter a mortal's house without permission.

"Ace is a neutral entity," I said. "Might be a loophole."

Thankfully, I was right.

I hurried to the bed and pressed two fingers to Faith's neck. Her pulse was very slow at first but quickened as I whispered her name. I suspected this was my father's doing. His mind control had exhausted her consciousness. She would come to soon.

I cast a glance at Leo. "Go to the ball. Say nothing to Lucifer yet. I'm handling this."

"Yes, my lord." Leo melted into the night.

I turned back toward Faith, my mood darkening.

She looked peaceful, porcelain . . . angelic.

And I wanted to make her fall.

Fall into my never-ending hell.

Time to get this show on the road .

Bracing my hand beside her head on the pillow, I leaned into the shell of her ear. "Awaken, my traitor."