Chapter 20

Waiting . . . always with the waiting.

Lily, or should I say Morgana, how could I have not known her real name?

I was waiting just outside Ashington Keep. The castle was a damn fortress, with its towering stone walls and flowing lava rivers. I could walk through them but then I'd be declaring war with the Cinder Clan, which would only trigger fallout with the Tempest Clan. The two clan leaders and their connection had always been a concern for Dacio. And now that I was standing outside of the lava castle waiting to gain entrance, I couldn't agree with him more. They were a major problem.

I paced back and forth, cursing that damn ferinx and the way it was attached to her. If it'd only known what she'd done to us all, it would change its allegiance in a heartbeat. I paced back and forth, stomping through veins of lava and letting it spray up toward me. But the heat never bothered me. It only took me moments to breathe free of the onyx she'd trapped me in. But it was the moments I'd wasted melting it back to lava that afforded her enough time to get away.

I should've killed her when I had the chance.

Before she could come back and betray us all once more. My love had made me blind once, but it would never again. Sitting here in the land of cinders and lava, it reminded me too much of the past and too much of what I'd witnessed. I hopped up on a boulder and sat there just staring at that castle, much like I'd stared after her before . . .

Wedding celebrations were in full swing for the vampire kingdom. King Valandril had taken a bride. None other than his son's secret lover. No one had known about the love between Varan and Rhode, but it'd nearly destroyed Varan when he'd seen her walking down the aisle toward his father. No one else besides me would"ve known the devastation he felt. As his best friend, I knew the secrets no one else would, but I also knew what it was to love without thought or reason. Lily had captured my heart totally and completely. I'd wanted her to come to the Court of Nightmares to live with me, but she refused, and deep down I was beginning to think she had something to hide. But I could understand Varan and his turmoil.

Even now he rotted somewhere, nursing his broken heart, while Valandril asked for supplies. The level of extravagance knew no bounds. I hauled a crate of goods through the tunnels in the shadow mountains toward Brimstone Castle. The opening was just ahead, and I could barely make it out in the darkness. The moons were my guide through the Forest of Fears and toward the castle. Shadows surrounded me as I wound my way through the trees. I'd grown used to the rustle of the trees and the fog creeping over the ground.

There were hues of silver light and deep reds peeking through the branches and casting eerie shadows over the ground. The sound of trickling water hit my ears and I froze. There was a pool only a few yards ahead, but this time of night there usually wasn't anyone in there. I slowed my pace and quieted my foot falls. The pool was a small distance away from the castle and surrounded by trees. If there was a couple looking for some privacy, this would be the place to do it. If Lily would agree to come home with me, I'd take her here and worship her body for the rest of eternity.

As if summoned from a dream, she appeared there just before me. I froze. Her hair was long and loose down her back in dark red waves. She wore a simple white peasant dress. I'd never seen her look so simple . . . so pure, and with no makeup on her face. The pool held the reflection of the moon and the light glittered off her face. My heart soared. she'd come here for me . . . finally. A smile spread across my face, and I was about to step out from the shadows.

"How is the temperature, my dear?" Valandril emerged from the trees closest to the castle in all his kingliness. He tossed his long dark hair over his shoulder and dropped his coat to the ground, then pulled his shirt over his head and dropped it too. His boots were next, and he headed to the water in only his pants.

NO! My mind screamed against the thought that he'd be with her, but I couldn't go away.

She murmured something in return, but I couldn't make it out. Valandril walked into the water and stood before her. She looked up at him and my stomach rolled. I didn't want to see this, didn't want to know what was about to happen. But I couldn't look away. He put his hand in his pocket and pulled something out. I squinted my eyes. It wasn't coin. It looked like a glowing branch or piece of root. He began to put the root into the water, and she reached for it, wrapping her hand around it as though helping him to place it in the water.

What the hell was it? What were they doing?

Blinding white light filled my vision and magic exploded out like a wave from the two of them in that pool of water.

I shook my head, trying to force her betrayal out of my mind, but I couldn't forget. She was there. She'd held his hand and helped him plant that root in his own pool. The explosion, the power, the change of all the vampires into demons . . . it was her fault. The wars that came after and the deaths of thousands across the world could be laid at her feet. We'd all lost so much, and she was the reason why. She played me for a fool and had loyalty to him. Sure, she'd sacrificed herself, but there was no doubt in my mind she knew she was coming back. I swore to myself fifty years ago I'd be ready for when she came back and would stop her. We were stuck in this life because of her. And now she was back. I didn't believe for one minute she regretted her actions. I suspected she would come back and would continue to do Valandril's bidding or have her own ideas of how to gain power. Lily, or whatever she called herself, could not be trusted . . . Not now . . . not ever.