Chapter 13

13

L ilith wasn't sure how long she stayed in that room after she drank the tea. It was a strange feeling to be locked away like this. In some ways, it was nice. No one entered or exited the room other than Envy. He came to visit her three times a day with food and water.

Each time was a little different from the last. He always asked how she was doing, and she could feel his gaze sweeping over her entire body as though he wasn't sure if she was telling him the truth about how she really felt.

But then he would leave her food and disappear back through the portal.

Having time to herself was nice. No one was around to tease her power into trying to escape from her body, and the drink had helped her gain control again.

However, it left her with a lot of time to think. And if there was anything she had learned about this strange ability of hers, it was that thinking was dangerous.

Because soon enough, usually about a week, the need would rise inside her again. She would need to tell someone their future. She would want to disappear into their lives and prophesize what would happen to them. There were so many desires in her body that she wasn't sure what to do with herself. So instead of fighting it, she just gave in.

The power in her sighed, knowing that it was going to get what it wanted. She hadn't heard it so pleased with her in a very long time. It took control over her movements, leading her limbs to the small wardrobe that Envy had delivered at the beginning of this last week. It was full of items for her to wear.

But one in particular always caught her eye. It was a white dress, simple and peasant like. A tight bodice with short sleeves, and a simple pleated skirt that would fall to her ankles. She still had her boots, maybe because he thought she would feel more comfortable with a weapon she could throw at him.

The thought made her snort with laughter. Boots wouldn't hurt that man, no matter how much she wished they would.

"What are you up to?" she asked, still following the natural inclination to get dressed and lace up her boots.

But then again, her power wasn't a separate part of herself. It was a lovely little thing that flitted through her form and told her body to move when it wanted, and that was about it. They were the same person, but not quite. There was always a natural instinct that she had learned to follow. Even if it made little sense in the moment.

Lilith stood in an awkward corner of the room, waiting. For what? She hadn't figured that out yet, but clearly she was supposed to be standing here. Or actually, just one more step to the right.

And then a portal opened in front of her. It must be time for Envy to bring her food, and that must mean...

Now , something in her whispered.

She stepped through the portal at the same time he was coming through. Pain exploded throughout her body, but she grit her teeth knowing that freedom was just on the other side. Even though it felt like her entire being was slowly unraveling, Lilith knew she had to keep going.

She had the vague sense of him moving through her, around her, beyond her, into the room that waited for him. How strange it was to have been inside another person before popping out on the other side of the portal and into what looked like a well-used office.

Lilith didn't spare any time. She took the cloak that was hanging on a stone coat hanger and wrapped it around herself before striding out into the hall like she'd been here a dozen times.

Considering the opulence of the rooms she'd previously been in, Lilith had expected the rest of the castle to be beautiful. Every attention to detail in her room had led her to believe this place was carved by the finest artisans. Instead, the hallway was little more than a hole carved in stone. There were small crevices in the walls where flickering orbs illuminated the shadows, but that was it.

No carvings. No beauty. Just... utilitarian.

She poked her head into the first room that she came across and found it was entirely empty. Just a stone room, empty and blank of anything. The next room was the same.

And then she realized she had to hurry. Already there was a sense that Envy was about to follow her. He'd realized that she wasn't hiding anywhere in her room by now. Probably he'd think she had killed herself first. That was the easiest guess. He'd look in the bathing pool first, only to find that her body wasn't floating there. Then under the covers. Perhaps underneath the bed.

But there weren't a lot of places to hide from his gaze in that room, and he was a clever man. He'd realize what had happened soon enough.

She wasn't quick, either. She felt his presence behind her long before she wanted to. He was breathing hard and his footsteps were far too angry to not echo down the halls.

"What do you think you're doing?" he boomed, the sound of his voice bouncing off the walls as he moved in front of her.

"Going out," she replied, side-stepping his arm that had snuck out to grab at her.

"You aren't permitted to go out ."

"I think you'll find an oracle needs very little permission to do most things," she muttered, before walking around him again. "I'm going out."

"I told you to stay in your room," he snarled. His face had reddened with emotion, the peaks of his cheeks burnished with anger and his jaw a little sharper than usual.

"Couldn't." Lilith started down stairs that had no railing and seemingly disappeared into the darkness. Were those clouds in that void? Was it so deep that clouds could form?

"Get back to where I put you!"

She turned on the stairs, glaring at him with every ounce of anger in her body. "No!"

Her shout echoed with his, spiraling down the stairwell and getting lost in those clouds. They both breathed hard, staring each other down as though the other would break first. It wasn't going to be her, though.

Finally he sighed and rolled his gaze to the ceiling. "Fine," he muttered. "But I'm coming with you."

She hadn't expected that. But she was supposed to have someone with her. At least, that's what her master had always said. She didn't have much knowledge of why that was, or if people would try to kidnap her, or...

This man had taken her. She had a feeling other people would want to do the same.

Turning on her heel, she started down the stairs again. Down and down they went, silently walking until they reached the bottom level. She glanced up the way they had come, still breathing hard and feeling a drop of sweat traveling down her spine. The stairs seemed to go up forever, obscured as they were by the clouds above them.

"How do you climb these every day?" she muttered.

"I don't." He gestured with his hand, blue sparks flying at the tips. "I create portals."

"Then why have so many stairs? Why have stairs at all?"

"People still come to meet with me. They ask for an audience, and then I make them climb." He grinned, that expression all too feral.

"That's cruel."

"Perhaps. But asking for help from someone else shouldn't necessarily be easy. Should it? Especially if you're asking a demon king for his help."

She supposed that might make sense, but she didn't have to like it. Frowning, she stared out of his castle and allowed her senses to guide her. There was a particular need inside her. A person who needed their future told because they were about to step off the path that they were supposed to travel on. The tug yanked at her belly, jerking her this way and that until she knew the exact direction to go.

They walked through the quiet streets, everyone seemingly in their homes. The houses here were prettier than she had seen before. Stately stone homes with warm glowing windows from the fires within. But even that semblance of wealth disappeared rather quickly. Soon enough, they were back in a city where she was much more comfortable.

These homes were smaller. Squat and heavy, they were the kind of buildings that survived any storm, earthquake, or worse. They were stalwart in their position and nothing would change that. Not even the demon king who strode beside her with a frown on his face and a glare for anyone as they walked by. Not that they crossed more than two living souls who skittered to the other side of the street.

"Do you have to look so cross?" she asked, keeping her voice a little quiet. "You're scaring everyone."

"Good. They should be afraid."

"That is not how oracles work."

"Oh, your old master told me all about that," he grumbled. "You're supposed to have a trained carer and a hundred other minutiae specific to your treatment. You don't get to tell me what to do, sweetheart. I'm in control here."

She smiled at him, amused by the sudden posturing. "Is that so?"

"It is," he growled.

"Ah." The tug pulled her toward a house. Perhaps a little dirtier than the other homes in this area, it was still quite well made. There wasn't any glass in the windows, just tight fabric drawn across it. But there was a warm light underneath the door that was pretty enough.

She could feel the person who needed to see her was inside that room. She'd finally made it. After all this walking and wandering, she was in the right place.

"Lilith," Envy grumbled as she strode up the front door and placed her hand on the knob. "What are you doing now?"

She wasn't sure. So she just shrugged and said, "What feels right."

Into the house she walked, drawing her hood back to look around the interior. It was really bare bones. Just a wall of cots on one side, singular and only big enough to fit a small person at best. The warm light came from what still looked like a working wood stove, with a small kettle of tea on it. But the strange thing about the rest of the home was that it was filled with children.

Not a single adult was in the room. Just hollow cheeked little ones who looked at her with a healthy dose of fear and worry as she strode through the door.

"Who are you?" A voice called out. A crumpled form on a cot rose, taller than the others, but still not entirely tall enough to be considered a woman. The girl was dirty from head to toe, her greasy dark hair hanging in hanks around her face. She wasn't taking care of herself, clearly. But considering the way the other children looked at her, Lilith had a sneaking suspicion that this young woman was the one who ran the place.

"My name is Lilith." She looked around the room, hoping to see some hint of food. There was none. Just the kettle on the stove that hadn't quite started hissing yet.

"What are you doing here?"

"Looking for someone."

She had just narrowed her eyes, trying to feel the desire in her chest as it pushed a little harder, only for all the children to freeze. And she knew the shadow darkening their door was the one they feared. Not her.

Sighing, she let the power seek what it wanted, and she realized it was the young woman who had stood. She was the one who needed to know her future. The one who needed to hear what an oracle had to say.

"Envy?" she asked, her voice light and airy. "Can you perhaps take the children into the corner over there and entertain them while I speak with this young woman?"

He leaned down to murmur in her ear, "How does one entertain children?"

She shrugged. "Shadow puppets?"

He gave her a look that said he didn't appreciate the sass, but then he pointed to the corner. All the children scrambled. They must know who he was, because he clearly terrified them. He only made it worse as he tilted his head to the side and cracked his neck. The snap filled the room and made the littlest ones flinch.

"Envy," she hissed.

He gave her another look before striding over to the children and reaching for a tattoo at his neck. Peeling it out of his skin, he set down a small black cat. "It can eat anything. Give it something."

The children hesitated before a brave one lifted a rock from the floor and handed it to the fuzzy black cat. Which promptly unhinged its jaw and swallowed the rock whole.

At the sound of marvel, she turned to the young woman.

"Sit," Lilith said, her voice already deepening with the need for the future.

"Why?"

"Neither of us know yet. Isn't that exciting?" She tried to smile, but then realized how unnerving the words were. So she kept her mouth shut and just gestured.

Mist was already rising from her skin. It stretched in little wisps toward the young woman, reaching for her even though Lilith tried hard to not let it. At least until the girl was sitting down on the cot opposite.

Haunted eyes stared at Lilith, the darkness in them having seen far too much. "You're the oracle, aren't you?"

"I am."

"How did you find me?"

"I didn't. Your future did." She held out her hand for the other to take, hoping that she would do so without hesitation. "Would you like to know what I see? I think it's important."

It was the first time she'd ever asked someone outside of a performance if they'd like to see their future, and it seemed... right. Like this was how it should have been from the beginning.

The girl didn't respond. She just put her hand in Lilith's and every ounce of her magic dug into the girl's skin, sinking into the future that had been so important for her to see.

Words spilled from her tongue. A future that was powerful indeed. The most powerful woman in the underground of this kingdom. She was required to stay on this path, though, no matter how hard it was. To watch her siblings die. To see the people she loved most wither in front of her eyes.

But that rage, that survival instinct, all of what she would learn, was important. Because when she was older, she would run the most impressive brothel in the city. And with those women, ones she would give a home and a job and actual money, they would also kill all the men who treated them wrong. They would slit their throats in the beds where they came for pleasure. In doing so, she would make this kingdom a better place. From the bottom up.

And when she finished, the mist coming back into her body with one swoop that made her dizzy, she met the young woman's gaze. They stared at each other, two powerful women, one who would be, and one who currently was.

Then the young woman smiled. "I look forward to the destruction, oracle."

Lilith smiled in return. "I look forward to watching."