Chapter 8

8

I n some way, this all felt like a dream. It wasn't reality that Lilith had been stolen out of her home by a demon king who was bent on possessing her for himself. She was just an oracle. A strange little creature that made everyone feel uncomfortable when she was around.

That was who she had always been. That was who her master had found, and that was what she had always been known as. No one wanted her . They wanted her power or her abilities, or they wanted to know their own future.

And yet this man had captured her for himself. Not because she could see his future. She'd told him multiple times now that there was no future to see. Not in the slightest. He was just a blank slate for her to stare into the abyss and see herself reflected back. A failure of an oracle because there was someone she couldn't see.

Still, here she was.

Lilith had thought going to sleep was the best option. She had snuggled up in the most comfortable bed she'd ever been in, and told herself that she'd wake right back up in the circus. Perhaps she would open her eyes and realize that she was lying on the stable floor. One of the animals had kicked her in the head because she trusted them too much. It was a threat she'd been told a million times.

So, for the night, she allowed herself to enjoy the conjured luxury. It was just a dream, anyway.

She'd told Envy that she didn't dream of a place like this. That she was happy in her old life, but that wasn't the truth. What woman wouldn't want to be here with him? Staring at those broad shoulders and smoldering green eyes for the rest of her life? But dreams didn't come true.

Lilith could hope and dream and pray her entire life, and that would never convince a man like Envy to want her. He was too handsome. Too powerful. Too wealthy. All the things that she was not. He would eventually look at her and realize he spit and shined gutter trash, but underneath all the polish was still a creature who was worthless in the end.

It was better for her to not suffer through seeing that realization dawn on him. Even her dreams could be cruel, and Lilith hoped she would wake up back in the stable and laugh at herself for such silly fancies.

Maybe she'd go to the healer to get her head looked at when she woke.

But she opened her eyes what felt like moments later, and all she could see was... Sunlight. Bright, glittering sunlight that illuminated the entire room until it was bathed in gold.

It really was a beautiful room. Even she had to admit that, no matter how much she hated being trapped in it. The golden light made it seem like she was in a garden. Like he'd built her a little haven in the middle of a nightmare, giving her a dream within a dream.

The tub at the end of the room was a lovely beast built into the ground. Or, she supposed, carved out of it. She could see a hint of scales within, and wondered if he'd carved a mermaid into the depths just so she could feel like she was swimming with magical creatures.

And yet, even with all these beautiful carvings and light, it was still a room that was just white. Pale and nothing. There were no plants. Nothing alive in the room at all. Just her in this cold, white room with plain brown blankets. A garden that had been frozen in its sleep.

She pinched herself. Hard.

"Still here then," she muttered, shaking her head before clambering down from the massive bed. There had to be a way out.

He wouldn't have created a room without a door, so she spent the rest of her morning searching for it. Lilith ran her fingers over every single mark on the walls. Every petal of every fake flower was touched, depressed, leaned on. She took her time on the bed, climbing up onto the mattress and even running her fingers over the ceiling.

Nothing moved at her touch. No shift or sense of magical release. Nothing at all. She was walking around, looking like an idiot, and all she could think was that she'd missed a petal.

But her stomach rumbled with hunger and she supposed it was maybe time to resort to more drastic measures.

Screaming.

She sat down on the center of the bed, tilted her head back, and screamed as loud as she could. The sound echoed around the room, but it had the sense of dullness to it. Like she was buried underground.

Then the panic set in.

What if she was buried? What if he'd put her so far beneath the earth that no one would ever find her? That would serve his purpose, wouldn't it? He had wanted her for himself and now she was buried in the heart of the kingdom. There was no door. No entrance, no exit, no way for her to get back to her home.

The screams were real now. She went from shouting in hopes that someone would hear her, to screams of madness as delirium set in. What if he had done the worst thing possible? What if she wasn't ever going to get out of here? What if, in the end of all this, she really had been kidnapped by a madman who only wanted her for himself?

But that was her reality, now wasn't it? She knew what kind of person he was. They all did. There were rumors about him the moment they entered into his kingdom.

Envy. The demon king who would take whatever he didn't have. Make sure you don't talk too loud about magic or power or anything unique. He would take it. He would steal it. He killed people for lesser things.

And now she was at his mercy.

"Screaming gets you nowhere," a raspy voice interrupted her spiral.

Lilith hiccuped, the sound swallowed up by her shock. She looked around her room to see a sparkle of faint blue light emerging from the back corner. Right through the stones, as though they weren't even there.

And then a bird stepped through it. The rock warped around her, and a branch of roses stretched out of the stone to give the bird a small perch to sit on.

She blinked at the massive raven, wondering at how it appeared... wrong. There was something off about the creature. Maybe it was the intelligence in its eyes that was more than the already smart ravens that she'd seen before. But this one tilted its head to the side, stared at her through one dark eye, and then started talking again.

"Screaming will only make him angry at you."

"Angry at me?" she repeated, as though she wasn't talking to a bird. "He kidnapped me. He stole me away from my home."

"I saw your home. Shit hole." The birds's feathers ruffled, rising around its neck until it looked even larger. "You're one of the lucky ones."

"I don't feel lucky."

"You should," it squawked before readjusting its feet. "You are taken care of, are you not?"

"I have seen zero care for me." She stood on the bed, gaining the high ground above the creature, now looking at her with suspicion. "What are you?"

"A bird."

"You are no bird."

The creature tilted its head again, looking at her through the opposite eye. "I'm a kind of bird."

"I have seen ravens before. I have seen them in this kingdom and in many others. They do not speak. They do not look at me the way you look at me, and they certainly do not come out of holes in the walls conjured by magic."

It snapped its beak. "I did not conjure the hole in the wall."

That's what the bird latched onto? Of everything she had just said?

"So the rest of it is true then," she murmured. "You are not a raven at all, are you?"

The creature snapped its sharp beak again, but it said nothing else. This time, it just stared at her like she already knew the answer to that question. And it was silly she was even asking.

Swallowing hard, she reached down near her feet for any kind of weapon she might find there. "What do you want from me?"

"Nothing. My lord wants something from you."

"What does he want from me?"

"Don't know."

There wasn't a weapon in sight. The man had been thorough making sure she wouldn't have any way to hurt herself, but he hadn't taken away her shoes. Heavy boots could do just as much damage if they were wielded by a strong hand.

Taking off her shoe, she brandished it at the bird. "Tell me why I'm here."

"You know why."

"No, I do not. I will throw this boot at you so hard that it takes all the feathers off your body. Tell me what he wants from me. Not that he just wanted to keep me for himself; we both know that's a lie. So what is it?"

She could see the slight hesitation in the bird. Like it knew her threat was real, but also that it knew the truth.

"My lord is coming to see you again. You should put the boot down."

"You should tell me what I want to know."

It opened its wings, and she knew that something terrible was about to happen. The creature would launch itself at her, all wings and claws and...

Her memory sparked along with anger. "You were in that corridor with me. You were the one who pushed me toward the other shadow creatures."

The bird froze. "Yes, I was."

"Why?"

"I do what my lord bids."

"You little... monster! You're just as bad as him!" She launched the boot at the creature. Nevermind that it would make her feel terrible later on, hearing it strike the avian flesh would make her feel better.

A hand appeared out of the air, ringed by a slight blue haze and grabbed the boot just before it struck the raven in the chest. She'd been hoping to see a plume of feathers.

But then the blue light expanded and out walked her nightmare. The man who had been the problem all along, and the one she would not allow to distract her with his touches this time. She would keep her wits about her. She would prove to him that she could protect herself.

Which was precisely why she'd already bent down to wrench the other boot off of her foot before he'd even walked through the portal.

"Don't—" Envy said, but he didn't get to finish the sentence before she'd whipped her other boot at him.

With a wave of his hand, an energy shield appeared. Her boot bounced harmlessly off of it, but it did seem to make him furious. His eyes flashing, he pointed at her with a growl.

"Stay where you are, oracle."

As if she was going to do that.

Launching herself from the bed, she scooped up her boot and backed up toward the tub. "Let me go," she snarled, holding the boot in front of herself like it was a sword. "You can't keep me here."

"That's exactly what I intend to do. And just what are you going to do with a boot, Lilith?"

"I will bludgeon you with it."

"That will not happen." He took another step toward her. "Please, just put the boot down and let me talk to you."

"I don't want to talk to you. I don't want to be anywhere near you. I want to go back home. Didn't you say that you want to give me my every desire? Well, I want to get out of here. I don't want to be a captive."

"You are not a captive." He ducked as she launched the boot.

Lilith could see the anger sizzling in his body. His eyes flashed, and then he lunged for her. She stepped into the pool of water behind her, sloshing through it to the deeper end. "I will drown myself."

"As if I would let you."

"You'd be surprised what a dedicated woman can do." She had plans. If she couldn't drown herself, she could wet her shirt enough to still suffocate. It would take a long time, and it would be a gruesome death, but it was certainly better than being his slave.

His anger only grew. Obviously, he didn't like the idea of his toy being taken away from him.

He took an aggressive step toward her, then rested his knee on the edge of the pool. "I will tie your arms and legs to that bed. I will leave you there alone, with no way to move, and only me to rely on for food and water. I will force you to stay alive and make you spew prophecies for whatever person I wish to have them. Or I will let you live as you wish to live. On your own, able to move, eat, and talk without my permission. This is your choice."

"That is not a choice," she whispered.

He leaned down and dragged his fingers through the water. It cooled around her, turning cold as ice. Shivers wracked her body even as her breath frosted in front of her lips.

"I am infinite," he said quietly, but his words were ever so powerful. "I am limitless. I am your god, Lilith. You can either worship me, or be worshiped. I care little which you choose. But those are your only choices."

He stood, all broad shoulders and power radiating out of his body in a way that made her shiver even harder. He stared at her like she was a worm. Less than a worm. Like she was something already dead that he'd stepped on and now it was her fault that she clung to him.

"Do not attack my servants," he said, his voice deep and low. "They are here for your protection, and I will send them to you when I cannot come to you myself. They are an extension of me. An attack against them is an attack against me. And I think I've made it perfectly clear what will happen if you attack me."

She stared at him with her jaw slightly open, unsure of what she wanted to say to him. This was... wrong. He was so wrong and evil and nothing like she had thought he would be.

"Use your words," he snarled.

"I understand."

"If you try to kill yourself, I will just bring you back. Death holds no safety for you."

And with that, he disappeared. Leaving her alone again in an icy pool of water and her thoughts that threatened to drown her more than the pool did.