37. Chapter Thirty-Seven

Mordecai was losing it. Furniture lay in pieces, some of the guards had been maimed and I was doing my best to keep my distance. He was wild. Ferocious. Caught up in a whirlwind of rage and I didn’t want to be a casualty of it. I kept trying to find a way to leave, but he was keeping me close. Watching me.

Ever since Lori had left, he’d been on edge, seemingly walking the line between sanity and psychosis. His mind was unravelling, and I wondered whether it was because he was just crazy, or whether he’d had some connection with Lori that kept his mind tethered to her and, now that she was gone, so was his sanity.

“We need to move faster,” Camael said, his silver eyes narrowed to aggressive slits. God his armour was fucking shiny. It was difficult to look at, like staring into the sun. Did the guy not own normal clothes?

Mordecai growled at him. “I am going as fast as I need to. You’re the one who fucked up the plan. All you had to do was wait one more day.”

“I couldn’t wait. They were close to finding out what was happening.”

“It wouldn’t have mattered,” I said, drawing both sets of eyes towards me. “They’ll all be dead soon anyway.”

Camael’s lips pressed into a white slash. He didn’t like that part of Mordecai’s plan. He just wanted to save everyone, whereas Mordecai wanted to kill everyone and start again using Lori to help him create his perfect world. My hunch was that Camael was only helping Mordecai because he thought he could get rid of him if he became Divine. Which in itself was mad. Did Mordecai really think he could just get rid of the Divine One?

“I need her,” Mordecai said, his voice tinged with desperation. “She’s the key. With her blood and power, I will be able to create anything I want.”

“So, you really are going to kill her?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said with a sneer. “If she dies, Lucifer dies. If Lucifer dies, Hell will be mine. As a Triune, she has the gift of the life spark and that will be mine, too.”

The guy was fucking crazy, and I was pretty sure that wasn’t how a life spark worked.

“The Blood Moon is tomorrow,” Camael said. “Is everything in ready?”

“Yes. I just need to lure Lori and her merry band of assassins to their deaths and then we can burn the world and create a new one from its ashes.”

I wasn’t sure about that either, but I wasn’t going to argue with a mad man. “What do you need me to do?”

His smile was wide, and I suddenly feared the words that were going to come out of his mouth. “Don’t worry, Iver. I’ve got a special task just for you.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. “Lucky me.”

“I need you to tell Lori exactly where the cemetery is. I don’t trust you, and I don’t want you around to fuck with any of my plans.”

Camael sniggered and I wanted to slap that grin off his righteous face.

“He doesn’t trust you either, dickhead. The only person Mordecai trusts, is himself.” I turned to the vampire. “Give me the co-ordinates, and I’ll get her there.”

Mordecai laughed; his red eyes bright with something violent as he wrote the details on some parchment. “Here. Use the portal. She’s in Strigavallis. Feel free to tell her whatever you like, I know she will come anyway because that’s just the kind of martyr she is.”

I snatched the parchment out of his hand and walked away before he could change his mind.

The portal spat me out at the outskirts of the castle. I ran up the front steps and went to ring the doorbell, but the large wooden door swung inwards before I got the chance.

A man in a dark green livery opened the door. He was clean cut, well put together and extremely miserable. “Welcome, my name is Elias, and I am here to escort you to the Queen. They’ve been expecting you.”

“Expecting me?” I didn’t even know I was coming here until a few minutes ago, how the Hell did anyone else know I’d be here?

“Yes. Her Majesty has the help of a Seer and she advised of your return. If you’d follow me.” Elias stepped to the side and waved me through the doorway. I was a little apprehensive. Was this a trap?

I crossed the threshold and paused, waiting for something to happen but when it was evident that I wasn’t going to be cursed or maimed I continued after Elias. He walked me into a room that was huge, I mean who the fuck needed a room this fucking big?

The witch I’d met back at Lori’s home was sat on the throne, a crown atop her red hair and a pinched expression on her face. Well, that’s a new development and something Mordecai wouldn’t know. Interesting. I wondered if that would count in Lori’s favour.

“Hello again, Iver,” Jasper said as he walked towards me, his hand extended.

I shook his hand. “Well, you’re certainly looking a lot healthier than the last time I saw you.”

“Feel it, too,” he replied with a laugh before his expression sobered. “Your being here can’t be good.”

“No,” I said, “I need to see Lori. I have—”

My heart stopped.

There, walking through the door was Iveri. But how? How was that possible?

She walked arm in arm with Lori, her smile wide and warm. She looked happy. Free. I couldn’t believe my eyes. She was there, right in front of me and I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think.

A noise wrenched itself from my throat, something between a gasp and a sob, and her eyes met mine for the first time in centuries.

Her smile dropped. “Iver… what are you doing here?”

Was she not happy to see me? Had I changed? Had she? Fuck, I needed to touch her, to hold her, to just—

“I have to go,” she said, before turning on her heel and fleeing, leaving me staring after her completely speechless.

“Give her a chance,” Lori said, sympathy lacing her words. “She’s been through a lot.”

“Yes. Um…” I pulled the paper from my pocket and thrust it at her. “This is for you.”

“Thanks,” she replied. I went to move past her, but she grabbed my elbow and halted my steps.

My gaze found hers and there was a reluctance buried in them. “What is it?”

She pressed her lips together, like she was holding back a secret.

“Lori, please.”

She swallowed then wet her lips. “When I found her, she’d been nearly drained of the magic that Selene had used to give her soul solidity. I used the life spark but…”

Realisation dawned. “She’s human now?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

That wouldn’t make me love her any less, but it would certainly make things more complicated. I reached out and cupped Lori’s face. Surprise flared in her eyes and a shaky breath left her lips.

“Thank you for saving her, for giving us a chance that might never have had.” I pressed my lips to her forehead and then left to find my love.