sad life. His wives keep dying. I believe he’s still mourning his last one to an excessive degree.”
I was suddenly very cold. “What happened to her?”
“To Sarah? I believe she was murdered.”
Oh, shit. Was Azazel some kind of Bluebeard? He didn’t seem like a serial killer, but then, how would I know what a serial killer was like? They could be quite handsome and charming, couldn’t they? Azazel fit the former— when considered dispassionately, he was absolutely gorgeous. But charming he was not.
“Er … how many wives has he had?”
“You’d best ask him. Though he may have lost count.”
I no longer bothered to hide my alarm. How could I have been so stupid? Stupid because I had felt his mouth on mine and responded, stupid because for a brief moment I had wanted him, really wanted him.
“Maybe I’ll skip that.”
Beloch chuckled. “But why waste our time talking about Azazel? I’d rather talk about you, my dear. About your lives and loves, your memories, your dreams.”
My lives? Just how much did he know about me and my past? I had the sudden, unbidden suspicion that he knew more than I did. Yet that was impossible.
Then again, no one could know
“Amnesia,” Beloch echoed. “My poor child. But you know, we’re quite advanced here in the Dark City. We have very effective ways of helping you to remember almost anything.”
I must have looked doubtful, for he laughed. “Don’t look so worried, my dear. It’s simply a form of biofeedback.”
For some reason, a shiver ran down my backbone, but I managed a cheerful smile. “I think I’ll pass. If my past is even close to what Azazel thinks it is, I’m better off not knowing.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You know the old saying: ‘The truth shall set you free.’”
I blinked. “That’s an interesting concept. I’ve never heard it before. Who said that?”
“Someone after your time, child,” he said with a soft laugh. “Let me order some more tea. Yours must be cold by now.”
I glanced down into the tea leaves floating at the bottom of the bergamot-scented sludge. They looked like drowned tree limbs after a hurricane. I looked up and managed a smile. “I’ve had enough, thank you. Too much tea makes my hands shake.” I set the delicate cup carefully on the table beside me.
Beloch simply nodded. “Then perhaps I’ll introduce you to—”
The door opened with no warning knock, and Beloch’s gentle face darkened with displeasure as he surveyed Azazel in the doorway. “You finally decided to come after your charge?” he said in an icy tone. “You’re too late.”
But Azazel was looking at me, and there was a blazing intensity in his eyes. Blue eyes, deep and vivid, so different from the muddy grays and rusty blacks and browns of this sepia-tinted world. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” he snapped. “Where the hell have you been?”
“I love you too,” I said sweetly, but the mocking words fell oddly flat, making me uncomfortable. “I went for a walk down by the river, and some people found me and brought me here.”
“People?” he echoed.
“The Nightmen,” Beloch supplied. “You’re lucky she’s still alive. If she hadn’t given them my name, she would have disappeared, and you’d have a hard time explaining yourself. Apparently your name had no effect on them.”
“This is your element, not mine,” Azazel said.
“True enough. And my word is law.”
Azazel moved between us, blocking my view of Beloch. “It is. Which means you should think carefully before you make a pronouncement. What is more important? Vanquishing me, or her?”
Silence, and I wished I could see Beloch’s face. “You make an excellent point,” he said finally. “And I must say, it’s not an easy decision. The leader of the Fallen, or the first female … when, if I wait a few days, I can have you both.”
“I would hardly think you would settle for less.” Azazel’s voice was silken, persuasive.
“What I find interesting is why you’re suddenly set on keeping her, when before you wanted nothing more than to dump her. Have you already begun to lose?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” There was contempt in his voice, and I wondered how Beloch would respond. Unfortunately, all I could see was Azazel’s tight rear end in black jeans. Which wasn’t a bad view. “I didn’t wish to hand her over the first night, though I would have acquiesced if you’d insisted.”
“Would you have?”
“You rule the Dark City. As you have said, your word is law. But I have my own curiosity about her, and about the prophecy. If you take her now, I will never know the truth.”
“Perhaps I enjoy the idea of you spending eternity wondering,” Beloch suggested in a voice far removed from that of the courtly old gentleman who’d served me tea.
“Perhaps knowing my weakness would be an even greater punishment.”
Silence. “Again, I wonder why you’re seeking to lose with such determination. It does seem like the wisest
