father, but when that all changed, I substituted my own plan.”
“And didn’t tell me.”
Each word was spaced out and radiated fury. She gazed up at him and tried a smile. “You were rather stressed at the time. I didn’t want to worry you.”
“Stressed... And when,
“Dude, I told you that ages ago. When we were in that protected glen. When Adam had me up in the air back there, my theories kind of coalesced.”
“You mentioned only that you believed Adam wished to rule Otherworld.”
“Well, how was he going to achieve
His hand shot out and he pinned her to the wall. “So you were not trying to save me from having to kill Adam. You were merely carrying out your half-baked
His tone was withering. She smiled into his storm-filled eyes. “Oh, no, I was trying to save you all right. The theory part was just a bonus.”
She held her breath, but instead of kissing her, he dropped his hand and turned away from her. She frowned at his broad back. Why wouldn’t he kiss her?
“We should go and check out the bodies.”
She pushed away from the wall. “Sure.”
He didn’t say a word as they walked down the endless hallways; his mind was closed to her as well, which was starting to tick her off. In the main hall, she spied Rossa in conversation with one of the gatekeepers.
“Hey!” She waved at him and he strolled over.
“You’re both alive! You look great now, Ella.” He grinned at the unsmiling Vadim. “It’s awesome that you beat all those guys. I knew you could do it.”
“What are you doing here?” Vadim’s question was distinctly uninviting.
“Your mother called me in to keep an eye on the place while everything’s up in the air.”
“She called you?”
“I have skills.” Rossa raised his eyebrows. “I also happened to be right here, so she didn’t have much choice. Were you looking for her?”
“No, we were wondering where they’d put all the bodies.”
“Oh, right. They’re in the place of worship, which is down this hall and then to the left.”
“Thanks.” Ella smiled at him. “And thanks for everything.”
Rossa preened. “It was nothing, babe. Anytime, for you.”
As they moved on, Vadim said something under his breath in Fae, but she chose to ignore it. After a moment he cleared his throat.
“He didn’t exactly do much, Ella.”
“He was very helpful to me when I first got here.”
“Because he’d been ordered to keep you safe.”
“I know that.” She kept her gaze on the hallway. “But he was
He resumed muttering in Fae.
It seemed to take forever to get to the chapel, or whatever it was called. The doors were gold and marked with a myriad of religious symbols from both the human realm and Otherworld. Inside, portraits of members of the sect lined the wood-paneled walls, the most prominent being one of Adam that hung over the ceremonial table at the front. About two hundred candles had been lit, and the waves of heat coming off them were extreme.
“Oh my, the cult of Adam. All bow down.”
He was blond in the picture and looked far too benevolent for her liking. To the side of the main altar was a row of four open coffins. Vadim had already moved toward them and stood looking down into the last one, his expression unreadable.
“Is that Adam?”
He nodded but didn’t take his gaze away. Ella went to join him.
“Well, that’s definitely not my face.” She angled her head to one side. “He would’ve looked odd with it anyway, and I don’t think I could’ve brought myself to try and take it off a corpse.” She shuddered.
Vadim turned away and checked out the other coffins, where Red, Baldy and Blondie had been laid out, all magically restored to their full beauty.
“What will happen to them now?”
“I believe there’s a vault beneath this space where sect members can choose to be buried. Unless there are new instructions from their families, I suspect the four of them will end up there.”
“And then maybe we can pull the whole place down around their ears?”
“Would you like that?”
“It would certainly make me feel safer about coming back here.”
“But it might enrage the remaining members of the sect, who are already going to be in disarray due to the demise of all four members of their council.”
“You’re no fun anymore. What’s wrong with a bit of vengeance?”
Even as she said it, she knew she’d erred. He turned away from her.
“I’m sorry. That was a stupid thing to say. You’ve probably had enough of death and vengeance to last you a lifetime, a Fae one at that.”
“Shall we go and find my parents?”
“If we must. Your father is really starting to get on my nerves.”
“Starting to? He has that effect on a lot of people.”
“And he’s up to his neck in this plot.”
He held the door open for her. “You’ll never prove it. My mother might get angry with him, but she doesn’t have the ability to take his power away.”
“Who does?”
He smiled then, but it was bleak. “I do.”
“But you won’t.”
“As you said, I’m no longer prepared to be Death Bringer.” He hesitated. “The ironic thing is, if Ciaran had asked me for my powers, I would’ve willingly handed them over to him.”
“But you couldn’t.” She poked him in the chest. “Why do you think they chose you rather than him in the first place?”
“I’ve never thought about that.”
“Well, it’s obvious to me. You have integrity and balance and...
He stared down at her. “Why does everything seem so simple to you, my mate?”
“It just does.”
His smile this time was much better. “I will try and accept your counsel in this.”
“Cool. Now let’s go and find your adorable family and get the hell out of here.”
They were gathered in the entrance hall, and it was obvious to anyone who’d ever been in a relationship that the king and queen still weren’t speaking to each other. Ella glanced at the queen mother, who smiled graciously at her and drew her to one side.
“Soul Sucker, as a representative of the SBLE, are you satisfied that this case is now over?”
“I will be as soon as I write up my final report. Would you like a copy?”
“It depends on how detailed you wish to make it.”
Ella paused. “What are you hoping I’ll leave out?”
“The parts about your family.”
“
