“Who are we looking for, young Daxell?” Mammon asks.
If I didn’t know better, I would think that his mocking smile belied the truth and he has already discovered who LJ is. With those simple words, he has forced me into a corner, very clever of him. In my anger and desperation, I now realize my mistake, I can only hope that he is not interested in collecting her for his own, now that he has a mistress of the night, and reluctantly announce, “Lillie Joanna Faerondarl, goddess and daughter to Ashlinn and Alaric, god and goddess of life.” There is a collective gasp from around the room as I reveal to everyone here exactly who I seek, who has vanished just moments before.
“I see. Well, young Daxell, it would appear that your young goddess, or shall we say your femme fatale has made off with my most prized possession! The female has bewitched you in order to get to Vengeance, Morríganna’s most sacred of possessions, and therefore I cry foul. She has stolen a most revered item from my clutches and thus must be brought to justice!” Mammon’s voice booms throughout the room, his eyes narrow on me demanding that I heel to him and his false accusation.
Our rage boils over, and my demon snarls, “How dare you! She has gone missing under your watch! She is a victim here, not to be accused! She is an innocent and you know more than you let on. You and that harlot that you are parading before us tonight! Where is she?!” I demand as my fathers and mother attempt to soothe my angst.
“How the hell should I know, my dear nephew. How dare you disrespect my lover. Nyx comes and goes as she pleases, she is under my protection. She is my mistress and therefore you will grant her the respect that she deserves! If you don’t mind your manners you will find yourself locked away in my dungeons. As it is, your chosen mate has left you high and dry and has made off with my property. She will be found, she will be tried, and she will be found guilty! I will not be made a mockery of by a lowly goddess from The Otherworld.” His tone is cruel and insulting.
Pulling out of my fathers’ grasp my demon and I go toe to toe with Mammon, “You will not touch one hair on her head. You have no rights to her!”
His laughter bellows throughout the floor, “But of course I do. She belongs to me by forfeit. She is the firstborn daughter of Alaric, Guardian to his kindred mate Ashlinn, and for a time he belonged to me. He too was taken from me and I have Lucifer to blame for that, but no more. I will have my due and his daughter will do nicely when I add her to my collection.” His eyes glint maliciously as his handsome face sets in all hard lines, before he turns to his whore, “Nyx, go, see if you can determine if she had help and reinforce the wards on this place. Report back to me as soon as you can. Don’t dally overly long. I will miss you, my dear.” Her malicious face lifts to his to receive a doting kiss.
It is all I can do to back away. All I want to do is punch and thrash my way out of this room. I bite out, “You will never have LJ as any part of your demented collections. You know as well as I do that she is not remotely capable of this.” My demon and I push past Mammon. Making my way to an open balcony, I spread my wings and jump into the dark night. It’s cold this high up and I soar into the sky on an updraft. This can’t be happening. Where is she? What has happened to her? Circling the monstrosity in the sky, I look to see if there are any departing aircraft and there are none. My anger is off the hook and so I soar into the night, my wings beating effortlessly. Higher and higher, my wings take me. How could I have let her out of my sight? How could I have let my frustration with her bullheadedness get the better of me? We need to find her!
The skyscraper gets narrower the higher it climbs into the oblivion of the night sky, it's then that I see a brilliant flash of red light several stories above where the party is taking place. I race to the window to see if I can see into the building. Hovering, just outside, I see a large room that looks to be deserted. The lights are dimmed and no one seems to be inside. So where did the light come from? Could it be that it had something to do with LJ?
Landing on the balcony outside of my rooms, I open the doors and I’m greeted by Cara. She’s whining and upset, then Poppy races into the room and asks, “What are we going to do? Lillie’s been taken!”
We can’t help but roar our anger.
“All right Daxell, don’t you get angry with me for stating the obvious. Something is going on here and his royal fallen highness has something to do with it, you mark my words. Lillie JoBug would never, ever leave Cara behind like this, I don’t care what the lying bastard says. What are we going to do? We need to find her. What’s your plan?”
And with those words, the anger deflates out of me and my demon recedes, not knowing what to do next. I sag and sit on the bed with Cara by my side, and sigh, “I have no idea. I don’t even know where to start. We have not completed our bond. We haven’t had time.”
Poppy sits beside me, her shoulders slumped as her wings fly out of her
