“He was going to kill me.” Even after all these years, and knowing that his stepfather would have killed him, Warren had residual guilt over the act. He’d tried to bury it, but that had been easier when he didn’t think magic existed or that he’d had the ability to do such a thing.
“I know.”
Warren followed her, wondering what she looked for.
“The Templar have always had access to some of the arcane energy because of their beliefs and their nature,” Lilith said. “Other humans had it as well. But they never managed to have a lot of powerful people in one place so I wouldn’t have to wait.”
“You need the arcane energy to manifest.”
She cocked her head and looked at him. “That’s one way of explaining it. It’s too simple, of course, but you’re not prepared to completely understand what I’m talking about. Perhaps you never will be.”
Warren wasn’t sure if he’d been insulted, but he ignored his own immediate anger and focused on the questions he had.
“Demons come from the Well of Midnight,” Lilith said, as if sensing his frustration. “We never lose our connection to it, and the higher you go in the demon hierarchy, the more connected to the Well of Midnight you are. I became isolated here.”
“Because humans stopped using the arcane energies.”
“As you’ve noticed, not all humans can summon those energies, much less control them. Not all demons possess magical natures. Many are simply vicious. However, humans have always been a jealous species.”
And demons aren’t? But Warren didn’t give voice to that question.
“Demons are the most jealous of all,” Lilith said. “Here in this world, humans resented the arcane energy users enough that they persecuted them. They named them witches and wizards and, even though wrongly, demon-possessed. And they killed them.”
Warren thought immediately of the witch trials that had gone on in England, elsewhere in Europe, and in America.
“Using arcane energies became a thing of the past more than seven thousand years ago,” Lilith continued. “The last place that saw any really confluence of it was Lemuria. Atlantis had long since sunk, and the fools in Lemuria ended up triggering the same kind of underground cataclysm and sank their world to the bottom of the ocean as well. By that time, I decided I had to wait.”
“Why here? Why in England?”
“Because I get glimpses of the future. I knew that when the demons came, and that they would, they would first come here. So I had this place built and I had the Book you have made.”
Remembering the female Cabalist that Merihim had given his hand to, Warren asked, “Why didn’t Merihim have his new pawn take the Book from me when he took away his hand?”
“Because he’s forgotten all about it.” Lilith smiled. “I made him forget. Just as I first whispered into his ear that the Book existed and that he should send you to seek it out.”
“You wanted me to receive the Book?”
Lilith regarded him. “You have a lot of potential. Merihim is too egotistical to believe in anything outside himself. Were it not for you that night the Cabalists pulled him through the portal, Merihim would not be in this place. Were he not here, had he not laid his mark upon you, I wouldn’t have been able to communicate with you. All of these things are part of a pattern that we’re still exploring.”
“What pattern?” Warren didn’t know whether to feel threatened or elated. He finally decided that he should probably feel both.
“We’re still exploring that.” Lilith paused and reached out to the wall in front of her.
“Where have you been?”
“There are things I must see to elsewhere.”
“You haven’t ever left me like this before.”
“I wasn’t strong enough earlier. Now I am. And there is much I must do if we’re to be successful.”
“Successful at what?” Warren asked.
“I’m owed a place in this world. That was arranged when I was first sent here. I wasn’t supposed to be here for so long by myself. I was betrayed. When I’m done, I’m going to have my vengeance for that.” Lilith’s beautiful face hardened into an unforgiving mask.
Warren found that threatening. Not because she would direct any of her ire at him, but because he knew she would expect him to stand on the front line of any attempts at revenge she made. He wanted no part of that.
“Our goals, at least part of the way,” she said, “coincide. If you listen to me, if you are loyal to me, you are going to be more powerful than you’ve ever before dreamed of.”
Power wasn’t what Warren wanted. It was what he needed. In order to be safe, he also had to be powerful. These past four years, and even the ones before that, had taught him that lesson.
“It will be all right,” Lilith said in a sincere voice. “I’m not Merihim.”
You’re not, Warren thought before he could stop himself, but you’re still a demon.
“Press here.” Lilith pointed to a section of the wall.
Warren moved his torch and threw more light over the area she’d indicated. There was no difference in any part of the surface that he discerned. He put the silver hand over the spot and felt an immediate connection with something. Startled, he pulled his hand back and retreated.
“It’s all right,” Lilith told him. “That hand and this place are connected.”
Cautiously, Warren put the silver hand back on the spot and pressed. After a moment, something clicked within the wall. Stone grated as a section of the wall moved. The noise repeated within the vault of the room, offering testimony that the area beyond was mostly empty.
Curiosity pulled at Warren. He’d had a hard time not investigating things that caught his attention when he was younger. He wasn’t any less curious now, but he’d learned through bad luck to be patient. But he didn’t step into the darkness that yawned
