Diaboli appears with a roar. He looks wild-eyed between us, then his gaze locks in on Aeliana. “You,” he shouts. “How did you get here? What have you done?”
Aeliana laughs and I wonder if this was some elaborate plot, if the maga is more involved in this, with Diaboli, than I realized.
“Hello, Dia,” she purrs. “It has been a while.”
I pause, thinking about what she said. She claimed that all venefica were his children, and she is the most powerful of them all, the maga. She has been alive for thousands of years.
“Were you married?” I roar.
Aeliana smirks as she shifts her gaze to meet mine. “Married? Not quite. Fated to one another, yes.”
“Is this whole thing because of you?” I demand. “Because of the two of you?”
“Yes, Aeliana, tell Tiberius the Emperor your part in all of this.”
Aeliana snorts, turning away from me, and faces Diaboli. She intentionally hid all of this from me, knowing that I would have not only become angry, but also wouldn’t have delivered Decima to her to start this whole war. She used me, used Drucilla and I want nothing more than to kill her myself.
“You cannot, Tiberius, so just stop thinking about it,” she sighs, sounding as if she’s bored.
“Where is my mulier?” I bark, ignoring Aeliana and her drama with Diaboli.
It matters not that they were fated lovers, a forever match. I don’t care who they take, who they lie with, all that matters is that my mulier is here with me.
Diaboli chuckles, it sounds just as evil as he is. “Call off your hounds, then maybe we can talk.”
Shifting my gaze around, I notice that the wolves are baring their teeth, growling, and inching closer to him. Their hackles are raised and they are ready to go to war over their missing concubina.
Inwardly, I smile, knowing that she has the loyalty of the beasts is more than I could have ever imagined possible. Then my smile grows. I hear them in the distance, their roars and heavy footfalls as they come toward us from the outlying woods.
My bears have arrived.
The sky fills with clouds, there is a rumble and then the wind begins. The sisters’ powers are growing and they want their sister. I don’t blame them, I want my mulier, and I want her now.
“Not that I would, if I could, but I cannot. They are Drucilla’s beasts, not mine,” I say, sounding as bored as Aeliana did just moments ago.
“This has nothing to do with them, Diaboli. This involves us and only us,” Aeliana says.
Diaboli snorts. “It involved only us before I knew of the prophecy, before it obviously became much more powerful than I ever intended. Before Amare and Odium made an appearance and spirited Drucilla way. Before you took their side.”
“You expected me to be on your side?” she hisses. “You want to rule this world. It is not yours to rule.”
“And it is yours?” he snaps as his skin begins to turn bright red. “You took from me, my own flesh and blood. You took her powers, you absorbed them, and you ended her life.”
“She took from me,” Aeliana shouts. “An eye for an eye, and you know this.”
He hums, his skin returning back to its olive hue. “She only did what I requested of her,” he says with a shrug.
“None of this has to do with my mulier,” I bark.
Diaboli takes a step toward me, his gaze focused on mine and mine alone. Then he speaks and sends a chill down my spine. I can do nothing but watch him. Watch him and feel utterly and completely defenseless.
“It has everything to do with her. I cannot rule this world if she is yours. The prophecy cannot be fulfilled if she is not with you. She is mine now and I will make her my bride. You will live a painful existence.
“You will wither away and die. She will live beside me for longer than you could imagine, centuries. She will eventually forget you, but I never will. I will remember that I took over the world, and you made it possible.”
DRUCILLA
I’m curled in a ball, my legs brought up to attempt to cover my chest. I don’t know how long that I sit here. My ass falls asleep and the tears cease from falling down my cheeks. I stare straight ahead, wondering and waiting for whatever is going to happen next.
I wish that I knew.
I wish a lot of things.
I decide that when Tiberius tells me he’s okay with not having children, that I’ll believe him and hold on to him until my last breath. Maybe we can adopt or something. Maybe we can just be together and be happy. I won’t have any regrets and I won’t assume that he will either.
I just want to see him again.
Then I think about my sisters. I want to see them too. I don’t know what is going on, but I know enough about this magic and prophecy business that my sisters are in danger right now, them and their families.
Pinching my eyes closed, I focus on my sisters, on trying to connect with them. Birdie said that she can hear conversations, even if she can’t join in and she can transport herself places. I need to be able to do that. I need to be able to get my ass out of here.
No matter how much I pray and hope and think, nothing happens. I can’t channel my sisters, my husband, or even the damn wolves.
Nothing works, and I feel like a complete failure. I’m not this powerful being, I can’t even help my sisters, not to mention it doesn’t seem like I’ll be able to give my husband his heir.
What is the fucking point of me? Of any of this?
Then it happens.
Four women appear in front of me. I recognize one of them as one of the women who took me at Curia. She sneers at me,
