I glanced at Eric. I knew what he wanted me to do. It was the same thing the angels wanted me to do, but I couldn’t. I wouldn’t allow it.
Eric rolled his eyes, “I don’t know why you’re trying to save them. Even their makers want them gone, and you stand in the way like some sort of martyr. You’re already dead, Ivy. You already paid the ultimate price. Let this go...”
I rose, stopping in front of him. His legs were clad in dark denim and sprawled in front of him. He used to smell like wholesome goodness. He used to be an angel, a Martis, and then a Valefar. He knew everything there was to know about all of them. I shivered, wrapping my arms around myself. “I can’t. I can’t allow them to destroy the Martis. They can’t wipe out an entire race because they don’t think they can change.” I failed to recall the Valefar to the Underworld, as the angels thought I would when I summoned the rest of the creatures of Hell back below ground. But the Valefar remained topside.
Eric moved behind me, silent as always. His hand was raised, as if he was going to rest it on my shoulder. He held it there. I could feel the heat from his hand. I pressed my eyes closed, savoring the sensation. When he finally spoke, I turned to look up at him, “One Martis changed. It doesn’t excuse the lot of them for everything they’ve done. In many ways, they are worse than the Valefar. Ivy, you know this.” His voice softened, as his gaze slid to my lips. “You can’t save them.”
The way Eric looked at me sometimes made me suffer horribly. But my pain eased his. I couldn’t deny him. I couldn’t tell him to stop. He learned that I could sense the heat from his skin. It radiated off of him in small waves that made me melt inside. Eric was becoming more daring. Since he couldn’t use force anymore, he was looking for other ways. And he’d found one.
His eyes remained fixed on my lips. I felt so hollow inside. So cold and numb. Nothing would change it, but this felt like a cheat. Like Lorren going through the glass. It was a go-around that let me feel something. Eric lifted his hand from his pocket where it’d grown warm. I thought he was going to put it by my cheek, but his gaze drifted lower to my neck. His hand remained perfectly still, slightly above the soft skin of my neck. He watched as I closed my eyes, feeling the heat from his hand, imagining his touch on my skin. Before the heat ebbed, I felt his warm breath slide across me. I shuddered, backing away. Eric’s lips twisted into a wicked smile as he straightened. My mind was blank. What were we talking about?
Turning from him, I let the heartache last longer. The pain and longing for human touch fed him, easing his agony, giving him peace. Peace that alluded me. I finally said, “She did what was right. Shannon took forever to get there, but she sacrificed herself for me. They can’t think that’s nothing.” And they didn’t. It was another matter entirely that had them enraged.
CHAPTER THRITY-THREE
The Pool of Lost Souls sat silent as my entourage passed its azure depths. Eric walked a step behind me, and Legion, the demon who controlled my armies, followed. My throat tightened as we passed the spot where Collin stood last time we were here. And over there, by that stone, was where I’d realized Apryl was a Valefar. I hadn’t seen her since the day she walked away from me, but I knew she didn’t survive. As soon as I was queen, before I recalled the demons, I sent them to search for my sister. There was no trace of her. Finally we heard a strange story of a little girl. Someone protected her—a girl with flame red hair and wild eyes. My sister. They were attacked by Dreanoks and she wouldn’t surrender the child. I pressed my eyes closed. I wasn’t fast enough. Even after I sacrificed everything, I still lost her.
As if Eric could sense my thoughts, he quickened his pace, urging us to move faster. The Pool of Lost Souls was at my back, and I found I could walk no more. The stone’s magic stopped me at the portal out of the Underworld and prevented me from passing into the catacombs that were under Rome. Eric stepped forward, opening the portal. When it opened, it revealed two angels. The meeting began.
The angels averted their gaze when Eric stepped back, and they saw my form. One of them sneered as if I’d chosen to arrive this way. I said evenly, “I do not look away from you in disgust. Please show the same respect for me.”
The angels were uncomfortable, but they looked back. First at Eric, and then me. “So it is true,” the tall one with thin blonde hair said. His light colored clothing stood in contrast to his heavy coat. I wondered if it was still snowing. Snowing in places it shouldn’t have. “You used Satan’s Stone, and it did this...”
Eric usually spoke for me about this matter. I found it hard to admit what I did and the result, but this time when Eric began to speak, I lifted my hand, indicating I would answer. “Yes. I used the stone. Two others used it previously. We all paid the price for using it. This is my curse. I hide nothing from you—I conceal nothing. I cannot touch or be touched. My humanity was stripped away with my flesh. I killed Kreturus for you. I stopped his war, and recalled my creatures, as I am the one who assumed his throne. But, I will not condone the slaughter of the Martis.” My arms were at my sides. The expression on my face was neutral, but confident. “One of your lowest creatures saved me, though the Martis wanted my head. I cannot ignore her actions. I cannot condemn them as you have. I will not recall the Valefar, as that is the only thing keeping you from killing the Martis.”
The blonde angel’s lips curled into a soft smile as I spoke. The dark-haired angel next to him remained expressionless. It appeared that my words angered him, but he did not interrupt. When I finished the blonde angel said, “That is a very compelling argument, but that is not why we are here.”