Page 7 of Endless Terrors
As if he could hear my thoughts, the devil’s tone became speculative. “We can tell ourselves that we don’t need them, but in the end, we’d be lying. Wouldn’t you agree?”
He hadn’t made a threat, not really, but it still felt like one. Remembering my helpless, slumbering family returned some of my senses, and the fear was pushed out by a surge of fury. I tipped my chin up to meet Lucifer’s simmering gaze. My instincts immediately urged me to look back down, to concentrate on my feet or anything else except the creature filling the air with his power. I refused.
“Hurting someone I love will only make an enemy of me,” I told him, keeping my voice low. “You really, really don’t want that. You may be the devil, but I’m something worse.”
Lucifer’s eyes burned even brighter, as if my threat excited him. His voice was soft as he asked, “And what are you, Fortuna Sworn?”
The corner of my mouth tilted up into a wry smile. There was no irony in my voice, though, when I answered him. “If you harm anyone in this dimension, you’ll find out. Trust me on that.”
This was usually the part when my opponent started to get uneasy. Danger, their senses told them. Their brains finally urged them to look past the perfect face and see the monster beneath. They stepped back, or if they were too proud for that, they went silent.
But there was no hint of fear around Lucifer—not even the faintest flavor on my tongue. As if he had all the time in the world, the devil bent and whispered his next words in my ear. I kept my eyes on his in the glass as he said, “I think I would like to see the full extent of what you’re capable of, Nightmare Queen. Something tells me it would be quite a sight to behold.”
“Be careful what you wish for,” I murmured back, ignoring how my core clenched at his proximity. Thankfully, the Fortuna in the mirror wore a cool expression, despite Lucifer’s lips nearly touching my temple, the edge of one wing so close I could have run my fingers along the metal.
In an abrupt movement, I drew back and refocused on Jacob Goldmann. The sight of him was a much-needed reminder of how this conversation could end if I wasn’t careful. If I wasn’t strong enough to resist the devil. I held up one finger and asked, “Will you stay there for a minute?”
My tone was courteous, and Lucifer’s lips curved with bemusement, as if no one had ever made such a request of him before. “Very well.”
Nodding, I turned and walked away, setting the gun down on the counter as I went. I could feel Lucifer’s eyes on me all the way to my bedroom, where I stepped inside and reached behind the door. Calmly, I turned and crossed the wide space again. I held the item I’d fetched casually at my side, and the devil was so intent on my face that he didn’t even bother glancing at what I now carried.
I looked him in the eye and said, “If you’re still in there, I’m sorry, Jacob.”
Lucifer realized what I meant to do a split second too late, and not even supernatural speed could save him. I hefted the sword with all my strength and swung it.
Beheading someone wasn’t always like how it happened in movies—sometimes it didn’t lop off with a single, effortless blow, especially when the target was moving. But Adam had made this sword, and it was still lethally sharp. I felt it cut through meat, cartilage, muscle, and bone, then hit Jacob’s spinal cord. His body staggered, mouth gaping open as the two parts separated. I yanked my sword back and hacked at him again, this time finishing the job.
Jacob’s head landed with a hard, dull sound, and then it rolled, leaving splatters of blood. My ears rang as I watched it come to a stop.
There was no time for remorse; there was no time to feel anything. I started to turn, my first instinct to summon Collith and ask for his help. I stopped short as a thought occurred to me. Oh, God. I kept forgetting that he was a Nightmare now. Even if Collith had only a fraction of my power, he might be strong enough to survive as Lucifer’s host if the devil couldn’t get his hands on me. But by some miracle, he didn’t seem to know about Collith’s new abilities.
Okay, so I definitely couldn’t go to Collith for help or even tell him that Lucifer had been here. Knowing him, and how desperate he was for my forgiveness, my ex might make a deal of his own. A deal both of us would regret … just like the last one.
History was not going to repeat itself. I wouldn’t let it.
“Lyari,” I said quietly, letting the tip of the sword rest against the floor. Adrenaline was still gushing through me, so I hardly felt its weight, but there was a lot of blood. So much blood.
For once, my Right Hand actually showed up. She shimmered into view, standing near the kitchen island, and took in the scene without expression. Her eyes went to the sword in my hand first, then the mess on the floor, and finally the head lying a few feet away. “What happened?”
Her voice was emotionless. Her Guardian voice. Hearing it calmed me, somehow, and I recounted my brief encounter with the devil. Lyari waited until I was completely done to speak.
“You need to leave,” she stated, calm as ever. But I could taste the faerie’s fear on my tongue—lavender. Lyari’s fear tasted like lavender. That was the moment it hit me, how much I had to lose. If someone as formidable as Lyari was scared, we were truly fucked.
Only the adrenaline, and the fact that my family’s safety was at stake, kept me calm. I turned away and said over my shoulder, “Will you help me clean this up?”
Lyari’s sharp voice seemed to come from a distance. “Fortuna, did you hear me? You and your family need to leave this place. Tonight.”
“They don’t want to run,” I said faintly, taking a mop and bucket out of the pantry. I took them over to the sink and put the bucket beneath a stream of hot water.
“What they want doesn’t matter anymore. You can’t win this one. Not against the Dark Prince.” Lyari picked up the head by its hair, grimacing, then vanished. She reappeared seconds later, her hands now empty, and did the same thing with Jacob’s body. I found paper towels, took the bucket out of the sink, and got to work.
Unlike the fae, Nightmares bled red, and by the time I was done, the soapy water was the color of poppies. The only proof of Jacob Goldmann’s death were some bloodstains in the stairwell. Hauling the bucket up by its handle, I met Lyari at the sink. She was washing her hands with rough, impatient movements. Her braid fell over her shoulder and hid one of her pointed ears.
“Will you check on Collith?” I asked, staring at our reflections over the window. “My visitor said he ‘sent him away.’ If you find him, though … tell him not to come back. Not tonight.”
Lyari nodded, a hard up and down, and sifted. Her terse silence lingered, along with the taste of lavender in my mouth. I’d never seen my Right Hand so rattled. It made me wonder what she knew about Lucifer that I didn’t.
Don’t think about that right now. Focus on getting them out. I exhaled, shakily, and tipped the bucket into the sink.
