Page 236 of A Kingdom of Wild and Power
Lucifer gave another idle shrug.
‘Well, consider your curse,’ he said. ‘Cursed to fall in love with one and trapped in a rather unfortunate triangle. One kills the other, and then all three are reborn.’
When Mal remained silent, Lucifer chuckled again.
‘I see it worked.’
‘What worked?’
‘You forgetting everything.’ His smile sharpened. ‘That was the bargain I struck with Thanatos to free you from this ring. You were allowed to return but you would be reborn as awyverian with no memory of what came before.’
Mal’s grip tightened around her sword.
‘Then help me remember,’ she said. ‘Tell me the truth.’
‘Which truth?’ Lucifer replied lazily. ‘There are quite a few.’
Mal lifted her sword and pointed the blade directly at him.
Lucifer only seemed more amused.
He tilted his head slightly, then casually brushed the weapon aside as though it were nothing more than an inconvenience.
‘Then start from the very beginning, Lucifer.’
The demon regarded her with quiet amusement. ‘Are you certain you wish to know the truth of everything?’
Mal hesitated.
Of course she wanted the truth. For far too long the people around her had hidden it, whether to protect her or to protect themselves hardly mattered now. If she was to win this war, if she was ever to break the curse that clung to her life like a shadow, then she needed to understand every piece of it.
‘Do you know how to break the curse?’ she asked.
Lucifer shook his head slowly.
‘No. No one truly knows.’ His pale eyes flashed with something thoughtful. ‘Your other husband, Ash Acheron, believed he had found a way. He thought your daughter might be able to kill Thanatos.’
Mal’s brows knit together.
‘But?’ she prompted.
‘But if Thanatos dies… then Ash dies as well.’
Mal frowned. ‘Why?’
Lucifer chuckled softly. ‘Because they are one and the same.’
The words struck her like ice.
Mal stiffened, though she could not yet grasp the full meaning behind them.
‘Explain yourself,’ she said.
Lucifer folded his arms loosely.
‘A thousand years ago,’ he began, ‘you were determined to destroy your mother Hecate. You and your father searched endlessly for a way to accomplish it. The obsession consumed you. You grew… unstable because of it.’ He tilted his head slightly. ‘Hecate, however, was clever. She used your desperation against you. She convinced the others that you had become too dangerous, that the world needed protection from what you might become.’ Lucifer’s voice lowered. ‘So she persuaded them to imprison you here. Persephone, Themis and…Thanatos brought you down into these rings.’
Mal froze.
