Page 238 of A Kingdom of Wild and Power
‘Thanatos took a fragment of himself and hid it,’ Lucifer explained. ‘He did not know what becoming Death would truly do to him. He feared what he might become. So he chose to preserve the purest part of his soul… and keep it safe for you.’ Lucifer’s pale eyes gleamed faintly. ‘He hoped that one day he might offer it to you. As a gift. As a plea for forgiveness.’
Mal felt the air in her lungs grow thin. She was unsure of why, but this last part was a lie. Perhaps a part of her soul still recognised the way Lucifer could twist his tales, shaping them into a new reality. Whatever the truth was, Mal knew it was not this. Thanatos had not chosen to separate a part of his soul. He had probably been forced to. And if Lucifer was lying, then Mal was almost certain that for whatever reason, the demon standing before her was to blame.
‘Hades attempted to free you from this place,’ Lucifer went on, ‘but even he could not undo the prison your enemies had built. Thanatos, however,tried another path.’
Lucifer’s smile deepened.
‘He asked for your memory to be wiped clean. He hoped that if you forgot what he had done, you might be able to live again without the weight of that betrayal.’
Mal’s fingers trembled slightly against the hilt of her sword.
‘And he hoped,’ Lucifer added softly, ‘that the fragment of his soul he had hidden away would one day find its way back to you.’
Mal’s entire body shuddered.
‘But the Sun God discovered what Thanatos had done,’ Lucifer said. ‘He found that hidden fragment.’ Lucifer gestured vaguely towards the empty sky above them. ‘So he took it. And he placed it inside the womb of a queen.’ His smile widened. ‘And from that womb… a child was born.’
Mal’s mouth felt painfully dry.
‘Ash,’ she whispered.
Lucifer clapped his hands once in delighted approval.
‘Yes. Very good, child.’ His voice softened with amusement. ‘So you see, Ash Acheron is the mortal half of Thanatos, the piece he hid away. The purest fragment of his soul.’ Lucifer spread his hands slowly. ‘But they are still the same being. Darkness and light. Death and life. One cannot exist without the other.’
‘So I cannot kill either of them,’ Mal said.
Lucifer tilted his head thoughtfully.
‘Well… you could,’ he replied with a careless shrug. ‘But it would not truly solve anything regarding your curse.’ He paused, his lips curling slightly. ‘However…’
‘What?’ Mal ground out through clenched teeth.
‘You could always sacrifice yourself,’ Lucifer said lightly. ‘Allow your daughter to end your life.’
He waved a hand dismissively, as though brushing awayan unimportant thought.
‘But you will not do that,’ he added, studying her with unsettling clarity. ‘I can see it in your eyes. Gods are dreadful creatures, after all. So very selfish.’
Mal’s jaw tightened.
‘I do not want to become Hecate,’ she said. ‘I do not want to hunt my own child. Nor do I want her hunting me.’
Lucifer’s smile deepened.
‘But you would, would you not?’ he said softly. ‘Your mother did not sacrifice herself. Instead, she spent centuries searching for ways to destroy you, to ensure you would never become the God-Killer.’ His pale eyes sharpened. ‘You, however, could break the cycle. Allow your daughter to kill you. You are the origin, Mal Blackburn. If you die…’ His voice lowered almost to a whisper. ‘You would be doing it out of love.’
‘I am the God-Killer,’ Mal replied. ‘I cannot be killed.’
Something shone through Lucifer’s white eyes, something very much like amusement.
‘Oh,’ he said lightly. ‘Well then, I suppose you are all doomed.’ He shrugged. ‘But you still have many years ahead of you. Perhaps in that time one of you will discover some clever little loophole.’
Mal frowned.
She was almost certain he knew more than he was willing to say.
Part of his tale had been twisted and modified to suit Lucifer. But Mal was unsure of why. What was it that the demon did not truly want her to know? Why had he changed the truth of why Thanatos had separated his soul?
