Page 94 of The Demon Mark

“You had to know that would never be enough. You were still human to them. To everyone.” And then Joan’s future flashed in front of her eyes. The future that was as set in stone as the carvings surrounding them.

Her mist tightened and then jerked as the future dissolved. Joan let out a choked sound of shock as she moved, but then Lilith’s magic heaved her body forward. Lilith turned with it, allowing the momentum of Joan’s body to force her body to roll. And she watched as her friend toppled forward and then over the cliff’s edge.

She was still weak, still shaking with the stolen misuse of her power. But she knew Joan wasn’t dead just yet. She would live long enough to see the ground coming up at her and to see a demon king step into the room.

With a lungful of air, Lilith shouted, “Envy!”

She called out his name with every desire in her as the mist barreled back toward her body. Shouts and screams filled the room with a cacophony of sound, but all she could focus on was shielding herself. The mist created a tight bubble around her body, too small, and yet just enough.

And when fists began to pound against it, all she could do was wrap her arms around herself and hope that he would come for her.

37

Envy hadn’t even realized this place existed, and that was a red flag that he was having a hard time ignoring. He knew every single place in this kingdom, because he had to be the one to approve it. Considering this room had never been approved, he could only assume that meant it was built by someone else.

Which meant it was old.

Very old.

Sure, there had been a cavern here before. But when he stepped into the room and saw the countless shelves and scrolls, stacked so high he couldn’t see where they ended? That was a sign someone had been going behind his back.

It was so shocking that he froze for a moment, staring at the scrolls that shifted in the slightest of breezes. He could hear the rustling pages mixed with the faintest sound of whispers, as though the pages themselves were speaking. And as he listened, he could hear words of the future and so many prophecies that he couldn’t count their number.

There was a stone pathway that rose on one edge. Flattened by many years of feet walking over it. He followed that line with his gaze up to a small outcropping where it ended. It was hard to see from all the way down here, but he swore there was the faintest waterfall of brightly colored hair and a pull deep inside himself said he needed to get up there.

There were people on the walkway as well. None of them had noticed him, but they would soon enough. All he could see was her, though. His Lilith. Lying there with her head off the stone outcropping, and he knew he was going to kill every single person in this room.

He didn’t care if she would disapprove of it. They all deserved to die for taking her from him. Envy wanted to wrap his fingers around their throats and watch them die slowly. He wanted to be close for it. To see the life fading from their eyes until he could know they would not come back.

Because that was his fear. He was so terrified they would come back again and that he would lose her a second time. He wouldn’t survive it.

But the moment he opened his mouth, ready to let loose a string of spells that would kill every single person in the room other than the one he loved, a body fell from the cliff’s peak.

His heart caught in this throat the moment he saw it moving, certain that they had finished whatever they were doing to his little love, and she was the one plummeting to her death. But then he saw the red hair. Orphe let out a loud squawk that echoed. Perhaps she had thought it was Lilith, too. But it wasn’t. It was the flame eater, the fire haired woman who had betrayed his Lilith and Envy did nothing to stop her fall.

He watched her tumble through the air, frantically trying to catch onto something, anything, that would help her. But nothing did.

And then she struck the ground with an echoing thud that was both horrific and wondrous. Her death was quick. Too quick for what she had done, and yet, it was how this had to be. She needed to die so that Lilith could live.

As he looked up once more time, making sure that his woman was still there, he could see Lilith peering over the edge. And then came her weakened voice, barely able to even shout his name. His name.

No one else’s.

She didn’t call out for Orphe or her old master or even any of the gods that might have cast their own love upon her. No, she called out for him.

And he knew that meant she wanted him to kill them all.

His lips split in a feral grin that should have sent terror through every single person who could see him. A few of the circus performers had turned toward him. The few that hadn’t rushed to Lilith. Her mist had drawn into her body, covering her with the same shield that had been so effective against the chimera. He didn’t have to worry about her for the time being, at least.

The first performer who rushed forward was a man who looked like his skin was made of stone. Tempting to toy with, but he didn’t have time for that. Envy summoned his blades, one for each hand as the man ran for him.

“Orphe!” he called out, waiting for the spirit’s reply.

When she did not respond, he didn’t have time to even look for her. Instead, he threw up his blades to meet the performer’s heavy fists. The sound of metal and stone clashing against each other made his ears ring.

Curling those stone hands around the blades, the performer held onto the swords with a grin on his face. “I’ve been wanting to spar with you for a long time, demon king.”

“It’s not sparring if you die,” Envy replied.

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