Page 86 of Living Legend

Jonah rubbed his hands together. “Of course, Natalia is right. Now is not the time.”

Ariel shook his head, leaning back into his seat, running a hand through his hair.The doors opened once again; two sentries stepped inside with two females in tow. We all faced in their direction and watched as Dani and Elise stepped up, wrists decorated with golden handcuffs. Elise blew a kiss at the sentry who unlocked hers, causing his face to twist in an awkward expression. Dani just looked at Natalia, eyes narrowed. Natalia gave them both a small wave as they walked to the seats next to us. Of course, there were no seats next to Ariel or Markus; they wouldn’t want them near them. I felt my heart start to beat out of rhythm as I watched Elise take the seat closest to Natalia, letting her mouth drop when she felt the comfort of the chair. It was like everything slowed down when Dani easily slipped into the chair next to me, not looking in my direction as she crossed her legs, which were bare thanks to her shorts, giving me a prime view of her thighs and down her legs.

I had changed into a fresh navy t-shirt when I had gotten out of the shower, but I could have sworn I felt myself starting to sweat. The skin on her thighs seemed to be an even deeper shade of brown against her red shorts. My fingers twitched with the need to touch her and see that perfect place between her legs again. The plain black shirt she had on was doing way too much for her chest; I had to close my eyes for a moment and will myself not to look directly at her breasts. I had left her bra on when I fucked her, and right now, that was a terrible mistake.

“Perfect. Now that everyone has arrived, we can begin,” Jonah announced.

I practically jolted my attention back to him, but not without noticing Dani was laughing under her breath. I tried to give her my best nonchalant look, but she just gave me a raised eyebrow that told me that my thoughts were not as private as I wanted them to be. She smiled and placed her elbow on the table, resting her head against her hand. Her face was so different from the face I had seen in the Ethereal Bastille, the face of someone so lost in their own darkness, they were practically begging for someone to pull them out. I hoped I never saw that look again.

Jonah started by bringing everyone up to speed. Dani and Elise just looked hopelessly bored. “I had enlisted Natalia to try and find our missing angel, Keegan Finley, but she was not able to locate him. I fear he is lost to us.” Jonah explained.I looked over at Natalia, whose expression never changed; she just simply nodded. “She has informed me that she does not think he defected to Lilith’s side.” He nodded his head towards her.

Natalia placed her hands on the table. “Yes, his presence would feel fuller and livelier if he had. All I felt was just a hint of his last moments and then nothing.”

Markus tapped his finger to his jaw. “You believe Keegan is dead?”

“Sadly, I do,” Natalia answered. This whole conversation felt like déjà vu. Natalia didn’t seem to mind playing along. She looked serious, as if this was the first time she had ever searched for Keegan, that this information was new to everyone’s ears.Reese kicked me under the table and pulled his eyebrows together, telling me that we were on the same page.

“Murdered would be the best word for it,” Elise chimed in, investigating her nails.

Everyone looked in her direction as she blew out a loud breath of amusement. She looked up from her nail beds and stretched her palm out, lifting her arched eyebrows up in question.

“You are also confirming he was murdered?” Markus questioned.

Elise looked over to Dani, then back to Markus. “Is that honestly a huge revelation? You can’t truly think he would have made it out of there alive, especially if he met with Lilith.”

Markus answered. “She could have tried to possess him somehow, used him against us.”

Elise snorted. “You may not be able to see a possession with your fragile old eyes, but I certainly can. If he was out here stumbling around with the dark queen inside him, I would know.” She rolled her eyes. “Keegan was a small part of something bigger.”

“She’s right,” Natalia chimed in, causing Elise to smirk over. “Keegan was minuscule, a means to an end for Lilith.”

“And what is her end, hmm?” Ariel huffed.

“To get rid of you,” Elise answered casually.

I eyed Dani, who remained quiet. Her brown eyes were piercing into the table in front her. She blinked every so often, and her eyes would roam around the table, but that’s all. She seemed to be in internal contemplation, as if considering the words she would say soon.

I overheard words thrown back and forth across the table as I removed my gaze from Dani. Ariel was getting heated, whereas Elise seemed to enjoy the show.

Elise dug her nails into the table. “I know her better than anyone and let me tell you: this is more than boredom. Lilith has been planning this comeback of hers for as long as I’ve known her, butshewouldn’t kill Keegan. She would have kept him as bait, tortured him.”

Markus scratched his head. “You don’t think Lilith is the one who killed him?”

“Awe, how sweet. It seems someone is paying attention.” She gave Markus a sinister smile before leaning back in her seat.

“How do we know you aren’t in this with her? You came here of your own volition. Not many demons would do that without an ulterior motive,” Ariel shot back.

Elise licked her lips but kept them closed, as if she didn’t want to say more.Reese blew out a long breath next to me, his knee lightly hitting underneath the table as he bounced his leg. He was anxious. I was too, seeing as half the things being said were part of a bigger truth we were already aware of.

Jonah cleared his throat. “The demon coming through the portal didn’t happen until after Keegan went missing. How do you suppose that correlates?”

I knew what I wanted to say: Keegan’s key had opened the portal, with the help of an Enchanter who had been given the magic of other Enchanters in Purgatory to overshadow Natalia’s magic. I wanted to say that the portal key was here, shrouded in a cloud of darkness. I wanted to push out of my chair and ask why he and my father didn’t speak anymore, what he has been keeping from me all this time.

No. I had to stay on topic. This wasn’t about me. I had no idea what the right approach was, but it didn’t matter. I didn’t get to formulate any more sentences, because Dani’s voice rang out through the silence.

“It was an experiment. A test,” she said softly, but with enough force that it caused even Natalia to break her practiced facial expression for a moment.

“A test?” Markusasked.

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