Page 70 of A Heart Of Bitter Poison
Ashen’s eyes darken. He nods.
“A demigod?.. Seriously?”
Ashen nods again and his brow furrows. “Yes.”
“And Davina harvested this demigod? Who killed it? How? What was it? I’ve never heard of such a thing. Why?”
“Only the Shadow Realm and the Realm of Light were supposed to know. It was a closely guarded secret, by decree of the gods. It has been centuries since the last demigod passed. They were more fragile than other creatures, more mortal, even though they carried some of the powers of their ancestors. Both angels and demons were duty-bound to protect knowledge of their existence from all others.”
My gaze sweeps across the landscape as I try to process Ashen’s words. “So did she just happen upon the body, or did she know what she was doing? Were you the one who told her what it was?”
“Yes. I was the one who told her about his existence. I was in love with her. I thought I could trust her. But she was more bent on revenge for the death of her parents than I thought, and she used the information to strike a deal with a vampire who wanted the bone ground to dust and the ashes of the heart. In exchange, the vampire would capture Barbossa Sarno for Davina.”
“What? Bobby Sarno? She knew Bobby?”
Ashen gives a grim nod and a heavy sigh. “You are not the only one Bobby Sarno crossed.”
I snort a laugh and watch as the two cars ahead take a snaking curve at speed, throwing gravel down the steep drop on the right. “Understatement of the millennia. I’m sure there was a long waiting list for those of us that wanted Sarno dead. Who was the vampire?”
“Davina refused to tell me. She only said that the vampire had killed the demigod and would ambush Sarno’s merchant ship in exchange for the harvest. The vampire would then hold Sarno and get a message to Davina so she could portal to the location and kill him herself.”
A sharp breath catches in my lungs.
My heart stops behind its cage of bone.
And I owe it to you, Davina had said in Ravello.
My reply echoes in memory:You didn’t do anything to me. You owe me nothing.
I remember the conviction in her voice when she spoke her next words.
You’re wrong.
And my sister’s voice as we stood on the cliff in Anthemoessa, before she pushed me into the safety of the sea.
Find Barbossa Sarno, from the ship. Get a spell. Take the weapon and get revenge.
“Aglaope,” I whisper as a cold chill spiders through my skin.
I turn to face Ashen. He looks at me. His eyes grow wide.
Ashen’s gaze is still fused to mine when it happens. He doesn’t see what I do, what’s just next to his window.
The pointed edge of an armored personnel carrier, the metal catching the light of the sun.
One last lucid thought screams in my mind until it’s crushed in the litany of twisting metal and shattering glass. Bianca was right.
I already knew.
CHAPTER27
Ifeel my sister’s hand on my wet shoulder. She presses grains of sand into my damp skin as she smiles down at me. The roar of the ocean surges, water pounding at the beach and the cliffs that jut from the sea.
Do not worry, my love. I will look after you.
I peel my eyes open.
The ocean is the blood rushing through my ears. The grains of sand are the grit of glass that peppers my shoulder and face. Gasoline and engine oil, coolant and blood fill the battered van with stinging scents. Urtur whines over the hiss of steam and the dinging of the dashboard electronics and the groan of the dying engine.
