Page 18 of A Queen Of Broken Realms
And I would kill any one of them to get her back.
The witch Ediye is the only person who provides any real comfort. It’s because she is equally driven to find Lu. She spends hour after hour researching ancient spells and testing incantations. She has forged tenuous collaborations with several of the Reapers of House Ushzu, whose demons specialize in witches and warlocks. But even speaking with Reapers who have claimed the souls of her kind, Ediye is undeterred. She presses on, day after day. And I know that Lu loves her. It makes me see them both through another lens. It makes me feel closer to Lu despite her absence.
The only other person I find comfort in is Cyrus, my second in command. He brings me the lives of traitors to take. Any who were too slow to bow to my Queen. Any who whisper insidious plans in the shadows. I kill them all. And I find I cannot get enough blood on my hands to satisfy the monster within me.
But I’m hoping there’s one being who can help.
“Ana nurika nami azziz,” I say in a low voice. My wings of smoke awaken, curling from beneath my skin in anticipation. “Ana elleti tiparika azziz.”
Smoke shields my eyes as the light of the summoning appears before me. It grows until it forms a sphere, pulsating with energy, humming louder and louder until it bursts in multi-colored sparks. Aloros, representative of theanunnakiof House Esagila, steps forward, folding his razor wings behind him in a show of goodwill.
“Demon,” he says. His green eyes brighten as he surveys my face. “Battle has been unkind to you, it seems. Has it been worth it?”
Arrogant fucker.
“No. It has not. But we succeeded in our objective nonetheless.” I toss the bag at the angel’s feet. He turns his gaze to it with a devious smile. The angel bends and opens the sack, pulling on the long tendrils of Imogen’s hair until her severed head dangles before him. He glances down into the bag where Eshkar’s face stares up at the cloud-covered sky with unseeing eyes.
“So you did. And now you control the Shadow Realm. I will keep my end of the bargain and House Esagila will resurrect Aglaope of Anthemoessa, and then we shall draft our plans to conquer the Nephilim.”
“The Shadow Realm will uphold our vow to destroy our common enemy,” I say, unwilling to correct his assumption about who rules our realm. “But do not resurrect Aglaope yet.”
The angel sharpens his eyes at me with suspicion, his dark skin flaring with a glow that fades as quickly as a blink. “Why not?”
“It was for Leucosia. She’s missing.”
The angel’s brows flick. I swallow a thick knot as the angel casts his gaze across my face, surely seeing the evidence of my distress engraved in every curve and angle.
“We were attacked by Nephilim,” I explain.
The angel tilts his head.
“Leucosia leapt into the Black Sea during her escape, and then she disappeared.”
“Then the vampire Leucosia has met her end.”
Those words punch me harder than any fist. My heart shakes with their impact. I swallow my pain and anger, willing myself to hold on to reason for just a little while longer. Even still, my wings flare behind me with sparks and smoke. “If she is dead, I should be too. We are blood-mated. The bond worked as promised once before. But I should be able to feel her. I cannot.”
The angel regards me for a long moment. Something softens in his eyes. It’s not pity, or even empathy. Just…acknowledgement. He gives a single nod. “Every ocean holds mysteries, even our own. I will send search parties to cover the City of Anur and the shores of the Silver Sea, in case she stumbled upon a portal to our lands and is lost in the Realm of Light.”
“The ziggurat—”
“We will search for her essence through the temple as well. If she is in the Living Realm, theanunnakiwill find her, though it might take time if she is hidden with magic. But we will search nonetheless.”
I bow my head, grateful to not have to ask for help from a creature who should be my greatest enemy. “Thank you,anunnaki.”
“What of Aglaope?”
“Keep her safe. If we find Leucosia, I will summon you for the resurrection.”
Aloros gathers the bag of severed heads and spreads his wings. They flash with iridescent camouflage. Lu is there, bright in my memory. A ripple of anger cascades through me for the damage this angel once inflicted on the soft, radiant skin of her cheek with his feathers, their edges as sharp as freshly made blades. Again, I subdue my rage, eager to return to the Shadow Realm where I can find a place to unleash it.
The angel seems to sense my struggle. His wings beat as he readies to take off for his portal atPestera Liliecilor.“As you wish, demon,” he says.
“Anunnaki,” I call before he can dart into the sky. Aloros looks at me with a question in his drawn brows. “Guard your corridors. The Nephilim were let into the Shadow Realm. And when I find the traitor, their suffering will never end.”
Aloros regards me with a long, hard look, and then ascends into the sky. I turn from the others, not wanting their warmth or their glances or their words that are meant to be kind but leave me feeling emptier than silence.
When Aloros is gone, Ediye gathers the herbs and materials she needs from the coven but does not linger as I wait outside alone. It isn’t long before we return to the corridor at Bran and enter the Shadow Realm. My fleeting hope that I will feel Lu’s presence dissolves as soon as we pass through the flame. There is only Lu’s absence. The weight of nothingness is more crushing than I could ever have imagined.
