His grip tightened on the railing. “It won't do for you to be insane.”
“Good. I agree. It won’t do at all. Look at that! We have so much in common. If you’re going to keep me locked in your castle, I will need to speak to another person sometimes.”
I sounded desperate, didn’t I?
For the briefest of moments, he turned, sliding me a cold look. He drummed his fingertips over the railing. “The thing is, given the poor judgment you’ve already demonstrated, I’m not sure anyone would notice the difference if you lost your mind entirely. Would it be a loss to the world at all?”
I glared at him, trying to stay calm. My jaw tightened. “I can see that you’re still angry, but I already apologized. And you are fine, aren’t you? You don’t need to belabor the point. Do you want a hair shirt and a public penance or something?”
“It would be a start.”
What was he on his high horse about? “It’s interesting to me, Angel of Death, that you have a moral problem with violence. I’m a bit perplexed by where you stand on that point, O slaughtering Venom of God.”
“I never said I had a problem with violence. What matters is who you are killing, and if you have a good reason.”
I arched an eyebrow. “And you’ve really never killed the wrong person during all these years? You never got bad information?”
“There is something about betrayal that I find particularly odious. And that is your nature. I carefully consider my actions. I take care to ensure that I am on the right path. That is why I consult my dreams. You act in uncontrolled rage. You have no training, are undisciplined, and act on impulse without carefully considering all angles. You’re feral, like an animal. A common mortal trait, isn’t it?”
My mind flickered with the memory of his True Face and the chains of fire writhing around him. “You think you’re superior to mortals. But you forget I’ve seen your uncontrolled side, Samael. You’ll have to come up with a better distinction between us than that. You want me to think that you have always carefully considered your actions? I know you’re lying.”
He cut me off sharply: “Oswald and Emma will keep you company tomorrow. They can show you the castle interior.”
I hadn’t escaped. On the other hand … I made some progress. I would be meeting with people. Thank the stars, I’d have someone to talk to. This was an improvement.
He cast one last icy gray look in my direction. At that moment, I realized how badly I'd wanted his attention, even if I’d been arguing with him. For the past two months, I’d felt hollow, carved open. I’d take an argument over silence any day.
“In Castle Hades,” he said, “you told me one night that you thought there was a ghost in your room, and that was why you got drunk. I believed you at the time. It was why you tried to escape—or so you said. It wasn’t until after you tried to kill me that I realized you lied about a lot. And your whole plan was to seduce me so you could try to kill me for the Free Men. You feigned fear of ghosts that you do not believe in. So forgive me if I don’t believe you about this new ghost in your room. But you can trust that you won’t get the chance to try to kill me again. Apparently, you can pick a lock, so I will not bother with that. But you do understand if you try to escape the castle to get to the Free Men, you will feel the effects of my wrath.”
“I’m not lying,” I said. “This time.”
He started climbing the stairs again.
“Samael, if I could, I’d be hunting down the Free Men with you, because they are the real enemy. I understand that now, and you must believe me. And you have to know I’m on your side! Because whoever the Baron is, he stole my best friend and my sister from me, and he turned them into monsters. I want to hunt him down, just like you do. And I want to go after Finn for the very thing you hate so much: betrayal. If you let me free, I will help you!”
I realized I was shouting at him mostly because I didn’t want him to leave—because I wanted to see if he’d turn those pale gray eyes to me once more.
He paused once more on the stairs. “Soon, Lila, I will call on you for help. Soon, I will need you to marry me.”
7
Lila
That … was unexpected.
I felt as if I couldn’t catch my breath. “Well, I am certainly flattered, but at the very least, you’re supposed to look someone in the eye when you propose.”
“It’s not a real proposal, of course. This is the job I originally hired you for. You are still working for me, remember? The Council of the Fallen requires that I marry a mortal. You are the one in my dreams. Nightmares, really. You will play the part. That is all.”
Leverage. That's what Ernald would say. It was all about leverage. He still wanted me to be his wife. “Is that why you don’t want me to go insane? It would ruin the big show of a wedding if I was raving down the aisle?”
“Precisely.”
I held up my hand. “I need a ring, of course. To show how deeply in love we are.”
He frowned. “A ring?”
“It’s what mortals do when they are engaged to be married. And when you’re married, you get a second ring.” I cocked my head. “You fell five hundred years ago. Have you not paid any attention to mortals during that time?”
“I avoid mortals as much as possible, and I intend to continue.” With that final word, he stalked off into the shadows, leaving me alone once more.
My lip curled as I watched him prowl away.
Still, leverage was something. Now I knew why I was still alive. But the question was, what would he do when he didn’t need me anymore? Once he was crowned king, he wouldn’t need to keep me around.
Maybe I’d need to practice being nice to him, even though he loathed me and was infuriatingly condescending about mortals. I’d plaster a smile on my face and charm him.
As I started to climb the stairs, I heard footsteps echoing from the hallway above. A man with a slim build rounded the corner. He gave me a charming, crooked smile, his green eyes twinkling.
“Oswald, at your service.” He bowed slightly. “Castle chamberlain.” A little raven tattoo peeked out from under his collar.
So, he was a mortal like me.
I crossed my arms in front of my chest, unwilling to give him the same view I’d given Samael.
Leverage. The word took root in my brain.
All at once, it occurred to me that I could gain more freedom in this castle if the servants thought I was important.
“I am Lila, future countess. Engaged to the count. Did he mention that?”
Oswald’s eyes sparkled. “I was, in fact, informed just moments ago. Congratulations. He has been very secretive about your presence here. I knew there was food going to that room, but not who it was for.”
“I’ve been recovering from a terrible shock, and he is deeply protective of me. You know how love is.”
“Not yet, I’m afraid.”
“I was sleepwalking. Very relieved that my beloved Samael found me.”
“You must be freezing. I will escort you back to your room.”
I shivered, my feet frozen on the flagstones as I followed after him. With chattering teeth, I wrapped my arms tightly around myself. “What is a chamberlain, exactly?”