I might have imagined that he flinched, the movement was so quick. But he didnt avoid my gaze. My wife, he said. She died seven years ago. And I will not replace her with you. Watching me. Always watching me out of those fierce blue eyes in the drab, empty surroundings.
I wanted to hate her. I wanted anger to fill me at the thought of the woman he loved, loved enough to spend seven years without sex, loved enough that hed offered me up to monsters rather than risk having to marry me and contaminate her memory.
But I could find no rage. In truth, I could almost feel her between us, a gentle presence in the room. Oh, most definitely between us, and she always would be.
But he would be gone, and I would be dead, and why should it matter? Yet it did.
What if I promise not to marry you? I think I can manage to survive such a crushing blow to my heart. I was trying to sound cynical, but there was just a trace of vulnerability in my voice, and I wished Id just shut the fuck up. I twisted my mouth into a semblance of a smile. Lets just be friends with benefits.
We are not friends and we never will be.
Damn, we were back to the terse dialogue. Then what are we? And dont say mortal enemieswere past that and you may as well admit it. What are we?
Reluctant allies. I have decided I do not want the Truth Breakers to get their hands on you.
Then why did you bring me here in the first place? It was a reasonable question, and I expected an answer.
To find the truth at any cost. I changed my mind.
Why? Because we fucked? I used the crude word deliberately. Sex without love was fucking. Suddenly you care about me?
No. Because suddenly I despise Beloch.
Id wanted answersit wasnt his fault if I didnt like them. Then again, I wasnt sure if I believed him. There had been a strong undercurrent of animosity between the two of them when hed first brought me down to Belochs deceptively cozy apartment. This was nothing new.
So what are we going to do about it? I asked in my most practical voice.
I have yet to decide. He rose abruptly, glancing around the room, and I suddenly remembered the cameras. Were they throughout the house? Im going for a walk, he said in that take-no-prisoners tone.
I didnt like feeling like a prisoner. Can I go with you?
No, he said flatly. Youve already seen what can happen when you wander around alone.
But Id have you to protect me, I argued.
He looked at me long and hard. If I were you, I wouldnt count on it.
THE COOL AFTERNOON AIR WAS heavy with an approaching storm as Azazel strode toward the old restaurant and made his way into the warren of rooms beneath it. Beloch had been his enemy for as long as he could remember. He was far more powerful than he should have been. While Azazel knew that the Dark City had existed as long as the Fallen had, possibly longer, the details were unclear. The memory of his own incarceration here was impossibly vaguehe could recall the pain and the despair and his determination to survive, and not much more.
He refused to ask
his enemies for favorsparticularly when they were like Beloch, delighting in power and torture. Yet here he stood in Belochs lair, the supplicant. If he wanted to bring her safely out of here, he would need Belochs agreement.
Please, he said, and the word cost him.
Beloch looked at him and laughed. Have you fallen in love, Azazel? he cooed from his chair by the fire, his gnarled fingers stroking the angry cat. How darling! I thought you were determined not to fall prey to the Lilith. In fact, earlier you insisted that you had managed to bed her without emotion. Clearly you were lying, either to me or to yourself.
Azazel stared back, keeping his face cool and blank. Falling in love is for weak-minded humans, he said. Besides, the Lilith has no memory of her seductive powersshes as awkward as a schoolgirl.
I gather schoolgirls can be quite delightful, Beloch murmured. Though Im afraid I wouldnt know. The lure of the flesh disgusts me. But heres the question that really interests me. Did you drink from her, blood-eater?
No. You know the curse as well as I do. She isnt my mate, and we only feed from our mates. I felt no desire for her blood at all. He wondered if that was the truth. He could smell her blood pulsing beneath her skin, and his fangs had begun to lengthen reflexively. Hed fought it. It was profane enough that hed fucked her. To drink her blood in the sacrament reserved for bonded mates would be the greatest travesty.
The only reason hed even been tempted was that hed been away from Sheol for so long. Away from the nourishing gift of the Source. It was only natural that he should begin to react to her on a purely visceral level. Only natural that he would fight it.
I wonder if I believe you, Beloch said meditatively.
I dont care whether you believe me or not. I want you to let her go. We can find other ways to get the information we need from her.
Dont be silly, Beloch said. The moment you entered the Dark City, you placed yourselves in my hands. I dont relinquish what is mine. You brought her here for the Truth Breakers to discover the secrets she keeps hidden inside, and they will do just that.