Lily harper complete s.., p.91
lily harper - complete series, page 91
My stomach churned as the words emptied from her mouth. They were said in Lily’s voice and they came from Lily’s lips. But it was the words, themselves, that caused me some level of chagrin. The reason being that this information was something I had never shared with Lily before. As it was, I could not help but wonder whether she was privy to our conversation or not.
“Oh, come now,” Persephone said with a feigned laugh as she pulled away from me. “You suddenly look like you’ve seen a ghost!” Her left eyebrow rose as she continued to study me. “Ah, I am beginning to understand,” she said as she started to nod in earnest. “You never told the girl that you were the Master of the Underground City before Alaire, did you?” She didn’t wait for me to respond, but sighed dramatically. “No, you did not. I can see as much by the shocked expression in your eyes.”
Much though I did not want to admit it, what Persephone said was true. All of it. My title of Master of the Underground City was one I had proudly held for centuries. It was also the biggest secret I had kept from Lily. Of course, I wanted to tell her. There were moments when the need to tell her grew all-encompassing, and the truth was right on the tip of my tongue … But I never mustered my courage long enough to actually deliver the words. I never was able to tell Lily how scarred and despicable I really was.
I could never tell Lily the truth because I was afraid. I couldn’t fathom seeing the disappointment or rejection that I was certain would be evident in her eyes. Instead, I kept all of it safely concealed and continued to live a lie. For me, it was the only way. I could not accept losing Lily, and I knew that telling her the truth would result in exactly that. Those were consequences I was not willing to accept.
“Don’t look so out of sorts,” Persephone replied as she shook her head and frowned at me. “Your secret is safe with me,” she purred, her eyes spitting indignant fire. “The girl’s soul is weak when compared to mine. She cannot fight or resist me. In a fairly short time, I will completely possess her body. She will be nothing more than its former tenant.”
Of course, her words only stoked the fires of rage inside me. My fury seized me, making it difficult to breathe. My hands turned into fists and I prayed for the chance to kill Persephone again. This time, I would not fail. The traces of Donnchadh’s red hot anger loomed now, however, a shadow of my own. I had to gain control of myself and calm down. I could not allow Persephone to affect me as she was.
Best her at her own game, I thought to myself. Dinnae allow her tae win. Ye are Lily’s only chance left an’ ye moost fight fer her.
“Ye havenae drank from meh in ah long while,” I said, forcing the words out. I was still not persuaded my blood would help aid Lily in her fight to reinstate control over her body, but I could think of nothing else that would.
“Your promise of immortality,” Persephone started as her eyes revealed the conflict she was experiencing. The question over whether or not drinking my blood would offer her the chance to live forever must have bothered her. “I cannot help but question the validity of your proposal,” she started. “And why you would make me such an offer in the first place, given your obvious abhorrence toward me.”
I shrugged, becoming increasingly hopeful that she would believe my explanation. “Ye have meh where ye want meh,” I answered with a frown. I leaned forward to draw attention to my bound hands behind me and the chains rattled with the effort as if emphasizing my statement, as if calling attention to themselves. “An’ as ye well know, Ah amnae ah man that can be shackled fer long.”
“Your imprisonment is causing you to suffer, is it?” she asked with an obvious smile. I didn’t answer, but held her gaze defiantly. She shrugged. “Just because I take whatever I want from you does not guarantee you anything. Surely, you must realize as much?”
I nodded. “Aye. Ah’m simply requestin’ that ye consider meh.”
“Consider you? For what?” she snapped back.
Tilting my head to the side, I took my time responding. I wanted her to know I was not desperate, and could maintain my serenity. “Whit will ye dae, now that life has been restored tae ye?”
She furrowed her brow and appeared perplexed by my question. “What do you mean, what will I do? I will lead, as I have always done!”
I nodded to let her know her answer was as I expected. “An’ ye will dae so oan yer own?”
“If need be,” she answered immediately.
“An’ whit of Alaire?” I asked with a slight smile. I was glad to let her know I enjoyed stating the obvious wrench in her future plans.
“To hell with Alaire!” she exclaimed, getting upset. “I don’t need him! I will either depose him and take my rightful place as leader; or perhaps, I will ally myself with him. First, I must decide which avenue is best for me. I have yet to make my decision.”
I nodded, loath to inform her that Alaire would never allow her to depose him. Moreover, I suspected, no, I was convinced, Alaire was the puppet master behind Persephone’s reanimation. That meant he had plans for her. I was sure his plans did not include abdication so she could take her “rightful” place.
“An’ whit o’ meh?” I asked with a shrug.
“What about you?” she repeated the question, her eyes blazing. “You can’t possibly think of offering your services to me after everything else that’s happened?”
“An’ why nae?” I asked. “Ye know Ah am twice the leader Alaire is; an’ ye also know ye cannae dae it without meh.”
“I wouldn’t be so quick to gloat,” she said as she shook her head. “I am completely capable and very strong. I don’t need you, or Alaire.”
“Aye, that may be true,” I rebutted. “Boot ye still dinnae have whit either Alaire or Ah have.”
“Which is … what?” she demanded.
“Eternal life,” I answered instantly. “An’ oontil ye do, ye cannae compete.”
“And my immortality would come from you?” she asked with a slight laugh. I simply nodded. She began to shake her head, looking affronted and irritated. “You’re offering me immortality? In return for what? My permission for you to rule again beside me?”
I nodded quickly, but didn’t say anything. She began to laugh, and it was a snide, unpleasant sound.
“Surely, you must realize I can simply take whatever I want from you without paying you a farthing in return?” The laugh died on her lips and her eyes narrowed as she stared at me intently. “You are my prisoner! I owe you nothing! I will take whatever I choose to take from you! Therein ends our association! You will never subjugate me again! Never!”
THREE
I was not certain how many moons passed before Persephone visited me again. In that time, I remained completely alone in my prison. After Persephone relocated the angel, I did not see nor hear from him again. Although it surprised me to admit, I actually missed his inane conversation. Imbecilic as it was, at least it was better than the uninterrupted silence that pervaded the cold, rough walls of my penitentiary.
What was far worse, though, was the fact that I had not bled myself in far too long. I could feel Donnchadh’s strength growing as my own dwindled, day by day. I did not know how much longer I could hold the raging spirit back. It was now simply a matter of time …
At the sound of the heavy, iron door opening with a groan, I shifted my weight from one pained arse cheek to the other. I had been stuck in this position of my back against the wall and my arse cheeks planted on the cold stone floor for so long now, that my legs and arms ached while the rest of my body was numb.
Persephone appeared in front of the iron bars, dressed as I knew she would be—in a long, body-revealing dress that outlined the swells of her thighs, as well as her prominent breasts. She was nothing short of stunning. Rather, Lily was nothing short of stunning.
As soon as Lily’s name crossed my mind, a bomb of anxiety dropped in the pit of my stomach, nearly suffocating me with its melancholy. I had to ignore my feelings because they would do me no good. Not now.
“I have reconsidered your offer,” Persephone announced. She glared down at me from eyes that once were emerald, but now were dark as tar.
“An’ which offer would that be?” I asked, knowing the answer. But I was in the mood for a randy game of back and forth.
She did not reply right away as she entered the skeleton key into the lock on the door, cranking it to the right. Slowly pushing the steel-barred door open, she showed herself inside. I noticed with interest that her sidekick, Saxon, was nowhere to be seen. This revelation pleased me greatly. It was easier to manipulate people when they were beyond the counsel of others. Persephone did not bother to lock the door again, but approached me as stealthily as a predatory cat.
“I want your immortality,” she said abruptly.
I nodded, but did not reply. This was exactly what I hoped for. Sharing my blood was the only way I could help Lily. Of course, I was unaware of how much my blood could help her, if at all. In my two thousand years of existence, I had yet to encounter a situation quite like the one I currently found myself in.
“Verra good,” I answered with a brief nod, putting a damper on my enthusiasm. I did not want Persephone to grow suspicious of my motivation in offering her my blood. “This coomes at ah good time.”
“And why is that?” she barked at me as she crossed her arms over her bosom. The dim light of the torches on the walls outside my cell reflected the steel blade in her hand. She had come prepared …
“Ah have nae bled mahself in tae long,” I answered, straining to keep my hatred for her in check. It would do no good for her to witness it.
“So what?”
“Sae Donnchadh’s contaminants are overtakin’ meh,” I finished tersely.
“Donnchadh!” she said with a laugh, waving an unconcerned hand in my direction. “Am I to understand, then, that you are still too weak to control him?” She shook her head as she clicked her tongue against her front teeth. “Even after all this time?”
“Ah wouldnae call it weakness, lass,” I replied with a frown. “Boot Ah would call yer visit today … fortuitous all the same.”
“For me,” she nearly interrupted me. “As to you and that unruly spirit living within you, I do not care whether he possesses you completely.” Then she shrugged. “I should imagine his company would certainly be … more interesting.”
I smiled and nodded even though she had no idea what she was saying. “Aye. Mayhap ye would.”
She was quiet as she studied me for the next few seconds. “I do not enjoy this,” she said at last, her voice hollow.
I cocked my head to the side and smiled. “Ye dinnae enjoy it?” I repeated with a chuckle. “Ye arenae the one bein’ bled! Ah promise ye, Ah enjoy it far less!”
“I was not referring to that!” she nearly spat at me. Then the scowl on her face softened. “I was talking about this,” she said as she pointed from herself to me and back to herself again. “I do not enjoy harboring so much … hatred for you. That harsh feeling is so alien to me.”
I nodded. “Then dinnae harbor it.”
“Were it so simple,” she said wistfully. “But you have brought me to this place,” she continued, her eyes narrowing as she looked at me. “You have brought me to a place I was never meant to go.” I didn’t respond, so she continued. “You and I were supposed to love each other. Forever.”
“Eternities change,” I replied. I was not intending for my voice to sound so icy, but there was only so much I could restrain.
“Your plans changed,” she argued as she approached me, holding the blade out in front of her as if to threaten me with it. When she was close enough, she slammed the blade beneath my chin, forcing my head upward and into an uncomfortable position. Then she held her wrist there, making me look in her eyes.
“Ye forced mah hand,” I whispered as I glared at her. “Ye left meh with nae choice.”
“You should have defended me,” she chastised me as she shook her head. “You should have defended your queen! Instead, you slaughtered me just as easily as if I were livestock, a suckling pig, dressed and ready to be roasted on a spit.”
“’Twas nae mah fault ye became the consort o’ Alaire,” I rebutted, the fires of indignation kindling inside me.
“Yes, you were always jealous of Alaire, weren’t you?” she asked, and a lascivious smile spread across her face. “Your single mistake was trusting him.”
“Nae,” I said as I shook my head. “That was the one mistake ye made. Ah never troosted him, nor anyone else fer that matter.”
“And perhaps therein lies your problem, bladesmith,” she snapped. She pulled the blade from underneath my chin, but didn’t back away. “You never truly trusted me either. That meant you never truly loved me.”
“Mayhap,” I answered succinctly. “Boot Ah have never been ah man that troosts easily.”
“I am well aware of that,” she answered, her eyebrows drawn. “I always knew your love was fleeting, and perhaps even nonexistent,” she finished. I could see her lips pursing with pent-up anger. “I knew, but I could never fully admit it to myself,” she sighed heavily. “That was the reason I turned to Alaire.”
“We dinnae need tae have this conversation,” I interrupted, suddenly tiring of the subject matter.
“We do,” she insisted. “We should have had this conversation a long time ago.” Then she shook her head and sighed again. “Perhaps if we had, things would have turned out differently.”
“Ah forgive ye fer yer dealins with Alaire,” I said, despite how far from the truth it was. But I could sense a weakness in her. It was the only chink in her armor that I detected so far, hence, I had to further indulge it. “An’ Ah forgive ye fer attemptin’ tae take mah life.”
“I never wanted him the way I wanted you,” she confessed as she dropped down to her knees before sidling up against me. I found it interesting and amusing even that she insisted on ignoring the part where she had plunged a blade into my chest, moments before I had ended her life.
She held the blade of the knife up to my cheek and traced the jagged line of my scar. “But I knew you would never love me the way I wanted you to.”
“Ah did luv ye,” I retorted. Much as it pained me to lie to her, because she was my enemy, I could see no other alternative. As to the truth, there had been a time when I was fond of Persephone. Of course, that was long before she allowed her greed and envy to become her undoing.
“How dare you have the audacity to lie to me!” she said as she pulled away and glared at me angrily.
I shook my head. “Ah make it mah business tae be ah man o’ my word.” Neither one of us said anything for the span of a few seconds. I was the first to speak again. “Aye, Ah luved ye.”
“Then why?” she started as she shook her head and appeared to be uncomfortable.
“Ah had nae other choice,” I answered. “Yer greed an’ hoonger fer power were roonin’ away with ye. Ye were nae longer the sweet, innocent lass ye once were. Ye were nae longer the woman Ah fell in luv with. Ye were corroopted, and when ye chanced tae take mah life, mah only option was tae take yers.”
A memory of the first time I had ever seen Persephone entered my head like a bomb. I could recall the fairness of her skin, her light blue eyes and the platinum blonde ringlets she wore piled high atop her head. She had been fashionably attired for the time in a blue and white plaid frock with billowing, wide skirts that grazed the ground when she walked. I could recall the graceful line of her décolletage and the ample neckline of her gown, considered brazen for the time.
She worked as an emissary for Afterlife Enterprises, and her sole mission was to report on my comings and goings. She was a spy of sorts, but not a covert one. Of course, I immediately became captivated by her and her coy innocence. I found myself looking forward to her unannounced visits. Soon afterwards, the anticipation turned into an irresistible yearning.
It came somewhat as a surprise when she admitted how much she looked forward to our witty exchanges just as much as I did. In no time at all, she was visiting me monthly, and then weekly. Her appointments were no longer sanctioned by Afterlife Enterprises. They became clandestine visits in which I would dispatch my most trusted henchman, Alaire, to meet Persephone at the gates of the Underground City. This was to ensure her safe arrival to my kingdom, the same kingdom in which I now sat, rotting.
Being so taken with the coquette, it was simply a matter of days before I invited her to become my queen and rule the Underground City alongside me. Of course, she was very happy to accept my offer. I never knew if her poisonous greed already existed inside her, or if, like an illness, it developed over time, eventually taking root inside her heart and spreading its black tentacles until it tainted her entire being.
As I gazed upon her now, I decided it mattered not.
“Then my affair with Alaire was not the reason you stopped loving me?” she asked as her back stiffened and I feared I had gone too far.
“Aye!” I said as I shook my head, looking at her like she had lost her mind. “O’ course, it had everythin’ tae dae with it!” I leaned forward, trying to extinguish the pain in my shoulders caused by my arms being pinned behind my back. “Yer dealins with Alaire broke meh,” I finished in a soft voice. I was no longer playing a part. I was now fully reliving everything that happened between Persephone and me. I could not look at her.
“You were so cold, you turned on me,” she started, shaking her head. “Alaire was the only one who told me how beautiful and capable I was. He was the only one who reminded me I was a queen, and very powerful.”
“He was mah lead counsel man,” I started to argue. When I finally brought my attention to her face, I found myself staring into the empty void of her eyes. “There was nae one closer tae meh than he,” I hissed before taking a deep breath as the unhappy memories returned anew.
“I never loved him,” she stated as she shook her head. The pain in her eyes was nearly palpable.
