Naamah squeezed Stephanie’s shoulder again—another warning.
Trembling, she set her down on the floor below the manacled figure, eventually settling nearby on her knees, her wings flat and arched forward in submission.
Stephanie gasped again, unable to stop.
“Naamah.”
The new voice was soft, almost a hiss at the edge of her imagination.
It took a moment for Stephanie to notice the shadow coiling in and out of the mist clinging to the floor, and yet the closer it came, the more it lost its strange snakelike shape and the glitter of its scales, its body disappearing again as the darkness seemed to pull in on itself, molding its inky vapors into the figure of a person. Now he stood to their right, half disguised by the gloom, and Stephanie wondered if she was hallucinating.
He seemed to be a tall young man, with a mop of sable hair that might have been streaked through with violet. A shock of purple paint glowed over his eyelids.
His eyes, though, remained hazy.
Maybe that was for the best, because there was something about them that seemed off to her. Unnatural. Maybe even reptilian. They examined her coldly, briefly reflecting the light with a terrible shade of orange.
Stephanie was actually thankful when Naamah spoke again. It gave her something else to concentrate on.
“Python.” Naamah greeted him with a marked coldness. “What are you doing here?”
“Touchy as ever.” His lips spread into an expressive smile. “I came to pray, of course.” He sauntered closer, eyebrows lifted in curiosity. “At least I was before you barged through the Gate. Now what is this little annoyance you brought? A human?” The demon was encroaching on Stephanie, almost close enough for her to make out the delicate scales hidden below his eyepaint. “I’m sure you wouldn’t mind if I took a closer look—”
Naamah shot onto her feet, her fingerblades to his throat.
Python lost his smile.
“Not another step,” Naamah said, hissing herself between her teeth.
There was a pause, heavy and oppressive.
“Oh,” Python whispered, “but I think you might want to play a little more nicely today. We wouldn’t want to wake her.”
He inclined his head at the figure hanging in her web of chains, her silhouette sharp against a background of crimson.
Stephanie’s eyes began to water.
“After all,” he continued, just as softly, “you haven’t exactly been the most well-behaved chick in the nest as of late. Maybe while we’re here, we should tell the Prince about your recent string of failures.” Python pushed the blades away from his neck. “Or you could simply let me take a look at your little pet. That is, unless you do want help from her instead.”
Naamah’s braids shone with the eerie light, resembling gold dipped in blood.
“She’s dying,” she said at last, her voice trembling. “From blood loss.”
Python stepped to Stephanie’s side, glowering down at her. “I don’t see why that matters. Humans breed like common rats and die just as easily. I’m sure you’ll find a replacement soon. Unless you think she is the Archon, perhaps?”
Naamah was silent for a while, and that was answer enough. Stephanie couldn’t control herself. She sobbed, violated by the idea that Naamah never really believed in her. Never. Naamah had mentioned replacements when talking about her dead brother, and now it was Stephanie’s turn, just as she’d warned.
“She’s a human I—adopted.”
Python waited, wordless.
“Her mother sold her soul, in exchange for typical human amusements. This one was only a chick, and with her red hair—”
“Then that means,” he said coolly, “that you’re still looking.” The demon’s tone hardened, subtly but in a distinct and terrible way. “It’s not a good position to be in, Countess. Some would be led to think you’re not enthusiastic about our god’s cause. Holding back like that. What a shameful thing to do when so many lives are at stake.”
But both of them heard the careless laughter in his voice.
“So how shall you keep her alive? With”—and the laughter was real this time—“the power of prayer?”
Naamah’s fingers twitched dangerously, but she calmed down again, glancing at him sideways. “Why are you interested? Do you want to help me? Or are you really just that much of a snake?”
Python breathed heavily.
Naamah turned from him, but he grabbed her suddenly, pulling her in as if for an embrace. Her fingerblades reappeared at the same instant the manacled figure sighed in her sleep.
Naamah froze with her hand extended, petrified.
Python whispered into her ear, and Stephanie thought she saw a forked tongue lick at her mother’s skin. “We’re not that ignorant, Countess. Or, perhaps I should say, I’m not that ignorant.” His fingers pinched her arms cruelly, and his other hand clamped against the wound near her collarbone. “Let’s be frank with each other. You made a mistake the moment you sidestepped me for this mission. I mean, what did you think? That I wouldn’t catch on to where your true allegiance lies?” He whispered even lower now, voice husky. “It’s one thing to secretly plan for our Prince’s deposition. It’s another to let everyone else figure it out. If I were you, it might be time to make your nest elsewhere. In fact, I’d say you showed your idiocy the moment you stepped into this Altar.”