Ecstasy Unveiled(120)

“Good luck,” E said. “You sure we can’t help? Wraith can get inside anything.”

“I can’t risk an alarm being raised before I get to Deth and Sin. He’ll kill her and get out before I ever hit the throne chamber.”

“If you change your mind, call.”

“You bet.” He reached out, shook Eidolon’s hand. “Thank you. For everything.”

E nodded. “If anything happens to you, we won’t stop looking for a way to rescue Sin.”

“I’m counting on it.”

Lore met up with Sunil at the demon bar, and together they headed to Sheoul. For the first time in thirty years, Lore couldn’t see the entrance to Deth’s keep. Sunil took Lore by the sleeve and guided him through an invisible—to Lore—barrier. Ahead, beyond a narrow walkway of frozen earth, boulders, and vicious booby traps, was the arched entryway to the den, where two of Deth’s henchmen kept watch.

This would be the first test.

Sunil revealed his mark to the guards, and after sliding Lore a good-luck glance, he disappeared inside.

“Well, Sem?” one of the guards snarled through tusks.

Lore lifted his shirt, revealing the palm-shaped mark they expected. For the space of a long, drawn-out breath, the guard stared, and Lore’s pulse jackhammered through his veins.

“Mark is fresh. Re-upped your contract, eh?”

Lore shrugged. “Discovered all I’m good at is killing.” Discovered Eidolon was good at making cosmetic scars, too.

The other guard cocked his thumb at the entrance. “Go.”

Relief made Lore’s knees weak, but he strode into the keep like he belonged. Like he wasn’t going to tear Deth’s fucking head off. He moved down the hall, boots thudding on the floor in time to his heartbeat. Ahead, the double doors to Deth’s chamber were closed.

Inside, there would be two Ramreels. Smiling, Lore whipped two blades from the weapons harness under his jacket. He didn’t even slow down when he reached the doors. He threw them open, and before the Ramreels could blink, he’d buried his blades in their throats.

Furious, Deth lurched out of his bone chair. Beside him, chained naked to the base of the throne, was Sin. What had that evil fuck done to her?

“Lore, no!” The concern in her plea only fueled the fires of his anger, which was rapidly turning inferno hot.

He dipped his hand into one pocket for a cutting tool and tossed it to Sin as Deth summoned more guards. An arrow pierced Lore’s shoulder from behind, and pain popped along every single nerve ending. The familiar haze came down over his vision, and for the first time in memory, he was glad for the rage.

There was nothing but weightlessness in the light. There was no sense of time, no hot or cold, nothing but a sense of peace. Then, suddenly, Idess was standing inside a white-marbled gazebo in the middle of the most beautiful world she’d ever seen. It was like marshmallow clouds raining diamonds all over fields of emerald grass and ruby roses.

Even her imagination couldn’t have spun this up.

Nice to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live here. No, she wanted steamy North Carolina forests, McDonalds, and demon men who dressed in leather.

Standing to her left were four angels, two females and two males, all wearing what Idess guessed were ceremonial robes. In crimson. Interesting color choice. In their hands, they held golden scythes.

Obviously, this was the Memitim Council. And none of them looked happy.

Idess dropped to one knee in a deep bow, and realized she was wearing a robe that matched theirs. It pooled around her bare feet like blood.

“Stand.” A male voice compelled her to her feet. “Do you know why you have been brought here?”

“For judgment,” she replied. “For failing my test.”

The auburn-haired female shook her head. “You did not fail.”

Idess frowned. “But Lore. I had relations with him.” I’m bonded to him. Actually, she couldn’t feel him. She cast a covert glance at her hand, where the markings still colored her skin. So maybe they were still bonded, but their link had been dropped like a call on a crappy cell phone network?

“He was not your test.”

Idess tugged her robe more snugly around her. “I don’t understand. Even if he wasn’t my test, is it not forbidden to know any male so intimately? Let alone a demon male?”

“Exceptions are made when the outcome is positive.”

Now she was really confused. “Outcome?”

“Your selflessness was your test. After your betrayal of your brother, we had to make sure you’d grown. And you have. By giving up that which was most important to you—your Ascension—for the greater good, you proved your worth. You knew what intercourse with the half-breed would cost you, yet you did it to gain entrance to Rariel’s lair. By slaying him, you voided the contract on Kynan’s life and ensured his safety.”