Page 88 of The Monsters We Are
Lifting his glass tumbler later that evening, Cain tipped it back and swallowed some of his brandy. Beside him, Wynter sank back into the dining room chair, clearly full. They were alone now, since Abaddon had headed to his bedchamber to rest, determined to be at full strength fast.
The meal had gone well. Cain had watched as his consort and uncle got to know each other, and he hadn’t been surprised by how easy Abaddon had taken to her. Wynter was like a Leviathan in many ways—merciless, vengeful, cunning, elusive.
She’d intrigued Abaddon without even trying. It had been amusing to watch his uncle try to pluck secrets out of her. Amusing to witness her skillfully dodge the Ancient’s questions, never falling for any of his traps.
Abaddon had later given Cain a subtle nod of approval, clearly supportive of his choice of consort. Cain couldn’t claim he’d craved or even wanted such approval, but it was still nice to have it.
He suspected that one of the things about her which most impressed Abaddon was that she wasn’t intimidated by him. People always found Abaddon daunting—the residents of Devil’s Cradle were no exception; they’d given him plenty of space when Dantalion earlier gave him a tour of both the underground city and the town above them.
The people had been shocked when Cain gave his speech, informing them of Abaddon’s existence. But they’d otherwise taken the news well, according to his aides. After all, the presence of an additional Ancient meant that Devil’s Cradle was now even safer.
Cain knocked back the last of his brandy, set down his glass, and looked at his consort. “Are you going to tell me what’s playing on your mind? You hid it well from Abaddon, but you’re distracted by something.”
She bit the inside of her cheek. “You won’t like it.”
His scalp prickled at her grave expression, and his creature’s head snapped up. “Maybe not. But that doesn’t mean you should have to hold it inside.” He gently cupped her chin. “Don’t ever feel the need to dance around my feelings or moods or beliefs, Wynter. I would much rather you always shared your burdens with me, even if I won’t like them, than for you to choose another person to confide in.”
Letting out a heavy breath, she twisted in her chair. “Okay, I’ll tell you. But I need you to make me a promise first.”
He narrowed his eyes. “What sort of promise?”
“That you won’t contact Kali about this.”
He ran his tongue along the inside of his lower lip. “All right.”
She let out a soft snort. “That’s not enough, Cain. Nor was it very convincing.” She held out her hand, which currently crackled with magick. “Promise you won’t contact Kali after you hear what I have to say.”
His hackles rose. He didn’t like this. Not at all. “You intend toliterallyhold me to my vow? You don’t trust me to keep it?”
“It’s not a matter of trust. It’s a matter of my knowing that you won’t react well to what I tell you, and I need to be sure you won’t do something rash.”
He searched her eyes, seeing no room for negotiation there. “This news you have is truly that awful?”
“More like ‘concerning’.”
His inner alarms were blaring, warning him that her revelation would be far more than concerning, despite what she claimed. His consort had a tendency to downplay certain things.
He did not whatsoever like that he’d be magickly bound to not react freely to what he would learn, but there was no way he could turn her down. He needed to know what had put that grave look on her face, and his presently uneasy creature wouldn’t rest until it knew.
Shifting in his seat so that he better faced her, Cain clasped her hand and vowed, “I promise not to contact Kali after hearing what you tell me.” Black flecks of magick swirled around their joined palms, and hefeltthe restriction click into place. His creature didn’t much like it, but it only grumbled its disapproval.
Cain didn’t release her hand. He instead gave it a supportive squeeze and urged, “Tell me.”
Both surprised and pleased that he hadn’t put up a struggle to back his promise with magick, Wynter rubbed nervously at her thigh. “First, I want to explain why I didn’t say anything about this last night. It was a threefold thing.”
“Threefold?”
“Yes. One, I was spooked and struggling to take it all in. Two, I knew it was going to piss you off—I wasn’t ready for that conversation; wasn’t able to fully explain to you what I hadn’t yet managed to process. Three, you hadn’t seen your uncle in eons, I wanted the reunion to be somethinggood. You didn’t have that when Eve came here, your relationship with her is too complicated. But I could see that it was different with you and Abaddon. I didn’t want to spoil it.”
His face went all warm and lazy. “My sweet witch.” He leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to her mouth. “How about I make this easier for you? I suspect that what you’re going to tell me is that Kali has been leading you to the grotto all along and She possessed you last night to wake Abaddon. Am I right?”
She dragged in a deep breath, wishing it were that simple. “Uh, no. She wanted to wake him. She played a part in it. But so did I. Sort of.”
He squinted. “Sort of?”
“I didn’t do it alone. The voice that led me to the grotto and spoke to me when I woke from my sleepwalking escapade was the male voice from my dreams. It coaxed me to put my hand into the spring. I wasn’t keen on the idea. I thought about going back to the Keep and telling you I’d been led there. But I wanted to know what the voice was so damn interested in showing me.”
“So you did as it asked.”