Page 91 of The Monsters We Are
“I’m not sure I agree with that.”
Downstairs, Cain led her straight to the parlor but didn’t enter. “Remember,” he began, “Adam has no idea that you’re my consort. Let’s keep it that way. I don’t want him more focused on you than he already is.”
She gave a short nod and tugged on her sleeve, ensuring that Cain’s seal was well-hidden.
Inside the room, Wynter greeted the conduit, vaguely recognizing him from her years at Aeon. He was an okay dude. A little spineless, though.
The moment she pressed her fingertips to his and entered the all-white psychic space, Wynter fixed her gaze on Adam. It was hard not to sneer. Sheloathedthis motherfucker. Loathed him with a glorious passion.
He was responsible for so much, including her mother’s death in an indirect way. But what Wynter most hated him for was the torment he’d caused Cain over the years. She truly couldn’t wait to see this asshole breathe his last.
As she and Cain took the two seats that faced him, Adam continued to stare at her, pointedly ignoring her consort. She inwardly snorted. Did the Aeon honestly believe that Cain would be bothered by the petty snub? If so, he truly did not know her guy at all.
“Wynter Dellavale,” Adam drawled. “I would say ‘we meet at last,’ but I do recall seeing you at Aeon from time to time. I don’t believe we have ever before spoken to each other, though, have we?”
“No, we haven’t,” she replied. “To what do I owe this not-so-great honor?”
His lips slightly thinned, but he quickly blanked his expression. “You have caused me many problems. In cursing your homeland, you essentially betrayed it. Betrayed your people.”
“They betrayed me first.”
“Your old coven is now dead, though. It was in fact you who killed them.”
Actually, she’d killedmostof them. She’d then trapped her old Priestess in the netherworld. Wynter wasn’t sure what had happened to the bitch in that place. Hopefully lots of dark and scary things.Fingers crossed.
“Likewise, the boys who hurt you long ago are dead. Those at Aeon who wronged you have paid the price,” Adam went on. “You could easily undo the curse rather than punish everyone else there.”
“But it wasn’t only my coven who made my life difficult. The mages did their fair share of that, and they were worse. You or any of the other Aeons could have put an end to it. You didn’t. Instead,Iwas the one who was exiled. Only an exile isn’t truly a banishment. It’s a straight-up execution. An execution I’d done nothing to deserve.
“Yet, Lailah ordered it anyway. And she couldn’t have done that without your say-so. Which meansyou’realso responsible for my near death. You had God only knows how many people unjustly ‘exiled’ over the eras. In truth, Aeon lost its true beauty a millennia ago, after it slowly became infected by the godly arrogance you Aeons have.”
Beside her, Cain chuckled.
Adam’s face hardened, but he still made a point of not looking at the Ancient. “Well, you certainly made the land and its people pay, Miss Dellavale. Is it really necessary to drag out this ‘lesson’ you wish to teach us?”
She cocked her head. “Necessary? No. Satisfying? Oh, yes.”
His green eyes briefly blazed at her. “You have no idea what you have done. None. If Aeon falls, we will all suffer for it.”
“I don’t see how.”
He opened his mouth but then quickly snapped it shut.
“It seems to me that if there wasreallysome great big reason why Aeon shouldn’t fall, you’d have told everyone about it by now. Yet, you haven’t elaborated. So I’m pretty inclined to think that you’re talking out of your ass. But if I’m wrong, please do enlighten me.”
His fingers flexed. “Would you really die for the Ancients, Miss Dellavale? That is what will happen if you are still at Devil’s Cradle when the war begins. No one there will be left alive. But if you come to me and undo the curse, I will spare you. You will be free to leave Aeon and continue with your life.”
She shot him a look of pure disbelief. “You don’t honestly think I’ll believe that, do you?” He couldn’t. Surely not.
“I can draw up a binding contract, if you wish.”
“Yeah, and there’ll be loopholes galore. Sorry, I’m going to have to turn down your offer.”
“Then you are foolish.”
“Funny. I was thinking the same thing about you. But although you’re many things, Adam, you’re not foolish.” Which was a shame, really, because defeating the Aeons would otherwise have been so much easier. “You knew I wouldn’t accept your offer. Even if I had, the Ancients wouldn’t have let me leave Devil’s Cradle—you’re well aware of that, too. So why did you really call me here?”
He didn’t respond. Merely stared at her.