Tear Down Heaven: Urban Fantasy Action with Witches and Demons, page 19
The other witches bowed as well, and Bex stepped back in alarm. “Just my hands? Does that mean you’re done?”
“Hardly,” Lydia said, glaring at Bex with blue eyes that gleamed like cold gems in her wrinkled face. “Who do you think is going to hold the line out here? Or keep ferrying your refugees back to the land of the living? Just because we can’t storm the fortress with you doesn’t mean we’re not fighting.”
“I didn’t mean that,” Bex said swiftly. “It’s just…”
She’d hoped for more help. The witches’ magic had been incredible. If it’d just been her and her demons, Bex doubted they could’ve taken the palace steps without heavy casualties, much less pushed inside. They’d made progress faster than she’d ever dreamed, but even with more demons coming up the tree roots to join them every minute, there was still a lot of palace left to cover.
“Don’t make that face,” Muriel said. “It’s not as if we’re abandoning you. In addition to holding the city, as my sister said, we’re lending you our best weapon. Adrian was chosen for this. He will not fail us, or you.”
“I never thought he would,” Bex said, pulling her tattered coat tighter around her shoulders. “Guess I’m going in, then. Thanks for all the help.”
The three witches nodded in unison, but when Bex started up the stairs toward the palace’s towering doors, a bitter voice spoke behind her.
“Is that all you have to say?”
The words were sharp as steel knives, and Bex looked over her shoulder to see Leander standing at the bottom of the steps, staring up at the three witches with centuries of anger etched into his gaunt face.
“I’m standing right here,” he told them. “A son of your own Blackwood, a child you gave away, yet you have more words for the demon than you do for me.” He clenched his fists tight. “Have you nothing else to say for yourself, Mother?”
The witches of the Past and Future looked away, but the Witch of the Present, the target of his words, stared him down with cold blue eyes.
“No.”
Leander flinched like the word was a physical blow, but Agatha’s expression didn’t soften.
“I would never insult my children by asking their forgiveness,” she said. “I cannot ask it, because I am not sorry. I am a mother, yes, and a sister and a woman in my own right. But before all of that, I am a witch. The love I bear for you and all my sons is buried with my heart beneath the Blackwood. A sacrifice to the Great Forest, just like the rest of my flesh.”
“Is that supposed to comfort me?” the prince spat.
“Acts of war comfort no one,” the witch replied. Then, to Bex’s shock, she lowered her eyes. “But I am sorry you turned out so kind, Leander. Most of the sons I bore Gilgamesh were happy to enter his service. I even let him name all of you so I would be less inclined to grow attached. It mostly worked, with two exceptions. Adrian was the second, but you were the first.”
Her hands tightened on her owl-carved broomstick. “You were a thoughtful, clever child, and your witchcraft was so beautiful. I would have kept you with me if I could, but the time was not yet right, so I obeyed my sisters and let you go.”
“Gilgamesh had already seen your potential,” Lydia said. “He would have killed us for keeping such a sorcerer from him.”
“Agatha has always been weak when it comes to her children,” Muriel agreed. “That’s why we are Three. Two can be strong when one is not.”
“Forgive me if I don’t find that inspiring,” Leander growled, stomping up the stairs so that his back was to all three witches. “You’re no family of mine,” he declared when he reached the top, placing a hand on Bex’s shoulder. “Mara’s little sister is dearer to me than any of you, and kinder to those in her care. I have disagreed with Gilgamesh on every principle of my life, but in one judgement he was entirely correct.” He cast a final glare over his shoulder. “The Blackwoods are all heartless witches.”
The Old Wives said nothing in reply. They simply stood on the steps, watching Leander’s back as he vanished through the palace doors. A few seconds later, Bex ran after him, chasing nervously after Adrian’s brother as he turned the corner and came to a sudden stop.
“Hey,” she whispered, her head turning frantically between the plaza outside and the prince in front of her, who stood with his fists clenched and his shoulders shaking like he wanted to scream. “Are you—”
“I have nothing more to say,” he informed her crisply. “Go ahead and find the others. I’d like a minute alone.”
Bex held up her hands at once, backing away from the former Prince of Sorrow like he was an unexploded bomb before she turned and hurried deeper down the gold-decorated hall that her grinning demons were gleefully tearing apart.
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It didn’t take long to find Iggs and Adrian. Bex only had to turn one corner and there they were, together in the middle of a huge hall that looked like a ballroom that had been set on fire. Iggs was still in his big red form, lying on his back with Adrian right beside him and Boston floating above his head on Bran, keeping watch from above.
“Hey!” Bex shouted as she jogged over. “Man, am I glad to see…”
Her voice trailed off in horror as she got close enough to see what had been hidden by Adrian’s back.
“Iggs!” she screamed, sprinting the rest of the way to his side. “What happened to you?”
“I’m fine,” her demon croaked, opening one swollen eye to give Bex a gap-toothed grin. “It was only a few sorcerers.”
“A few?” Bex repeated, staring at his body, every inch of which was covered in third-degree burns, stab wounds, and foot-wide bruises. “You look like you got hit by an entire Anchor all at once!”
“The hallway was pretty packed,” Iggs admitted with a wince. “But I was already in a full rage by that point, so I just went for it.”
“He took them all on,” Nemini said, appearing out of the shadows behind the shattered door to Bex’s left. “The war demons were quite impressed.”
“Hells yeah, they were impressed,” Iggs said proudly, raising his battered arm. “The demons of Wrath are second to none when it comes to—”
“Stop moving,” Adrian snapped in his terse doctor voice, reaching up to snatch Iggs’s arm back down before returning to the green salve he’d been smearing frantically all over Iggs’s torso.
“Will he be okay?” Bex asked nervously.
“He’ll be fine if he stops moving,” the witch growled as he started rubbing the salve in with both hands like Iggs was a lump of bread dough. “Believe it or not, this is already much better than he looked when I arrived. Demonic regeneration is truly a miracle. He should be back on his feet in two hours if he can just hold still and not interrupt the process.”
“And I keep telling you, we don’t have two hours,” Iggs growled back. “Look over there.”
He jerked his head toward the other end of the room, pointing with his horns, since he couldn’t move his hands. When Bex tore her eyes off his mesmerizingly horrific injuries long enough to see why, she spotted a huge stone staircase leading down.
“What’s that?”
“The entrance to the chains,” Iggs explained. “The sorcerers I fought were just the rear guard. By the time we made it into the palace, most of Heaven had already gone down the chains back to Earth.”
“So?” Bex said, failing to see the problem. “I don’t care if they run. Fewer enemies is better for us, and the residents of Heaven have always been cowards.” She frowned. “Honestly, I’m most shocked that Gilgamesh had allowed it. I thought he’d order his followers to fight to the death, not buy them time to escape.”
“They’re not escaping,” Adrian said, keeping his eyes on his work. “They’re the counterattack.”
He lifted one green-smeared finger to point at the enormous pile of empty golden chests lying along the burned room’s wall.
“Those boxes were filled with quintessence the last time I came through here. Normally, the residents of Heaven are too dependent on the magic of Paradise to leave it. With that much quintessence, though, they can do anything. Go anywhere.” He curled his salve-covered hand into a fist. “I can already feel them through my tree. They’re attacking the main Blackwood.”
“What?” Bex said.
“Gilgamesh is attacking the Blackwood,” Adrian repeated, looking up at her with wild eyes. “He didn’t just seal his palace to keep us out. He was guarding his advance. Other than the sorcerers who stayed behind to support the Prince of Fear, this whole fortress is empty! He used the time we spent getting ready to move his own people—the original army that conquered Heaven—into position to attack our forest!”
“No,” Bex said, stumbling backward. “That can’t be right. Why would the witches be here if that was happening? Doesn’t your aunt see the future?”
“They’re here because they made a choice,” Nemini answered before Adrian could. “Gilgamesh’s primary goal is to stop us from interrupting him. That’s why he’s attacking the Blackwood after five thousand years of ignoring it. He’s trying to get us to turn around.”
“He’s doing a damn good job!” Bex yelled in a panic. “If what Adrian’s saying is true, I just sent all our wounded into a war zone!”
“They’re not in danger yet,” Adrian said, determinedly staring at his work as his hands moved faster and faster. “My roots connect to the center of the Blackwood, and I just felt the attack begin. Gilgamesh’s sorcerers will have to cut through twenty miles of old-growth forest before they reach the demons in the heart grove.”
“And there are still witches in the Blackwood,” Boston added from his perch on Bran’s broomstick. “The Old Wives would never leave the forest completely unprotected. The Three probably brought just enough people here with them to safely cast the Witch’s Spite.”
“That’s still too many,” Adrian said as his hands started to shake. “We’re the biggest coven in the world, but we’re not an army. There can’t be more than a hundred witches left in the main grove.”
“There’s other things as well,” Boston argued. “I was wondering why the Old Wives didn’t bring the living dragons as well as the dead ones, but now I understand. They left them behind to counter the counter.”
“If the dragons were capable of defeating Gilgamesh, they wouldn’t be hiding in our forest,” Adrian countered grimly as he smeared the last of the salve under Iggs’s neck. “Honestly, at this point, distance is our best defense. The main Blackwood spans hundreds of miles. Even stacked with quintessence, it’ll take Gilgamesh’s soldiers a while to cut through that much forest. I already talked to my mother, but she says they’re not going back. Nemini is right. The Old Wives have already made their bet.” He looked up at Bex. “We have to defeat Gilgamesh before his army reaches the forest’s heart.”
“Okay,” Bex said as she processed all of that. “How long does that give us?”
“Depends on whether they have a prince with them or not,” Adrian said as he cleaned the last of the salve off his hands with a handkerchief from his coat of infinite pockets.
“Gilgamesh has gotta be running short on sons by now,” Iggs insisted. “I saw the Prince of Hate eat it with my own eyes, and Leander’s with us, so that’s two down.”
“I don’t think Greed is back, either,” Adrian said, thinking. “At least, I didn’t see him during the week I was here. Bex beat the Princess of War earlier, but she’s paired with Alexander. He’s Gilgamesh’s Crown Prince, so he’s probably still active, but Lys killed the Prince of Lust, so that’s another one—”
“Wait, Lys killed a prince?” Bex interrupted. “When did that happen?!”
“Just a few minutes ago,” Adrian said. “I felt someone messing with my tree, so I asked them to check it out.”
Bex went still. “You sent Lys to fight a prince alone?”
“Not on purpose!” he cried, waving his hands. “I didn’t know it was a prince yet! And by the time I found out, Lys had already won.”
Her whole body was shaking by the time he finished. “So they didn’t… Lys is still…”
“Lys is still alive,” Adrian assured her with a smile. “They’ve got multiple Blade of Gilgamesh wounds now, but I’ve wrapped them in my roots to keep them stable. After we win here, I’ll go back and heal them fully, but they won’t die so long as my tree stands.”
Bex’s shoulders slumped in relief. “I was wondering why they hadn’t said anything over the comm in a while,” she muttered, rubbing her hands over her face. “I should have checked in on them sooner, should’ve been more careful. Lys could’ve died, and I wouldn’t even—”
“They didn’t want to distract you,” Adrian said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “They didn’t tell me what they were doing either. By the time I realized the fight was happening, it was already over. But everything turned out okay! Lys is going to be fine, and they won. I’m still not sure what the Prince of Lust was trying to do, but I’m pretty sure Lys’s quick thinking saved my tree, and all of us.”
“Of course they did,” Bex said, scrubbing her eyes. “Lys has always been a hero.”
“And it’s about time they added a prince to their trophy list,” Iggs added with a smile of his own. “You realize they’re going to be insufferable after this, right?”
“I can’t wait,” Bex said, grinning at her demon as she pushed back to her feet. “I got the Prince of Fear, by the way.”
Adrian blinked at her. “What?”
“For our prince count,” she clarified. “I killed Fear, and there never was a Prince of Pride, so if War’s prince is still in the palace, that only leaves Envy unaccounted for.”
“I don’t think he’d go to the Blackwood,” Adrian said, tapping his wooden pinky thoughtfully against the polished floor. “Envy’s the prince who almost killed me when I stuck my head through the door at the bottom of the Seattle Anchor. I’m pretty sure he’s in charge of the black desert where all the chains come together, and from the state of his armor, I don’t think he ever leaves it.”
“That’s great,” Iggs said as he pushed himself into a sitting position. “If there’s no prince in the attack force and Heaven’s not coming out of the sky to blast them, I bet the Blackwood can hold off Gilgamesh’s army no problem.”
“Not when they’ve only got a skeleton crew,” Adrian said, glaring sharply at Iggs until the demon got the message and lay back down again. “Not having a prince will slow Heaven’s forces down, but unless we all go back right now, the Blackwood is as good as lost, which is the whole reason Gilgamesh is attacking it. He wants us to turn around and give up the assault.”
“Which means that’s the last thing we should do,” Bex said, looking up at the scorched ceiling. “It feels weird to say, but I’m glad Gilgamesh is being so ruthless. It proves we’re on the right track. The Blackwood’s where he gets his princes. He’d never burn that bridge unless he was desperate.”
“Or he felt its loss was inevitable anyway,” Nemini pointed out in her usual monotone.
“The Blackwood did attack him first,” Adrian agreed. “But he was already moving his forces into position well before I grew my tree, so…” His voice trailed off as he shook his head. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. No matter what Gilgamesh is, was, or will be doing, we still have to stop him, so let’s just focus on that.”
“Works for me,” Bex said, rising back to her feet. “First step is to find him. The Morrigan said to follow the chains, so let’s start there. They’re down those stairs, right?”
Adrian nodded and rose to his feet as well. Iggs, however, looked panicked. “You can’t go down there alone!” he cried, flopping on his back like a bandaged fish. “That’s where all the sorcerers ran!”
“I wouldn’t be much of a queen if I was afraid of a few sorcerers,” Bex reminded him. “And I wasn’t planning to go alone. Adrian and Nemini are coming with me. Leander’s here, too, but he’s working through some stuff, so we’ll leave him as a backup for now.”
“Stuff?” Adrian repeated with a worried look.
“He ran into your mom,” Bex explained. “It wasn’t a pleasant reunion.”
Adrian winced. “I can see how he’d need a moment after that. Is he going to be okay?”
“I have no idea,” Bex said honestly. “But he’s still going to fight, so that’s good enough for now. We’ll swing back and pick him up once we know where we’re going. Iggs, you lie there and make sure no one follows us. Call me on the comm if anything happens.”
“Yes, my queen,” Iggs replied, bowing his horns as far as he was able on his back.
“Boston, you and Bran stay with him,” Adrian ordered. “Make sure he doesn’t move.”
Iggs scowled at that. Boston, however, looked incredibly relieved. “I’ll take utmost care of the patient,” he promised, hopping off the broom to sit on Iggs’s bandaged chest, which made Bex’s cat-loving demon suddenly look much less mad about being left behind. “Good luck.”
Adrian nodded and turned toward the stairs, offering his hand to Bex as he went.
She took it without hesitation. “Thank you for saving Lys,” she whispered as they walked across the room. “And Iggs. And me, while I’m at it. Your vines pushed back the prince’s fear.”
“That was Aunt Muriel’s magic,” he insisted, squeezing her fingers. “I merely provided the foundation, but I’m happy it worked. We’d never actually cast the Witch’s Spite before.”
“Hell of a first run,” Bex said as they started down the giant staircase, which was even more blackened and battle-scarred than the rest of the room. “Is this big walkway how Heavenly citizens got down to the Anchor Markets?”
“Yes,” Adrian said. “Or at least, that’s what I assume it’s for. These stairs were closed off the last time your princess dragged me through this part of the palace.”
“Don’t mention her,” Bex said with a shudder. “Just thinking about Gilgamesh making a princess version of me still gives me the creeps.”
“She was never you,” Adrian assured her. “But she was definitely creepy.”
“Hardly,” Lydia said, glaring at Bex with blue eyes that gleamed like cold gems in her wrinkled face. “Who do you think is going to hold the line out here? Or keep ferrying your refugees back to the land of the living? Just because we can’t storm the fortress with you doesn’t mean we’re not fighting.”
“I didn’t mean that,” Bex said swiftly. “It’s just…”
She’d hoped for more help. The witches’ magic had been incredible. If it’d just been her and her demons, Bex doubted they could’ve taken the palace steps without heavy casualties, much less pushed inside. They’d made progress faster than she’d ever dreamed, but even with more demons coming up the tree roots to join them every minute, there was still a lot of palace left to cover.
“Don’t make that face,” Muriel said. “It’s not as if we’re abandoning you. In addition to holding the city, as my sister said, we’re lending you our best weapon. Adrian was chosen for this. He will not fail us, or you.”
“I never thought he would,” Bex said, pulling her tattered coat tighter around her shoulders. “Guess I’m going in, then. Thanks for all the help.”
The three witches nodded in unison, but when Bex started up the stairs toward the palace’s towering doors, a bitter voice spoke behind her.
“Is that all you have to say?”
The words were sharp as steel knives, and Bex looked over her shoulder to see Leander standing at the bottom of the steps, staring up at the three witches with centuries of anger etched into his gaunt face.
“I’m standing right here,” he told them. “A son of your own Blackwood, a child you gave away, yet you have more words for the demon than you do for me.” He clenched his fists tight. “Have you nothing else to say for yourself, Mother?”
The witches of the Past and Future looked away, but the Witch of the Present, the target of his words, stared him down with cold blue eyes.
“No.”
Leander flinched like the word was a physical blow, but Agatha’s expression didn’t soften.
“I would never insult my children by asking their forgiveness,” she said. “I cannot ask it, because I am not sorry. I am a mother, yes, and a sister and a woman in my own right. But before all of that, I am a witch. The love I bear for you and all my sons is buried with my heart beneath the Blackwood. A sacrifice to the Great Forest, just like the rest of my flesh.”
“Is that supposed to comfort me?” the prince spat.
“Acts of war comfort no one,” the witch replied. Then, to Bex’s shock, she lowered her eyes. “But I am sorry you turned out so kind, Leander. Most of the sons I bore Gilgamesh were happy to enter his service. I even let him name all of you so I would be less inclined to grow attached. It mostly worked, with two exceptions. Adrian was the second, but you were the first.”
Her hands tightened on her owl-carved broomstick. “You were a thoughtful, clever child, and your witchcraft was so beautiful. I would have kept you with me if I could, but the time was not yet right, so I obeyed my sisters and let you go.”
“Gilgamesh had already seen your potential,” Lydia said. “He would have killed us for keeping such a sorcerer from him.”
“Agatha has always been weak when it comes to her children,” Muriel agreed. “That’s why we are Three. Two can be strong when one is not.”
“Forgive me if I don’t find that inspiring,” Leander growled, stomping up the stairs so that his back was to all three witches. “You’re no family of mine,” he declared when he reached the top, placing a hand on Bex’s shoulder. “Mara’s little sister is dearer to me than any of you, and kinder to those in her care. I have disagreed with Gilgamesh on every principle of my life, but in one judgement he was entirely correct.” He cast a final glare over his shoulder. “The Blackwoods are all heartless witches.”
The Old Wives said nothing in reply. They simply stood on the steps, watching Leander’s back as he vanished through the palace doors. A few seconds later, Bex ran after him, chasing nervously after Adrian’s brother as he turned the corner and came to a sudden stop.
“Hey,” she whispered, her head turning frantically between the plaza outside and the prince in front of her, who stood with his fists clenched and his shoulders shaking like he wanted to scream. “Are you—”
“I have nothing more to say,” he informed her crisply. “Go ahead and find the others. I’d like a minute alone.”
Bex held up her hands at once, backing away from the former Prince of Sorrow like he was an unexploded bomb before she turned and hurried deeper down the gold-decorated hall that her grinning demons were gleefully tearing apart.
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It didn’t take long to find Iggs and Adrian. Bex only had to turn one corner and there they were, together in the middle of a huge hall that looked like a ballroom that had been set on fire. Iggs was still in his big red form, lying on his back with Adrian right beside him and Boston floating above his head on Bran, keeping watch from above.
“Hey!” Bex shouted as she jogged over. “Man, am I glad to see…”
Her voice trailed off in horror as she got close enough to see what had been hidden by Adrian’s back.
“Iggs!” she screamed, sprinting the rest of the way to his side. “What happened to you?”
“I’m fine,” her demon croaked, opening one swollen eye to give Bex a gap-toothed grin. “It was only a few sorcerers.”
“A few?” Bex repeated, staring at his body, every inch of which was covered in third-degree burns, stab wounds, and foot-wide bruises. “You look like you got hit by an entire Anchor all at once!”
“The hallway was pretty packed,” Iggs admitted with a wince. “But I was already in a full rage by that point, so I just went for it.”
“He took them all on,” Nemini said, appearing out of the shadows behind the shattered door to Bex’s left. “The war demons were quite impressed.”
“Hells yeah, they were impressed,” Iggs said proudly, raising his battered arm. “The demons of Wrath are second to none when it comes to—”
“Stop moving,” Adrian snapped in his terse doctor voice, reaching up to snatch Iggs’s arm back down before returning to the green salve he’d been smearing frantically all over Iggs’s torso.
“Will he be okay?” Bex asked nervously.
“He’ll be fine if he stops moving,” the witch growled as he started rubbing the salve in with both hands like Iggs was a lump of bread dough. “Believe it or not, this is already much better than he looked when I arrived. Demonic regeneration is truly a miracle. He should be back on his feet in two hours if he can just hold still and not interrupt the process.”
“And I keep telling you, we don’t have two hours,” Iggs growled back. “Look over there.”
He jerked his head toward the other end of the room, pointing with his horns, since he couldn’t move his hands. When Bex tore her eyes off his mesmerizingly horrific injuries long enough to see why, she spotted a huge stone staircase leading down.
“What’s that?”
“The entrance to the chains,” Iggs explained. “The sorcerers I fought were just the rear guard. By the time we made it into the palace, most of Heaven had already gone down the chains back to Earth.”
“So?” Bex said, failing to see the problem. “I don’t care if they run. Fewer enemies is better for us, and the residents of Heaven have always been cowards.” She frowned. “Honestly, I’m most shocked that Gilgamesh had allowed it. I thought he’d order his followers to fight to the death, not buy them time to escape.”
“They’re not escaping,” Adrian said, keeping his eyes on his work. “They’re the counterattack.”
He lifted one green-smeared finger to point at the enormous pile of empty golden chests lying along the burned room’s wall.
“Those boxes were filled with quintessence the last time I came through here. Normally, the residents of Heaven are too dependent on the magic of Paradise to leave it. With that much quintessence, though, they can do anything. Go anywhere.” He curled his salve-covered hand into a fist. “I can already feel them through my tree. They’re attacking the main Blackwood.”
“What?” Bex said.
“Gilgamesh is attacking the Blackwood,” Adrian repeated, looking up at her with wild eyes. “He didn’t just seal his palace to keep us out. He was guarding his advance. Other than the sorcerers who stayed behind to support the Prince of Fear, this whole fortress is empty! He used the time we spent getting ready to move his own people—the original army that conquered Heaven—into position to attack our forest!”
“No,” Bex said, stumbling backward. “That can’t be right. Why would the witches be here if that was happening? Doesn’t your aunt see the future?”
“They’re here because they made a choice,” Nemini answered before Adrian could. “Gilgamesh’s primary goal is to stop us from interrupting him. That’s why he’s attacking the Blackwood after five thousand years of ignoring it. He’s trying to get us to turn around.”
“He’s doing a damn good job!” Bex yelled in a panic. “If what Adrian’s saying is true, I just sent all our wounded into a war zone!”
“They’re not in danger yet,” Adrian said, determinedly staring at his work as his hands moved faster and faster. “My roots connect to the center of the Blackwood, and I just felt the attack begin. Gilgamesh’s sorcerers will have to cut through twenty miles of old-growth forest before they reach the demons in the heart grove.”
“And there are still witches in the Blackwood,” Boston added from his perch on Bran’s broomstick. “The Old Wives would never leave the forest completely unprotected. The Three probably brought just enough people here with them to safely cast the Witch’s Spite.”
“That’s still too many,” Adrian said as his hands started to shake. “We’re the biggest coven in the world, but we’re not an army. There can’t be more than a hundred witches left in the main grove.”
“There’s other things as well,” Boston argued. “I was wondering why the Old Wives didn’t bring the living dragons as well as the dead ones, but now I understand. They left them behind to counter the counter.”
“If the dragons were capable of defeating Gilgamesh, they wouldn’t be hiding in our forest,” Adrian countered grimly as he smeared the last of the salve under Iggs’s neck. “Honestly, at this point, distance is our best defense. The main Blackwood spans hundreds of miles. Even stacked with quintessence, it’ll take Gilgamesh’s soldiers a while to cut through that much forest. I already talked to my mother, but she says they’re not going back. Nemini is right. The Old Wives have already made their bet.” He looked up at Bex. “We have to defeat Gilgamesh before his army reaches the forest’s heart.”
“Okay,” Bex said as she processed all of that. “How long does that give us?”
“Depends on whether they have a prince with them or not,” Adrian said as he cleaned the last of the salve off his hands with a handkerchief from his coat of infinite pockets.
“Gilgamesh has gotta be running short on sons by now,” Iggs insisted. “I saw the Prince of Hate eat it with my own eyes, and Leander’s with us, so that’s two down.”
“I don’t think Greed is back, either,” Adrian said, thinking. “At least, I didn’t see him during the week I was here. Bex beat the Princess of War earlier, but she’s paired with Alexander. He’s Gilgamesh’s Crown Prince, so he’s probably still active, but Lys killed the Prince of Lust, so that’s another one—”
“Wait, Lys killed a prince?” Bex interrupted. “When did that happen?!”
“Just a few minutes ago,” Adrian said. “I felt someone messing with my tree, so I asked them to check it out.”
Bex went still. “You sent Lys to fight a prince alone?”
“Not on purpose!” he cried, waving his hands. “I didn’t know it was a prince yet! And by the time I found out, Lys had already won.”
Her whole body was shaking by the time he finished. “So they didn’t… Lys is still…”
“Lys is still alive,” Adrian assured her with a smile. “They’ve got multiple Blade of Gilgamesh wounds now, but I’ve wrapped them in my roots to keep them stable. After we win here, I’ll go back and heal them fully, but they won’t die so long as my tree stands.”
Bex’s shoulders slumped in relief. “I was wondering why they hadn’t said anything over the comm in a while,” she muttered, rubbing her hands over her face. “I should have checked in on them sooner, should’ve been more careful. Lys could’ve died, and I wouldn’t even—”
“They didn’t want to distract you,” Adrian said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “They didn’t tell me what they were doing either. By the time I realized the fight was happening, it was already over. But everything turned out okay! Lys is going to be fine, and they won. I’m still not sure what the Prince of Lust was trying to do, but I’m pretty sure Lys’s quick thinking saved my tree, and all of us.”
“Of course they did,” Bex said, scrubbing her eyes. “Lys has always been a hero.”
“And it’s about time they added a prince to their trophy list,” Iggs added with a smile of his own. “You realize they’re going to be insufferable after this, right?”
“I can’t wait,” Bex said, grinning at her demon as she pushed back to her feet. “I got the Prince of Fear, by the way.”
Adrian blinked at her. “What?”
“For our prince count,” she clarified. “I killed Fear, and there never was a Prince of Pride, so if War’s prince is still in the palace, that only leaves Envy unaccounted for.”
“I don’t think he’d go to the Blackwood,” Adrian said, tapping his wooden pinky thoughtfully against the polished floor. “Envy’s the prince who almost killed me when I stuck my head through the door at the bottom of the Seattle Anchor. I’m pretty sure he’s in charge of the black desert where all the chains come together, and from the state of his armor, I don’t think he ever leaves it.”
“That’s great,” Iggs said as he pushed himself into a sitting position. “If there’s no prince in the attack force and Heaven’s not coming out of the sky to blast them, I bet the Blackwood can hold off Gilgamesh’s army no problem.”
“Not when they’ve only got a skeleton crew,” Adrian said, glaring sharply at Iggs until the demon got the message and lay back down again. “Not having a prince will slow Heaven’s forces down, but unless we all go back right now, the Blackwood is as good as lost, which is the whole reason Gilgamesh is attacking it. He wants us to turn around and give up the assault.”
“Which means that’s the last thing we should do,” Bex said, looking up at the scorched ceiling. “It feels weird to say, but I’m glad Gilgamesh is being so ruthless. It proves we’re on the right track. The Blackwood’s where he gets his princes. He’d never burn that bridge unless he was desperate.”
“Or he felt its loss was inevitable anyway,” Nemini pointed out in her usual monotone.
“The Blackwood did attack him first,” Adrian agreed. “But he was already moving his forces into position well before I grew my tree, so…” His voice trailed off as he shook his head. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. No matter what Gilgamesh is, was, or will be doing, we still have to stop him, so let’s just focus on that.”
“Works for me,” Bex said, rising back to her feet. “First step is to find him. The Morrigan said to follow the chains, so let’s start there. They’re down those stairs, right?”
Adrian nodded and rose to his feet as well. Iggs, however, looked panicked. “You can’t go down there alone!” he cried, flopping on his back like a bandaged fish. “That’s where all the sorcerers ran!”
“I wouldn’t be much of a queen if I was afraid of a few sorcerers,” Bex reminded him. “And I wasn’t planning to go alone. Adrian and Nemini are coming with me. Leander’s here, too, but he’s working through some stuff, so we’ll leave him as a backup for now.”
“Stuff?” Adrian repeated with a worried look.
“He ran into your mom,” Bex explained. “It wasn’t a pleasant reunion.”
Adrian winced. “I can see how he’d need a moment after that. Is he going to be okay?”
“I have no idea,” Bex said honestly. “But he’s still going to fight, so that’s good enough for now. We’ll swing back and pick him up once we know where we’re going. Iggs, you lie there and make sure no one follows us. Call me on the comm if anything happens.”
“Yes, my queen,” Iggs replied, bowing his horns as far as he was able on his back.
“Boston, you and Bran stay with him,” Adrian ordered. “Make sure he doesn’t move.”
Iggs scowled at that. Boston, however, looked incredibly relieved. “I’ll take utmost care of the patient,” he promised, hopping off the broom to sit on Iggs’s bandaged chest, which made Bex’s cat-loving demon suddenly look much less mad about being left behind. “Good luck.”
Adrian nodded and turned toward the stairs, offering his hand to Bex as he went.
She took it without hesitation. “Thank you for saving Lys,” she whispered as they walked across the room. “And Iggs. And me, while I’m at it. Your vines pushed back the prince’s fear.”
“That was Aunt Muriel’s magic,” he insisted, squeezing her fingers. “I merely provided the foundation, but I’m happy it worked. We’d never actually cast the Witch’s Spite before.”
“Hell of a first run,” Bex said as they started down the giant staircase, which was even more blackened and battle-scarred than the rest of the room. “Is this big walkway how Heavenly citizens got down to the Anchor Markets?”
“Yes,” Adrian said. “Or at least, that’s what I assume it’s for. These stairs were closed off the last time your princess dragged me through this part of the palace.”
“Don’t mention her,” Bex said with a shudder. “Just thinking about Gilgamesh making a princess version of me still gives me the creeps.”
“She was never you,” Adrian assured her. “But she was definitely creepy.”
