She had needed some time to recover and adjust to her new body, but I was surprised that she didn’t feel prepared by now. As strange as it was, I didn’t pay it too much thought. I was just grateful that she was taking her time. We could only hope that Rhys would hurry up, and that nothing had happened to him.

I knew the value that Magnus’s presence could bring to the ritual—of course I did—but the fact was that we could still do it without the vampire. The chance of success would just be somewhat less.

I found myself unable to sit still and instead paced up and down the castle corridors, thinking over all the details of the ritual we were about to perform and ironing out everything in my mind until I felt confident that I hadn’t overlooked anything.

I had been so wrapped up in my own thoughts and worries, I had not noticed someone approaching behind me. I jolted as a voice spoke my name. My voice caught in my throat when I saw that it was Lilith. Standing in all her youthfulness, she wore a dark dress trimmed with lace that clung tight to her shapely body. I still had not gotten used to seeing her like this—I still saw the skeletal form I had been around for too many years to count.

I was surprised to see her out of her room. Until now, she had always requested that we go in to see her.

“What can I do for you?” I asked, even as I anticipated her answer. She is ready for the ritual. What else would she have come out for?

“I would like some more time alone before the ritual,” she said, her voice smooth and pleasing to the ear.

I barely believed my ears.

“Oh, of course,” I said, “you should take as much time as you need to prepare.”

She nodded slowly. “I… I shall be gone from this castle for a while—though I don’t anticipate being gone much more than a day.”

This was even more strange. I couldn’t imagine where she would want to go outside the castle. But I wasn’t about to ask. I was just relieved that she wasn’t ready to start the ritual yet. If she had said that she was, I would have no way to explain to her why Rhys wasn’t here. I wasn’t willing to tell her about Magnus—at least not yet. Nobody knew how she would react on learning that her order to stay away from Magnus had been disobeyed. We ought to wait until the very last minute before revealing him—once the ritual had already commenced and she was less likely to protest.

“Of course, your Grace,” I said, bowing my head slightly. “We will be here waiting for your return.”

It felt like a heavy weight lifting off my shoulders as she disappeared from sight… to whatever destination it was she had in mind.

Chapter 18: Lilith

I stood at the edge of the pool that had served as my resting place for centuries. I removed my shoes and placed them on the floor. Then I dipped into the liquid for the second-to-last time. Submerging myself, I pushed myself deeper and deeper, passing along my portal. When my head surfaced above the fluid, I wiped the thick substance from my eyes and looked around the familiar room. It was almost identical to the one I had just exited from, but this chamber… it was sacred to me. Only two people had ever set foot inside. It had been that way for centuries, and it would remain that way forevermore after tonight.

I lifted myself out of the pool. The chamber was bare and empty but for a raised platform in the center upon which stood a bed lined with pure white linen. Curtains hung around it—closed, as I always left them when leaving this place.

Climbing out from the grime, I cast a charm to clean myself and changed into new clothes. A white gown that matched the bed linen.

My heart raced, as it did every time I approached this bed. I fingered the curtains nervously, as if doing this for the first time, and then pushed them aside all at once.

Even now an ache stirred within me on seeing the vampire lying there, eyes closed, breathing gently. He was in the same state now as he had been when I first took him in.

I moved closer, brushing my hand against his cool cheek. A part of me still felt guilt over keeping him here with me. When Rhys had come to me all those years ago, asking for permission to hunt down Magnus, I had refused to give it. But I had suspected at the time that Rhys would disobey me. I had been correct.

Once I’d discovered where Rhys had hidden Magnus, I had intended to wake and release the vampire immediately. I hadn’t planned to bring Magnus back to my sanctum. But on seeing him for the first time in so long, the thought of letting him go had been too much to bear, the idea of his presence so close to me too tempting. The pleasure I’d begun to derive from his company—albeit silent—had far outweighed the guilt I felt. So I’d kept him with me.

Of course, it wouldn’t be forever. I’d known that when I’d first laid him to rest down here and that had also made the guilt less crushing.

This would just be like one long dream in his immortal existence. A blip in time. And when the right moment arrived, he would wake up and continue the life he’d had before. Perhaps with a new lover.

I glanced back down at the black pool in disgust. Long thin handprints—from my wasted body—stained the edges of the pool as well as the ledge just beneath Magnus’ bed, from when I would prop myself up out of the liquid to watch him sleep.

There was no place for such darkness in here now. Not on our last night.

With a wave of my hand, I cleaned away any signs of grime from the floors and then transformed the black liquid in the pool into crystal-clear water. Discontented with the bare walls, I manifested hanging pots filled with luscious flowers and sweeping vines, and arranged them all around the room. I fixed softer lighting to the ceiling so that a haze of light emanated down, giving the illusion of early-morning sun trickling through nonexistent windows. Then I lined the floors with silk carpets and placed four pots of burning frankincense around the bed.