Black Night

“Faeries,” Beezle mumbled.

“Got that much figured out, thanks,” I said.

The faerie in the middle, a middle-aged male, spoke. “Who are you that dares to breach the realm of the most glorious Queen Amarantha without permission?”

“Amarantha,” I repeated in a monotone.

Of course. Antares had led me right into the kingdom of the woman I was supposed to negotiate with as Lucifer’s ambassador. I really should give Antares more credit. Looks like my half brother knew what he was doing after all.

8

“DO YOU THINK YOU’LL GET YOUR HEAD CHOPPED OFF in front of the whole court, like Lucifer’s last ambassador?” Beezle asked quietly.

“Can we not talk about separation of my extremities? It gives me the queasies,” I said out of the corner of my mouth.

“Answer me, intruder, or you will be executed here and now for your crime,” the middle faerie said, and he tightened his grip on the bowstring to show me he meant business.

I held my hands up. “Peace. I am Madeline Black, Agent and daughter of Azazel. I came here unwittingly through a portal looking for my gargoyle.”

I jerked a thumb at Beezle, who was still perched on my shoulder. He gave the three faeries a little finger wave.

The faerie frowned. “Daughter of Azazel? You are Lucifer’s ambassador?”

“Yes,” I said warily. “And who are you?”

“I am called Ivin. If you are the ambassador, then why are you here instead of at court?”

“I didn’t come here with the intention of negotiating today. Like I said, I didn’t even realize this was Amarantha’s kingdom. I was looking for Beezle and kind of ended up here by accident.”

Ivin’s face hardened. “Accident is no excuse. And besides, we are well versed in the duplicity of your kind. How am I to know that you did not come here with the intention of spying and gaining some advantage before the negotiations begin?”

“I give you my word as an Agent that I did not come here to spy,” I said. I was starting to get a little nervous. I knew that whatever happened here would probably make my task as negotiator that much more difficult. But even more than that I was wondering whether I could outdraw three archers with my magic should they decide that the best option all around would be to shoot me then and there.

“The word of an Agent may be worth something, but the word of the fallen is less so,” the faerie said.

“I’ve never fallen from anything,” I said.

“Your father is one of the Grigori, and thus you are one of their kind.”

Just then there was a rustle of leaves in the trees a few feet away, a thump, a cry. It sounded like there was a struggle going on just out of sight.

Ivin, who was obviously the leader, gave a hand signal to the faerie next to him and that man disappeared into the woods. A few minutes later he and a fourth faerie appeared holding Nathaniel between them. My fiancé’s hands were tied in front of him with a thin cord that looked like vine, his hair was rumpled and filled with feathers and his pale blue eyes were icy with fury.

I sighed. I didn’t know if Nathaniel had been trying to sneak around and save me from the faeries or sneak around to the portal and save himself, but either way it was apparent that reconnaissance was not one of his skills. I really, really, really missed Gabriel. In a survival situation, he was significantly more competent than Nathaniel.

“I found this angel attempting to slip past us,” the fourth faerie said to the leader.

“Nathaniel ap Zerachiel?” Ivin said, and his voice was astonished. “You, who have always come to Amarantha in good faith?”

“Ap Zerachiel?” I muttered to Beezle. “What’s that all about?”

“Zerachiel is his father,” Beezle whispered back. “One of the archangels, before the Fall.”

No wonder Azazel wanted me to marry Nathaniel. Azazel probably wanted me to make some kind of super-angelic baby. Between my mother’s bloodline as a direct descendant of Lucifer, Azazel’s own power and Nathaniel’s heritage, we would probably make a monster. I shuddered involuntarily. Just one more reason to make sure this marriage never, ever happened.

Nathaniel bowed his head curtly. “And I continue to negotiate with your queen in good faith on behalf of my lord. I had been separated from Madeline and was attempting to reconnect with her.”

“But what were you doing here in the first place?” Ivin asked.

“I believe Madeline told you we were here to rescue her gargoyle.”

“So you lurked in the woods to spy on our conversation? If your conscience is clear, why not simply rejoin your party?”

Just as Nathaniel was about to open his mouth and respond, yet another faerie came trotting out of the woods from the direction of the swamp. This one, too, was tall and thin and dark haired. They all pretty much looked the same, like they’d been cloned.

The new arrival stopped in front of Ivin and reported. “The leviathan has been killed. Burned to death.”

Ivin’s eyebrows winged up to the top of his forehead. He turned to look at me accusingly.

“It was going to eat me,” I said. “What did you want me to do?”

His eyes hardened. “I should kill you here and now for this offense, but since you are Azazel’s daughter I will take you to the queen for judgment. Bind her hands.”

I wasn’t willing to jeopardize all of our lives by doing something foolish, and I didn’t think Lucifer would appreciate it if I spoiled his negotiations before they even began by knocking all these idiots out with my magic and running away. But there was no way in hell they were going to bind my hands. I would not be brought before Amarantha like a prisoner. I may have been covered in mud and dressed like a homeless person, but I was still Madeline Black. I had some pride.