pulled back. It was the first time he’d admitted it. “I don’t know. Maybe what you felt was just a byproduct of having your plans destroyed. Grief for all those years you wasted on me, perhaps?”
He shifted sideways in his seat and leaned an arm on the table. “Perhaps, although sixteen years really isn’t much when you consider I am eternal.” He tapped out a one-two beat on the tabletop with his fingers. “You lured me into that alley, Muse. You knew I watched over you. You used me.”
“You’re wrong, although I almost wish you weren’t. How does it feel, Akil? Being used? Pluck one of those new emotions out for me, and tell me what the great Prince of Greed feels right now. Had I used you, you’d admire me all the more for my deceit.”
A tick of a smile twitched across his lips and was gone again. “Why didn’t you fight the demon in the alley? He almost killed you.”
“I told you why.” I really didn’t want to mention the details while sitting at the heart of the Institute and tried to convey as much with my eyes. Don’t tell them about the soul-lock, Akil. Please.
He absorbed my silent plea, then his dark eyes narrowed. “You lured me in close and distracted me with the one thing you knew I couldn’t refuse.”
How could I tell him it wasn’t lies when I knew the Institute would jump on me the second they learned I had yet another demon cohabiting my body, soul, and mind. I genuinely wanted him to get Damien out of me. I needed it to happen, sooner rather than later, but it was a moot point while we were fifteen levels down and both elementally restrained.
“You’re paranoid. I wouldn’t turn on you, Akil. I owe you too much. We’ve had our misunderstandings, but I see you clearly now. Besides,” I tried a smile, but it felt too tight, “You used me to get yourself a one-way ticket to this place. So stop throwing stones in glass houses.”
“I didn’t plan this.”
“Liar.”
“You wouldn’t say that if you knew the turmoil I’m experiencing. I am not meant to be contained.” His eyes flashed. “I am elemental. The longer I’m trapped like this, the weaker I become. If the princes should discover…” He gritted his teeth, lips turned down, and tore his gaze away. “Not that it matters. There is little to stop what’s coming.”
“What is coming?” I wanted to know, as did Adam. We agreed on that, at least.
Akil leaned back. “In a matter of days, countless lesser demons will break through the weakening veil. My kind will create chaos. It is our…purpose. When your world reels from the first wave, the veil will fall. The princes will come, and there is no force here powerful enough to stop them. Besides you. And one other.” The brittle white light cut into his hardened figure. His golden skin seemed to soak it up, combining luminosity with raw wildness.
“What other?”
He looked at me then, his eyes wide, pupils swelling. I fought not to drop my gaze, like I would have once, when he’d plucked me fresh out of hell. “Half bloods are the key, if you survive the collapse of the veil.”
The veil could collapse? I held my expression, careful not to give away the internal alarm his words had tripped. “If the veil collapses, why would I not survive?”
“The veil holds back the elements. Should it fall, the netherworld will spill through.” He paused, allowing his words time to sink in. I’d summoned enough power in my time to understand what he meant. Too much netherworld energy would smother me. Half bloods walked the line between two worlds. We borrowed elements from both sides of the veil. A flood of netherworld energy could kill me, or it might drive me out of my mind. But Stefan had taken a blast from the netherworld, and he’d survived. I shifted uneasily in my seat. I’d also stolen too much before and suffered the consequence. Only the cold waters of Boston harbor had saved me from going nuclear. “It won’t come to that.”
“You shouldn’t be here,” Akil growled. “Half bloods need to be standing tall.”
The stilted tone of his words hinted at a deeper meaning. Half bloods. This was about the kids. It had to be. “I didn’t have much choice.”
“You came for me?” His expression softened with hope, but that couldn’t be right. Hope and Akil didn’t mix, like oil and water.