But after one tantalizing sentence about the baron, they shifted topic to what kind of arse they liked on a woman—lean, muscular, round? What a fascinating discussion.
My gaze flicked across the room. There, two men were huddled close, looking like they were having a much more serious conversation. I trained my gaze on their lips.
I picked up the words “book in our possession,” though I had no idea what that was. And the word Lilith.
Lilith. Why did that name raise goosebumps over my skin?
Unfortunately, the chinless wonders were staring at me, licking their lips.
I raised the champagne bottle. “Bubbly?”
“You just filled our glasses,” said one of them in a nasal voice that set my teeth on edge. “Honestly, a bit overeager, aren’t you?”
The other looked me up and down, snorting a laugh. “Well overeager isn’t always a bad thing. Bet she’s gagging for it. Aren’t you? Gagging for it? Girl like you?”
As my teeth clenched, I forced myself to giggle. Though honestly part of my mind was contemplating jumping into the river and seeing how far I could swim.
But before I had to take that drastic action, a newcomer crossed into the room—a man dressed to the nines in a gray suit. He had a thin black mustache and dark hair. As soon as the hush fell over the room, I knew he was important. Was this the baron himself?
He held out his arms to either side. “Well, shall we let the real party begin?”
“Lord Apedale is here,” said one of the blond twins. He lifted his champagne flute. “Let’s drink a toast to the baron’s right-hand man! Glad you joined us.”
Not the baron himself, then.
While I’d been eavesdropping, it seemed more women had arrived, too, and some had started dancing with the men, pressed up close to them, moving their hips.
Ginger—my red-headed friend—was now bent over a chair with her pale white arse wiggling. One of the Free Men was spanking her bottom with a whip, and her skin streaked with pink. I stared for a moment.
Oh, God. Was that what they’d want from me?
I turned around to find the chinless twins leering at me again.
One of them stepped closer. "Your turn,” he said. “Time for you to take the rest of that off, isn’t it? Show us what we want to see.”
I stared at him dumbly. “Take it off?”
"It’s what you're here for, isn't it? Show us your tits, your arse. Your minge. What else are you for?”
I was starting to wonder if perhaps I could help Sourial just murder all of them.
“I’m new,” I stammered.
He raised his glass. “Even better. Unused.”
Were these really the people who were going to save our country? This could not be right.
And when I glanced over his shoulder, I had a fresh new wave of horror. There was the cop I'd spoken to earlier, who’d seen me with Sourial. Was he going to out me here, mention that he’d seen me with the angels?
But how was I going to get out of here without anyone realizing?
“I’ll just go find a place to take my clothes off.” Before they could say another word, I hurried back in the direction of the captain's quarters.
I was going to have to hide in that tiny room with Samael.
30
Samael
A fallen angel is always a knife's edge away from becoming a beast—when primal drives overtake reason, and our eyes shift to shadows or flames. At these times, instinct drowns out language, and all meaning is incinerated in the hellfire of violence or lust. The angelic side, our memories of words and our past—that all burns away completely. That is what it means to be Fallen.
When our true faces emerge, we fuck, we kill, we take what is ours.
As I watched Zahra pouring champagne, I became entranced by her movements, the golden tone of her skin, the curve of her waist. I couldn’t stop thinking of her in my bath, the droplets of water beading on her tan skin.
And when those two reedy men leered at her, I found myself wanting to rip their heads off their bodies.
I was trying to stay focused, trying to listen for news of the Mysterium Liber. It was the key to everything. I’d burn down the world just to get it in my hands. I would destroy the Free Men completely, grinding their bones to dust. I’d fertilize the fields of Albia with their blood.
And I had to strike soon.
When I told Zahra about how I fell, I’d left a few