I watched in silence, catching an occasional glimpse of Lauren but little else. After a few minutes, Azriel lowered his hands and leaned back on his heels.
"Well, that was interesting."
I raised my eyebrows. "In what way?"
"He has only ever dealt with Lauren and Lucien. I could find no indication that there was another party involved in their schemes."
"Which doesn't mean there isn't," I commented. "Just that he's been extraordinarily canny about revealing himself."
"Perhaps." Azriel's gaze briefly swept the shifter, and distaste briefly touched his expression. "He was created just over a week ago. His flesh belongs to a drifter but his soul was wrenched from the fires of hell."
I frowned. "What do you mean?"
His gaze came to mine. Anger burned deep in those blue depths. "When Lauren creates these creatures, she replaces the original soul with one who is bound by her magic to obey. Her source is hell itself."
She was dragging souls back from hell? Not just demons, but souls? Holy fucking crap. "So what happens to the original soul? Do they share flesh space?"
"No. It was forced out, so it would have become one of the lost ones."
A ghost, in other words. Anger surged through me, and Amaya burned to life, her flames shooting fierce lilac streaks through the darkness. Echoing my emotions, as Valdis sometimes echoed Azriel's.
"How the hell could she do something like that, Azriel? I would have thought only the powers in charge of both heaven and hell were capable of such a feat."
"It is doubtful she would have attempted drawing souls from the light path, if only because they would not have the level of corruption she seems to require. But the dark path has always allowed access to those with enough power and strength of will."
"But why? I mean, the gates were created to prevent souls and demons escaping, weren't they?"
"Yes, but any barrier can be breached. The portals have never been totally impervious. They cannot be, when souls must constantly traverse them."