“A road map?” I repeated just as Damien joined us. He shut the door softly before walking over to sit in the chair beside me.
My study was similar in size to my office but set up differently. It resembled more of a library with my bookshelves covering three of the four walls. And a large sofa sat in the center—the same size as my executive desk in the other room—with recliner chairs situated across from it. I sat in one while Damien settled into the other. Edon and Jace shared the couch.
Luna had excused herself when Silas and Willow came inside. I suspected she and Willow would become fast friends now that the territorial lines were all drawn in the proverbial sand.
“Talk to me about this road map,” I said when Jace didn’t elaborate. “Damien’s my progeny and best friend. I imagine he’s showcased his loyalty over the last week to you, yes?”
“He has,” Jace agreed, his eyes remaining on Damien for a moment before returning to me.
Hmm, that lingering look held a story. It hadn’t been one of open consideration, rather a glance that held a secret. Interesting. Something had happened this week between them. Something that allowed Jace to feel he knew my progeny. And it went beyond the obvious events.
I made a mental note to follow up on it later.
“The theorized course I detailed the other day wasn’t my grand design. Cam created it. I’ve merely been working with the pieces I can play while waiting for others to arise, but after seeing the reports on your region, I think a strategy is required. We need to find Cam.”
“Chicago,” I said. “Have you looked there?”
“It’s not an easy city to navigate beneath Lilith’s control. I also feel that’s too obvious.”
“Which is exactly why he’s there,” I drawled. “Lilith would send you on a merry goose chase while keeping him in the one place you’d never look because it’s ‘too obvious.’ That fits her playbook to a T.”
“At the very least, you’ll find evidence there,” Damien added. “She’s not going to leave his fate to chance. Wherever he is, she keeps a close watch over him because he’s the only one who poses a significant threat.”
“So why hasn’t she just killed him?” Edon asked.
“Power,” I replied immediately. “She gets off on it.”
Jace nodded. “Killing him is too easy. My guess is she visits him to lord her kingdom over him and his ideals.”
“This has been our world for a hundred and seventeen years. Surely she’s grown bored by now?”
I shook my head. “A century is nothing in his lifetime.”
“And she believes his Erosita is dead, thereby forcing him to live in agony of losing his other half. She would adore throwing that in his face, as she despises the mating practice.”
“Why?” Edon asked.
I looked at Jace, aware of the history, but not wanting to tell the story.
“She’s broken,” he said softly, his blue eyes taking on a gleam I understood far too well. Fear. It was the reason many of us didn’t take mates. We knew what could happen if we lost our other half. Lycans could experience the same sense of loss, but there was a key difference between us—vampires were forced to live forever without their other half, while lycans eventually died.
I would argue the former was much, much worse.
“Humans killed her mate,” Jace continued in that same tone. “It fractured her in a way few understand, mostly because she hides it very well. But I believe the fractures lie in her innate hatred for humanity. This all started as a punishment to avenge her lost love. However, it has evolved into so much more. She’s married to the power now. Law and order are her mistresses. And any deviation from her intent results in chaos that she defuses through punishment.”
“You almost sound sorry for her,” I noted.
“I am to an extent,” Jace admitted. “The pain of her loss debilitated her mind to a point where she cares nothing about the very species that created her lost love. And yet she craves their love as a form of penance.”
“That’s why she took on the Goddess role,” Edon realized out loud. “She forces them to love and worship her, as her mate once did.”
“To an extent, yes,” Jace murmured. “And I find that very sad indeed.”
“Well, I just find it insane,” I said, shrugging. “She should have been put down a long time ago. It would have saved us all from this madness.”