At first, Rowan kept an eye on Zeke to make sure he wasn’t harmed. It took all her self-restraint to not fly down and confess everything to Hormiz as soon as she saw him, but their reunion would have to wait.

  As soon as she knew Zeke was safe, Rowan started following Lilith. She kept a great distance, of course. She flew in wide arcs like she had places to be. Lilith’s City was such a hive of activity, Rowan easily blended into the background. She learned Lilith meditated a lot and liked to fly nude. Lilith kept an irregular schedule and seemed to come and go as whims came. But on occasion, Rowan lost sight of Lilith somewhere in the palace, so she found a place to perch and watch from afar.

  The bell chimes were frightening at first, but Rowan came to understand their purpose. They came in threes. After each bell, most cainkin stopped what they were doing and went to drink from a red lake that tasted like blood. Rowan assumed the bell chimes paralleled her ideas of breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

  The chimes kept time, since this was a sunless place. The line of fire far above them never dimmed or flickered. Everything was forever lit by the distant glow of firelight. No nights. No moon. No stars. No sky. Everything was forever dim and moving. It was madness-inducing. Rowan had to get her family out of this place.

  After dozens of bell chimes, Rowan finally learned where Lilith was disappearing. Rowan swooped by and saw hidden stairs leading to a locked door. That had to be where Lilith was hiding Sam.

  She waited until the third bell chime, when Lilith, Hormiz, and Zeke had supper. Then Rowan snuck into the palace and down the hidden stairs. Two cainkin were guarding the door, so Rowan swiftly killed them. Their heads hit the floor before their bodies.

  The door itself was made of heavy stone and barred shut. Rowan removed the bars and pushed the door open. She was trying to conserve her strength, since she hadn’t fed in a while and was beginning to feel drained, but the effort was worth it, because sitting on the floor, looking haggard, bloody, burned, and beaten, was her darling Sam.

  He looked at once relieved and terrified as Rowan entered in her kitsune form. The room was cramped, with bright lights embedded into the walls, floor, and ceiling.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked disbelievingly.

  “What does it look like? I’m breaking you out. Let’s go.” Rowan picked Sam up and carried him outside the bright room. In the dark stairway, Sam recovered his strength and summoned shadows all around him. Rowan stood back and gave him space to pull himself together. When he was finished, he still looked pale and haggard, but his face was locked and alert.

  “What’s the plan?” he asked.

  “Zeke and Hormiz are having supper with Lilith now. I say we go kill her. Then we take our boys home.”

  “Great plan, but I don’t think I can kill her. She surrounds herself with light using the Bone Gauntlet. As long as she has it, my shadows can’t touch her.”

  “Well, we’re on a deadline. I killed those two cainkin. Sooner or later, Lilith is going to notice you’re missing. If we can’t kill Lilith, I say we collect our boys and get out of here. Immediately. We just need to get to Zeke. He’s our ride out of here.”

  Sam nodded. “Okay, so we mad-dash to interrupt supper, collect Zeke and Hormiz, and then what? Zeke can move us all to Eden?”

  “That’s what I’m hoping.”

  “And Hormiz is on our side now?”

  “Maybe? It’s not a great plan, is it?”

  “Hey, I’m not complaining. It’s better than anything I was doing.” Sam smiled. Then Sam hugged Rowan tight, and together they dropped into shadows.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  -8-

  In spite of everything, Zeke was beginning to enjoy life on Nod.

  Hormiz was softening and even smiled a couple times. Zeke’s bed was dark and cozy, and he even acquired a taste for the weird foods. They all tasted like variations of potato and sausage, but that wasn’t so bad. He just tried not to think about the worms. Zeke hadn’t forgotten what he came here to do, but while he was here, he had a friend, and all his needs were cared for.

  Lilith was winning. She won every round, but this time her victory was a little less certain than the time before. Zeke was improving. Lilith found him amusing. She moved her piece into position and Zeke’s Adam was captured.

  “Good round,” she said. “Perhaps you’ll win next supper.”

  Then she stood up to leave.

  Zeke and Hormiz stood and bowed their heads as she left.

  And that’s when chaos erupted from the ground in the form of Mama and Papa.

  Lilith screamed, and thousands of cainkin flew down, raining sharp teeth and claws.

  Papa summoned a barrier of shadows around them, and flew to Zeke and Hormiz.

  Mama ran to Hormiz, grabbing his hands she said, “Baby, I’m so sorry I lost you before. I will never lose you again. I love you, and we’re going home.” She turned to look at Zeke, “Can you move us to the bathro-”

  Before she could finish the question, a bolt of lightning like a sword, cleaved Mama in half. She fell to the floor and dissolved into an ingot in a puddle of precious metals.

  Zeke screamed, “No!” and fell to his knees. He reached to pick up the ingot but it burned his hands.

  Meanwhile, Papa was being electrocuted into submission. Long threads of lightning flew from the Bone Gaunlets fingertips and into Papa’s writhing body, until Papa stopped moving.

  Then Lilith advanced furiously on Zeke. “So, you’ve been lying this whole time, accepting my hospitality, while you brought a spy into my house? You did this. What am I to do with you?”

  Zeke was on his knees crying. Mama was gone. Papa was down. Zeke was too late. Why didn’t he act sooner? It was all his fault. He could have saved them.

  Lilith put the sharp claws of the Bone Gauntlet under Zeke’s chin and lifted his head up. “Summon the Ivory Blade, or I will kill Samaal.”

  She waved a hand, and a dozen cainkin landed on and around Samaal’s slow-moving chest.

  -8-

  Hormiz had been motionless, in shock since Rowan appeared, but slowly, he knelt down and picked up his mother’s ingot. It was still warm. He held the ingot to his chest, embracing her in death as he never had in life.

  His mother died trying to rescue him. His mother. His mother died. No. Lilith killed her. It was all true. His parents never abandoned him. Lilith stole Hormiz. She was the monster.

  And she had Zeke in her claws.

  “Summon the Ivory Blade!” she screamed.

  “Okay!” Zeke said through sobs. “Just don’t hurt him.”

  Hormiz was too weak and scared to move. He just held Rowan’s ingot close and watched through helpless tears.

  Zeke closed his eyes and focused. Soon the Ivory Blade appeared in Zeke’s hand, and Hormiz despaired, because he knew Zeke was about to die.

  But the blade slipped, cutting Zeke’s hand, and swayed to the ground. Before its long blade could touch the ground, the edge disappeared and reappeared above Lilith’s hand. It all happened in an instant. No sooner had the Ivory Blade appeared in Zeke’s hand before he used it to cut the Bone Gauntlet off at Lilith’s wrist.

  As her hand fell to the floor, Hormiz had a vision. Hormiz remembered the story of his parents stealing Adam’s hand and escaping with two Blessings. Hormiz caught the Bone Gauntlet as it fell. Her hand fell out and hit the ground with a wet thud. Then Hormiz controlled several cainkin to pull Lilith away.

  Lilith screamed in fury and set other cainkin ripping into Samaal’s flesh, tearing him apart. As he died, shadows exploded out of him, throwing everyone back.

  Hormiz grabbed on to Zeke as they fell backwards. “Can you get us out of here?” he asked.

  Zeke looked at him with grief and pride. He hugged Hormiz tightly. And suddenly they were in Lilith’s bathroom. They could hear her furious screams upstairs.

  “Why are we here?” Hormiz asked.

  “This is how Lilith stole you. And this is how we’re escaping,” Zeke stood, sniffling his nose and wiping away tears. He put one hand on the mirror. With his other hand he held Hormiz by the wrist. Hormiz’s hands were full with Rowan’s ingot and the Bone Gauntlet.

  Zeke closed his eyes and concentrated, and suddenly they were pulled into the mirror.