Soon enough Daniel’s confidence returned as he exerted his energy toward the manacles.
Adrien felt them clamp down hard. This time nothing he could do moved them. His only consolation was that sweat beaded on Daniel’s forehead so Adrien knew the amount of effort he expended to strengthen the Ancestral power he’d infused the wrought iron with.
Satisfied, Daniel turned on his heel while ordering his men to bring them to the dais.
A deep half circle had formed, creating a large space in front of the dais where Daniel left Adrien and Lily.
As gasps filled the room, Daniel levitated slowly, the showman that he was, to hold himself above everyone, his men spreading out to either side of him, battle chains hanging down with the threatening blades slack at the bottom.
He moved forward just a few feet so that Adrien could see him.
Daniel waved an arm to encompass his captives. “I fear, my most beloved compatriots, that I have discovered a sinister plot in our midst coming from my son Adrien. As many of you know, he recently achieved Ancestral status, something I had hoped to celebrate this evening with all of you. Instead, what I have learned is that Adrien has bound himself to this human in order to form the outlawed tracking bond, and has been searching for the extinction weapon for the past three nights. He even embraced his Ancestral status in order to gain enough power to accomplish his goal.”
The crowd hissed at these words.
Daniel’s performance went on and on as he detailed each step of their journey, more proof that he’d been following them from the beginning. Adrien felt the hard stares of his peers.
Many, like Gabriel, knew what Daniel was up to, but a great majority believed, or chose to believe, Daniel’s lies.
Lily’s voice entered Adrien’s mind. They believe him, but how can they?
For many, this is about survival. From the moment Daniel took over the Council of Ancestrals, he’s been harassing and blackmailing the weakest. I don’t blame them. And Lily, I’m so sorry.
She might have said something in response, but Adrien had fixed his mind on the immediate future, on trying to figure a way out of this mess. He didn’t want to die, and he especially didn’t want Lily to perish—or her son.
But what could he do? If Daniel incarcerated him again, that would be one thing, but his father’s dark side reigned in this moment, and Adrien had the sense that Daniel intended to make an example of him, maybe for Lucian and Marius’s benefit.
The next moment Daniel’s voice rang out stronger than before. “Justice must be served tonight, both swift and sure. I hereby pronounce judgment on my son and the woman to whom he so unwisely bound himself, the human who led him onto this wayward path of destruction. I, Daniel, despite my love for Adrien, must order an execution, this very night, for both these traitors to our kind.”
Daniel turned and met Adrien’s gaze. An unholy light had entered the monster’s eye, something Adrien had never seen before. For the first time in his life, Adrien knew he would die at Daniel’s hand. Every time before, he sensed that his father had intended only to inflict as much suffering as he could, but not now, not this time.
“What do you say, my fellow Ancestrals? Do these traitors deserve to die?”
Shouting filled the banquet room as well as scattered calls that Adrien and Lily should be taken to the Pit.
“The Pit, the Pit,” became a horrendous chant within the obsidian cavern.
Adrien? Lily’s voice pierced his mind, a soft query against the harsh calls for their deaths.
He turned to look at her, full suddenly of all that he felt for her, his respect and admiration, his trust in her, his belief in her essential goodness, her rightness of character. And in this moment, he understood that he loved her, something he’d never before truly believed himself capable.
I love you, came from his mind.
She blinked, and her eyes filled with tears. I love you, too. A soft smile, full of affection followed, then, With all my heart, Adrien; with all my heart.
Daniel’s voice, louder than all the shouting combined, echoed through the cavern, “To the Pit!”
* * *
Lily felt disconnected from her body, as though the path she walked right now led straight into hell. Her heart beat like a mallet against a drum, so hard that the thumping resounded painfully in her ears.
Worse, she could feel Josh now and knew that with every step she took, she drew closer to him, which meant Daniel already had him at the place of execution.
How convenient that the Pit should be located in the Black Caverns.
She wanted to reach out to her son telepathically, but to do what, to tell him that they were vastly outnumbered by a mob bent on their execution?
She took another breath.
The path that apparently led to the Pit had a downward slope now and Ancestrals poured into the space from every direction, all coming straight from the banquet to watch the execution.
Was this really happening?
She still carried her purse, the one that contained the double-chain that Gabriel had given her. If she put it on now, would it do any good? And if she did, and somehow she survived, she’d be bound to a vampire forever. She’d never be able to leave Adrien, she’d never have the choice.
She drew the silk package out of her purse, letting the purse slip to the floor from her hands. As she walked, she opened the small packet and pulled the double-chain out.
Immediately she felt a vibration flow through her body.
Lily, what is that?
She opened her palm and showed him. Adrien pressed his lips together and shook his head. Won’t do a damn bit of good and if we’re able to survive, I’d hate that you were bound to me like this. You’d never be able to leave my world. Don’t even think about it.
She sighed and nodded, then wrapped the chain around and around her wrist, wearing it like a bracelet. The vibration remained, but she sensed no particular bond was being forged.
Still, she thumbed the chain with her opposing hand, wondering if there was some possible way out of this mess, something she hadn’t seen either about Daniel or the situation, or even her own abilities.
Though her heart still thumped in her ears, she focused her attention on her surroundings, on the nature of the Pit into which she was descending, on the love she had for Adrien.
She felt his rage now rising within him, that familiar terrible ire that had defined him from the moment she had first placed the binding chain around his neck.
Yes, rage had defined Adrien, rage birthed in his childhood and continuing as he watched his society’s inequities unfold.