Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 125179 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125179 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
“You know, I’ve been thinking,” said Seth. “Three of the Aeons who caged us are dead. The cage will have weakened. Not enough for us to shatter it, but maybe we could at least punch a hole through it. A hole big enough for us to exit through.”
Ishtar slid him a bored look. “That is a very nice thought, but it will not work.”
“You don’t know that,” said Seth. “We haven’t tried. We won’t know unless we do.”
“Three of our jailors might be dead, but their power is still incorporated into the prison,” Ishtar reminded him.
“Yes,” Seth allowed. “But it’s no longer so potent now that they’re in the afterlife.”
“It does not matter. Until Adam too dies, the walls of the cage will remain strong. The Aeons used our blood to power it, remember? It was the only way they could seal it.”
“But they didn’t use Abaddon’s blood, since they didn’t believe he would live,” said Seth, speaking of Cain’s uncle—an Ancient who, unknown to most, lay at Rest in Cain’s garden. “He could potentially open it. With our help, that is.”
Ishtar’s brow creased. “Are you forgetting that he is in some sort of coma?”
“No. But we could try waking him, couldn’t we? We never did before, because there didn’t seem much point when he would likely lose his shit at being confined.”
Who wouldn’t when, for them, it was only yesterday that their children and brothers were slaughtered in a war? “He wouldn’t be so furious if he woke to hear that three of our jailors are dead,” Cain mused.
“But he would be if we didn’t manage to form a crack in the cage,” said Ishtar. “Which we will not.”
“Don’t be so sure,” said Seth. “All Hallows’ Eve is coming up. Our power will be stronger then. Always is. We could take advantage of that and try to pierce our prison on that very night. If we have Abaddon’s aid, I think it could work.”
Cain pursed his lips. “It’s certainly worth a try.” Especially since someone had repeatedly called out to Wynter in her sleep and led her in the direction of the temple where Abaddon rested. Cain and Azazel had speculated that, even in sleep, Abaddon could be somewhat aware of the goings-on around him. If that was true, he might not be so hard to wake.
As if recalling their speculations, Azazel caught Cain’s eye and nodded. “I agree.”
Seth gave both Cain and Azazel a look of gratitude for taking him seriously. “It might pay to have Eve and the twins add their power to ours—they’re Aeons, after all. Strong. And each of them has a blood-link to either one or two of our jailors.”
They did indeed. The twins were actually fathered by none other than Abel. They’d helped Eve flee to Devil’s Cradle after learning that—in an effort to provoke Cain and throw him off his game—Adam had planned to kill her and then dump her body on the border of the town.
“Their contribution could therefore be truly helpful,” Seth added.
Ishtar gave him a look that called him slow on the uptake. “If they are here on behalf of Adam they are hardly going to aid us in such a way.”
“But they might not be here on his orders,” Seth pointed out. “We all recently agreed that they are likely not, remember. They certainly weren’t here on Abel’s behalf—he was prepared to see them dead.”
Ishtar let out a haughty sound. “I am still not inclined to trust them.”
“I’m not suggesting that we should.” Seth spoke to everyone as he continued, “But consider that they’ve made no move against anyone since coming here. They also didn’t take advantage of our distraction during the battle with Abel to pull any kind of stunt. We all agreed to allow them to come and go from my Keep as they pleased because we wanted to see what they would do with their freedom. My people tell me that they haven’t done anything that could be considered remotely suspicious.”
Cain’s hirelings had reported the latter as well. The Aeons, unbeknown to them, were being closely and covertly watched by the hirelings of various Ancients.
Lilith absently doodled circles on the table with her fingertip. “According to my aide, they only venture out when they wish to go shopping. They haven’t tried squeezing information out of residents. They haven’t tried getting near Wynter’s cottage. Nor have they tried to sneak into Keeps or go nose around the manor.”
Dantalion sank deeper into his seat. “My hirelings said the same.”
“As did mine,” Ishtar snippily admitted, “but I am still not ready to trust the Aeons.”
Seth’s eyelid twitched. “As I said, I’m not asking you to.”
“Assuming they are here with no ulterior motive, would they agree to be of assistance in this matter, Seth?” asked Inanna. “They were not happy that we once considered them suspects when it became clear we had a traitor in our midst. And we have not exactly made an effort to right that wrong.”