16.

Lily couldn't remember where she was. Her whole body ached in a terrible way, even worse than when she'd been bucked off a horse as a child. She lay on a dirt floor, and she was staring up at the ceiling. It appeared to be made of jagged stone with a bird cage hanging from the center.

For a brief, wonderful moment, she thought she was back at home. Her mother had always had a bright yellow canary in cage because she loved the way it sang.

"Easy now, you don't want to hurt yourself," a small voice said as Lily tried to sit up.

She glanced around, looking for the owner of the voice. Her room was much like the cage above her. The walls were carved out of stone, but the gate in the front was made of heavy iron. The light came from a single torch on the other side of the gate, and in the dim glow, she could see the dungeon was littered with bones, skeletons from former occupants.

But at least she wasn't alone.

A black unicorn stood on the far side of the room, almost pressed against the wall. It moved back and forth, its heavy hooves clattering against the bones. Lily stared at it with wide eyes, and the unicorn neighed nervously. It shook its head, the black mane swaying, and it pointed its horn at Lily.

"He's skittish," a man said, but it wasn't the small voice she'd heard before. "Don't look directly at him."

Lily turned around and saw an irin propped against the wall. His dark hair hung into his face, nearly covering the blood from the cut on his eye. He was shirtless, so all the bruises and cuts were visible on the smooth skin of his torso.

His bright white wings were folded behind him, or at least one of them was. The right one hung at a disjointed angle, splayed out against the wall. The white feathers were stained crimson from his blood, and Lily could see the muscle exposed where it had been partially torn from his shoulder.

"Oh my gosh." Lily rushed over to his side, kneeling down next to him. Her own dress was in tatters, but she tore at the fabric near the hem, ripping off a large section. "Are you alright?"

"I'll survive." The irin smiled tightly at her, but he couldn't hide the pain his voice.

"Let me help." Doing the only thing she could think to do, Lily pressed her dress to the wing, trying to stop the bleeding. He winced, and Lily more was more gentle with her touch.

Lily had never been that close to an irin before, and she was surprised by how utterly beautiful he was. That was the only way to describe him. Even in the dim light, he seemed to glow. There was something luminous about him, and as she wiped away the blood, she couldn't help but stare.

"What happened?" Lily asked to keep from simply gaping at him.

"The same thing that always happens around here." That was the small voice again, the one she'd heard when she first woke up, but Lily couldn't see anybody else in the dungeon. "Up here. In the cage."

A thin, greenish arm reached out between the bars of the bird cage and waved at her. Lily stood up so she could get a better look, and she saw a little man, no more than three feet tall. His green hair stuck up all over, with vines and leaves growing out from it.

"What always happens?" Lily asked.

"Valefor." The green man sighed and rested his forehead against the bars of the cage. "He tortures and kills until he gets what he wants."

"What does he want from you?"

"I'm a sprite," the green man explained. "He wants me to tell him where my village is so he can capture us all and turn us into stew." His brown eyes were wide and earnest. "But I won't tell him. No matter what he does to me."

"Why are you in the cage up there?" Lily asked. "And not down on the floor like us."

"I can slip through the bars." The sprite motioned to the gate. "He has to keep me where I can't escape."

"Oh." Lily turned her attention back to the irin. She knelt back down next to him and tried to tend to his wounds. "What does he want with you?"

"To drink my blood." The irin gave her a lopsided smile when he saw the disgusted look on her face. "It makes him more powerful. And that " he pointed to the unicorn pacing on the far side of the room " that is what he means to kill me with."

"A unicorn?" Lily was aghast.

"A black unicorn horn piercing the heart is the only thing that can kill an irin," he sighed. "He's had me trapped down here for two days, holding me captive until he could find a black unicorn. He happened to bring that one last night."

As if knowing they were talking about him, the unicorn brayed and reared on its back legs. It came down heavily, crushing a skull beneath its hooves.

"Easy now, Addonexus." The irin held up his hand, and almost reluctantly, the unicorn calmed.

"The unicorn's name is Addonexus?" Lily asked.

"Yes, we named him," the irin smiled wanly at her. "It means 'bringer of death.'" Her eyes widened, and he laughed softly. "It's a bit of gallows humor."

"Quite literally," she said, returning her focus to cleaning up the jagged tear in his wing and shoulder.

"I'm Aeterna," the irin said, then pointed to the sprite. "That's Edgar."

"h.e.l.lo," Edgar waved at her.

"Lily." She gave them both a small smile. "I'm sure it'd be a pleasure to meet you both if it weren't under such dire circ.u.mstances."

"Yes, I'm certain it would be," Aeterna returned her smile.

"How come you haven't asked me what Valefor wants with me?" Lily asked.

"Because I already know," he said. "He means to marry you."

Lily stopped what was she doing and looked up at him. His eyes were a dark blue, nearly black, and they were solemn when he looked upon her.

"Marriage?" Edgar scoffed from up in his cage above them. "What does Valefor want with marriage? He is incapable of love or devotion."

"She is the castimonia," Aeterna said, and Edgar gasped.

"What?" Lily shook her head. "I'm not..."

She wanted to deny it, but the moment he said it, she felt something inside her. As if she'd always secretly known that's what she was. Her life suddenly made sense, and everything that Wick and Lux and even Valefor had been saying. She thought back to her mother, and how kind and perfect she had been.

"How did you know?" Lily asked.

"When you touched me." Aeterna nodded to where her hand was on his shoulder. "We sense our own kind."

"But I'm not really a castimonia," Lily said. "Not yet. I haven't taken any vows to serve the irins."

"Oh now!" Edgar sounded horrified. "He means to destroy the world!"

"Not destroy it," Aeterna corrected him. "Win it."

"What?" Lily glanced between the irin and the sprite in the cage, trying to figure out what they both understood. "How? What do I have to do with all this?"

"Valefor wants you to take your vows to serve him," Aeterna explained. "If he does that, they win. He'll have turned a virtu to sin. Evil will have triumphed over good."

"I'll never serve him!" Lily insisted. "Never!"

"Good," Aeterna smiled at her. "Keep that conviction."

"Wait." Lily looked at him thoughtfully. "Can't I just take my vows to serve Daniel? Then won't this all be over?"

"Yes ... if Daniel were here," Aeterna said. "You have to take them to him, when you're in his presence. It means nothing if you say it on your own."

"Oh." She lowered her eyes.

"She's just a child," Edgar said, his voice even smaller with despair. "She doesn't stand a chance against the torture he'll inflict on her. We're all doomed."

"Edgar, come now," Aeterna chastised him. "She's strong. She's the castimonia, the purest of heart. If anyone stands a chance against Valefor, it's her."

"I won't marry him," Lily reiterated. "He killed the man I love. Nothing he does to me can be worse than that."

"She fell in love?" Edgar asked. "I thought the castimonia couldn't fall in love."

"Of course she can," Aeterna said. "Irins are love. Virtus were created to spread love. She's simply pure."

"How did Valefor catch you?" Lily asked.

"I was distracted. I was meant to help the other virtus find you and stop Valefor from getting you, but everything on Earth seems to sense that something is amiss. The canu snuck up on me in a way they'd never been able to before, and they got lucky and broke my wing."

"I'm sorry," Lily said.

Tears welled in her eyes as she realized that this too was her fault. Lux had probably been killed protecting her, and now this irin, who she'd never even met before, was injured and set to die because of her.

"Don't be sorry." Aeterna smiled. "This isn't your fault."

"But it is." A tear spilled down her cheek, and she wiped it away. "If I were stronger or smarter, I would never have let myself get dragged into this."

"Lily." Aeterna brushed away her tears and used his soothing tone, trying to calm her. "You can't let doubt or fear or guilt eat away at you. You are good, and you need to remember that above all else. Love is stronger than hatred, and you are made of love."

She nodded and then lifted her head, meeting his gaze evenly.

"I won't let him kill you," Lily said. "I won't let him take over the world. I will find us a way out of this, and I will stop it."

17.

"Get back!" Wick yelled and dug in her satchel, pulling out her wand before the behemoth of a peccati could a.s.sault them.

She'd never seen Gula before, but she recognized gluttony when she saw it. His clothes strained against the rolls of fat, and he towered over her. Barbecue sauce from goblin wings stained his clothes, face, even his greasy shoulder length hair.

Wick moved in front of Lux, preparing to defend him. She'd seen what Ira had done to him, and after Lux had saved her life, she felt she owed him the same courtesy.

"Whoa, easy!" Gula held up his ma.s.sive hands and took a step back. His frown disappeared and was replaced with surprise. "I was only joking!"

"Wick, it's okay." Lux put his hand on her arm holding the wand, pressing it gently so she would lower it, and she looked between the two of them. "He's a friend of mine."

"But the peccati are sent to get you, by any means necessary," Wick said, and she feared she'd been set up. She lowered her wand, but her grip on it tightened, in case she needed to use it.

"That's true." Lux narrowed his eyes at Gula. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, since Valefor is set on seeing you dead and him marrying your girlfriend, I thought you could use some help," Gula said. He still held his hands up, looking more like mitts than actual appendages.

"You're going against Valefor to help me?" Lux asked, and Gula nodded. "Why?"

"You're my friend," Gula shrugged.

Lux thought about it for a minute, and the answer seemed to satisfy him, so he nodded. He stepped away from Wick and patted Gula on the back.

"It's good to have you on my side," Lux smiled.

"Wait." Wick shook her head. "What?"

"What?" Lux glanced back at her.

"You're just taking his word on that?" Wick asked dubiously and gestured to Gula. "He could be a spy for Valefor! He could mean to sabotage us!"

"You don't know Gula," Lux shook his head.

"I'm Gula." He stuck out his hand, meaning to introduce himself to Wick, and she crossed her arms, refusing to take it. "I'm gluttony. I just eat and drink. I don't really like messing with people."

"No. I'm not doing this." Wick shook her head. "It's bad enough that I have to trust you, Lux. I'm not taking on another peccati. That's just dancing with the devil."

"Wick," Lux sighed. "I don't have time to argue with you. But you don't know what we're up against. Having someone of Gula's ... stature might be the only way we get into the gates of Valefor's lair. If you still want to rescue Lily, this is our best chance."

Wick considered it, but she took too long.

"Fine. Don't work with us. I don't care." Lux shook his head and started to walk away.

Wick didn't want to follow him, but she also knew she didn't really have a choice. He knew Valefor's lair better than she did, and if he was right about needing Gula to get past the gates, then there would be no way she could do it on her own.

Sighing, she followed them, but she kept a few steps behind. Just in case.

"How did you know where I'd be?" Lux asked Gula.