From Slave To Queen (Athena and Michael) novel Chapter 41

Chapter 41

“So these are your private gardens?” My voice comes out more defiant than I intend. “Are you going to punish me for being here too?”

“I should.” He says it so seriously that I brace myself for him to come closer and snap my neck so life drains from me. “And yes, these are my private gardens.”

“Why don’t you let anyone come here?”

“Even someone like me needs a break sometimes.” Now he sounds much younger, and I see he’s not looking at me but at some lost point within all the vegetation. “Besides, this isn’t a place where a human should be.”

“Because of the strange flowers?”

“In part.” He tilts his head a little, looking at me again. “This garden belonged to Lilith–or so they say.”

“What?”

“God created Eden, that garden considered paradise, from which Lilith fled because she wouldn’t submit to a man. It’s said

giving she wandered to the Red Sea, where many demons dwelled, some of whom she lay with, others simply corrupted her rise to other creatures. I know you’ve read the book I left you, and that you already know some of this. We came from that corruption. Her blood tears created us. Lilith wandered the Earth as long as she could escape God’s wrath, and in that time, she planted her own garden–one where beauty, no matter how cruel, had a place. This is what’s left

We both look around us–him with something like nostalgia, and me, now fascinated knowing this place’s history. The statue at the garden’s entrance suddenly makes a lot more sense.

“And now where is Lilith?” He turns, surprise etched on his face, as if the idea that I might feel curiosity for her impossible. “You said she wandered the Earth as long as she could avoid God’s fury.”

“She’s cozy in hell now.”

“Was that… a joke?”

“Was it?” The twitch of his lips tells me he’s holding back a laugh. “I wasn’t joking, really. Lilith went to hell.”

My eyes go as wide as humanly possible.

“Hell?”

were nearly

“There are two theories.” He slowly approaches the bench, studying it for a while, deciding whether or not to sit, until he does. I feel the brush of his clothing against my shoulder. “It’s not certain, but the first theory says Lilith was created from dust, as the first man was–that cursed Adam. Some say she was formed from filth and sediment. If that were true, that filth would have turned her into a demon, and it wouldn’t be strange for her to want to be among her own kind, and with someone who hates God as much as she does–Lucifer. The second option says she’s imprisoned there by a pact between two men who didn’t want a woman as powerful as them roaming free.”

“Have any of you ever met her?”

“Yes. The first ones did.”

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Chapter 41

“And… the first ones are dead?”

That hateful, tilted, sensual smile appears slowly again on his lips.

“You could put all that curiosity of yours to good use.” I frown. “You told me you were good at nothing, and I find it strange that with all that curiosity, you haven’t shown consistent interest in anything.”

“I haven’t because it’s pointless to waste time on something when you know your days are numbered.” My voice is so cold it could slice my throat with ice shards. “And now it would be just as pointless, because it’s obvious you’ll finish me someday, isn’t that right?”

“Yes, it’s possible.” He lets out a deep sigh. “And to answer your other question–the first ones are dead. There have been two great massacres in our history, and in them, many Purebloods fell.”

“Until the other day, I thought Purebloods couldn’t die,” I murmur more to myself than for him to hear.

“Everything can die.” He leans back. “Though in our case, it’s not easy. We hide the things that can kill us very carefully. We slaughtered the people who knew them, and now it’s a mystery again. One that, obviously, I won’t reveal to you no matter how much you ask.”

“I wasn’t planning to.”

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Our eyes meet again and the jolt I feel is so strong it physically hurts. In a very real way. It burns my chest, and I feel everything around me start spinning faster. I clutch the stone beneath my fingers, pressing so hard the skin over my knuckles feels tight. It’s not enough–my body tilts in an unnatural way, and he notices instantly. The darkness clouding my vision doesn’t prevent me from seeing him stretch out his hand toward me, trying to grab me, then stopping halfway at the last second. As if he just remembered that the very idea of touching me repulses him–even if it didn’t seem that way earlier.

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I try to stand to hide my weakness, and that’s when the burning in my body worsens. It feels like a flaming fist is grabbing my heart and squeezing it, trying to make it burst inside my chest. I gasp for air as my vision blacks out completely. I don’t want to seem even more pathetic than I already feel, but there’s little I can do to stop it. My knees buckle, the weight of my dress seems to have tripled, and I brace for the impact of dirt and grass on my knees–when arms suddenly wrap around

1. me.

I can’t see anything. Everything is dark. The wind slaps my cheeks, and I know we’re moving very fast. We reach the castle interior with astonishing speed. I hear doors open, rushing footsteps, small exclamations of surprise. The feel of my back against something soft surprises me at first–my current lack of sight frightens me.

“What happened?” I recognize Drystan’s voice. “Did you bite her?”

“Why do you think that?” A thick silence stretches out so heavy I can picture their exchange of looks perfectly. “We were outside, and she started gasping like a little fish. I don’t know what happened to her.”

Soon the frantic, nervous voices of my handmaidens join in, their warm fingers checking my head and body for wounds or anything that might explain my state.

“This isn’t normal anymore, Cassian.” I hear them walking

the banshees–you know they have…”

My neck lolls to one side, nearly limp. I don’t hear what comes next. My sight begins to return slowly, but my hearing has vanished. Everyone’s mouths move, but I can’t hear them. My head throbs, like a second heart. Everything aches. I glance at

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