Ask the Oracle (19 page)

Gray arched a brow and crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re purposely missing the

point.”

Balen grunted. “Fine. If you want to be technical about it then, yes, Vlasik was
my

father’s
advisor. Does it matter?”

Did it? Gray wasn’t sure. He flashed back to the vision he’d had about Balen’s mother

and Lord Lucifer. He’d always had total recall of everything he’d
Seen
so the task was easy

enough. As the images flashed before his eyes for a second time, something prickled at the

back of his mind. There was something there that he was meant to see. He just needed to find

it.

He felt like he was on the verge of something important when a noise outside their cell

demanded his attention. Silence descended as both men focused their attention outside their

small room. For a moment, there was nothing. No movement, no voices, not so much as a

breath of air.

Gray was beginning to doubt himself when he heard it again. As he strained his ears

towards the sound, he was able to make out the distinctive click clack of shoes on a hard

stone floor. He had the unsettling feeling that they were about to have visitors. A quick

glance at Balen confirmed the same sense of unease reflected in his eyes. The Demon held a

finger to his lips and motioned to Gray, who followed him back into the deep shadows at the

farthest corner of the room. While they had no means of escape, they also didn’t need to

make it easy on their captor. If someone wanted to kill him, Gray was going to make them

work for it.

The footsteps stopped right outside their cell, then everything went quiet. Gray began

to tremble slightly, his nerves starting to get the best of him. He made himself a promise,

then and there, if he got out of this alive, he was going to finally take that vacation Sarah had

been harping at him about. It was either that or check himself into a mental hospital, because

if things didn’t get back to normal soon, he was going to lose it.

“Gentleman, how nice to see you again.”

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Gray froze, sure that he was trapped inside one of his visions. He couldn’t come up

with another explanation to make sense of why Povell, a Demon straight from his

nightmares, would be standing outside their cell, carefree and unrestrained.

“Po-Povell?”

“In the flesh, my dear Oracle. I just wanted to check and see how the two of you were

settling in. I’d hate to think that you weren’t enjoying your stay.” The smirk on his face and

the evil glint in his eyes belayed the truth of his words.

“What are you doing here?” Gray stammered, apprehension settling over him like a

heavy weight on his chest.

“Would you believe early release, for good behaviour?” Gray just stared at the Demon,

too shocked to give an answer. Povell chuckled and shook his head. “Nah, I wouldn’t buy it

either. Let’s just say, I have a friend who’s been having a little trouble and called in a favour.

Being the good friend that I am, I couldn’t bring myself to let her down so—here I am.”

“Let me guess—Opal?”

“Look at you, pretty and smart,” Povell sneered. “Who would’ve known?”

Gray scowled but otherwise ignored the Demon’s taunts. “Breaking out of Demon jail

seems like a pretty risky venture. She must be some friend.”

Povell laughed. “Breaking out of jail was the fun part. No, I had other reasons for

wanting out of that jail cell and paying off a debt just seemed like good sense. You know,

killing two birds with one stone and all that. Clearing my debt with Opal was an added

bonus.”

“So if helping Opal wasn’t the real reason you wanted out of jail, what was the reason?”

Gray knew he was going to regret the question as soon as the words left his lips, but by that

time, it was too late to do anything about it.

Povell arched a brow as a vicious smile formed on his twisted lips. “My sweet, sweet

Oracle, can’t you guess?” When Gray didn’t answer, Povell released a sinister laugh. “It’s

you, of course. We have some unfinished business, Grayson Muir. You and your bullshit

vision got me thrown in jail, destroyed a friendship I have had for nearly four hundred years

and put a permanent stain on my reputation. In case you failed to notice, I am far from

pleased,” he growled.

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“It was your own actions that got you thrown in jail,” Gray defended fervently. “My

ability to
See
just allowed me to see the true depravity of your crimes and report on them.

Your decisions were your own.” Povell’s expression darkened in response, immediately

making Gray wish he possessed some kind of verbal filter. It wasn’t smart to piss off a

Demon who already wanted you dead, unless your goal was a slow and painful death.

Povell scowled. “I’m not interested in your opinion of my actions. Simply put, your

actions and interference have caused me great harm. By Demon law, you owe me a debt,

Grayson Muir, and I have come to collect.”

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Trepidation washed over Gray as he tried to swallow around the now massive lump in

his throat. “And what is it you think you’re owed as repayment for this supposed debt?”

Gray asked, knowing that he was not going to like the answer.

“Just a small thing really—nothing you’ll even have a chance to miss. Would you like to

guess? No? Well, you’re just a kill joy, aren’t you?” Povell sighed and shook his head. “Very

well. Demon law is pretty basic—a life for a life. You damaged my life—I am going to take

yours.”

Gray had to fight back a shiver when Povell levelled his icy gaze on him. No way in hell

did Gray want Povell to know how much the Demon terrified him. He knew that the small

glimpse he’d got from his vision was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to the true

extent of Povell’s crimes. He struggled to keep the emotion off his face, but he could tell by

the small smirk forming on the Demon’s lips, he hadn’t been entirely successful. Gray’s teeth

began to chatter and his body started to tremble as fear started to dig its claws into him. His

knees went weak leaving him struggling to stay upright.

He felt like he was seconds from falling to the floor in a pathetic heap when Balen

stepped forward, placing himself between Gray and Povell’s malevolent gaze. “You are a

fool, Povell. You know as well as I that a criminal is not entitled to a life debt. If you harm

Gray, it will be one more crime you are charged with once a new Lord of the Underworld is

crowned. I doubt our new Lord will think very kindly of a rogue Demon harming a well-

known Oracle who is also the fated Mate of one of the most powerful Demon Lords in

history.”

Povell smirked. “I guess that depends on who the new Lord is, doesn’t it?”

Balen scowled. “I can’t imagine anyone powerful enough to become Lord of the

Underworld condoning any of the things you’ve done, least of all an attempt on the life of an

Oracle.”

“I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see,” Povell answered cryptically. “As it is, our

time together will have to wait, Oracle. At the moment, we are needed elsewhere. Opal has

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need of your talents and there is still Lord Demos to worry about. I don’t want you to worry,

though. We will have plenty of time to get acquainted later.” Povell smiled lasciviously and

blew Gray a noisy kiss before reaching behind his back and producing a large ring of keys.

Holding them up, he gave them a good shake for Gray and Balen to see, causing them to

clank together, noisily.

“Opal is waiting for us, down the hall. I expect you both to be on your best behaviour.

The dampening collars you’re both wearing should help with that. The spelled metal will

keep you from being able to use most of your powers. Even the ones you still have use of will

be severely limited. The chance that you would be able to hurt either Opal or myself is very

slim but still, it needs saying. If you cannot behave, you will be punished.” Lifting his hands,

he looked at them briefly before they were blanketed in green fire. Flashing an eerie smile,

Povell wiggled his fingers at Gray, causing the fire to dance along the surface of his hands.

“Do you understand?” he asked, looking pointedly at Balen.

Gray swallowed and nodded as the memory of being engulfed by those same sickly

flames rose up in his mind. While they might not be able to hurt him, he had a feeling Balen

would not be so lucky. A glance over at the blond demon showed that while his expression

was stoic, he had paled considerably. His eyes widened slightly as he watched the flames

flicker across Povell’s fingers. With the dampening collars thrown into the mix, Gray had no

idea what would happen to Balen if Povell made good on his threat. Not willing to take the

change, Gray nodded his agreement.

“Excellent. If you gentlemen will place your hands on top of your heads and exit the

cell, we can get this show on the road.”

Not seeing that he had any other options at the moment, Gray did as he was directed.

He could feel Balen’s presence behind him, a small comfort in their current situation. Even

with Balen’s initial involvement, Gray still felt he could trust the other man. He could even

see them becoming friends—if they made it out of this alive, that is. Gray was a big believer

in second chances and if anyone deserved one, it was Balen.

Once out of the cell, Povell had them walk ahead of him, directing them through the

darkened tunnels of what looked like an old dungeon. There was nothing distinctive on the

walls or in the hallway to give Gray any clue where they were being held. His eyes

eventually adjusted to the dark and Gray was able make out a faint flickering of light shining

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out of a doorway at the end of the hall. As they drew closer, the light grew brighter, spilling

out into the hall and allowing Gray to make out more of their surroundings.

Near the entryway, Gray noticed a banner hanging on the wall, prominently displaying

the black winged insignia of Lucifer’s court. Hope filled him at the knowledge that they were

still in the palace. Their chances of survival had just risen exponentially. Without knowing

how long it had been since he had been taken, Gray was hopeful that Dreo had already

discovered he was missing and had sent men out to look for him. His biggest concern now

was no longer
if
they would be found. Now his worry was, would they be found in time?

A hard shove from behind sent him careening into Balen who, in turn, nearly took a

header into the wall. “Keep moving,” Povell barked. “We have a schedule to keep, and Opal

doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

Oh, no. We wouldn’t want to keep Opal waiting, now would we?
Gray was tempted to tell

Povell that Opal could go fuck herself for all he cared, but he knew it would just encourage

Povell to strike out at either Balen or himself. No, he needed to keep his wits about him and

wait for an opportunity for escape. If nothing else, he had to find a way to stall Opal and

hopefully buy Dreo more time to find them. There was no doubt in his mind that Dreo

would come for him. It was just a matter of when he would show.

Another shove reminded him to get moving. Thankfully, he didn’t crash into Balen

again, but he did wobble on his heels for a moment before Balen’s arm shot out to steady

him. Gray gave him a grateful smile before he entered the room before him, prepared to face

whatever Opal and Povell had in store for them.

The room they stepped into was surprisingly mundane compared to what his mind had

conjured up. Instead of the dark, dank torture chamber he’d been expecting, Gray entered a

lavish suite, worthy of any five-star hotel. The walls were draped with yards of gold silk and

thick, plush rugs were placed strategically around the room. A sitting area had been

constructed near the entrance and Gray could just make out the shape of a massive bed in the

far corner. Apparently, Opal had discovered an old, abandoned portion of the dungeons and

decided to take up residence. It was like a little piece of heaven, smack dab in the bowels of

hell. Who knew squatting could be so glamorous? The only things that took away from its

glamorous appearance were the piles of old, unused furniture that edged the space. The

room must have been used for storage before Opal had taken up residency. It must have

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been too much work for her to remove the remaining furniture when she was setting up her

little haven. Instead, she had merely piled them up near the outskirts of the room.