He’d said that his friend in the city was a hotel manager. “Is this where your friend works?” I whispered, dazzled.
Adrian led me to the elevators, a little smirk hovering over his lips. “Yes, and he’s also the only one who knows who the real owner of this hotel is.”
“Who’s that?” At Adrian’s single arched brow, I stared at him in disbelief. “You? No way.”
The elevator doors opened and we went inside. He swiped a card in the slot and then pressed the button for the Towers.
“You’ve heard of people selling their souls for money,” he said in a conversational tone. “Sometimes, that really happens. Take the former owner of this hotel. He sold his soul to a demon decades ago, but then like they all do, came to regret it.”
“You don’t say?” I muttered, still trying to take this in.
“I told you that when I stopped believing all the lies demons had told me, I turned to drugs to ease my guilt over what I’d done. That’s when I met Trent. He was also hitting the chemicals because his time was almost up. We got to talking, and when he told me who he owed his debt to, I told him I’d fix the problem.” He paused to give me a sardonic smile. “Trent was my first stab at redemption.”
“But you can’t kill demons. Only Archons, other demons or one of the three hallowed weapons can. So how did you fix it?”
Adrian shrugged. “I made sure that the demon who was coming to collect his soul got killed. As you said, I couldn’t kill him myself, but I made it worth another demon’s while to take him out for me. Then I came back and told Trent that he was free. He was so grateful, he started the paperwork to sign his hotel over to me. Took a few years since we had to make it look like an overseas corporation bought it so Demetrius and other demons wouldn’t find out and ruin it as a safe space for me.”
I was still having a hard time believing this, not that it was the craziest thing I’d heard tonight, let alone ever. “And you actually let him give you this hotel?”
Adrian laughed outright, coinciding with the elevator doors opening. “Of course. For one, Trent said that he was done with money because of what it had driven him to do. For another—” the grin he flashed me was wicked “—I really liked this place.”
He led me over to a set of doors marked Historic Suite with a comment of “The Presidential Suite is already occupied.”
“Then I insist on going home,” I replied flippantly. Then I didn’t say anything at all as Adrian opened the doors and I got my first glimpse of the room, or rooms to be more accurate.
The first room looked like a foyer on extravagant steroids, and it opened into a full dining room with crystal stemware that would’ve sent my mother running over in rapture, if she were still alive to see it. After that was a living room with a wall-to-wall Oriental rug, a fireplace and furniture that looked too expensive to actually sit on.
The next room was cozier, but no less opulent. The couch to my left looked like it was upholstered in red velvet, and the red-and-gold-striped love seat across from it appeared to be silk. Thick drapes only let part of the cityscape peek in from the floor-to-ceiling windows, and there was a second sitting area by another fireplace.
Everything was so luxurious that it actually took Adrian’s abrupt question of “What are you doing here?” for me to notice that the chair across from those couches wasn’t empty.
Zach set down the travel magazine he’d been reading, putting it back with the others that were decoratively displayed on the table in front of him.
“For all the many times I’ve been to this city, I have never seen a Broadway play,” he remarked, replying to a question that neither one of us had asked.
“What are you doing here?” I repeated, coming toward him. “Where’s Jasmine?”
He gave me a look as if the answer were obvious. “The same place you left her.”
“With Costa?” I burst out. “He could hurt her!”
“He would never do that,” Adrian said before Zach had a chance to reply.
That reignited my irritation with him over his incorrect assumption about Jasmine. “My sister isn’t the one who told Demetrius where we were.”
“That’s the only explanation that makes sense,” Adrian shot back. Then his tone softened. “Costa could’ve gotten me killed a thousand times over these past few years. He didn’t. Our location only started being reported back to our enemies when your sister started traveling with us.”
I turned away, and he caught me by the shoulders. “I know it’s hard, Ivy, but look at the facts. Demetrius didn’t find us here or in France, yet it only took him hours to drop realms on us before, when Jasmine wasn’t locked up in a light realm where she can’t communicate with him or any other demon. Do you really think that’s a coincidence?”
My jaw tightened. “I don’t think it’s coincidence, but I also know it’s not Jasmine who’s been selling us out.”
Zach let out a sigh as he stood up. “I did not come here to listen to the two of you fight. Ivy, your sister is safe—you have my word. Adrian, you wanted me to perform a service for you. If that is still the case, I can do so now.”
Adrian dropped his hands from my shoulders and turned to give Zach an amazed look. “You know I still want you to, but with everything that’s going on, maybe now isn’t the time.”
“Now is the only time I will do it,” Zach replied in a mild tone. “As I have often reminded you, I am not yours to command, and soon, I will have far more urgent matters to attend to.”
Adrian’s muscled tensed, as if he were fighting an inner battle. “Then now works for me,” he said in a tight voice.
“Very well,” Zach replied, still in that unruffled way. “If Ivy agrees to it. If she does not, then I will do nothing, and I know that you haven’t told her what this request entails.”
I was still upset over Adrian believing that Jasmine was the traitor, but I was also wildly curious. Zach had assured me that Jasmine was safe, so I wasn’t worried about her, and no one was trying to kill us, which made this as good of a time as any to find out what Adrian’s mysterious request was. Not that it was necessary anymore, though.
I touched his hands, which remained clenched at his sides. “After everything that’s happened, you have nothing to prove to me or to anyone else. I know you won’t betray me again, so whatever you thought you needed Zach to do, you don’t.”
He unclenched his fists and his hands rose to caress my neck and then my face, making me shiver under his touch.
“What I should have told you before was that I want to do this. You are everything to me, and this way I can show you that as well as be closer to you.”
I leaned into him, letting my hands drift over his shoulders. “I know another way that we can be closer, but it requires Zach leaving.”
Adrian laughed, low, knowing and oh-so enticing. “We’ll do that afterward, I promise.”
In my peripheral vision, I saw Zach roll his eyes with barely contained irritation, and it was all I could do not to laugh. If double entendres irritated Zach, I’d make it a point to talk sexy to Adrian every time the Archon was near. Payback for all of Zach’s infuriating evasiveness in the past.
“Okay,” I said, smiling. “So, what do you want Zach to do?”
His gaze never wavered as he stared at me. “In simplest terms, a soul tethering. Zach ties mine to yours, and after that, I couldn’t betray you even if I wanted to because doing so would subject me to the same consequences. We’d be linked in a way that nothing on earth, under it or over it could alter.”
My mouth opened, but for a few moments, I couldn’t form words. I don’t know what I’d thought it would be. Whatever my musings, nothing had come close to this.
“You’re serious?” I finally got out.
His fingers tightened around my face, yet his touch remained achingl
y gentle. “I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life.”
“But that’s so, so—”
“Permanent?” Zach supplied drily.
I barely glanced at him. “Yes, permanent,” I breathed. “Eternally permanent.”
A smile flittered over Adrian’s lips. “That’s my favorite part. I love you, Ivy, and that more than anything else is why I want this. But my destiny has also been hanging over me my entire life, and since I’m breaking that destiny, I want the proof of it to be written all over my soul.”
“Adrian...” I was so overwhelmed, I didn’t know what to say.
He dropped his hands and stepped back, concern washing over his features. “This is a one-way tethering, if that’s what you’re worried about. You wouldn’t be linking your soul to mine. Everything about you would still stay the same—”
“Why would you think I’d want a one-way-only tethering?” I interrupted.
His expression cleared, becoming completely blank, and he took another step back. “If you don’t want me to do it, that’s fine,” he said in a very controlled tone.
“Adrian!” I grabbed him, almost shaking him for how badly he’d misunderstood me. “I meant, why would you think that I wouldn’t want to do the same thing with you?”
He started to smile, and seeing it caused something bright and beautiful to bubble up inside me, making my answering grin wide and almost witless with joy.
“You do?” he asked, the question coming out almost breathy.
I tangled my arms around his neck, feeling a tear start to slip from the corner of my eye. “Of course I do.”
He kissed me, and I didn’t care about the Archon watching us. All I cared about was how his arms molded me to him, the searing passion that built as his mouth moved over mine and the happiness I felt, which rivaled everything else.
A cough sounded, and then Adrian and I were wrenched apart by invisible arms. Zach approached us, a regally haughty expression on his face.
“I agreed to perform a soul-tethering ceremony, not to oversee its celebratory consummation, so if you’re still interested in the former, you need to stop the latter. Now.”
“Sorry,” Adrian said, but his grin made it clear that he wasn’t sorry in the least.
Neither was I. “I’m sure it’s nothing you haven’t seen a billion times before,” I teased Zach.
His glare was priceless. “That assumes that I have never had anything better to do, which is patently untrue.”
Adrian went over and clapped him on the back. “Whatever you say, secret voyeur. Now, you said you had to do this right away or not at all, but exactly how long do we have?”
Zach thought for a moment. “Two hours.”
“All right,” Adrian said, giving Zach another back slap and ignoring the scowl he got in response. “Ivy, you have to hurry and get ready. I know the perfect place to do the ritual in.”
I cast a disbelieving look around at our lavish surroundings. “This isn’t nice enough for you?”
His gaze glinted with determination. “We’ve had so few chances to make good memories with everything that’s happened since we met. Since we can only do this once, I want to make sure it’s something you’ll never forget.” Then his mouth curled as humor mixed in with his usual arrogance. “Besides, a hotel room? I do have my pride as a former prince, you know.”
Part of me couldn’t believe that this was really about to happen, yet the rest of me wasn’t the least surprised. So many momentous events in my life had been thrown at me with nary a warning of catch! that this seemed par for the course. Yes, it was a destiny-altering tethering that would bind us together in ways I still didn’t really understand. Yes, we still had to figure out a way to find the staff before more realms started clobbering this world, and yes, a permanent, soul-binding ritual kinda meant that I’d end up with a demon for a father-in-law, so...it was a lot to take in.
This was my life, however, and although we didn’t have a lot of wiggle room on our to-do list, if I’d learned anything over the past several months, it was that we had to live every moment to the fullest because any one of them could be our last. Put in that light, it would be foolish not to make the most of our soul-tethering ritual. As Adrian had said, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“So tell me, where do you want to go to say goodbye to your days as a single former demon prince?” I asked with a grin.
Adrian kissed me with such passion that I almost forgot what we were talking about. “Get showered and dressed, and I’ll show you,” he murmured against my lips.
Then he spun around, saying to Zach, “Stay here with Ivy. I’ll be right back.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
IN A HIGH-END hotel like this, I expected the bathroom to be stocked with toiletries, and I was right. After I showered to get all of the nasty river water, dirt and blood off me, then blow-dried my hair, I left the black-and-white marble bathroom to find a gorgeous new dress laid out on the king-size bed.
The duvet on the bed was royal blue, which made the pearlescent dress stand out more vividly against the dark fabric. I touched the bottom of the dress, which flared out mermaid-style against the fitted body, and the material slipped like raindrops through my fingers. I’d say that it was silk, except that it was diaphanous, and the color was the most beautiful blend of white, pink and pale gray. If I had to name the blend of colors, I’d call it ashes of dawn, and the dress was so beautiful, I was almost afraid to put it on.
Of course I did, and then spun around just to see the fabric billow around my legs. It was strapless except for the single thin swath of fabric over my left shoulder, so I wouldn’t be able to wear my bra. At least with the snug, square cut and the thicker, opaque material across the chest, I didn’t need one.
I did need shoes, though, and I was glad to see a pair of heels by the bottom of the bed. They fit, although like the dress, they were a little too small. Still, I was amazed that Adrian had managed to find anything this nice, let alone close to my size. The clock showed a quarter to five in the morning, so no shops would be open. Guess the same hotel store that Adrian had gotten our other clothes at had fancier attire, as well. And as the hotel owner, Adrian must have unlimited access.
I ran a hand through my hair, wishing I could style it into something prettier, but my hair spray and curling iron were back in the bus. So was my makeup bag, not that I could have done a great job of primping without being able to look at myself. All the mirrors in this suite had either been broken or removed. Adrian’s friend, the manager, must have had employees scurrying like mad to do that during our fruitless drive to Long Island.
“No need to be concerned,” a voice said from behind me. “Your appearance is quite pleasant.”
I swung around, stunned more by his words than by how Zach had snuck up on me. “Was that a compliment?”
His expression remained serious even as the faintest smile pulled at his mouth. “Compliments cater to vanity. This was merely my stating an observation.”
“Bullshit,” I said with an amused snort. “You just gave me a compliment. Be a big Archon and own it.”
“Are you ready, Ivy?” Adrian asked from the other room.
I gave my hair a final swipe before letting the dark brown waves settle naturally around my shoulders. “Yes.”
Adrian walked in, having showered in the bathroom adjoining the suite’s other, smaller bedroom. It had been less than an hour since I’d seen him, and in that time, he’d not only managed to get me a beautiful new dress; he’d also found an elegant black suit for himself. His dark gold hair was slightly tousled, as if he’d been running around after his shower, which he must have been, considering all he’d done. His jaw was smooth from a fresh shave, and his silver-rimmed, deep blue eyes had never resembled sapphires more than they did now as he stare
d at me.
“You’re stunning,” he said in a hoarse voice.
Zach arched a brow at me. “See? That is a compliment.”
Adrian crossed the short distance between us and pulled me into his arms, but when I tilted my face up, he didn’t kiss me. Instead, he caught my hand, pressing something hard into it.
I opened my hand and gasped. A large, oval-shaped diamond winked up at me, but in addition to the fiery colors it reflected from the overhead light, it also glittered with...darkness. I didn’t understand how until I held the ring by its platinum loop and saw black diamond baguettes beneath the center stone, their color reflecting outward.
Darkness and light, just like the two of us.
I swallowed several times, but my throat still burned from the emotion overloading me. Adrian couldn’t have gotten this from a hotel store, and he’d had no time to go anywhere else.
“When? I mean, how?” I choked out.
“I bought it after you told me you didn’t want to see me again.” Each low, rasped word slammed right into my heart. “I’ve been carrying it around for months, promising myself that one day, if I didn’t give up, I’d see you wear it.”
With tears blurring my vision, I held my hand out, and Adrian slid the ring onto my finger.
“I only have one more hour,” Zach said, breaking a moment I would’ve wanted to live in forever. “We will need all of it.”
Adrian raised my hand to his mouth and kissed it right above the ring. Then, with a wide smile, he turned to Zach.
“Let’s do this.”
* * *
WE ALL RODE in the limo, but our destination turned out to be so close that we could have walked to it: St. Patrick’s Cathedral. If the past hour hadn’t been such a whirlwind of the impossible made real, I would’ve been impressed to see Brutus perched on one of the cathedral’s soaring towers, beating his wings as if claiming it for himself. Then Zach walked up to the massive doors of the elaborately styled, multistory church and, with a burst of light from his hands, broke the locks open.