Page 124 of Lust

“Oh.” Dee looked at Wrath and then Shade. “Okay, but is it dangerous?”

“Anything dealing with this amount of power can be dangerous,” Wrath said. “But Shade and I will do all that we can to mitigate against that danger.”

Deflating, Dee glanced at Vexia. “What do you think? Is it safe for my granddaughter to repair the seals?”

Folding her hands in front of her, Vexia bowed her head. “I serve Lord Wrath. I do not think.”

“Dammit, Vexia!” Dee glowered at her. “Didn’t we talk about this when we were going through that art gallery thingy?”

“Yes, Dee.” Vexia kept her gaze on the ground.

Eddie decided to exercise the power Wrath had given her. “I want to hear your opinion.”

Vexia glanced at her and blanched. “Mistress?”

“I want to hear what you have to say.” It was her ass on the line after all and another opinion could help.

“I think there is little choice, mistress,” Vexia said. “If you do not repair the seal, we will all cease to exist. And Lord Wrath will do all that he can to keep you safe.”

“Eddie?” Shade took her hand in his and interwove their fingers. “I know my seal scared you, but we need you.”

Fucking hell! She hated that he put it that way, because now she really didn’t have a choice. “Let’s heal this son of a bitch.”

Wrath’s throne room looked like a medieval great hall with a huge wooden throne on one end shrouded in furs, a large firepit in the center, and heavy wooden beams crisscrossing the ceiling. Eddie shivered as she remembered it from when she’d dream walked here. A few of his demon horde slunk through the shadows, watching them pass with wary expressions.

Eddie could feel the pull of the seal. Already she wanted to smash things and rip one of the weapons off the wall and start bathing in the blood of her enemies. Like at Shade’s palace, the seal was kept in a small room behind the throne. The ceiling was so low it almost brushed Wrath and Shade’s heads, and smoking braziers did little to dispel the gloomy, dungeon-like feel of the chamber.

The seal was polished pewter with a faint red glow around it, and it tugged on Eddie. Rage suffused every part of her being as her lips curled back from her teeth in snarl.

“Wrath!” Shade gave her a worried glance. “She’s feeling it already. You need to do something.”

With a nod, Wrath closed his eyes.

Eddie felt a tap on her awareness and the warm, steady presence of Wrath.

“Open your mind to him,” Shade said close to her ear. “Let him take the emotion from you.”

She wanted to punch his beautiful face for the next to useless advice. “How the fuck do I do that?”

“Think of it like opening a door or drawing back a curtain.” Shade’s palm provided a steady pressure in the small of her back, anchoring her to the room, preventing her from grabbing Wrath’s sword and hacking off heads.

She tried to do what Shade had suggested, but she didn’t want to open her mind. She wanted to slam her defenses shut and fight.

“Breathe, Eddie,” Shade murmured. “You are stronger than you think.”

She was stronger. She was mighty. She was fury. She was vengeance and rage.

Her mind opened a tiny chink, and Wrath surged through. He coaxed the barriers of her mind further apart.

“Open your heart now to him,” Shade said.

No. Every part of Eddie rebelled. Her heart was hers to protect and guard.

“Here hold this.” Shade pressed the pommel of his sword into her hands. Probably not a good idea considering how she wanted to rip the world apart, and now had the means to carve it apart. But the sword felt familiar and comforting, and she drew courage from it and opened her heart.

Wrath flooded through her chest, warm and comforting, but still invasive.

Her anger receded a bit.