for him to inherit, then he is as good as dead to us, anyway."
"Your life for his," her husband said between his teeth inDananu , beginning to pull away from the table as he smashed another body into the feeding rocks to be sucked dry by the few remaining placenta-attached veins.
"It was going to be that in any regard, so why fear leaving me here to do my very best?" Her gaze narrowed, for once all fear had fled her.
"At this point I trust no one," he said, seething."As if I ever did. And were it not for your lax security measures they would have never-"
"Hold it," shesaid, her voice strong and not wavering. Rare truth burned in her mouth like acid and she spit on the smoldering floor, unafraid. "They followedyour black energy trail, not mine." When her husband turned away, she pressed on, making the most of the extraordinary moment of having bested the Devil in his own game. "They were able to do that because you underestimated the old priest's power of love." She clucked her tongue, making a tsking sound that caused her husband to whirl on her. "You need me, even if you punish me later for my insolence-so be it. But as the only entity in all of Hell that will tell you the truth, and not just what you want to hear in the midst of a crisis, I implore you to consider me a valuable resource and not waste me in a sudden rage."
When he walked away from her, she knew she had him. Satisfaction spread through her body, filling her with renewed power, even if it was potentially short-lived.
"Can you save him?" he finally asked, his shoulders slumping from fatigue and worry.
"Saving him has always been in my best interest, too, husband, regardless of your opinion of me. However, if you do not prevail then we'reall dead, even you. So go, fight, and leave me to my work. Preserve what little is left and seal the breaches. There will be time enough to settle the score if I fail . . . where on earth shall I run from you, anyway?"
"There will be no shadow dark enough to hide from me if you fail."
"Failure wasnever my plan. You should know me well enough by now. Ialways play to win." She lifted her chin and stared at him directly. "I told you, Lu, I was in this with you till the very end."
The patient stopped breathing. The two powerful entities stared at each other. Her husband's fangs lengthened.
"Listen," she hissed.
"He's gone," the Beast growled, beginning to circle her.
Lilith pointed up at the network of veins clinging to stalactites that were still pulsing. "Listen," she hissed again. "The shelling by the Light has ceased."
"Just as my heir's breaths have ceased!" A section of cavern wall flew at her and she ducked. Undaunted, she leapt up in a rare show of insubordination. "Stop it. You'll kill him!"
Silence settled between them. Poised for a final black-energy extinction strike, her husband watched as she went to the marble slab and checked vital signs.
"They were linked tohis dark-energy life pulse." She smiled slowly and closed her eyes, beginning to chuckle. "He's self-aware and finally helping to heal." She glanced up at her husband, who was now towering over her, trying to get a closer look at their patient. "Don't you see . . . he's flatlined to deceivethem. "
With a wave of the Beast's hand, four more bodies were impaled on the stalactites.
"Be proud, Lu . . . he has your cunning and endurance for pain. I must finish my work of cleaning the wound. You must finish your work of sealing the realms and reinforcing all the gray-zone shadows. Let us not be at odds, but be in collusion toward the same goal." She touched his stonelike chest, glad that he simply closed his eyes for a moment and steadied his breathing, rather than ripping the limbs from her body. "I will not fail you."
Slowly he reached out and a length of barbed-wire chain filled his hand. He closed his fist around it as the chain yanked away in a scorching whir through his palm. Attached to the end of the twisted metal was a huge manacle that cuffed three baying hound heads that were connected to the same dog's body.
The vicious creature's jowls were filled with acid-dripping fangs, and it scrabbled against the smoldering floor, trying to pull toward the breach in the realms. Thick