At first, Rowan kept an eye on Zeke to make sure he wasn’t harmed. It took all her self-restraint to not fly down and confess everything to Hormiz as soon as she saw him, but their reunion would have to wait.
As soon as she knew Zeke was safe, Rowan started following Lilith. She kept a great distance, of course. She flew in wide arcs like she had places to be. Lilith’s City was such a hive of activity, Rowan easily blended into the background. She learned Lilith meditated a lot and liked to fly nude. Lilith kept an irregular schedule and seemed to come and go as whims came. But on occasion, Rowan lost sight of Lilith somewhere in the palace, so she found a place to perch and watch from afar.
The bell chimes were frightening at first, but Rowan came to understand their purpose. They came in threes. After each bell, most cainkin stopped what they were doing and went to drink from a red lake that tasted like blood. Rowan assumed the bell chimes paralleled her ideas of breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
The chimes kept time, since this was a sunless place. The line of fire far above them never dimmed or flickered. Everything was forever lit by the distant glow of firelight. No nights. No moon. No stars. No sky. Everything was forever dim and moving. It was madness-inducing. Rowan had to get her family out of this place.
After dozens of bell chimes, Rowan finally learned where Lilith was disappearing. Rowan swooped by and saw hidden stairs leading to a locked door. That had to be where Lilith was hiding Sam.
She waited until the third bell chime, when Lilith, Hormiz, and Zeke had supper. Then Rowan snuck into the palace and down the hidden stairs. Two cainkin were guarding the door, so Rowan swiftly killed them. Their heads hit the floor before their bodies.
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The door itself was made of heavy stone and barred shut. Rowan removed the bars and pushed the door open. She was trying to conserve her strength, since she hadn’t fed in a while and was beginning to feel drained, but the effort was worth it, because sitting on the floor, looking haggard, bloody, burned, and beaten, was her darling Sam.
He looked at once relieved and terrified as Rowan entered in her kitsune form. The room was cramped, with bright lights embedded into the walls, floor, and ceiling.
“What are you doing here?” he asked disbelievingly.
“What does it look like? I’m breaking you out. Let’s go.” Rowan picked Sam up and carried him outside the bright room. In the dark stairway, Sam recovered his strength and summoned shadows all around him. Rowan stood back and gave him space to pull himself together. When he was finished, he still looked pale and haggard, but his face was locked and alert.
“What’s the plan?” he asked.
“Zeke and Hormiz are having supper with Lilith now. I say we go kill her. Then we take our boys home.”
“Great plan, but I don’t think I can kill her. She surrounds herself with light using the Bone Gauntlet. As long as she has it, my shadows can’t touch her.”
“Well, we’re on a deadline. I killed those two cainkin. Sooner or later, Lilith is going to notice you’re missing. If we can’t kill Lilith, I say we collect our boys and get out of here. Immediately. We just need to get to Zeke. He’s our ride out of here.”
Sam nodded. “Okay, so we mad-dash to interrupt supper, collect Zeke and Hormiz, and then what? Zeke can move us all to Eden?”
“That’s what I’m hoping.”
“And Hormiz is on our side now?”
“Maybe? It’s not a great plan, is it?”
“Hey, I’m not complaining. It’s better than anything I was doing.” Sam smiled. Then Sam hugged Rowan tight, and together they dropped into shadows.