CHAPTER ONE
LETTIE
“That’s him. It has to be,” I whispered. Actually, it was more like I was still convincing myself I had the right information. I didn’t want to betray my father and leave my only home on a hunch, but this place had to hold the ironsmith Lord Decay was looking for.
Wayland the smith.
I’d spent the last six months combing every inch of the vast aisles in the tombs of the North American West Coast Chapter of the Order of Decay’s library. Until about a month ago, it seemed like a lost cause. For shits and giggles, I decided to give the internet a try before I gave up. I spent the first week and a half on my search engine binging my butt off before I found some promising names. Most were dead ends, but Wayland fit.
Lord Decay told me the smith he was looking for was a gifted final descendant of the Navah. He’d married a very powerful earth witch, who was a master alchemist. Lord Decay was convinced that together the forged fail-safe athame could kill a Horseman. I’d grown up knowing how facts were twisted into the fables, so even though Wayland wasn’t a complete match, he had enough similarities to have me downloading everything I could on him. I was finally going to fulfill my mother’s dying wish. Well, at least part of it.
Maria Osmond had been a beautiful soul and a loving mother. She too was born into the Order, and married into higher ranks. Her marriage had been arranged to my father on her seventeenth birthday. I would have probably suffered the same fate if my mother had not used my father’s greed and need to be seen as superior against him. Of my two brothers, one older and one younger, it was clear from the start that my older brother, James Osmond III, had inherited both my father’s brawny build and cruel temperament. But he lacked intelligence. Junior was as dumb as a box of rocks. He passed high school and was able to join the army only because he was a star football player and my father paid for his enrollment generously. Which left a void I was to fulfil—by going to college and showing people the Osmonds were not only strong soldiers but smart too.
Only, my mother got sick just after I started my first semester at UCLA. My bastard of a father had never really cared for her. She was his trophy and brood mare. When she became ill, he was in the process of gaining third chair on the Council of Decay and couldn’t be bothered to take care of her. I tried to take leave of my studies, but he wouldn’t allow that either. He needed the conversation piece: “My daughter the college student.” I probably would have defied him if she hadn’t made me promise to finish my studies and find a way to get Liam and myself free of the Order’s long reach.
Liam had been fifteen at the time. By then, it was obvious my father had written him off. Not only was he sweet and softly spoken, but there were also a few innocent puberty incidents that made it clear Liam liked boys. He’d earned severe beatings from our father and brother before they wrote him off completely. My mother died of cervical cancer three days after my twentieth birthday.
Seven years later, I was able to make good on part of my promise. However, it wasn’t getting Liam away from the Order. Unfortunately, in the last few months, he’d somehow become friends with Lord Decay, of all people. Not only had it garnered my father’s attention in a good way for once, but the whole Order would be watching all who were within their lord’s confidence. It also seemed that, for some bizarre reason, Liam chose to be his… I could only guess… BFF. While teaching Lord Decay all he’d missed in the last couple of hundred years, Liam smiled more often and seemed more at ease in life. It wasn’t until Lord Decay rose and befriended him that I noticed this change in him.
Still, with or without my baby brother, I was getting out of the Order’s clutches and hopefully under the Horsemen’s protection. Providing I could trust them. I contemplated just how I was going to do it as I transferred the files onto the last gift my mother gave me. It was a black pearl bracelet with a memory card built into the clasp, completely hidden and custom made. No one would question me wearing it out of the library.
As I finished wiping the hard drive and installing a system-wide reboot, the smell of lilies hit me, so strong I almost gagged. My heart jumped into my throat and my hands shook when I looked over my shoulder and found Lord Decay staring at me with his head cocked and his face contorted like he was working out a complex math problem. Then, in a blink, he straightened with a grin, and the floral scent receded enough I could bow without vomiting. “My lord.”
“Rise, my young friend,” he ordered. I didn’t want to. If anything, I would have preferred to crawl under the table and yell, “I didn’t do anything.” But instead of letting my panic take hold, I took to my feet and noticed his face—though still not complete—had lost a bit of the decomposing gory look. He’d been feeding. Liam had said he was working on pulling smaller amounts of life force without killing the donors. However, I knew sometimes he still struggled to stop before killing. It kind of scared the crap out of me that my baby brother was helping him during these feedings. All it took was one mistake and Lord Decay could consume an entire room. The lord no longer needed to touch to consume, but Liam said he used it in those sessions to anchor himself and prevent just that from happening. That little nugget wasn’t exactly as comforting as I thought he meant it to be.
“How go your endeavors? Have you yet located the ancestors of my friend from long ago?” he asked, and smiled in a way that if he wasn’t a crazy powerful cult leader, I would think he was kind of cute. A whole nose could help too.
My heart raced in my chest as I answered, “S-sorry, Lord, I haven’t found anything in the tombs here. Would you like me to start looking through one of the other libraries?” Thank God, I was able to steady my voice, since I had basically told the truth. He’d never asked me to search the internet, and I damn well wasn’t going to tell him what I’d discovered.
Lord Decay sighed. “I did not have high hopes after meeting the greedy dolts running my council. That is very well. I have another assignment for you.”
It took all my self-control not to snort at my father being called a greedy dolt. I found it very fitting. I bowed my head and responded with a respectful, “As you wish, my lord.”
“Delightful. I need you be at the Horsemen Hedge Funds offices tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. You are meeting with Ms. Higgins about an assistant job. Ms. Higgins is Connor’s personal secretary. You are to learn everything you can, and find us a weakness to cut the Horsemen’s funding that comes from his company. We will be in contact for updates. Good day.” He graced me with another smile and began to turn to leave.
My belly sank. “Lord,” I called. “I don’t wish to question your judgment, but is there a reason I was chosen? We’ve others who are trained in this type of work. Is there something in particular you need me to watch for?” I dropped my eyes as he turned back to me. Crap, I’d just about been home free. Nearly on my way out with him leaving, and I had to open my big-ass mouth. Damn it, Lettie, never question the crazy leader’s requests. Especially when they’re going to help you reach your own goal.
“What pretty wording for one so young, only continuing to prove you are the correct choice. If you must know, your father volunteered you for his own reasons, but Liam seconded the recommendation. Those others who have mastered deceit don’t have the education and knowledge to fool my brother. Connor may be brazen and immature, but he is no half-wit.” He took a breath and canted his head to the side, as though he was assessing the best piece of meat to throw to the lions. “Yes, you will be perfect for Connor.” With a clap of his hands, he straightened and headed to the door, only to stop himself half way to say, “My powers have no effect on you, sweet Nicolette. Did you know? I find that very interesting. Very interesting indeed…. Now, I must go prepare. Tonight is movie night! Your brother and I are watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.”
With a gulp of dread, I simply stared at our very own Dark Lord as he left to get ready for movie night.
What in the world had he just sentenced me to?
Then again, I had wanted to get close to the Horsemen for my own reasons, so in a way, the lord had done me a favor.
Strange.