Tethered Redemption by Phoebe Wolfe

Author:Phoebe Wolfe [Wolfe, Phoebe]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-01-31T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Akmon

The original Tree of Knowledge was a labyrinth of twirling staircases that scaled nearly thirty stories of the tree’s length, connecting to hundreds of rooms with scroll-lined walls. It was never meant to be lived in, but I thought the touches implemented by the Deserters during the fifty years I’d been away were nice. Someone had delicately etched rune designs in the soft, but sturdy wood of its trunk, careful only to add to the woodwork’s appeal, not mar it. Two kitchens were up and running, each working in opposite shifts of one another to keep the nearly hundred occupants fed at all hours. Kara got her own medical ward, something she’d been begging for since she’d first set foot in the Tree. And was that a dance floor I saw outside the complex?

I had to hand it to Nix. She knew how to make herself at home.

The smell of fresh coffee, rich and strong, wafted to my nose even before I hit Nix’s office door. Well, not so much a door, I thought, eyeing the entrance. It was little more than a thick plank of tree bark bolted against the opening of a small, wooden room stretched longways on one of the Tree of Knowledge’s branches. Everything in this place was constructed of wood, having been built before the demon group managed to figure out a way to summon objects within the walls of Eden.

The coffee was a bad sign. Nix hated the stuff but always knew just the way I took my cup, despite my tastes changing frequently. This was because, in a similar way I could mysteriously control the zombies, Nix had the ability to sift through the minds of others. Probably, she knew what I was going to say before I did and had fully prepared a counter argument. Swell. It was going to be a nightmare trying to convince her to fight Drath.

I tapped a little ditty on the door with both knuckles and stood back. At least I’d managed to get here alone. Michael had ordered his guard to stay with me as he took off in triumph, the Archangel’s grimy hand resting on the small of Vero’s back. Reluctantly I sent Nurse after the pair, not trusting the almost predatory gleam in Michael’s eye as he led Vero away.

As soon as they were gone, I had shooed Michael’s guard toward the kitchens where I knew they’d likely be headed for beer and gossip, telling them I was a big boy and didn’t need to be escorted anywhere unless it was to one of their bedrooms. I took great satisfaction when they listened to me instead of Michael. I had saved their necks, after all, and a demon never forgets his dues. It was not the same as the life debt I now owed Vero, but instead one born of true respect from shared camaraderie. We had fought to not fight together.

Even if our reasons were completely different.

Every demon in Eden found bloodshed

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