I kept my head low as I took in the magnificent chamber I’d emerged in. There was a fragrant smell of incense. Soft light emanated down from the ceiling, and exotic-looking plants and flowers decorated the walls. Lining the floors were luxurious carpets and in the center of the room was an elevated platform upon which stood a large four-poster bed. I almost swallowed my tongue as I realized that I was not alone. I dipped down back into the water as quietly as I could, the vision I had just witnessed etched in my mind’s eye. Although the curtains had been drawn around the bed, they were thin enough for me to make out a man and a woman, wearing nothing but sheets, wrapped in each other’s arms. For a moment I feared that they might have heard me, but they had looked so absorbed in each other, I realized that the fear was likely unfounded.

Lilith.

She had her youthful form back.

I wondered what the meaning of that was. It didn’t take me long to form a theory.

My heart hammered in my chest as I sank down as low in the liquid as I possibly could.

I have to talk to Magnus.

But first, I need to get him on his own.

Chapter 22: Mona

How am I going to do this?

Daring to approach the edge of the pool again, I stole another glance at the bed. The couple still seemed too lost in each other to detect my presence.

Then I looked more closely around the room, racking my brains for ideas. When my gaze fell on a burning pot of frankincense in a far corner of the room, a plan formed all at once. I took a few moments to think it through, wondering if it could really work. It was so risky that it made my stomach flip just thinking about it, but I couldn’t see any other option right now. And there wasn’t time to keep thinking.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

I rested my eyes once again on the burning pot and stared at it intensely. I repeated a chant in my mind, careful not to let any of the words slip from my mouth. When a small cloud of smoke billowed up from the mouth of the pot, I knew that I’d been successful. The smoke was followed by flames that began to swallow up the pot and climb higher and higher up the walls in the space of a few seconds.

Lilith and the vampire sat up straight and stared at the fire. Draping a sheet over her shoulders, Lilith slid herself off the bed and made her way toward the blaze.

Casting an invisibility spell over myself, I leaped out of the pool and padded silently to the bed. Magnus had his back to me as he sat watching Lilith approach the fire.

It was surreal to be finally standing within a few feet of this vampire we had just traveled through realms to find, only to be unable to say even a word to him.

Tearing my eyes away from Magnus, I hurried to the head of the bed where the pillows were. I spotted what I had been seeking. A short black hair. I hadn’t kept the hair I’d found back in the cave, but even if I had, this one would be more potent. I picked it up and examined it closely, making sure that it couldn’t possibly be from one of Lilith’s strands. Certain that it wasn’t, I clasped it between my fingers before hurrying back toward the pool.

Lilith had now dealt with the fire and was walking back to her lover. I slipped into the water noiselessly and sank beneath the surface, reaching the bottom. I ran my hands along the ground, but this time I kept my eyes open, looking for the entrance to the chute I had traveled through. I spotted a dark hole in one corner. That had to be it. I swam toward it, pulling myself through it.

Now that I no longer had gravity on my side, I needed to use the force of my magic to propel myself upward.

I passed through water for a couple of minutes, then grimaced as it showed its first signs of becoming murky. It wasn’t long before I was wallowing in thick slime again. I couldn’t let up for a moment in pushing myself upward, or I would start sliding downward.

Even though I knew that the grime was thick, I was shocked at how much effort it was. I was beginning to feel tired. I checked the hair in my fingers by squeezing them together several times, worried that I might have lost it on the way. But I hadn’t. I was holding it so hard I was beginning to lose sensation in my fingers.

When my head finally poked above the surface of the liquid, I breathed in deeply.

“Mona.” It was Kiev’s voice, filled with relief. He was standing inside the casket. He reached a hand through the hole and pulled me to my feet. We climbed together out of the grave and onto the grass.

“What happened?” several people asked at once, including my husband.

I didn’t have time to explain now what I had to do. I just had to do it.

“Just wait for me here, okay?” I said.

I caught Kiev’s hand and vanished with him, leaving everyone else behind. Kiev looked utterly confused when we reappeared in the grand spell room within the Adriuses’ castle. I was glad to see that it was empty.

When I walked over to the sink, the first thing I did was wash Magnus’ hair, rinsing off the grime. I placed it down on the table top before proceeding to gather together all the ingredients I needed.

“Are you going to tell me what happened to you?”

“I found both of them down there. Magnus and Lilith. The problem is I can’t get to Magnus while Lilith is there. She knows I betrayed her. One look at me and she could burn me to ashes.”

Kiev stood next to me by the cauldron I had just placed on the stove and was beginning to pile ingredients into.

“So what are you doing?” he asked.

“I’m creating a potion that can make me look like Magnus.”

Kiev’s jaw fell open. I remembered now that Kiev had likely never encountered such a potion. When Sofia had used it to bring reconciliation between Derek and Kiev, she had requested us never to tell Kiev about it and to this day we had honored that request.