As if knowing they were talking about him, the unicorn brayed and reared on its back legs. It came down heavily, crushing a skull beneath its hooves.

“Easy now, Addonexus.” The irin held up his hand, and almost reluctantly, the unicorn calmed. 

“The unicorn’s name is Addonexus?” Lily asked.

“Yes, we named him,” the irin smiled wanly at her. “It means ‘bringer of death.’” Her eyes widened, and he laughed softly. “It’s a bit of gallows humor.”

“Quite literally,” she said, returning her focus to cleaning up the jagged tear in his wing and shoulder.

“I’m Aeterna,” the irin said, then pointed to the sprite. “That’s Edgar.”

“Hello,” Edgar waved at her.

“Lily.” She gave them both a small smile. “I’m sure it’d be a pleasure to meet you both if it weren’t under such dire circumstances.”

“Yes, I’m certain it would be,” Aeterna returned her smile.

“How come you haven’t asked me what Valefor wants with me?” Lily asked.

“Because I already know,” he said. “He means to marry you.”

Lily stopped what was she doing and looked up at him. His eyes were a dark blue, nearly black, and they were solemn when he looked upon her.

“Marriage?” Edgar scoffed from up in his cage above them. “What does Valefor want with marriage? He is incapable of love or devotion.”

“She is the castimonia,” Aeterna said, and Edgar gasped.

“What?” Lily shook her head. “I’m not…”

She wanted to deny it, but the moment he said it, she felt something inside her. As if she’d always secretly known that’s what she was. Her life suddenly made sense, and everything that Wick and Lux and even Valefor had been saying. She thought back to her mother, and how kind and perfect she had been.

“How did you know?” Lily asked.

“When you touched me.” Aeterna nodded to where her hand was on his shoulder. “We sense our own kind.”

“But I’m not really a castimonia,” Lily said. “Not yet. I haven’t taken any vows to serve the irins.”

“Oh now!” Edgar sounded horrified. “He means to destroy the world!”

“Not destroy it,” Aeterna corrected him. “Win it.”

“What?” Lily glanced between the irin and the sprite in the cage, trying to figure out what they both understood. “How? What do I have to do with all this?”

“Valefor wants you to take your vows to serve him,” Aeterna explained. “If he does that, they win. He’ll have turned a virtu to sin. Evil will have triumphed over good.”

“I’ll never serve him!” Lily insisted. “Never!”

“Good,” Aeterna smiled at her. “Keep that conviction.”

“Wait.” Lily looked at him thoughtfully. “Can’t I just take my vows to serve Daniel? Then won’t this all be over?”

“Yes … if Daniel were here,” Aeterna said. “You have to take them to him, when you’re in his presence. It means nothing if you say it on your own.”

“Oh.” She lowered her eyes.

“She’s just a child,” Edgar said, his voice even smaller with despair. “She doesn’t stand a chance against the torture he’ll inflict on her. We’re all doomed.”

“Edgar, come now,” Aeterna chastised him. “She’s strong. She’s the castimonia, the purest of heart. If anyone stands a chance against Valefor, it’s her.”

“I won’t marry him,” Lily reiterated. “He killed the man I love. Nothing he does to me can be worse than that.”

“She fell in love?” Edgar asked. “I thought the castimonia couldn’t fall in love.”

“Of course she can,” Aeterna said. “Irins are love. Virtus were created to spread love. She’s simply pure.”

“How did Valefor catch you?” Lily asked.

“I was distracted. I was meant to help the other virtus find you and stop Valefor from getting you, but everything on Earth seems to sense that something is amiss. The canu snuck up on me in a way they’d never been able to before, and they got lucky and broke my wing.”

“I’m sorry,” Lily said.

Tears welled in her eyes as she realized that this too was her fault. Lux had probably been killed protecting her, and now this irin, who she’d never even met before, was injured and set to die because of her.

“Don’t be sorry.” Aeterna smiled. “This isn’t your fault.”

“But it is.” A tear spilled down her cheek, and she wiped it away. “If I were stronger or smarter, I would never have let myself get dragged into this.”

“Lily.” Aeterna brushed away her tears and used his soothing tone, trying to calm her. “You can’t let doubt or fear or guilt eat away at you. You are good, and you need to remember that above all else. Love is stronger than hatred, and you are made of love.”

She nodded and then lifted her head, meeting his gaze evenly.

“I won’t let him kill you,” Lily said. “I won’t let him take over the world. I will find us a way out of this, and I will stop it.”

17

“Get back!” Wick yelled and dug in her satchel, pulling out her wand before the behemoth of a peccati could assault them.

She’d never seen Gula before, but she recognized gluttony when she saw it. His clothes strained against the rolls of fat, and he towered over her. Barbecue sauce from goblin wings stained his clothes, face, even his greasy shoulder length hair.

Wick moved in front of Lux, preparing to defend him. She’d seen what Ira had done to him, and after Lux had saved her life, she felt she owed him the same courtesy.

“Whoa, easy!” Gula held up his massive hands and took a step back. His frown disappeared and was replaced with surprise. “I was only joking!”

“Wick, it’s okay.” Lux put his hand on her arm holding the wand, pressing it gently so she would lower it, and she looked between the two of them. “He’s a friend of mine.”

“But the peccati are sent to get you, by any means necessary,” Wick said, and she feared she’d been set up. She lowered her wand, but her grip on it tightened, in case she needed to use it.