Chapter 67 Unmasked
Lilith woke to someone pounding on her door like the palace was on fire. She stumbled out of bed, still half-asleep, and yanked it open to find Lucian standing there looking far too alert for whatever ungodly hour this was.
“Get dressed. Theron will be here in forty minutes,” he said, already turning to leave. “Wear something practical. If this goes sideways, you’ll need to move fast.”
The door clicked shut before she could respond, leaving her standing there in her nightgown trying to process the abrupt wake-up call. Right. The interrogation. The potential traitor. The reason she’d barely slept despite Azrael’s comforting presence the night before.
She dressed quickly in dark pants and a fitted shirt, nothing fancy but nothing that would restrict her movement either. Her hands shook slightly as she braided her hair back, and she had to start over twice before it looked remotely presentable. The face staring back at her from the mirror appeared younger than nineteen, scared in a way that made her angry at herself. She was supposed to be getting stronger, supposed to be ready for whatever came next, but apparently fear still had a nasty habit of showing up uninvited.
Sera appeared just as Lilith was finishing, carrying tea that smelled like it could wake the dead. “Lucian sent me. Said you’d need this more than breakfast.”
“Is it that obvious I’m terrified?” Lilith asked, accepting the cup gratefully.
“Only to someone who knows you.” Sera settled onto the bed, concern etched across her features from years of friendship. “You don’t have to do this, you know. Lucian’s perfectly capable of handling an interrogation without you there.”
“I know. But whoever this is has been cataloguing my every move for months like I’m some kind of experiment.” Lilith took a long drink of the scalding tea, welcoming the burn. “I need to see their face when they realise they’ve been caught.”
Lucian was waiting in the corridor when Lilith emerged, his mirror eyes reflecting the flickering torchlight in unsettling patterns. He didn’t say anything, just started moving, and she fell into step beside him as they descended deeper into the palace than she’d been before.
“The lower chambers are warded against magic,” he explained as they navigated the descent. “No scrying, no communication spells, no way for anyone to send a warning or call for help. If Theron is our traitor, he’s completely cut off from any outside contact the moment he crosses that threshold.”
They reached a heavy iron door guarded by two demons who looked like they could break someone in half without much effort. The guards stepped aside without question, and Lucian led her into a small observation room with a window looking into a larger chamber beyond. The glass was one-way, he explained. She could see everything, but Theron wouldn’t know she was there.
“Study his reactions, not just his words,” Lucian said, positioning her where she’d have the clearest view. “You might catch something I’d miss.”
The door to the interrogation chamber opened, and Councillor Theron entered looking mildly confused but not yet alarmed. He was older than Lilith had expected, grey at the temples and wearing the formal robes of someone who’d served the Devil’s court for a very long time. He settled into the chair across from where Lucian would sit, his posture relaxed, almost bored.
“He thinks this is routine,” Lilith whispered.
“Good. Let’s see how long that lasts.” Lucian left the observation room, and moments later appeared in the interrogation chamber.
“Councillor Theron, thank you for coming on such short notice,” Lucian began, his voice carrying polite formality. “I’m conducting security reviews following the recent attacks. Your expertise makes you invaluable for this assessment.”
Theron inclined his head, clearly pleased. “Of course, Lord Lucian. I’m happy to assist however I can.”
“Excellent. Let’s start with your access to the mirror network. Walk me through your typical usage patterns.”
For twenty minutes, Lilith studied Theron explaining his work with casual confidence. He detailed communication protocols, security measures, and the technical requirements for maintaining magical connections across vast distances. Everything sounded legitimate.
Then Lucian shifted tactics.
“And when you accessed the mirrors in Lady Lilith’s chambers during her stay in my kingdom, what were you monitoring?”
The question landed like a physical blow. Theron’s expression didn’t change immediately, but his hands, which had been resting casually on the table, tightened just slightly. The kind of thing you’d miss if you weren’t looking for it.
“I’m not sure I understand your question, my lord. I wasn’t monitoring Lady Lilith’s chambers.”
“No?” Lucian tilted his head. “Strange. The access logs show seventeen separate connections originating from your credentials, all targeting the mirrors in or near her rooms. If you weren’t observing her, what exactly were you doing?”
The temperature in the room seemed to drop. Theron’s face went carefully blank, the expression of someone rapidly recalculating their position. “There must be some mistake in those records.”
“The logs are not mistaken.” Lucian leaned forward. “They’re actually quite detailed. They show not just when you accessed the mirrors, but how long you remained connected. Hours, Councillor. You spent hours observing her.”
Lilith felt her stomach turn. Hours. This man had been studying her for hours at a time.
“I want legal counsel,” Theron said quietly.
“This isn’t a trial. This is an interrogation.” Lucian’s voice went cold. “You have two choices. Tell me the truth now, or I extract it through significantly less pleasant means. Your decision.”
The silence stretched until Lilith thought she might scream. Then Theron slumped in his chair, all the fight draining out of him.
“I wasn’t working for anyone,” he said finally, his voice barely above a whisper. “I wasn’t reporting to Armageddon or selling information. I just… I needed to see her.”
Lucian went very still. “Explain.”
“When she first arrived, I was assigned to help coordinate her movements between kingdoms. Standard administrative work.” Theron’s hands were shaking now. “But then I saw her, truly saw her, and I couldn’t stop thinking about her. The way she moved, the way she spoke, the vulnerability in her eyes when she thought no one was paying attention.” He looked up, and the expression on his face made Lilith’s skin crawl. “She’s perfect. Divine blood and human fragility all mixed into something extraordinary.”
“You were stalking her,” Lucian said flatly.
“I was admiring her!” Theron’s voice rose defensively. “I never touched her, never approached her inappropriately. I just observed. Is that really so terrible? She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve encountered in centuries of service, and I just wanted to be near her in whatever way I could.”
Lilith felt bile rise in her throat. All those private moments, all those times she’d thought she was alone, he’d been there. Cataloging. Obsessing.
“Did you share what you witnessed with anyone?” Lucian asked, his voice deadly calm.
“No! Never. This was private, personal. I would never betray her like that.” Theron actually looked offended by the suggestion. “Everything I witnessed, everything I learned about her, it was just for me. My own private knowledge of her.”
“Your own private violation of her,” Lucian corrected. “You do understand that’s what this is? Not admiration. Not appreciation. Violation.”
“I love her,” Theron said, and the sincerity in his voice was somehow worse than if he’d been lying. “I know she’s meant for one of the princes, I know I have no claim to her, but I couldn’t help myself. Just studying her, seeing her grow stronger, witnessing her fall for Lord Azrael and struggle with her feelings for Lord Cain… it was like being part of her journey even if she didn’t know I was there.”
Lucian stood abruptly. “You’ll remain here until we decide what to do with you. And Councillor?” He paused at the door. “If you truly cared for her, you would have respected her privacy. What you did was selfish obsession masquerading as devotion, and it’s one of the most pathetic things I’ve witnessed in my very long life.” in the observation room. She was trembling, arms wrapped around herself, trying to process what she’d just heard.
“He’s not the traitor,” she whispered. “All of this, and he’s not even working for Armageddon.”
“No,” Lucian agreed quietly. “Which means our actual enemy is still out there. Still feeding intelligence to someone who wants to destroy everything.”
The revelation should have brought relief that they’d eliminated a threat, but instead, Lilith felt only horror at the violation and fear at what it meant. They’d caught a predator, yes, but the real spy remained hidden, still reporting to Armageddon.
“What do we do now?” she asked.
“We keep investigating. And we don’t tell anyone about this mistake until we’re certain.” Lucian’s jaw tightened. “Because if our real target knows we’re looking in the wrong direction, they’ll disappear completely.”