Lexi could feel her skin crawling as Eromaug pulled her past the entrance to his bedroom and into the bathroom. She had only had enough time to get a quick glance in and what she had seen wasn't particularly reassuring.
"By the time I get back I expect you to be ready and waiting on the bed, do you understand?" He smirked as he brushed an errant strand of Lexi's hair away from her face, "I want to ensure that your beloved false-mates reactions to their mate being claimed and fucked by another are captured for me to replay at my leisure."
Lexi suppressed the shudder at the feel of his rough skin against hers and she forced a benign smile up at him.
"Of course. I'll be waiting." She purred, reaching up to place her hand over his as she feigned a loving glance up to him.
"By the time I have finished with you, waiting is all that you'll be able to do. Don't expect to be leaving the bed for the next few weeks at least. Only when you are carrying my bloodline, will I allow you some freedom."
She felt sick at the smile of satisfaction and self assuredness that he wore on his face as he turned to leave.
As soon as the door had closed behind him and the sounds of his footsteps echoing away down the corridor had faded into nothing, Aoife launched herself at Lexi, shaking her fiercely by the shoulders.
"Lexi, you can't do this! You're insane!" she pleaded through sobs, but Lexi pushed her away and began removing her clothes, preparing to sink into the waters of the enormous heated bath before her.
"There's no alternative Aoife, you know that. This is the only way that I can do what needs to be done and you and Orynn can focus on the rest of the plan." she sighed as the waters enveloped her.
"But…"
"Don't argue, Aoife." Lexi snapped, "Open that package and show me what I have to work with. I don't know how much time I have left until he gets back, and I still need to find somewhere to hide it to use when the time is right."
Aoife pursed her lips and bit back the tears of frustration that she could feel welling up. She had an awful suspicion that Lexi was going to give a part of herself that she could never get back in order to free them all and she desperately wished that there was another way.
She slowly unwrapped the layers of the package and found two tomes and a small box between them. Placing the books on the side, she turned the box towards Lexi.
The carvings on the delicate wood seemed to glow of their own accord and Lexi could feel an almost imperceptible pull towards this mysterious box.
"The box itself has been spelled," Aoife muttered as she frowned down at it.
"Is it anything I should be worried about?" Lexi asked softly as she pulled herself up on the ledge of the bath to get a better look.
"I don't think so," Aoife murmured as she moved to crouch closer to Lexi, "I think it's more to ensure that the right person receives the contents of this box. I haven't seen these enchantments in action, only read of them. Basically, if anyone other than you were to open this box, the contents would be something entirely different."
"I suppose I'd better open it then." Lexi grimaced as Aoife placed the box on the floor between them, "It would be pretty fucking messed up if we screwed the most important piece of my plan up by destroying the only thing that could possibly kill him."
Lexi took a deep breath and reached towards the box, her fingers trembling slightly as the engravings on the box glowed brighter whilst she fiddled with the clasp
Slowly, she opened the box, her heart beating rapidly as she did so and as the lid moved back, Lexi stared down at the simple looking dagger before her.
She snorted in disbelief.
"That's it?" she murmured as she reached to take hold of it, lifting it out of the box for Aoife to see, "I half expected something bigger and more ostentatious with it coming from the Djinn." Aoife hummed her agreement as she frowned at the blade.
"It certainly looks innocuous enough, but I think the blade itself has been spelled, Lexi, look."
Lexi peered closely at a small marking on the Onyx blade, situated just below the point where the blade met the Ivory handle. It was so small she could barely make it out.
"It just looks like a letter of some alphabet, Aoife. It doesn't look like anything special, how can you be so sure?" Lexi asked as she squinted dubiously at the small item in her hand.
She had no idea how something like this was going to penetrate a Daemon Lord's skin, it seemed impossible.
"That's not just one letter Lexi, look." Aoife said as she attempted to point out the different characters, "This is Theban script, said to originate from before Atlantean times when some of the Gods walked among us. If you look closely, you can see that all of the characters have been overlaid to create an enchantment that will allow this blade to penetrate just about anything."
Aoife sat back on her heels with a gasp of disbelief as she ran a hand through her hair.
"This enchantment…" she stammered excitedly, "There's no wonder Maerifa was certain he could help, the energy something like this takes to create…no human could ever have created something this powerful. Only the races that are born of magick hold a fraction of the power necessary to imbue this. I can't imagine how many Djinn it took to create this…"
"I'm sure you can ask Maerifa if, and only if, I manage to pull this off." Lexi interrupted sternly, "As much as I love to hear you geek out about things that I have little to no understanding of, we're a little pushed for time."
Aoife nodded quickly and stood, reaching for a few of the bottles arrayed on the side.
"You're right, let me help you finish up in here so that…" she trailed off as Lexi smiled wryly.
"So that we can finally get on with getting out of here." She answered matter of factly, placing a hand over Aoife's, "You lost your life to protect our friend, and were brought back to protect me from death Aoife. Now, it's my turn to protect you and those I love from an eternity of living hell."