Garden of Serpents (The Demon Queen Trials #3)(21)

“Did those belong to your parents?” I asked, staring at the pipe and the necklace.

He shook his head. “No. These belong to yours. I found them in your parents’ house. You can keep them, of course, if you want, or you can give them to the river. It’s your choice.”

I found my eyes stinging as I took the necklace and pipe from him. My mom never had anything this beautiful in Osborne. “Thanks,” I said quietly.

This seemed…oddly thoughtful of him?

Tears brimmed in my eyes as I took a few steps to the river’s edge, and I thumbed the smooth pearls on the necklace, imagining how it would have looked on Mom. Maybe she’d look beautiful wearing this in the underworld…

I dropped it in the river, watching as the dark waters claimed it. Then I turned the pipe over in my fingertips—a man I’d never known, but one who’d been looking out for me when he died. I let that go, too, watching it tumble in the waters. Now that the sky had grown dark, moonlight shimmered over the river’s surface.

On the river bank, Orion knelt beside me. Warmth radiated from him. “The silver ship goes in, too,” he murmured. “It’s supposed to light the way.”

I dropped the model ship into the river and watched it float along the surface, swirling a little in the eddies.

“One for each soul,” said Orion. He let his go in the water, too, and our twin sparks of light moved toward the ocean.

I glanced at him through blurred eyes. Had he known I wouldn’t want to do this in front of the crowd?

I couldn’t read his expression as he held out a hand to help me up.

When I felt a tear slide down my cheek, I wiped a hand across my face. “What did you bring for your family?”

His mouth opened and closed, and he took a moment to respond. “I already let them go in the river earlier today. For my mother, I brought her favorite book. My stepfather, I gave him back his pocket watch. My big brother, Molor, had a suit I returned—” His voice broke, and he looked away into the alley from which we’d come. He cleared his throat. “The others should be here soon.”

Without entirely realizing what I was doing, I found myself putting my hand on his chest. He turned to look at me, his lips parted in surprise. I started to lift my hand, but he covered it with his. He breathed in deeply as the crowd grew nearer.

An ocean of candles floated toward us, like stars in the night, the sound of singing floating on the wind.

“We will lead them now to the yew grove in the Elysian Wilderness,” said Orion. “I’ve made the memorial there.”

When I’d first heard the news that we’d be spending the night at a memorial, it felt like a distraction from my preparations, or maybe a trick of some sort. But now that we were walking under the starlight, with the sorrowful music filling the air, it seemed necessary…and right. As we passed, some of the demons dropped their model ships into the river, and the waters carried them away.

“Are you all right?” Orion asked.

“Yeah. You?”

He held my gaze for a long time, his expression unreadable. “Same as always.”

I had no idea what that meant. “Full of quiet rage and loud confidence?”

“Not quite.”

We crossed the bridge. Illuminated silver ships were streaming down the river now, bobbing over the water. Just across the river, lanterns hung from tree boughs, swinging a little in the breeze. Orion led me into a yew grove, where the dots of warm light illuminated tree trunks. Around the grove, large, rough stones had been carved with Demonic letters, the shapes serpentine and elegant. A fitting resting place for a culture that belonged in the wild.

I stepped through the mossy forest, wishing I could read the names. The stones seemed to go on endlessly, which in itself was heartbreaking.

“It’s a beautiful memorial,” I said.

“Spell casters worked on the lanterns. The candles will never go out.” He touched my lower back lightly. “Here.” He nodded at a couple of large stones by one of the river’s tributaries.

I crossed to look at the stones, and my eyes stung when I saw the names. These were the only ones here carved in both Demonic and English. I crouched down and ran my fingertips over Mom’s name: Aria Morgenstern, Duchess of Asmodeus.

How strange that I’d never known her full name, nor my father’s name at all. Baal de Moloch, Duke of Asmodeus, next to her. Gold and shadows danced over the stones from the lanterns, making the carvings come to life.

My throat felt tight. “Why are these in English?”

“They’re for you. They’re your family.”

But there was a third stone here, too, tucked off to the side, hidden in shadows.

Lady Mortana de Moloch.

“You made a memorial for Mortana,” I whispered. “Unexpected.”

“I made one for every dead Lilu.”

I turned to look up at him. “Why her?”

Again, a line formed between his eyebrows. “Once I learned that she’d died in the underworld after losing her mind…I don’t know. The threat is gone. Maybe she helped Nergal because it was the only way to survive. Or maybe she was truly evil.” Shadows danced back and forth over his features. “I don’t really know what she was thinking, and I no longer care. She’s dead, and I’m not. Every dead Lilu gets a marker.”