by Olivia Ash
Sadie couldn’t stop the chuckle that left her lips if she tried. “No, Steele. I need to train. We all should, as much as possible.”
“Will you need my assistance, Your Majesty?” Hobson asked, leaving his perch by the wall, having observed the evening shenanigans in his quiet way.
She shook her head. “No, thank you, Hobson. I’ll be training alone tonight.” She pointedly looked at each of the princes, whom she hoped would be taking the word alone to heart. Then again, she really needed to consider a private place to train, somewhere the men couldn’t impose themselves on. But that would have to wait.
All things in good time.
SADIE
Sadie stared at the horizon, covered in sweat as she finished a downward strike of her shadow sword. The air chilled her skin as she moved in rhythm to a faded memory of a tune in her mind. She loved pushing herself harder each time she trained. She grew stronger, even more powerful, and it felt good.
Something was coming. And soon. Something very, very bad.
A scratch clawed at her mental barrier.
Well, he wasn’t watching, but technically still interrupting. She debated on whether to let him in or not. Then the scratch came with a little more begging. She sighed and let Steele in.
An image of one of the halls in the lower parts of her fortress filled her mind. Then his voice followed.
“I found a barely visible weak area in the fortifications here.” He pointed at the area. Sadie couldn’t really tell the difference, but she took Steele’s word for it. She was more shocked that he could actually speak to her in her mind.
Neat.
“I’m going to refortify this and add a few extra layers of a ward.”
She wondered if she should respond to him. After all, it wasn’t like a telephone, was it?
“Oh, and here’s something ‘neat’…”
Steele flooded her mind with images of the chained shackles on the brick wall, her naked body strapped to them, and him doing wickedly delicious things to her.
Sadie shook her head and refocused on her training. At least she knew for certain Steele could hear her thoughts. First with the music and their little dance, and now this.
She gave Steele a mental nudge to let him know he could “disconnect.” She had practice to finish. She swung her sword in front of her, crisscrossing from left to right. That feeling of foreboding continued to increase. The longer she practiced, the more she felt it. Her senses were set on high alert. Warning raged through her veins.
The lights from the colorful crystals covering the ceiling of the underworld deepened to dark blues and purples and then to deep navy, silver, and gold. Red crystals scattered themselves ever so often. The red slowly faded into the horizon.
She continued to practice, knowing she needed to be well prepared in case Zagan decided to rear his ugly head before she had time to procure an army. And she found comfort in knowing her men were out following her orders in finding weaknesses within the ground’s fortifications. Hobson as well.
Slashing her shadow sword to the left, and to the right, she halted mid-step as she went to jab in front of her. Someone just walked onto her land. Her nerves tingled, and the hair on the back of her neck rose.
She turned around, letting go of her shadow sword, finding Hobson approaching.
“Who is interrupting my training now?” she asked and wiped sweat from her brow.
“My apologies, Your Highness, but it appears the angel, Evangeline, is here.
Wonderful. Not just any angel, but that one.
She sighed. Though weary of losing allies, she couldn’t afford to make more enemies, either. Besides, maybe a couple of angels were just what she needed in her arsenal of ass-kicking creatures.
“Very well. Let her know that I will be a moment. I need to clean up. I’ll meet her in the throne room.”
“As you wish, Your Highness,” Hobson said and hurried off.
Of course, she wouldn’t hurry. Instead, she would take her time getting cleaned up… not to mention adding a dagger or two to her outfit just in case the angel wanted to try anything.
The first time she had met Evangeline, Sadie was less than pleased. All her original conceptions of what it meant to be an angel were thrown out the window the moment she spoke. The princes had warned her they were not all glitter, love, and light. And Evangeline was the furthest thing from any semblance of a benign, sweet creature from up above.
She may be forced to play host to the angel again, but that didn’t mean she had to do it the moment her arrival was announced. Queens were busy, and she wanted to take her time preparing to face the angel.
An exhausting encounter this would more than likely be.
Chapter Three
Sadie
Sadie took her time and showered. After all, why not remind the angel of who she was dealing with? She even dressed in a long black dress with a plunging neckline. It accented her pendant perfectly with the lines of ink that still swirled along her chest, looking more like thorns now instead of wavy lines.
By the time she made it downstairs and to the foyer, Damien was there. He and Evangeline seemed to have finished a tense exchange of words. Hobson stood to the side. When Sadie looked at him, he shrugged.
“I tried to tell her, Your Majesty—”
“I am not here to see you,” Evangeline said, rather bluntly and to the point.
Damien sighed and faced Sadie. “I asked her here on a favor.”
Evangeline snorted.
Sadie raised an eyebrow. “A favor?”
Damien nodded. “My alliance with the angels is tense, at best. But Evangeline is a damn good scout, and I asked that she keep an eye out for the group of ifrits that have yet to come ba—”
“They’re dead.” Evangeline’s words felt like a punch to Sadie’s gut.
Sadie shifted her gaze to the angel who stood as though it was of no consequence that some of her people were indeed dead. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to break down and cry or wring the angel’s neck for being so callous toward her loss. They were still lives lost. Weren’t angels supposed to revere all life?
“Toughen up, demon queen, lest your soft heart be seen as weakness.” She narrowed her eyes on Sadie then sighed and shook her head. “Still can’t see how you are human in appearance.”
“I’ll take your words under advisement.” For all of about five seconds.
But Sadie had no intention of exchanging compassion for cruelty. She may have been demon queen, but that didn’t make her demonic. A demon-human hybrid. Though she still had yet to figure out what that meant for her or how that came to be, it didn’t change the fact she would hang on to her values—the human values she grew up with and made her who she was. She wasn’t like Hecate. She liked to think that her politeness and gentle heart was what set her apart from the previous demon queen.
The confirmation of more fallen ifrits strengthened Sadie’s resolve to not call on them in battles to come. They were loyal and served her well, but she refused to treat them like expendable fodder. And after the loss of some of her best ifrits to the evil demoness, Mara, she hated the idea of causing their numbers to dwindle.
Evangeline shifted, drawing Sadie’s attention to her again. “It wasn’t so much by Damien’s request that I’m here, but because of your predecessor, Hecate. We watched her commit numerous evils with audacity, and now we’re watching you. I’m here to make sure you aren’t repeating the same mistakes. Apparently, the other angels are leery about another demon queen.” She sighed as if bored. “They don’t want to involve themselves unless absolutely necessary. And let me warn you, they will if they believe you are going down the same path as Hecate.”
Damien stepped between them, his eyes glinting dangerously. “I don’t like what you are implying here. Threatening my woman isn’t a good way to keep this alliance going.”
Evangeline shrugged. “Don’t shoot the messenger. I have a job to do, and because I had to check in on the prog
ress Sadie made, I did that little favor for you as a kindness.” She cocked her head to the side. “You really should be grateful, as I don’t often lend favors to demons. Had it not been for our alliance, for what it is worth, I wouldn’t have wasted my time on you.”
Sadie wondered what horrors Hecate had done to be hated by so many. She knew she inherited not only Hecate’s power but her enemies as well when she became queen. Though it would take some time to show the creatures in her new realm that she was different from the previous demon queen, she only had a matter of time before they all came knocking at her gate, demanding her head.
Exactly like Zagan.
She took a deep breath, rubbing her forehead. One problem at a time.
Yes, Hecate was a possible threat, but Zagan was the one that needed to be addressed immediately.
“What do you know about Zagan?” she asked the angel.
Evangeline shifted her cold gaze to Sadie. “Not involved. But good luck with that.” Her words came out very sarcastic. Her voice turned sickeningly sweet as she faced Damien. “Anything else?”
Damien growled.
The angel narrowed her eyes on him and sighed. “Very well. I’ll see what I can find out. But this is the last favor I’m doing for you, demon.” She turned to leave, shaking her head and muttering under her breath something about a death wish and having to find another demon queen soon, one not as human, frail, and inexperienced as Sadie.
But she couldn’t be sure she heard those exact words. They seemed to have been spoken purposefully, but in a way that would make Sadie question the exact meaning of the words. She glared at the angel as she left, a few choice words on the edge of her tongue, but she bit them back for the sake of their so-called alliance, knowing she couldn’t afford to make enemies of angels. Evangeline would probably waste no time in reporting back to the others if they were to get into an argument or fight.
The door sealed, with that arrogant angel on the other side, and Sadie let out a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding. Damien sighed as well, the tension in his shoulders loosening as they lowered into a more relaxed position.
She smiled at him as he turned to face her. “I’m your woman, huh?”
“Well, I mean, you are but I… uh… you know what I mean.” He ran his hand through his hair between his horns. “I just got caught up in the moment.”
Sadie laughed. “Relax. I’ll let that slide just this once. But, just so we’re clear, I belong to no one.” She winked. “Besides, I’m not an object to own, and I’m not a pet.”
She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a kiss. “However, the gesture was really sweet. I appreciate that you and your brothers are protective of me.”
She pulled away. “Tell me a about your allies. Would any of them join us?”
Damien pursed his eyebrows. “For what? A war against my father?”
“Who else?” she said.
He shook his head. “We may not have time.”
“I understand we may not have time to gather a large standing army, but actively recruiting now is a lot better than waiting until you father shows up with his forces and there’s only the five of us to face him.”
“I will see what I can do, but it will take time,” Damien said.
She nodded. Maybe she could get the empusa on her side. They were supposed to be loyal to the demon queen. But the last time she came across them didn’t go well. She reasoned that though the first group was against her, loyal to Hecate, that didn’t mean all of them were. She would ask Hobson about it later.
Despite the possibility that none of those creatures will choose to abandon Hecate, it was still worth a shot. Considering she had her men, staked her claim on her land, and had proven herself queen, how could the empusa refuse?
“What about the empusa?” she asked.
He shook his head. “No. Absolutely not. Do you not remember what happened the last time?”
“Of course, but that was a group, not the entire race of empusa.”
He approached her and took her face in his hands, gently cupping her cheeks. “Sadie, they are mindless creatures that were too stubborn to follow direction much less think beyond their own needs. They could very well turn against you in the heart of battle. They are drawn to power, bloodlust, and are simply uncontrollable.” He kissed the top of her nose. “I would go crazy if something happened to you. We’ll get allies. Just, please, don’t try to get them.”
“Okay, well then tell me about your allies. What should I know about them?”
He removed his hands and they walked through the halls. “Witches and warlocks would be a good addition to any force.”
Sadie didn’t know much, if anything, about them. But they sounded like a good choice, and she trusted Damien, so she agreed.
“I can take you topside. Introduce you to a witch I think would be a good fit. I trust her, but she’s been hesitant to align herself with any demon. Since she’s unaligned, and incredibly powerful, she’s highly sought after.”
“What’s her name?”
“Astrid. The most powerful witch that has yet to bond with a demon.”
“Why hasn’t she bonded with a demon?” she asked.
“She doesn’t trust demons. She and I have a steady alliance because we exchange favors every now and again. It also helps that I saved her from my father when he demanded that she join him.”
She nodded as she dragged her fingers over the stone walls in the halls of her fortress, each bump and crevice were felt through her entire being. The energy of the place filled her with warmth, pulsing in rhythm with her heartbeats. She sighed.
“Do you think she will work with us?”
“You’ll have to prove yourself to her to get her help, but if she agrees to fight with us, we will be that much closer to defeating my father.”
“What do you think she will require of me in order to prove myself? Why should I have to?” The thought instantly frustrated her. If anything, it should be Astrid proving herself to Sadie, not the other way around.
“Relax, you only have to show her you can be trusted. If anyone can get Astrid on their team, I have the utmost confidence it is you.”
She seemed like an asset they needed, if she was as powerful as Damien claimed. And because she had no reason to doubt him, she figured it was worth a shot. Prove herself trustworthy? Hadn’t she wanted the same of her men?
Finally, she nodded and turned down an adjacent hall that led to one of her gardens. She needed to think. When she didn’t hear footsteps following, she stopped and turned. Damien stood in the middle of the hall with his hands in his pants pockets, watching her expectantly.
She smiled. “Well, are you coming?”
He smiled back and followed.
Chapter Four
Damien
As they arrived at the gardens, Hobson was tending to some of the hedges. He hummed to himself as he worked, and Damien wondered if the gargoyle truly enjoyed what he did. A life of servitude.
Sadie had her arm in the crook of Damen’s elbow. She reached out and gently brushed a petal of a bright orange flower with her fingers. She smiled, and he could see the gears turning in her head.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked. What he would give to have Steele’s ability to enter her mind.
“The differences between witches and warlocks. Since coming here, I’ve learned that stories and myths from the topside got a lot of things wrong about angels and demons. What do I need to know about witches and warlocks?”
“I can try to explain that to you, if you would like.” He may not have been able to read her mind, but at least he could help put it at ease.
She smiled, setting her dark eyes on him, lighting his blood on fire and quickening his pulse. “I would love that.”
He nodded and led her to a spot in a small clearing. After making sure she was settled, he stood off to the side and said, “First, only women are witches.”
“Oh, if you don’t mind
,” Hobson said as he approached the small clearing, “I can illuminate on this topic as you explain.”
Damien nodded. “Very well.”
Hobson conjured a sphere of magic, clear with the luminescence of light in the way that a bubble would shine in the sun.
“Witches are humans who get their powers from demons,” Damien said.
An image of a human woman standing next to a demon appeared in the bubble. Sadie smiled as she glanced at him then back to the image. Damien wanted to ask about that, but then he quickly realized he was a demon and she was human. That must’ve been what she thought they looked like standing next to each other.
“On the whole,” he said, “witches are corrupted souls who have devoted their lives as well as their deaths to a demon of the underworld. That is referred to as bonding.”
The image shifted, and a silver-blue line threaded from the witch to the demon. The outline of the demon turned brighter while the outline of the witch darkened, and shadowy vapor seemed to waft from her form.
“Once the witch dies, her soul is absorbed by the demon…” Damien nodded to the image.
The witch turned into smoke then blended in with the shape of the demon. Damien saw the pained look on Sadie’s face. She tried to hide it, but he sensed her discomfort.
“… giving him more strength and power, taking all of the gifts the witch obtained in life.”
The demon demonstrated lightning, growing stone from the ground, and calling forth heavy winds from a silhouetted wood, uprooting trees and leaving chaos in his wake.
Curiosity seeped from Sadie, her expression was ripe with it. He wondered, what about that fact he just said caused her to be curious.
“This is what makes a witch a sought-after prize that demons will do anything to empower and train. However, very few souls are kept on-hand as envoys, forced to live an afterlife of servitude benefiting the demon.”
