by J. L. Weil
Sucker.
Spinning around, I hooked my leg in between his in a systematic maneuver that sent him sprawling forward on the grass. “Eat dirt, asshole.” I rammed the heel of my foot into his back.
“You might need this.” Ashor tossed me something.
I caught a glint of metal right before my fingers wrapped around the dagger. “Where did you—? Never mind. I don’t want to know.” The demon was twisting and turning underneath my heel, clawing at the earth. The instant I lifted my foot he spun around, and I sank the blade into the demon’s chest as I had a hundred times before. Same spot, different demon.
Buh-bye.
Yanking out my knife, I pivoted to take on the next one, but the demon’s fist caught me on the side of my face.
Pain exploded. Bastard.
Spitting a mouthful of blood, I lifted my head. The asshole who hit me was trembling under Ashor. I didn’t know how the prince reached me so fast, but he towered over the lower demon, every inch a prince of darkness.
Snarling low and vicious, he gave the demon a message. “Touch her again, and you won’t have a queen to serve. Actually, I’ve changed my mind. I’m not sending you back.” Ashor blew a puff of darkness that weaved its way into the demon’s mouth and nostrils. His eyes went wide, and for a moment, nothing happened, just a deafening silence. And then his mother’s foot soldier exploded from the inside out, nothing but demon mist particles floating in the air.
Ashor’s power shattered his soul, the very thing a demon needed to survive in this world or the underworld.
The sheer depth of Ashor’s abilities left me stunned. They were magnificent and frightening.
A roar erupted behind me, and I spun again to defend myself against the demon lunging straight for me, but he ran into an invisible wall. Both of us blinked. This wasn’t the first time I’d found myself in a bubble of darkness.
Fucker.
I whirled on Ashor. “Take it down. Now!” I growled, fury spitting from me.
He smirked, blasting a demon with his darkness. “I’m kind of busy, luv.”
“Ashor, so help me—” The shield came down, and the demon surged forward. I caught him in the nose with my left foot. Fuming, I turned back to the prince. “This isn’t funny.”
The other demons were nothing but vaporized dust. Ignoring me, Ashor stalked to the last demon standing—the one who looked like a man, the skinwalker. He grabbed the fiend by his neck, slamming him against a tree. “It’s time you and I had a little talk.”
The skinwalker laughed. “I was sent to remind you of your duty.” Eyes of red and black slithered to me in a disturbing glare. There were no whites in his eyes. “Distractions will not be tolerated.”
Ashor scraped a nail along a gray vein that ran down the column of the demon’s neck. “As always, I do things on my terms. She doesn’t control me. I will fulfill my oath when I’m damn ready. Take that back to Mother.”
“As you wish, Prince.” The demon lowered his head, eyes on the ground. Seeing as all his buddies were gone, I understood his compliance. If he didn’t want to end up vaporized, what choice did he have? It didn’t mean I agreed with the prince.
Ashor released his grip, dropping the skinwalker to the ground. Without hesitation, the demon left, vanishing before my very eyes.
“Why did you let him go?” I demanded.
He took a quick assessment of me before answering, most likely checking for injuries. “It’s always more fun when you let one live.”
I shook my head. “Is everything a game to you?”
“Life is boring otherwise when you have centuries to play with.” He cut a sharp glance toward the direction of the sinking moon. “She won’t stop. Not until she has what she wants. And she will use any means possible to get it, including using you as a pawn. She knows you’re here. I suspected that the other day when she delivered the storm. But what I can’t piece together is how she was informed of your presence in Gardeness. Perhaps it was one of her spies, or possibly Verena has a traitor in her court.”
My throat bobbed as I whispered, “It was your brother.”
Ice froze his features, and I swear the temperature dropped. “Soren? How would he know?”
My heart stopped at the cold tone of his voice. “He found me in Hell’s Mist. Nearly dragged me back to the Fortress, if it hadn’t been for Cayden.”
A dark flicker of emotion haunted Ashor’s features. “Why haven’t you said anything?”
“Honestly, with everything that has happened in the last few days, it slipped my mind.” Something I never thought possible when it came to his twisted brother. I recalled what my mother had told me about Soren’s conception. “Cayden warned me that Soren would inform your mother that I had returned.”
Rolling his neck, Ashor drew his demon back inside, wings and all. “He is like an obedient dog, always seeking her approval and constantly coming up short, which only makes him nastier.”
This might not be the appropriate time to bring up the circumstances surrounding his brother’s birth, but I couldn’t stop myself from asking. “Is it true he was made?”
Ashor held my gaze for a long moment, and I felt the truth before the words left his lips. “Yes, a dark secret my mother would kill to keep. I think she deludes herself into thinking the other courts do not whisper or murmur about the true identity of his father. We will not speak of it again. It is not safe to do so.”
I nodded, understanding. Any questions I had, this was my one shot to have them answered. “Is his father the Ngah? The one she keeps in the dungeons?”
“You see too much, luv,” he stated, his voice quiet. “She would cut out your tongue if you ever spoke his name in her presence.”
The soft flutter of tiny wings echoed over the trees. We were no longer alone.
Not all of Verena’s demon fairies had survived the attack. “We’ve cleared the perimeter,” one of the little sentinels informed. “You should return to the castle now. It is not safe.”
The hairs on my arms prickled as a frosty phantom breeze blew over my face, carrying kernels of darkness. Kali’s warning was clear. She was coming for me. For her son. For us both.
19
I seemed to constantly find myself in turmoil over the Prince of Darkness. I no longer denied the feelings of affection growing within me. My attachment was swiftly becoming something I needed, something I depended on. Despite all his faults and less than upstanding morals, deep down, Ashor was someone I trusted. It had been hard for me to get there, to believe in him, yet all he had done was protect me in his own way, regardless if I agreed with his methods.
The attraction between us was nothing like I’d ever experienced, but in truth, I had to admit a large part of the insane chemistry was from our connection. It had also been there before I knew he was my mate, even though I refused to accept what I was feeling then or how hard I fought against it. If it was the fates or destiny, I didn’t really know, and nor did I want to think too hard on it. Right now, this thing between us just was, and we both knew it wasn’t going to last forever.
That might have added a layer to the desperation we had for each other, knowing that at any moment, we could be torn apart by his world, by mine, by his mother, or some other outside force we hadn’t come across. The cards were stacked against us.
And yet, here we were.
“How long until she makes her decision?” I grumbled. I had been unable to sit still for an hour now, pacing the common area of our suite.
Ashor was lying on the sofa, staring out into the large window. Day was coming to a close, giving off the barest of light as night peeked along the edge of the horizon. “Days. Weeks. Years.”
Letting out an exaggerated sigh, I sprawled myself out on top of him, tracing the lines of his blood oath mark on his arm. I needed a distraction, something to take my mind off the waiting. “She can’t possibly mean to keep us here forever.”
His fingers stroked over my hair. “Eventually my mother wil
l come for me.”
My head rested on his shoulder so I couldn’t see his face. “And how long will that take?” I asked, my voice edged with impatience.
“Days. Weeks. Years.”
“Ashor,” I groaned, thumping my hand on his chest. “You’re not helping.”
“Perhaps not, but it is the truth. Time is useless in the underworld when you’re immortal,” he replied, doing nothing to curb my boredom. In fact, he was making it worse.
Shoving off his chest, I sat up and glared down at him with a frown. “Well, I’m not immortal. And I’m tired of waiting.” Each day I spent trapped inside Verena’s castle, I lost a shred of hope for ever getting back home. “If she doesn’t make up her mind soon, it might be too late.” The Queen of Darkness might already be on her way with an army backing her up. She was eager to claim her prize.
The Crown of Envy.
My being at court, being at Ashor’s side would unnerve her. This was something she’d waited years to set in motion. Kali’s patience might have finally run out, and I was feeling the bitter cold. She was coming.
I shivered.
“Are you cold?” Ashor asked, concern breaking into his violet eyes as he wrapped his arms around me.
I took comfort in his embrace. “No, I was thinking of your mother.”
“That would make anyone shiver.” His fingers tucked my hair behind my ears before cradling my chin and tipping it upward so I looked into his face. “You don’t need to worry about her. As long as I am by your side, she can’t hurt you. No one can.”
And what of the times when he couldn’t be by my side? I didn’t belong here. I came for a purpose, to abduct the prince. I needed to regain my purpose. “Run away with me,” I murmured.
“And where would you have me run?”
“Anywhere but here,” I said.
“If I thought there was some place we could be safe, we’d already be there.”
A thought popped into my head. “I know a place. Well, a temporary house we could hide. My mother used it.”
“You’re referring to when Cayden helped her. They both paid for their insubordination. How do you think Cayden became my mother’s official punisher? There is nowhere my mother won’t be able to find us.”
My stomach dipped. “You really know how to suck the hope out of a situation.”
“Besides, luv, I am bound to the Wild Hunt. The oath I took nearly a century ago forbids me to enter the mortal realm except for four nights a year. I couldn’t run there even if I desired it.”
I grimaced. The Wild Hunt collected souls during the solstices and the equinoxes, the nights when the veil between our worlds was at its thinnest. “So my plan to hijack you from the underworld was destined to fail.”
He pressed a wintery kiss to the tip of my nose. “I’m afraid so.”
Why hadn’t Cayden or Kira warned me? What were they playing at? Having my plans to bust Ashor out of Hell crushed by his bond to the Hunt put me in a sour mood. What was I to do? If we managed to succeed in stopping his mother from taking Verena’s throne, and that was a mighty if, what happened to us? To our relationship?
Those were choices I didn’t want to make, nor did I want to think about them.
Until the time came, I would put them into the back of my head. One problem at a time, and without a way to stop Kali, it wouldn’t matter anyway. “If Verena does agree to ally with you in this war against your mother, will the other courts be inclined to join us?” Angel had abandoned her court, and the demons in it were queenless and unruly because of it, but if it meant saving the world, I knew my best friend would put on her crown and demand her demons fight.
That just left the Court of Sorrow and the Court of Misery, both run by kings. And none of them got along, so it should be interesting, when faced with war, who sided with who.
Ashor reached for my hand. I went willingly, spreading out alongside him on the couch as he talked. “King Trist is a reasonable demon. But I can’t say for certain that he will align with Verena and stand against my mother. King Angor is an arrogant bastard. His court is iron strong with some of the most powerful demons in existence. He could make or break this war.”
“What do we have to do to get him on our side?” I asked.
Deep consideration wrinkled his forehead. “I don’t know. Not yet. He would be petty and vain enough to fight the Court of Darkness on his own. Join neither side. The only side he cares about is his own and what he can get out of it. Make no mistake about it, King Angor would double-cross us in a heartbeat. He is untrustworthy.”
Truly, were any of them trustworthy? Sure, one queen or king might be more dependable than the other, but none of them were honorable. “If your plan works, whatever insane thing you’ve schemed, what then? Does it stop here?”
He shook his head. “No. If anything, it will only get more perilous, which is why you never should have come back.”
“Are you saying that you regret what happened between us?”
His eyes burned as he stared into mine. “Never.”
I curled my fingers into his shirt, half afraid he would disappear in front of my eyes. “Promise me you won’t leave.” Careful, Lexi. Or you will fall in love with this prince. The demon inside of me brushed against my heart as if to say, “open up.”
Ashor’s teeth grazed over my earlobe, and matters of the heart were overshadowed by the pleasure of the flesh. “Perhaps you should shackle me to the bed,” he suggested with menacing lewdness.
He was joking, but it struck a chord of anger within me. I lifted my head, looking down into his chiseled face cut from dark magic. “You will never be my prisoner,” I said, my voice serious.
“Aren’t I already?” Although his voice was light and playful, I felt the respect through our bond. “I was yours from the moment I saw you in the woods, fierce and determined. I knew you were mine.”
We were prisoners to each other, to the bonds that tied us eternally together in any world. A small part of me relished in our rare link. “It is both a curse and a blessing to be tied to you.”
He laughed. “Perhaps I could show you more ways this bond we share can be transcending.” His lips brushed over the side of my neck as his hands moved from my hips to my lower back.
“Ashor,” I sighed, thinking everything between us felt so rushed, yet when we were together, I wondered how I lived without him. It was his damn lips that scattered my ability to think rationally. Or at all. “You distracting me won’t change my mind,” I somehow managed to say.
His lips hovered just over my own. “The crowolves, the sentries, and the skinwalker were sent as a warning. Next time, my mother will send someone who will do far worse.” The trepidation flowing inside him wasn’t for himself. He was worried about me—about what his mother would do to me. “Or she will come herself.”
“I’m not leaving you,” I reinforced, in case he got any ideas since the last time I informed him of my decision to stand beside him and fight. He was going to have to accept my choice, even if I had to pound it into that thick skull of his.
The prince pinched the bridge of his nose. “So you’ve made crystal clear. But I need you to understand the risk you are taking, the danger you will be in. This time, I might not be able to save you or return you to your world. Are you prepared for that?”
“You forget, my best friend is a queen of her own domain.” Always have a backup plan. Chase taught me that.
“A sector she has abandoned. You will not find any sanctuary at the Court of Inferno.”
“Perhaps not,” I agreed. “But as a queen, she has the right to come and go from the underworld.”
He reached down to the foot of the couch, grabbing a knitted blanket and draping it over me. “Can’t say that your backup plan is solid, but… it's better than nothing.”
I adjusted my arms over the soft white blanket. “You’re not the only one with tricks up their sleeves.”
“You have a long way to go to play in my league, Le
xi luv.”
A yawn pulled at my lips, but I refused to give in to the exhaustion. My body was screaming at me to rest. It had been hours since I slept—well, real uninterrupted sleep. I was afraid to waste any time I was given with Ashor. “Don’t think about sneaking out on me,” I murmured, snuggling in beside him. I rested an arm on his chest. “I will hunt you down.”
He placed a kiss on my forehead, and I nestled deeper into his coolness. “I wouldn’t dream of it, luv.”
Strong arms wrapped around me, and I tumbled into an abyss of darkness.
I woke up alone, tucked in the bed, and stretched my legs as sunlight streamed bright and bold across the floor. I rolled over onto my back, staring at the empty spot beside me. The air still held his ocean midnight scent. Sitting up, I wiped the sleep from my eyes. “Ashor?” I called, listening to see if the shower was running, but I already knew.
He wasn’t in the suite.
The thread tying his body to mine was stretched, as if he was moving further and further away from me. Heavy panic pressed down my chest like an elephant was sitting on me. It clamped around my lungs and squeezed the air out of them, causing my mouth to go dry.
No! No! No!
He wouldn’t do this to me.
He wouldn’t leave me. Not again. Not here.
But if it was the only way to keep you safe? a voice in my head mused.
“Shut up!” I screamed, sounding insane, hands slamming down onto the bed. I didn’t care. Verena wouldn’t allow him to just walk off. It was against court rules. Right?
Darting off the bed and out of the bedroom at demon speeds, I scanned the common area, and then threw open the door to the hall, not sparing the guards a single glance as I began my search of the castle. My heart was in my head, beating like a jackhammer. I scanned the faces of every demon and human I passed, knowing before I saw their features that they weren’t him. None of them eased the ache that spread like fire through my veins, threatening to burn me from the inside out.
