Page 35 of Demon Heart: The Complete Series

“ W hat happened to the demon?” Darcy asked, climbing onto the table.

“He bailed.”

“Why?”

Why did I feel empty? “Because he saw the light.” I held out my hand. “I’m sorry for bringing him here.”

He climbed into my palm. “Don’t worry about it. I understand.”

“Glad you do.”

“You’re human, Roman. You can try denying your desires as much as you want, but when the right one comes along, they explode to the surface like magma escaping a volcano.”

The right one? “Wise words, buddy.”

“I’m sure there’s a better analogy out there, but you get the point.”

“I do.”

“Another ‘right one’ will come along,” he added. “Less demonic. Think of Xavier as the steppingstone to a scrummy human morsel who won’t land you in trouble.”

Call it guilt, call it something else, but my tongue loosened my secret.

“I work for the queen. I’m called The Shadow: an assassin, a spy, completely under her command.

Whatever her will, I fulfill it. I’m hers.

I can’t have a ‘right one’ or anything that doesn’t serve her completely.

” I was shaking, listing the rules I was supposed to live by.

“Breathe, Roman,” he said.

I continued. “I’m supposed to be above everything, a machine, but look at me. I’ve let it crumble as easy as that.” I snapped my fingers to illustrate the point.

“You’re not a machine.” Darcy licked my palm. “You taste human to me.”

Tears again, an unwanted welling. “Fuck. What have I done?”

“You obviously needed to tell me,” he answered.

“I’m not supposed to.”

“Hey, it’s me. Your bestie. What happens in this flat, stays in this flat. Like Vegas.”

The tears broke free, rolling down my cheeks at the same time as a gentle laugh.

“You’re crying,” he said. “I’ve never seen you cry.”

“Not really supposed to,” I said, monotone. “No emotions for me.”

“Oh, naff off. That’s ridiculous.”

“Maybe.” I wiped the tears away.

“No maybe about it. You can’t help having a heart.”

“I’ve killed too many people to have a heart.”

He licked my palm again. “Bollocks. If you were heartless, I’d be dead by now. A rotting ratty corpse.”

“Don’t say that.”

“It’s true.” He climbed up my arm to my shoulder. “Thank you for telling me.”

I patted his head gently. “Xavier being gone is for the best. I can focus on tonight.”

Let him sort out the Tanith mess.

“Assassin job?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t tell me about it, pretty please.”

“Wasn’t planning on it.”

“Phew.”

I wiped away more tears, leaning back in the chair. “I’m glad I told you. A lightened load in here.” I tapped my chest.

“Happy to help with the lightening.”

“You’re the best rat in the world.”

“I know.”

“Want to come nap with me?”

“No. I think I’ll get in a run on my wheel. But you enjoy.”

“Oh, I will.”

He returned to the table. “I know it’s easier said than done, Roman. But you’re allowed to feel things. You’re allowed to fuck up.”

Yeah, easier said than done for a guy like me. “Thanks for saying that.”

“One day you might even believe it.”

“See you in a bit. I really need to lie down.”

“Sweet napping, my friend.”

The tears flowed harder as I curled up on top of my duvet, giving the rain a run for its money.

Darcy. My big, sturdy rock in a tiny body. Free of judgment even after hearing my murderous truth. Running out of time, too close to the end of his short life.

What would I do without him?

Thinking of a Darcy-free existence, I sobbed myself into a nap.

Come midday, feeling quite refreshed, I settled on the sofa with Darcy in my lap, ready for the live broadcast of the human and her demon lover.

“Where is that?” Darcy asked.

“No idea,” I replied, taking a handful of Bombay Mix from the bowl next to me. “I was expecting a courtroom or something.”

A white room, the lovers at the center in blue prison clothes, surrounded by royal guards. A gathering of Her Majesty’s government sat in an L-shape of chairs around the prisoners, a white throne on the opposite side of the room, raised on a white dais. Empty. No Witch Queen yet.

My phone buzzed in my pocket.

Princess Piper.

“Hello, Your Highness,” I answered.

“Her Majesty wants to speak to you,” she replied without any feeling.

A rustle, a mumble. “Hello, My Shadow.”

“Your Majesty.”

“Are you watching?”

“I am.”

“Good.”

“I have information.” There went my tongue again.

“Speak.”

“There is a demon called Tanith trying to bring back the former demon monarchs from that lake of theirs.” I left Xavier and The Word out of it but sprinkled in the hunters and their silver garb.

“I must have her,” she replied with as much emotion as her daughter.

“Should I?—”

“No. Your task remains the same. They could be connected.”

Shit. What if they were?

“Thank you for telling me, Roman.”

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

“Leave a description of this demon with the princess. I must go.”

Piper returned. “Demon description?”

I told her.

“How did you come across her?”

“I followed some of the silver people. They led me right to her.” What a dirty liar. “Listened. Learned. Did my job.”

“The spy part of it, at least.”

“Yeah.”

“You okay?”

“I’m fine. You?”

“You sound tired.”

“I’m okay.”

“Make sure you are.”

“I will, Your Highness.”

“Bye.” She hung up.

Darcy stared up at me.

“I had to say something,” I responded to his beady eyes. “Clean house, you know?”

“I do.”

“I might have shot myself in the foot.”

“Has this Tanith linked you to the queen?”

“Xavier stopped me from telling her.”

His hand over my mouth. His hot skin, his body on mine.

Why did he have to leave?

Why did he have to be a demon?

“Stupid truth spells,” Darcy replied. “I never used them in my witch days.”

“Wise.”

The gathered officials stood as the queen entered the room, decked out in black robes, a glittering silver crown on her head set with Synth-laced rubies. I could almost feel her power from here.

She took her place on the throne, aided by a guard. With a wave of her hand, the congregation sat.

“Begin,” she said, her voice clear and loud.

A guard pounded a black rod into the floor three times.

Sally, the human woman, spoke first, reading from a piece of paper she could barely hold in her trembling hands.

“Your Most Gracious Majesty. I want…” She swallowed, visibly trying to steady her terror. “I want to offer you my most heartfelt apologies for what…for what happened at Wood Green.” The woman took a long, wobbly breath. “This is your city, your kingdom, and I defiled it with my behavior.”

What was this farce? Were they really Sally’s words on the paper?

“I also wish to offer my regret and apologies to those who lost their lives in the riot, to their families, and to anyone I have hurt with my actions. A lifetime of apologies will never heal the wounds.” Another shaky pause.

This sounded staged. But why not? Her Majesty wanted to make a point.

“Have mercy on me, My Queen. I beg of you.”

A long stretch of silence, then the black rod banged three more times.

“Speak, demon.” Her Majesty addressed the other prisoner.

It took him a good minute to talk, his white eyes on the queen, not on the paper. “I have nothing to say.”

The camera closed in on the queen’s face. Her eyes narrowed. She didn’t like surprises. Even the king’s spontaneous romantic gestures annoyed her.

“I think you do,” Her Majesty responded. “As things stand, your romance is forbidden.”

“Says who?”

Her lips twitched, the camera switching between the two of them, close ups revealing every detail.

I sat forward, ready for the poo to slam into the fan.

“There is no law regarding human and demon love affairs,” he continued, now having something to say.

He was right. There hadn’t been any need for one, seeing as things had always been pretty black-and-white before the walls came down.

Not so much nowadays.

The queen remained silent, a statue.

“The world understands the complexities of our mutual existences, that things aren’t as simple as you would like.

Those shades of gray need to be explored, Your Majesty.

Let’s move forward. Yes, I take responsibility for the riot, for killing people.

I’m so sorry. Punish me for that, I’ll gladly serve my time.

But not for loving this woman. I’ll never apologize for following my heart. ”

I looked at Darcy, he looked at me, anticipation prickling the air.

The queen answered after a painful, three-minute silence. “You are correct, demon.”

“You have to listen,” the demon added. “The world has to?—”

She hit him with a spell, his body freezing.

“Who do you think you are?” she said, getting to her feet.

“I am queen of this kingdom, not you.” Slowly, she came down the dais, her fingers dancing with magic.

“This is a human realm, not demonic. You are the scourge of our lives, a stain to be removed. All you have ever done is infest, hurt, kill. The blood your kind has spilled could fill the oceans ten times over.” She came to a stop a few feet away from the prisoners.

“Your kind killed my son, my darling husband’s sickness a consequence of your actions. His broken heart destroyed him.”

Shit. This was not good.

“And you,” she said to Sally, “have the audacity to call yourself a human. Vile, disgusting whore spreading her legs for demons. How many? Just him? More? Pregnant, are we? You don’t look it. Tell me, demon. Can you plant your spawn into her?”

“Pregnant?” Darcy and I said at the same time.

How could the queen speak like this? This wasn’t the Margarite I knew.

“History will look back on you and spit,” the demon cut in as Sally wept.

“Is that so?”

“You’re out of date.”

She smiled.

“You’ll lose your throne and be left behind. You’ll see. You’ll regret everything.”

Did that mean King Basile really was working with demons to dethrone Her Majesty?

“Your girlfriend remains a traitor to her kind,” the queen countered.

“You’re disgusting.”

“And so is your whore.”