Page 36 of Demon Heart: The Complete Series
Sally snapped, going from a sobbing mess to a raging woman.
“Such an angel, aren’t you? Never spilled oceans of blood yourself, eh?
Never let warlocks suffer under witch prejudice?
Oh, no. Never you. So perfect.” A snarl changed her whole face, a different Sally now bristling on the surface.
“Witches are right up there with the worst of the demons. Anyone can see that.”
The queen’s nostrils flared, but she stayed silent.
“I hope you crumble. I hope Synth vanishes. You deserve nothing less.”
Well, this wasn’t the peaceful event the queen made this out to be. Though I doubted she intended it to be. She wanted to make an example of the prisoners.
“What next?” Darcy asked for both of us.
The crowd stayed so silent, no hint of a gasp came from a single mouth.
Her Majesty slowly returned to her throne, taking her sweet time.
“Anything else?” she asked, after being perched on the chair for a few minutes.
“If you want change, overthrow this hag,” the demon spat.
“This world can be better,” Sally said, directly into the cameras.
“Those two are super screwed,” Darcy said.
“Done?” the queen said.
Silence.
“Good. Then this session is adjourned.” Again, she got up, taking her time to walk across the room. The guards at the doors opened them for her and she vanished.
Her government ministers followed single file, the remaining guards and the camera operators after them. Sally and the demon were left alone, still being filmed by the stationary cameras.
A heavy grinding, sounding like a lock sealing shut.
“What’s going on?” the demon called, throwing an arm around Sally. “Queen Margarite?”
Darcy and I were glued to the TV.
Together, the lovers cautiously stepped out of the dock, approaching the doors.
Their panic visibly increased by the second.
“Let us out!” the demon boomed, kicking the doors. “This is bullshit!”
“I don’t understand,” Sally said. “What’s her decision?”
The answer came with a spark on the throne. A small flame ignited the chair, quickly spreading down the steps of the dais.
That floor was combustible.
“No!” the demon roared. “No!” He and Sally pummeled the doors, screaming for freedom.
Flames spread quickly across the floor, up the walls, the ceiling, leaving no space to avoid them. Sally’s shoes went up first, then the rest of her clothing.
Her piercing screams were unreal.
The demon took longer to ignite, trying to put out his love. But she was doomed, collapsing into his arms, her flesh blistering, charring.
At last, the demon lit up in a woosh of fire, never letting Sally go as he wailed in pain.
A second, bigger spark burst on the throne. Flames exploded, blazing through the air in a deadly stream of fire right at the couple.
“Oh my God,” Darcy said. “Oh my God.”
Neither of us could look away.
The fire intensified, a raging inferno so incredible the cameras finally gave in. White noise on the screen, then a bleep, everything going black.
“Oh my God,” Darcy repeated.
The queen’s face filled the screen seconds later, set against a white background with a smile on her face.
“My loyal subjects. Today is the day you choose a side. The one of righteousness, where we will not stand for demonic filth in our lives. My side. Or you can choose the side of so-called change, of allowing murderous filth to actively walk among us.” She paused, as if waiting for us to answer.
“I will no longer stand for this, and I do not seek peace with the enemy. I intend to defeat the demons, send them back and keep them out once and for all. There can be no good in living with these monsters. The incident in Wood Green has shown us this. And I have shown you the consequences of human/demon relations. As of this day, a new law will be passed forbidding it. Death will be certain for any human caught breaking it.”
What. The. Fuck.
“Today is the day I declare war. If my fellow witch kings and queens take issue with this, then they do not respect human life. They are the enemy, and I declare war upon them also. Change is coming, one without a demonic presence. We can do this. We do not need to dream of Arcana returning or a new Clay Christmas saving us all. We can dream bigger. We can be free.” A massive smile, an aura of warmth.
“Join with me in this crusade. Do not choose death.”
My jaw was on the floor. Had this really just happened? Had she really executed Sally on live TV, sending the demon off to his realm?
“To those who choose the righteous path,” she continued, “I ask you for your help. We must silence the loudest of voices. Undo the enemy rhetoric.” The camera zoomed in closer. “Bring me Phillipe, and you will be rewarded. Thank you.”
The screen died, a suitably stunned news reader staring ahead, her jaw as slack as mine.
What was there to say? We’d all been banging on about change coming, and in one epic sweep, Queen Margarite kicked the ball down the hill in the opposite direction.
“Darcy?”
“Roman.”
“I think I need a cup of tea.”
“Make mine a vodka.”
I fetched us both a shot of vodka.
The queen called me as the alcohol burned down my throat.
“Shit!” I gasped, taking two seconds to recover. “Your Majesty?”
“There is a car waiting for you in Shaftesbury Avenue,” she said. “Go now. It will take you to Ashford before King Basile gets there.”
“What—”
“The king is on the move. Go. Now. You can get there before him. Kill him. He must die. He has already made threats against me as a departing shot.”
Then he had to die according to my oath.
This is wrong…
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Do not disappoint me.” She ended the call.
I sprang into action, Darcy hurrying after me.
“What’s going on?” he demanded.
“I have to go.”
“The queen?”
“Yeah.” I changed clothes, gathering my tools and the Sneaky End.
I didn’t drink the potion.
“Please be careful,” Darcy said at my feet.
“I will.” I bent to rub his head. “I’ll be home either really late or at some point tomorrow.”
“You better be.”
I picked him up to kiss his head, unable to bring myself to make a promise.
Putting him down, I blocked the pangs of sorrow, the fear, boxing it up as I stepped out of the front door.
This was it.
This was my moment to kill a king.