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Chapter thirty-four

Nerys

A fter breakfast, Qiana left their chambers for some social event or other, leaving Nerys alone with two maids who went about their tasks, all but ignoring Nerys.

“Rest for tonight,” Qiana had said before she left.

“Stay here. We don’t want to break the illusion of your newness by having you seen too much.

People are speculating about you. We need to use it. ”

Whatever that meant. Surely she couldn’t be stale gossip merely by being seen before dinner.

But Qiana’s orders meant that Nerys would stay in their rooms, which was just fine. Besides excusing her from a day of thorny court events, she now had hours to spend with Qiana’s bookshelves to see if Vine was who he claimed. If that even was his real name. 171 Now, which book was it?

Nerys scanned the shelves for her target, struggling to make out titles with her limited literary abilities.

A Lady in Distress , Lost Maiden , The Lonely Bride …

Nerys’s lip curled in amusement. Nerys didn’t judge Qiana for reading romance novels, it was just simply that there were so many compared to other sorts of titles—four shelves full—and on blatant display.

Where anyone could see them. Shaking her head at Nights of Surrender , which was probably not about military conquest, Nerys moved down to the lowest shelf, where the titles were staider.

Oracles of Leese , Fungi of the Northern Plains —now why did Qiana have that ?

— King Merchi the Fifth and His Contemporaries …

Nerys passed one pristine tome after another until she found Book of the Infernal Powers .

That would be it. Probably.

Nerys opened the book, the spine cracking from never having been moved. Why Qiana never had to look up a demon was her own concern, though she likely had a secret library about demons in her bedroom, based on the scandalous titles she kept on display. 172

Unsure of what she was looking for, Nerys paged through the book, quickly realizing that the sections were labeled “great lords,” “kings,” “dukes,” “lords,” and so on, indicating the general status of the demon.

173 There were so many names in the book—thousands—many more than Nerys had thought possible.

And these were just the ones humans knew about…

And so many demonic wars—they fought more than humans.

No wonder they weren’t an even worse plague on humanity—they barely could keep their own realms in order.

Certain chapter titles caught her attention, such as Bindings: Demonic and Bindings: Human .

Curious, Nerys skipped to the one on demonic bindings.

The information was not a revelation—after tasting the demon’s blood, the demon was bound to her, etcetera etcetera.

The human needed to still be wary, because bound demons would lead masters to death and ruin. Nothing new.

Though, it was new to learn that if she died while bound to Vine, Vine would be stuck in the binding. Trapped to her soul, wherever that went. 174

Now, human bindings? Nerys paged through to that section, passing over sketches of humans killed by demons, and then she read something truly horrifying.

And hopefully impossible. Apparently, humans could bind themselves to demons, leaving them in the demon’s thrall.

Nerys shook her head. What idiots would do that?

And it was irrelevant—she needed to learn about her demon, not whatever other twisted demonic things there were in the world.

Nerys skipped to the index, and searched through the Vs. Valac, Vapula, Vassago, Vepar…Vine. Page 436. He was here. In this book. Heart thudding in her chest, Nerys moved to the indicated page. She half-expected to find nothing by that name in this book, and here, to find an exact match…

She reached the page and gasped. Under the name “Vine” were two sketches.

One was of a regal, demonic man with long hair that covered his narrow pointed ears and a physique so perfect it could have only been the product of an artist who had never seen Vine.

The second was of a black male lion wearing a crown of living snakes.

That didn’t make sense… Artistic license, perhaps?

Nerys slowly read Vine’s entry.

The seventh of the nine kings of the Underworld, Vine is the youngest of the nine, though that does not mean he is the least. Son of the Great Lord Agares, Vine is the only one to have achieved this rank, as Agares considers nepotism to be a weakness, and has forced his myriad of children to earn their positions.

Nerys skipped much of what came next. She didn’t care about Vine’s mother or his other ties in the family—if this demon was even the Vine. Wait, demons had families? Then, she read something which made her really pause:

Some Sight Bearers have reported Vine as having two horns while retaining his human shape, though this seems to be linked to his personal inclination.

Horns… Could it be…

A shadow washed over her, and a voice whispered in her ear, “See something interesting?”

She called her stone eyes and turned to Vine, who was leaning over her shoulder while being courteous enough to keep the blood from dripping down her back.

Courteous for Vine, at any rate. “Yes. Very interesting,” she said, putting the book away.

Luckily the maids had stepped out for their midday meal and weren’t around to eavesdrop.

“If you wanted to know about me, you could have just asked.” Vine walked over to the couch and sat, crossing his legs and letting the blood seep into the upholstery.

Now that Nerys looked, there was blood all over the floors and carpet, and somehow on the ceiling.

In addition to a blood mustache on a marble bust of some woman.

Apparently, Vine’s courtesy did not extend to Qiana’s earthly possessions.

An amused smile curled at the corner of his mouth, revealing several sharp teeth.

“I could have,” Nerys said. “And you may have lied. ”

“I’m wounded.” Vine gave her a deadpan look and flicked one of his pieces of hanging skin like a flag in the wind.

Nerys rolled her eyes. “No more than normal.” If he kept this up, she was going to find a way to give him some sort of pin to hold his skin in place. And keep it there. Nerys cocked her head. “Is it true?”

“Is what true?”

“That you’re a king.”

Vine’s smile grew. “So, you learned something. Yes, it’s true.”

“Then why are you here and not…king-ing?”

“Maybe I enjoy watching you and want you to succeed?” There was no way Nerys was going to believe that. “No?” Vine leaned back and rested his arm behind his head. “Fine, Brilliant One. I’m here—and not in the Underworld—because of a…dispute. Call it a ‘disagreement over power division.’”

Nerys collapsed on the chair opposite him and crossed her arms, sitting on one of the few blood-free spaces in the room.

Vine was enjoying this far too much. He enjoyed everything involving annoying her far too much.

So long as his preferences kept to annoying her and not eating her.

“You told me already that the R?ll’s demon hated you.

Why do I have a feeling that this ‘dispute’ is connected to your wounds? ”

“What makes you think that?”

“The book didn’t mention them.”

“See? You’re smarter than Qiana thinks.” Vine sighed.

“It’s true. Only in certain circumstances can demons wound each other in this way.

But that’s a situation that’ll change soon enough.

” Vine went back to adjusting his skin, like arranging a fleshy tablecloth.

Pointedly, he worked around his spiked manacles. The ones she had put there.

Nerys shook her head. “No. Not good enough. What’s going on?

Tell me, or so help me, I’ll ask Qiana how to get rid of you for good.

” She narrowed her eyes. “I know what it is—you’re the one who needs me.

No king of the Underworld is going to spend his time helping someone like me for—what did you blame it on before—amusement?

Now, what do you need me for? What are you getting out of helping me? ”

“A warm fuzzy feeling in my heart?”

“Keep this up and that warm fuzzy feeling will be your flesh burning.”

Vine stared at her. She yearned to squirm under his gaze but resisted. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. Was it her imagination, or was he biting back a smile? Bastard .

“Fine.” Vine moved like he was taking a deep breath, though Nerys doubted he breathed.

“I am a king. Despite it all, I am a king. And I was betrayed.” When Nerys didn’t react, he continued.

“Another demon had offered to help me to advance in my Underworld, consolidate more territory—the courts there are just as vicious as here. More so, since one’s boundaries are constantly shifting.

And we tend to consume each other more than is practical.

If you have alliances, though, you can manage to do great things.

The demon and I decided to work together, remove the first and second kings , rule our Underworld—and be the first above the rest of the demons under the Great Lord.

175 But she betrayed me.” Vine poked at his flayed arms for emphasis.

“I can fix this. I can regain my place. And my power. But to do so I have to eat the one who betrayed me.”

“Why?”

Vine cocked his bald head. “Haven’t you learned anything from your own lore? Consumption means consuming power. She sliced me and drank my blood. Ate my flesh. And left me alive to suffer the humiliation. She has most of my strength. Surely, you knew of this?”

She didn’t. And now she missed when she didn’t. Once already she had seen Vine eat a demon—apparently that wasn’t an isolated occurrence.

Understanding washed over Nerys. “The demon the R?ll is summoning. That’s who betrayed you.”

“Yes. Beleth.”

“You knew exactly who the demon was the entire time, and you didn’t think to say anything?”