Page 1 of House of Demons and Bones (Shades of Ruin and Magic #5)

PROLOGUE

The Fallen Star

B efore everything went wrong, Lilith had shone as brilliantly as Lucifer, her twin, their radiance stretching across galaxies. But Lucifer’s pride drove him to challenge Heaven’s Throne. When Heaven hurled him down to Hell, Lilith chose to fall to Earth, knowing she’d never again see her starlit home.

No one knew why she fell, and they called her the fallen star . She didn’t waste time lamenting her loss. She had one purpose—to eliminate the threat at all costs.

She stepped up to rule the Underworld after Lucifer became a wanderer, roaming between realms.

Ages passed, and she felt no closer to finishing what she’d started.

The endless solitude would have crushed most souls, but Lilith had been born of starlight. That spark inside her kept burning through the longest, darkest nights.

Finally, she found the Maiden, spinner of the thread of life, hiding from their enemy. The Maiden spoke a prophecy meant for Lilith alone—one that, once again, demanded a great sacrifice, carving out another piece of her essence as a tithe.

While she waited, the void in her chest expanded.

She’d taken lovers by the hundreds. Men, women—beautiful creatures who shared her bed but never touched the frost in her soul. None came close to matching her power, her beauty, her intelligence. None stood as her equal.

Then came Hades’s true heir, and desire hit her like lightning to the heart. But he did the unthinkable—he said no. The first man ever to turn down a star, a queen of her caliber.

Deep down, she knew he wasn’t hers to claim, but that knowledge didn’t dull the wanting. Something about him woke up her ancient heart, made her feel young again. His rejection drove her to the edge, drove her to use her star-born power to bend his will. She’d already fallen once. What was one more sin?

So she forced the bond, betting everything that his heart would eventually be hers.

Then the girl appeared—the one who was actually meant for him.