Page 25

The Queen of Envy clucked her tongue. “It’s your time to shine, huntress. What will it be? Your human boyfriend? Or your mate?” She laid out my choices as two of her guards fell into rank behind her throne.

“Your court is a joke,” I seethed, glaring at her. I wanted her to see, to feel my boiling rage and stomach-churning disgust. “And so is your test,” I spat.

“If you fail the test, I have every intention of handing you over to the queen. Think about that while you’re fighting for your life,” she crooned. “She is very eager to have you back in her possession. Perhaps I should offer her a bargain instead. I wonder just how much you are worth to her.”

“You’re insane,” I hissed.

“That might be the nicest thing you’ve said to me. Now, in light of your secret ability, it seems you no longer need a weapon to kill.”

Bitch. I just wanted to get this over with. I was done with Hell and the games. It was time to go home, and I was taking the goddamn Prince of Darkness with me, so help me god.

Calling upon the seedling of power gifted to me by Ashor, I turned from the window where Kali’s armada waited and approached Colin’s cage. Icy cold spread from my center, moving into my limbs as if filling up my veins.

I stood in front of Colin with dark flames flickering over my fingers, and despite the power coursing within me, I’d never felt so powerless in my life. Okay, not true. That same helplessness had crippled me when I had watched Colin die.

Taking a deep breath, I filled my lungs with warm air, which turned crisp in my chest. This was it. My pivotal moment.

You can do this.

Don’t think about it. Close your eyes and let the darkness do the rest. Just close your eyes and release. You’ve killed demons a hundred different times.

The little pep talk in my head wasn’t working. Verena wanted me to fail. This was a test designed to show my weakness—my humanity.

“Lexi?”

The softness and bewilderment of Colin’s voice had my gaze whirling to his. Those were his eyes—Colin’s, not the demon he had become. My heart sped.

“Lexi?” Colin pleaded from underneath his mop of hair. His brown eyes were wide and haunted, like someone who’s been to Hell and seen too much. “What’s going on? Why am I here?”

Motherfucker.

The fire on my fingers flickered, losing some of its power. “Colin? Is it really you?” I asked, my voice just above a whisper. I was done with the tricks.

His eyes grew bigger, brimming with one emotion after the other. He inched forward from his crouched position in the corner. “I don’t understand what’s happening.”

My chest tightened.

Click.

The lock on Colin’s prison opened. I swung my head to the queen, who only smirked. Would the torment never end? I was getting tired of her illusions.

Colin’s tilted his head just a fraction toward me, a speck of crimson glimmering in the center of his soft brown eyes. It was my only warning before he lunged, going straight for my throat. He took me by surprise, and as his fingers wrapped around the column of my neck, we went tumbling to the stone floor.

Holy crap.

Didn’t see that coming… but I damn well should have.

I had no time to catch my breath. Not that it would have mattered with Colin cutting off my air supply with those demon-strengthened hands.

Verena’s giggle prickled over my skin like I’d run into a thorn bush.

The lying little bitch. My senses returned two seconds after I landed on my back, and I rammed my elbow up, clipping Colin in the jaw. His head snapped to the side, loosening his grip just enough for me to roll over onto my stomach.

A snarl exploded through the room as I summoned my darkness and attempted to squirm out from under Colin’s body, to no avail. The weight of him pinned me down, his fingers quickly snaking into my hair. I sent a current of my power into his body. Colin swore at the first stirrings of cold darkness working its way into his system, but he maintained his hold on me, ripping my head back. Despite the pain, I searched for Ashor, stunned to see the sight before me.

While I’d been having it out with Colin, Ashor had his own problems to deal with it. How cunning for the queen to drop her glamour at this particular moment. Or maybe it was that I was seeing for the first time. It didn’t matter how, only that Ashor and I were in a sticky situation.

From every corner of the room, Verena’s sentinels materialized, her glamour fading, allowing me to see what everyone else did—which explained why Ashor had been so cautious when we stepped into the throne chamber. But he wasn’t wary or watchful anymore. He was livid.

Ashor’s lip curled off his gleaming teeth as he tore into the demons that stood between him and me. Darkness swarmed in an impact that shook the world, splitting the ground underneath us like a spiderweb.

The Queen of Envy was lucky she was sitting on her throne, for the aftermath of the blast would have knocked Verena on her ass.

Sitting up, Colin pulled me with him, shoving me back against the cage. “What did you do to me?” he demanded.

I grinned, my head leaning on the cell bars. “Wouldn’t you like to know. Guess you’ll just have to wait and find out.” Truth was, I didn’t know how long my power would stay in his system or how much damage it caused. Since he was still breathing, my assumption was the darkness wouldn’t be enough.

Chaos ensued, all while the queen laughed and enjoyed herself as if she were taking in a show. A half a dozen of her sentinels were on the ground, bleeding all over her pretty white floors.

“Ashor!” A voice I recognized bellowed through the mayhem of demons, fists, snarls, and magic. It was Cayden.

Picking a weapon off the floor, Cayden tossed the hatchet, hitting a guard two feet in front of Ashor. Colin’s gaze flickered to the dead demon, and I kicked my left foot out, connecting with Colin’s thigh. His grip loosened in my hair, and it was all I needed to break free. I unleashed my power on Colin again and surged to my feet. Pain barked at the first bit of pressure I applied to my foot, and I cursed. Running on pure instinct, I limped and climbed my way toward my mate, but he reached me first.

His thumb brushed over my bottom lip, wiping at a speck of blood dripping from my lip. “You’re hurt.”

I hadn’t even realized I had bitten my lip. It must have happened during my struggle with Colin. “I’ll live.”

Ashor’s fist rammed into the face of a guard, sending him sprawling backward, following up with a stream of darkness that whizzed past. I didn’t bother to glance over my shoulder to see who was entangled by Ashor’s power.

Colin growled. “I’ll kill her.” Untapped rage underscored his voice.

Ashor stepped to the side, a hand on my lower back. I’d been right about the prince’s magic. It wrapped around Colin from his hips to his shoulders, tying him up. “You can try, but I promise you, I will end you before you can touch her again.” Ashor curled and uncurled his hands, flexing his fingers. “I’m actually considering why I shouldn’t just kill you now.”

Verena called off her demons. “If you kill him, she fails the test,” the queen reminded him. Her loyal demons waited to see what the prince would do next, but they were poised to attack.

Cayden was still separated from us at the other side of the room, not too far from the doorway where he had appeared. It would take one signal from Ashor and he would defend his friend to the death.

Anger rippled in his violet eyes, but there was also regret. “It’s too late. You had your chance.”

The center of Verena’s eyes started to glow white, and somehow she appeared more beautiful, if that was even possible. “Are you withdrawing your offer of an alliance?”

“My mate isn’t someone you can use as leverage. She was never supposed to be part of this, and it ends now,” he said.

A wall of demons closed in around us. “Interesting. Have you been stringing me along this whole time?”

“No more than you have.” Ashor’s fingers pressed into my back as he whispered into my ear. “Things are about to get hectic, luv.”

“More than this?” I hissed back.

“Indeed,” the queen murmured. “You are very much your mother’s son, Prince of Darkness. I knew you would never betray her.”

Ashor shrugged.

A dull throb pulsed through the air, waking that dark part of me. My demon recognized the cold blackness that demanded attention. A bolt of lightning flashed, blinding my eyes for a heartbeat, and from the spark of light, the Queen of Darkness materialized. “Of course he wouldn’t. Though, I see you started without me.” A voice brimming with frustration erupted over the chaos of battle.

Kali was exactly as I remembered. Her dark satin gown swirled with the raging winds, showing a beautiful face surrounded by onyx hair. A crown crafted of sharp obsidian on her head shone in the moonlight for all to see.

She was both fantasies and nightmares made flesh.

“Verena, darling, it’s been too long. You redecorated. It’s…” Kali’s black eyes swept in a dismissive manner over the throne room. “Bright. Not as impressive as my Fortress,” she mused condescendingly. The queen had brought a dozen of her guards with her, the rest of her army waiting in the ships for her command to attack. The Court of Darkness sentinels were dressed in leathers of all black, decked out with weapons.

Malice curled over the Queen of Envy’s lips.

Ashor went as still as death at the sight of her. “Mother,” he greeted with a curt nod.

A forced half smile curled on her mouth. “What do we have here?” She ran a nail along the cell bars as she circled the open cage, eyeing Colin twined in Ashor’s darkness, who wisely stayed silent. “Looks like I interrupted something.”

Verena angled her head to the side, tendrils of strawberry-colored hair sliding over a shoulder. “Your timing is impeccable as always. I would have had a room readied for you if I had known you were coming.”

A small, breathy laugh escaped. “I won’t be staying long. I’ve come to collect my prize. As well as my son and my punisher,” she added, her wholly black eyes settling on Cayden for a brief moment before returning to Verena. “Funny how they both ended up in your court.”

Her “prize” was the Crown of Envy, but Verena didn’t so much as flinch at the insinuation.

Ashor pulled me closer to his side, his arm brushing against mine and sending a wave of steady coolness through me.

The Queen of Darkness’s intense gaze slid from Ashor to me. Her eyes raked over me with repulsion and narrowed when they landed on the shadowy flames still dancing over my fingers. I had forgotten about them until that moment. Slim brows lifted to her son. “Interesting. Seems someone came back to Hell with a speck of darkness. This night just keeps getting better.” She flicked her hand like she was swatting away a fly, and my power extinguished, devoured by her own. Satisfied that I wasn’t a threat, Kali spun, positioning herself between Verena and Ashor. “Now, shall we get down to business?”

Verena stirred on her throne, pressing two fingers to her temple. “What was the ruse this time, Kali? Did you think to just stroll through my home and kill me?” Verena bluntly asked.

“I left the details up to my son,” Kali replied, steel in her voice. Flames of midnight danced in her eyes.

Violence simmered in Ashor’s blood, a cold rage, and a shiver went through me from our bond.

Energy hung thick in the air between the two queens, a clash of light and dark, ice and warmth. Eventually, those electric energies were going to implode, and we were all going to suffer the blowback. I had better brace myself. Being caught in the middle of two opposing kingdoms royally sucked, pun intended.

“Funny. The prince, his mate, and I have unfinished business,” Verena said flatly.

Ashor pointed his chin toward Verena and said to his mother, “She is yours.”

I tensed. Holy fuck. He was really handing over the Queen of Envy, not that Verena would willingly let Kali take her crown. It would be a fight to the death, but a fight nonetheless, and with the prince keeping Verena’s guards at bay and the army outside battling, it looked like it was going to be queen against queen. May the best bitch win.

Or not.

Was it too much to hope that they would kill each other off?

The Queen of Envy leveled Kali with a cool stare, her eyes still glowing white with power. “You sent your son to double-cross me, and yet he offered me an alliance—a blood oath.”

Ashor’s mother snickered as she glided past Verena’s guards, disregarding them. “I don’t care what my son offered you. His mate has a way of clouding his better judgment. Can’t blame him. He is a male, and it’s in his nature to protect what is his.”

Ashor snarled a warning. “We can do this the hard way if you prefer, or you can just hand over your crown before I paint your pretty white halls with your blood.” Wings of midnight tore from his back as Ashor released that part of him born of Hell. Whether he did it on purpose or not, those feathery wings became a shield at my back. Knowing Ashor, he never did anything that wasn’t strategically thought out.

“If you touch my queen, I’ll kill—”

Before Colin could finish, Ashor slapped a patch of darkness over his mouth, cutting him off. “I’ve had enough of your insignificant baby demon.”

“Clearly,” Verena replied. “It’s a shame your mate couldn”t complete the test, but I can’t say I’m surprised. I’ve seen her soul, and even with the stain of your darkness, she isn’t one of us. She never will be.”

Well, thank fucking god. The last thing I wanted to be was a demon queen. All I wanted to do was retrieve my mate and get the hell out of here.

“Surrender your kingdom and your crown before things get messy. I wouldn’t want you to lose your head,” Kali warned, a twisted sinister grin on her bold red lips.

Verena threw her head back and laughed. “You think you can storm my castle and demand I hand over my throne? Don’t disappoint me, sister. At least have the respect to fight me for it.”

“You can’t possibly win. Don’t disgrace yourself,” Kali spat. Lightning lanced across the dark sky outside the castle windows, and when it struck the ground, flames born from night erupted, devouring everything in its path. Demons. Trees. The land itself, leaving behind a gaping hole of nothing.

Verena finally stood from her throne, her eyes shining pure white, brighter than I’d ever seen. “And why should you be Supreme? Why shouldn’t it be me who takes your throne? I am a better queen, after all.”

“You are weak. Your court is weak. And it will crumble under my rule,” Kali replied. A phantom wind blasted through the room, sending her black hair and gown flying behind her. Her voice echoed, carrying an authority that shook the walls.

Ashor reached for my hand, squeezing it tight. A signal for me to stay close. He backed up a step, taking me with him, which put the two queens at center stage.

Verena did not like Kali’s response. “You don’t deserve to be queen of any kingdom.” Her bold statement was followed up by a lash of power that whizzed through the chamber, a strand of sparkling light that fizzed like a firecracker.

The two strands of power collided and exploded, shooting fragments of Hell magic through the air. Ashor’s wings engulfed me, shielding me from the assault.

That was the signal. War on, bitches.

From outside the window, the first clash of battle rang out. Metal against metal. Demon against demon. And the winds howled in a death-kiss shriek.

Ashor sprang into action, hurtling toward the Queen of Envy. I couldn’t decipher if he meant to defend her or kill her; his emotions were locked down. Even from me, not that I had a whole lot of time to weed through and analyze what was going on inside me.

But he failed to see one fatal flaw in his decision. Leaving me.

The Queen of Darkness whirled her attention away from Verena and turned those utterly black eyes on me. There was something spiderlike in her movements that made my skin crawl.

I dared to take a step away while watching her with narrowed eyes.

Ashor halted at the base of the dais, sensing something was happening with me. He whirled just as his mother cast her web of evil in my direction. Instinct had me lifting my hand to ward off the attack, summoning my magic in defense, but I wasn’t fast enough. Not this time.

“No,” Ashor muttered. The word had been said in a low voice, yet carried across the room to me as if he had screamed it, blasting down our bond.

Mist and shadow slammed into me, and I braced myself for the pain. When the torture never came, I blinked, tearing my eyes from Ashor to glare at his mother.

Kali smiled.

What had she done to me? Why wasn’t I writhing on the floor in agony? She hadn’t even stifled my magic. I could still feel it reeling in my veins, poised and ready to be set free.

Your mate, a voice purred in my ear, and I flipped my head toward Ashor at the bottom of the gleaming white dais.

Verena didn’t waste her advantage. I screamed as a bolt of light rammed into a distracted Ashor, too late to issue a warning. He stayed on his feet, despite his power flickering, and I heaved a great sigh. Blood slid from his nostril, bright and red.

I felt my face pale, a wave of dizziness swimming through my head. Something hot and wet dripped onto my lip. I lifted my hand, wiping it away, and caught a flash of blood smeared over the back of my hand.

He hurt. I hurt.

This had to be some new form of Hell—a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from.

Ashor managed to refortify the darkness he had coiled around Colin, but it was another decision that cost him, leaving the prince open for another attack.

Are you going to let her go unpunished? She attacked your mate. Attacked you. A sultry voice raked like claws over my mind, spurring me into action.

Fuck no, I wasn’t.

The demon inside roared to the surface, ready and eager to kill. “How dare you touch him,” I seethed, my feet carrying me across the room as I flung both of my hands out in front of me. The flames around my fingers grew to encircle my entire hands, and I unleashed my inferno of darkness on the Queen of Envy.

The second the flames left my fingers, I realized the depth of my actions. What was I thinking, taking on the queen? I was terrified of the smoky magic rippling inside me, of the demon inside me dying to burst free. I was so angry for what Verena had done not just to my mate, but to Colin—to me. For what Ashor’s mother had put him through. Anger like I’d never felt burned my blood. It festered inside me as tendrils of darkness wrapped around my arms like ribbons. I promised myself justice, revenge, retribution—whatever name you wanted to give it.

“Lexi, no!” screamed a deep, hoarse voice as my power soared like ribbons of fire in the air, encircling the Queen of Envy. Cayden. But I ignored him as well as the snarling, the thrashing of metal, the tearing of flesh, and the cries of war. All that mattered was my wrath.

Verena had corrupted Colin’s soul, manipulated me. Unforgivable. Perhaps Ashor’s plan of plotting her death wasn’t such a bad idea after all. She deserves to die, that voice crooned. Kill her. Kill her.

A part of me understood it was my inner demon coaxing me into murdering the Queen of Envy, but once the seed was planted, I couldn’t remember why it was a bad plan. She deserved it. Other than Kali, I couldn’t think of another demon who deserved it more. The little kernel grew within me, until killing Verena was all I could think about. Each step I took closer to her intensified the desire for her blood. I wanted it to stain her pretty white floors black.

“You must resist,” a tiny voice in my head whispered. A different voice. This one was no less cold than the other, but there was something distinct and familiar about the silky tone. Almost like a caress.

I stumbled, his words splintering a tiny crack in my wall of wrath. “Ashor?”

“Yes, luv. Who else would rescue you from the dark recesses of your mind?”

This wasn’t the time to joke.

I resumed stalking toward Verena, who was staring at the ring of flames around her feet like she didn’t trust it, as if my magic was something new.

Perhaps it was.

“This anger, it isn’t yours. Resist her.” Ashor’s warning was more clear and persistent in my head, expanding the crack in my hatred.

Resist who? What was he trying to tell me? If I only had a minute to think, but I barely had time to process what my body was doing.

What are you waiting for? Kill her. The menacing voice slithered into my thoughts.

Then I understood. It wasn’t my demon that was urging me to murder a demon queen, not entirely. It was the bitch of darkness herself. I should have recognized the signature of her magic. I had once before felt it weave through my pores, into my bones. Verena’s gifts were illusions, but Kali’s were just as poisonous and deadly. Perhaps more so. She implanted ideas, could force me to believe things, to do things, like murder a queen and get myself killed in the process. Unlike Verena, who spun visual lies, Kali’s deceit was of the mind—control.

I just bet she would love to see Verena tear me into shreds right in front of my mate. That was a new level of torture. Creative, I’d give her that, but neither of these demon queens understood the lengths Ashor would go to protect me.

My gaze shot from Verena to Ashor. Cold rage flickered over his features, turning the handsome face into one of predatory beauty. “You are no longer her prisoner. I refuse to let you be her prey. And I will always stand in her way if it means protecting you.”

I was no longer a prisoner.

I was not prey.

I was the hunter.

His words shattered the hold Kali had on me—or perhaps I did that on my own as the chains on my demon broke free.

A flash of pain ripped through muscles, bones, and tissue. It lasted only seconds, but in those brief moments, I felt every change my body went through. My canines lengthened inside my mouth, the sharp points touching my tongue like Ashor’s did when he shifted, but that was where our similarities ended. No wings sprang from my back. My senses had always been heightened, but now, even more so. I couldn’t find the words to describe what it was like, mostly because the situation didn’t allow me to analyze the shift.

“I was beginning to wonder if you had any demon inside,” Verena sneered, as if I wasn’t adequate enough to be in her court. The joke was on her. I didn’t want to be a part of any court in Hell.

Raw and savage power filtered in a rush through me, and the flames surrounded Verena, erupting like a geyser of darkness that sent the queen flying backward into a wall.

I don’t know who was shocked more. Me, the Queen of Envy, or Ashor, but it only took an evil laugh from behind us to wipe the incredulous expressions off our faces. Kali was a deceitful little bitch. And someday, I was going to run her through with a blade.

If I survived the night.

“You had that coming, Verena dear. You really did, thinking you stood a chance against me.” Kali laughed again as the Queen of Envy composed herself, radiating undiluted white fury.

She wasn’t the only one pissed off. Icy wrath crawled through me, and I curled my fingers, tightening them around— What the fuck?

Where had that come from?

My fingers gripped a blade. Not like the daggers I had at home. This one was made of shadows and unforgiving magic.

Verena lifted a hand, producing a gold spear of thorns, and my heart plummeted. I had to do something. I had to stop her. If she managed to sink the weapon into Ashor, she could kill his soul—kill a part of me. We were tied together, body and soul. But for me, it was more than just the physical and emotional pain losing my mate would cause me. It was the thought of Ashor gone that caused everything inside me to panic.

The Queen of Envy flipped the gold spear in her hand so it was over her head, and the long, spiked handle gleamed through the darkness. Verena’s power, like Kali’s, was ancient and struck with precision as she hurled the spear straight for Ashor.

A low, vicious snarl vibrated close by. It was insignificant, because nothing mattered but my mate.

I knew I would never be able to stop the spear, not when he was staring at me and I was too far. This couldn’t possibly be the end. Ashor was too damn arrogant and prideful to die. He would find a way to stop the spear before it reached his heart.

He would.

He had to.

The damn prince was invincible.

Wasn’t he?

I stopped breathing, eyes following the path of the spear, unable to look away. With these demon eyes, it all happened in slow motion.

A screamed lodged in my throat just as a shadow intercepted the spear’s path, and I watched as Cayden’s face appeared, the spear piercing his chest. The punisher exploded into a burst of light that shredded his soul into dark dust right before my eyes.

“No!” Ashor bellowed. The anguish glittering in his eyes morphed into untapped rage.

His best friend had been obliterated. Cayden had made the ultimate sacrifice, something I’d assumed no demon was capable of, giving up his life for another.

The throne room spun in a cyclone born of a starless night and shrieking winds as Ashor uncaged that well of power inside him. Through our bond, I felt the gut-wrenching agony turn into a lawless rage.

It was that whirlwind of emotions that sent me into action. I couldn’t be sure if it was Ashor’s or my own thirst for blood that propelled me forward. I sped onto the dais, hurdling over a demon until I was eye to eye with Verena. And then I plunged my dagger into the Queen of Envy, hitting her in a demon’s one vulnerable spot—the heart.

Verena’s gaze went wide. Her body jerked as her hands flew up to the knife embedded in her chest.

I stabbed the Queen of Envy.

She grinned, and I rammed the weapon further into her chest before releasing my grip and stepping back. The blade crafted by my darkness shattered, and the queen dropped to her knees.

My head was buzzing, my temples throbbing.

Had I really just killed a demon queen?

My vision blurred, and the figure at my feet shifted. I wasn’t sure what I was seeing. It couldn’t be real. But…

I blinked.

It wasn’t the Queen of Envy’s face I was staring at. It was Colin’s.

“Lexi,” he wheezed, reaching out a hand toward me. Black blood flowed freely from where the dagger had penetrated his chest, dripping onto the floor. Then he erupted into a pile of demon dust. Particles of his remains hit me in the face, sticking to my skin. There was a good chance I’d inhaled pieces of my ex-boyfriend.

I was going to be sick.

If it wasn’t Verena that I stabbed, then where was she?

Laughter rang out over a spiraling storm that hung over our heads and echoed through the chamber. “Foolish girl.” That was Verena’s voice. A pit of dread formed in my gut.

My gaze sought out the voice and clashed with familiar blazing white eyes. This bitch just wouldn’t die.

The leash of darkness that Ashor had twined around Colin was now wrapped around the grinning Queen of Envy. She lifted her hand, snatching the leash and ripped it off with one clean yank. The coiled darkness disintegrated. Her omnipotent gaze met mine. “You might have a flicker of darkness, but you are out of your league, huntress. I am a queen.” Her chin lifted in arrogance.

“Perhaps my mate might be, but I’m not,” Ashor said with a cold graveness in his voice. His darkness formed a weapon of demon destruction, a clawed hand that trembled with power. Even from feet away, I felt the vibrations in the air.

“No!” bellowed the Queen of Darkness, but it was too late. Not even with her cunning abilities was she able to stop her son.

Wings spread wide in an impending doom stance, Ashor slammed his hand into Verena’s chest, through flesh and bone, straight to the demon’s heart. The sound of her gasp was like a gun going off in the throne room.

Utter silence fell. Not a single demon breathed. No one moved. Everyone in the room just stared.

A startled expression of horror overtook her smug superiority. Her white glittering eyes snuffed out like a candle, her power with it. She was just a demon now.

Ashor twisted his hand still embedded in her chest. “You should have taken my offer,” he told the queen. And then he wrenched his hand free. The once beautiful, bright queen in her halo of illusions was nothing but a withered hag. Centuries aged her in a matter of seconds until her bones crumbled, leaving nothing but a pile of ash. Every illusion she’d ever spun faded, and the once pristine castle of gleaming white became a tumble of ancient bricks, rot, and death.

Ashor just… The thought got caught and mangled up in my head.

Holy shit!I-I couldn’t believe it. My head shook in denial. In only a split second, my entire world had changed. Nothing was ever going to be the same again. How could it?

The Queen of Envy was dead.

“What have you done?” the Queen of Darkness seethed like a madwoman, hair wild as it stood out around her face like she’d been delivered an electric shock of unprecedented magnitude. Her eyes were wholly black, not a speck of color, just wide orbs of evil.

Cruel amusement danced over Ashor’s features as he faced his mother. “I fulfilled my oath.”

“You did no such thing. Deceiver. Traitor. Fool,” she spat, sparks of anger spitting off her skin like a live wire. “You are no son of mine. I renounce you as my heir.”

The words she hurled at him like arrows to the heart had no impact, but bounced off him as if he were covered in armor. “I learn from the best. All those lessons you drilled into me finally paid off, Mother.” Ashor lifted up his arm and the queen stared in horror where her blood mark had once been on her son’s flesh. “I promised to deliver the queen. And I did. Words are vital when making a deal.”

The queen’s face contorted with wrath as a succession of lightning strikes slashed across the ceiling. “You’ll pay for this.”

“I imagine I will,” he said quietly. “Now get the hell out of my court.”

My.

My.

My.

That single word echoed in my head, drumming over and over again.

Ashor was the King of Envy. My mate was a king of Hell.

Kali lifted her chin and smiled slightly, masking her wild rage behind it. “What a valiant effort. This wasn’t part of my plan, but I can see the potential. You and I, ruling together.”

Unbelievable. She was already trying to use the situation.

“Leave.” The single command rumbled from deep within his chest.

The queen’s face tightened. “This isn’t over.”

His grin turned subdued. “I should hope not. I’ll be waiting.” And to reinforce his stance, his new position, the Wild Hunt appeared behind their prince… now their king.

On a chilling gust of wind, the Queen of Darkness left much the same way she had appeared, becoming part of the darkness. Ashor turned to me then, and on trembling legs, I stumbled down from the dais. He caught me in his arms, pressing my face against his chest. “It’s over,” he murmured into my hair. “It’s over.”

Was it though? For now, sure, the threat was over, but not forever.

His mother wouldn’t be content with the outcome of tonight. She was pissed. The war between courts was only beginning, and I shuddered to think what she would do next. The idea of a world where demons walked freely left me feeling ill and weak. But it wasn’t just my world that was threatened by the Queen of Darkness and her quest to become Supreme bitch.

“She’s gone.” Ashor’s voice cut through the roaring in my head.

My demon receded inside me, sapping my strength, and I was grateful to be in Ashor’s arms. I lifted my head, stunned by the sight surrounding us. Every demon in the room dropped down to their knees and bowed their heads, pledging allegiance and obedience to Ashor. “Ashor, what have you done?” I whispered.

He shrugged, the hard lines in his face softening as he gazed down into my face. Under all the anger that was slowly leaving his body, I felt the devastating sadness plaguing him at losing his best friend. He had lost more than he had gained. “What I needed to do. I fulfilled my oath to my mother. I delivered Verena.”

And then promptly slayed her.

“How did you know Verena would switch herself with Colin?” I asked, still a bit befuddled by the events that had unfolded tonight.

His hand slid around my waist, keeping me close. Neither of us was ready to part. “Verena loved her illusions nearly as much as she loved sex.”

“You planned this. You planned to kill Verena this whole time.”

He nodded. “It was the only way.”

Ashor found his loophole. He always had one. “You’re the King of Envy,” I stated, saying the words aloud for the first time, unsure this was real.

Leaning down, he brushed his lips over mine in a sweet kiss. “And that makes you the queen, luv.”

Holy. Fuck.

Thank you for reading!