Page 18 of Taken to the Demon Court (Stolen Demon Brides #3)

EVE

T he small party was being held in an underground space of the palace I had never seen before. It felt more like a dungeon than a normal hall where the king would meet with his confidants.

The room itself was carved out of a dark material that glimmered in the dim lights. They’d traded the overhead lights for candles placed every few feet on the walls.

The only furniture in the room was various bloodred couches and, splayed across them, humans.

There were no glittering glass tables. No servants walking around with questionable food and drinks.

There was only one reason why this place existed.

He was there, surrounded by demons who had shackled humans at their sides. His inner circle was so much larger than I thought it would be. A small group stayed near him while many more were on the couches enjoying their humans.

But the feasting hadn’t started. At least not yet.

The humans looked awful, like they had been kept in a dark basement for months just for this moment. Their skin was pale, sunken. Their eyes devoid of emotion and light .

I had seen some similar girls when I was back in the auction house, though they had never looked that bad. Their eyes had coldness sinking into my body.

Awful. The unspoken fantasy I had of staying with the twins for the rest of my life started to disintegrate right in front of my eyes.

Eros was right.

The awfulness hadn’t even started yet, and I was already filled with doubt.

Even though I wasn’t the one who was going through it, it didn’t make it any easier to watch. On top of that, I had this overwhelming feeling of helplessness. I wanted to help. I wanted to swoop in and save the day, but there was no way that I could do that.

And there was no way for the twins to do it either, even if they wanted to.

Did they want to? Just because they didn’t partake in these activities didn’t mean it was right for them to stand by and watch.

Conflicting emotions caused my head to swim.

Oros and Eros kept their hands on me and never once left my side, keeping me steady. I looked at their faces. Both wore masks of coldness, but I knew the uncomfortableness they hid inside.

At least that was some sort of relief. That the twins felt the same way I did. That I wasn’t alone seeing just how awful it all was.

But it didn’t help the guilt and anger and pain that had my stomach in knots.

The twins’ grief-stricken faces and heavy tone replayed in my mind as I watched the king pull a girl to him.

I was the one who underestimated their warning.

But that didn’t change the fact that I had a job to do. Not only had they bought me for this specific purpose, but I wanted more than anything to help them get the truth of what happened to their mother.

We have to get closer.

He was talking to his confidants, but I was too far away to hear. There was an easy smile on his face, black veins decorating it, and there was blood already smeared across his lips. It seemed that he had started the party a little early.

They looped me around, their hands on me strong as they led me closer.

“I heard Zag has escaped the Deadlands,” one of the confidants said.

The king let out a small huff. “Escaped?”

“He means you paved a safe way for him. After all, he was nothing without you. Escaping the Deadlands is not something he would be able to do alone.”

The bloodlust must’ve already gone to the king’s head because he didn’t even try to hide how he puffed at their words.

“I left him there to serve out his punishment. If he escaped, it was all on his own.”

Bitterness washed across my tongue. He said one thing, but his expression meant something entirely different.

“He did not leave him there at all,” I whispered.

“How did those flyers even get distributed? I know none of us would ever even attempt to tear your right hand away from you.” Another lie. “He was loyal and undoubtedly was framed.”

“Someone—or someones —with a grudge,” the king said. His eyes felt heavy on my back.

Eros and Oros took their chance to look back at the king, but this taunt wasn’t just coming from him. It was coming from his whole group.

They’re begging for a fight.

All of them seemed deep in bloodlust. The blood staining their faces and hands, along with the air of unabashed confidence, told me it wasn’t their first round of humans .

“Are you insinuating something, Father?’ Eros flat-out asked.

The king gripped the human—a girl who looked suspiciously like me—at his side, his claws breaching her skin. She didn’t even yelp in pain as blood ran down her arm.

The way that human looked was a warning. Or a threat. Letting the three of us know that, on a moment’s notice, I could be the one he’d sink his teeth into.

“Just that you’re still holding on to that petty grudge about your mother,” he said. “I should banish you both for what you did to Zag.”

The twins shared a look of bewilderment. Their acting was pretty spot on.

“Us?” Oros asked. “We did nothing. And it’s a little embarrassing to want to keep someone like him around, no?”

The king’s face twitched. The air thickened, and I could just feel the anger crawling across his skin.

“If you’d just admit you got rid of her, we would stop everything,” Eros said. “You could rule in peace.”

My head snapped to her. What happened to tact? What happened to slowly getting to the point without alarming him?

“So you admit it,” their father said. The demons at his side looked alarmed. Many of them looked at each other for confirmation but none truly seemed to know everything.

“Tell us,” Oros commanded. She shifted, pulling me slightly behind her. A motion that had the king growling.

He flashed his fangs.

“You’re getting overly confident with your plaything here.” His voice was low, the threat in it obvious.

Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid.

But even as I chanted it, my mind didn’t believe it, and multiple demons moved to stare at me. Their nostrils flared, and some had a slight smile on their face.

It was Eros’s turn to step in front of me. Just like she’d promised, she was trying to protect me, but it was my own stupidity and fear that would ruin this for all of us.

I tried to let go of the fear, but the human by his side looked too much like me.

It was easy for my mind to replace her face with mine.

See his claws sinking into my skin hard enough for blood to run down my body.

His fangs were so close to her neck that I could almost feel a phantom version of them against mine.

Shivers crawled up my spine that felt achingly similar to a clawed demon hand.

“Stay calm. We have you,” Oros whispered at my side.

“Answer the question,” Eros ordered. “It’s not like you have something to hide, right ?”

“The king would never!” one of those beside him blurted out.

“It’s insulting that you would even say such a thing!” another added. “Everyone knows how much the king respected her!”

Respected. Not loved. The choice of words stood out to me right away.

Growls rang out across the room. The bloodlust was creeping into the air, stifling me and causing a few of the other humans to let out high-pitched noises.

They probably knew what came next.

They’re going to die. But the real question is… Am I?

“Father,” Oros said placatingly. “We want to believe that you had no part in her death. Just say it.”

The king let out a bitter laugh .

“I would never hurt your mother, and I had nothing to do with her death.” And in a flash, he sunk his teeth into the human’s delicate neck.

The bitterness that exploded in my mouth was so potent I almost gagged.