Page 4 of Taken to the Demon Court (Stolen Demon Brides #3)

OROS

E ros loved the auctions. There was an air of excitement to them that had her vibrating. Something about being able to see the nature of the demons we ruled over.

The auction had things—illegal things—and it was interesting to see who bought what. It gave us a good idea of what was actually happening in the realms beyond what our spies and informants told us.

I liked seeing her happy. And it didn’t hurt to get a good whiff of fear every now and then.

The bloodlust we were allowed in the court was controlled.

They brought humans in, played with them a little, put on a show, and let the court take a good strong whiff of their fear.

Never enough to lose themselves in the craze, but enough to get a little bit high off it.

It got boring at times because it was so choreographed.

The only thing I hated about the place was having to interact with some of the more annoying demons.

Many times, they took our presence as a chance to cozy up to us. They would try to start a conversation. Often, they'd also try to buy us something, treating us even better than the king himself, all in hopes it would secure themselves a royal favor.

As if that means anything.

We were more likely not to help them if they tried to get close to win our favor.

“Aris, what the hell are you doing here?” Eros called out as we entered the auction house. Aris was in the back, clearly wanting to be left alone, but Eros’s tone was playful. Not that she would ever admit it, but Eros quite liked the demon, even if she seemed less than thrilled at her presence.

Unlike me, Eros was the type to thrive when talking to others. Sometimes I thought she needed it. She was the extrovert out of the two of us and often got antsy when there wasn't a gala or something like an auction to go to where she could meet and mingle with the demon folk.

The auction was the perfect place for it. All seats were filled, many of the demons looking back at us as Eros called attention to our arrival. Something she was no doubt eating up.

We had come across Aris many times in our existence.

The last time being when my sister and I had been taken in for poisoning the family’s food supply.

The king had called all realm rulers out to watch as we were punished.

Other demons were allowed as well, but he really wanted to show the rulers that even his own two children were not above punishment, so they shouldn’t fuck around.

But even though that punishment had been severe, it had just been another part of the plan that got us to this stage.

The demon stiffened in her seat, obviously not all that happy to see us. Her long, black hair fell over her shoulders and hid her face. Two large blue horns sprung out from her head and curled back.

It was one of the things I liked about Aris. Father forced us to file ours as it was common practice with the court.

It wasn’t as bad as having them broken off since the filing started when they were still small, but it wasn’t pleasant. The grinding sound that rang through my skull alone was enough to drive me mad. Not to mention the pain.

Aris was one of the realm rulers who tried to keep to herself, and it was probably safer that way for her.

A lot of the others liked to go up to the king in hopes of collecting more realms or being granted a royal favor, but never her.

She had a little habit of collecting humans, but Eros and I had never really pried into what she did with them.

It was a bit surprising to see her back at the auction for one.

We were… friends? Well, as much as two demon royals could be with a realm ruler. But if she tried to take the one with the ability to lie, I would not hesitate to kill her for it. Our goal was much more important than a single demon’s life. We had killed many to get to this point.

She bowed her head to us. “Eros, Oros.”

“Oh, knock it off, Aris,” Eros said, her tone more playful than serious. The long-haired demon gave her a forced smile. I wondered if Eros could tell just how uncomfortable our presence made her.

Knowing her, she probably could and wanted to play it up just to annoy the demon.

That was the thing about Eros. She needed entertainment. She needed a plaything. I guess it was the twisted extrovert part of her.

Even if we rarely ever took humans, she was always trying to find ways to play with the court members. To annoy them. But to her, it meant the same. She needed a break from the endless, boring cycle of court life.

And I’d be a liar if I said I didn’t enjoy watching her wreak havoc on the inner court members.

“I, too, am bound by the rules, Eros,” Aris said, her eyes flashing to me. “No matter how long we’ve known each other.”

Interesting .

It was true that the entire demon society had to follow certain rules when meeting us, but it was a little odd for her to be so stiff. My guess was that it had to do with the number of eyes on us in that moment.

We didn’t really try to conceal our presence.

I turned around and motioned for the human worker to get chairs. He was young, and I recognized him from some of the previous auctions. He knew exactly what to do without flinching. Once they were brought in, Aris did not sit down until both of us did.

The demon is nervous.

“Answer the question,” I demanded, needing to know if I was going to have to kill her or not.

She paused for a moment, her eyes traveling over me. The tension in the air rose and had her stiffening. Eros was unaffected, still staring at her with a light smile.

“I heard there was a spirit seer here,” she said after some time.

Oh. I couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled up in my throat. A spirit seer? Aris was too interesting for her own good.

“And what would you need with a spirit seer, hm?” I asked, raising a brow.

“To eat them, of course,” she quipped. “Maybe steal their power if I am able to.”

I didn’t need the powers of the human up for auction to catch the demon in the lie. Rumor had it she hadn’t eaten humans in years.

“Didn’t you stop eating humans?” Eros asked, reading my mind.

Her eyes narrowed on the darkened stage. She was avoiding eye contact.

“What about you?” she asked.

Her avoidance of the question amused me.

Eros let out a hum. “There is a human lie detector here,” she said. “You and I both know how well that would do in court.”

“Maybe we can have a bit of fun with them as well,” I whispered, looking at the demon to gauge her reaction. “According to Beau, their nectar tastes just as sweet as their blood.”

Eros’s eyes slipped to mine, catching on to what I was doing. This human wouldn’t be our first, though we didn’t often play with them. We both knew very well just how sweet their nectar was.

And judging by Aris’s reaction, she did too.

“Aris.”

I hadn’t even noticed the other demon’sarrival until she spoke.

“Yien,” Aris greeted, looking off to the side. I followed her gaze to the dark wall. At first, I couldn’t make out anything, but then she decided to show herself.

Yien stepped forward, her shadows melting away as soon as the dim light hit her. Her inky hair fell to her waist in straight, silky strands, her light purple horns jutting out and curling backward.

Horns like hers always caused an uneasy bit of jealousy to burn in my chest.

She wore a loose robe that tied around her waist and pants that hid most of her frame. They, too, were all black.

The barbarian isn’t even wearing shoes.

My lip curled at her lack of tact.

“I need your help,” she said to Aris.

“You want one?” Aris asked, and she gave her a stiff nod in reply.

“I have enough money for one or two rounds, but not more.”

I wouldn’t be surprised if Aris was generous enough to lend money to the demon. Annoyance pricked at the back of my mind .

I hate leeches.

“Too bad they don’t take that god-awful glitter that falls out of your ass,” I commented.

Yien’s eyes narrowed toward me just as Aris let out a heavy sigh.

“Why do you need a human all of a sudden?” she asked.

Yien’s stopped glaring at us to look at Aris.

“I want a companion.”

Another laugh bubbled up from my chest. Maybe coming out to these was worth it.

“If you want a companion so badly, just fetch one of those demons your estate employs. I’m sure they’d jump at the chance to get a mouth full of?—”

“Once you run out of money, let me know,” Aris said, cutting me off. I scowled at her.

“Thank you,” Yien whispered and took a step back into the shadows, but we could still see her face and clawed hands.

The crowd roared to life when lights flooded the stage, pulling my attention to it. The winged demon with white hair and red horns took center stage. No one knew her name. We all just called her Madam. She was in charge of this auction house, and she always brought in the most unique humans.

“Who’s ready to purchase some humans?” she asked with a wicked smile.

There was no other option for us. If we didn’t leave here with this human, we might never know what happened to Mother.