Page 36

Ivy

I was not a fan of the whole eternal soul talk. But he had a point.

What was the point if we were all going to die anyway? Morbid a thought as it was, Damon was right.

“Okay, that’s everything?” I asked, turning to Maeve. She’d been a tightly coiled viper during the entire discussion, and Damon was one wrong word away from her pouncing. I doubt even I’d be able to stop her once she started.

Still, it unsettled me, his consequence. I wanted to blame it on the fact that he had chosen both our consequences should we not uphold our end of the deal. But I knew, deep down, that wasn’t the case.

He had everything to lose. Maybe Orion had been wrong about Damon. But I doubted we would know for certain until we made it to the Old World.

Damon rolled his shoulders back, reminding me—and probably everyone in the room—just how imposing he was. The horns even looked like they’d been polished. And the crown he wore appeared even shiner. The male was ready to be married.

Ugh. My stomach twisted. Ivy of a year ago never thought marriage was in the cards.

Ivy of two weeks ago had wondered what it would be like to complete the proper Daughter of Nyx mating ceremony with my bonded mates.

The Ivy of right now was pretty annoyed I would have to do this in front of thousands of demons for an alliance.

I had to remind myself that this wasn’t about me anymore, and marrying Damon was a sacrifice I could make, so long as it protected everyone else.

My mates were safe with me again. And this could mean the lives of my sisters, Thea’s.

The lives of every person in not just Avalon, but in the Underworld and Faery, too.

Whether they knew it or not.

“Unless your mates have any more objections, I am ready, my Queen,” Damon purred, smile wicked.

I frowned up at the male and shook my head. “You’ve gotten a chance to change. Do I?” I motioned down to the silk dress still clinging to my body. “I think I still reek of sex club.”

Behind me, Elias grunted, and Rowan asked, “Sex club? Where the hell did you take her?”

Damon waved a dismissive hand. “You were found in House Lust. Which was lucky for you. Mistress Ravenna hates Dante more than you do. That male tried to take advantage of the lust demons at her club, and she has not allowed him entrance in nearly fifty years. That is how much she dislikes him. But she does love her Queens. And that is the only reason why you survived.”

“I can vouch for that,” Hawk said from behind me. I glanced at him over my shoulder, but he wasn’t looking at me. “She met with me, while we were in her dungeon. And she assured me that our presence with her would be hidden.”

I forced myself to turn away from him, unsure of how to feel by how unbothered he seemed. “Now that we have that cleared up, do I get to change?”

Damon’s glowing eyes swept over me, but he shook his head. “No, I happen to like the dress. I told you; you are the most stunning creature there is. And the demons will need to see that, too.”

“And why would they care what I look like?” I asked as he moved to walk around me. He started for the door, his strides long and purposeful. “Damon.”

He chuckled, knocking three times. “They will care because denizens from all seven houses will be there. Pride will want to see you at your best. Lust will wish they were with you. Wrath will want to fight for you. Gluttony will want more of you. Greed will need to have you. Envy will want to be you. And sloth will need you to be their saviour. You must appeal to every single one of them.”

“Okay, fine,” I replied. The door opened, and the same demon attendant who had brought my mates to me appeared, bowing at the waist. “I understand that.” Sort of, but I wasn’t going to let him know that. “But this dress is?—”

“Perfect,” he said, voice stiff.

“Gross,” I finished, holding up a hand to stop him from responding. “I see the vision. I really do. But I?— ”

“She smells like she just spent hours in a club,” Elias interjected. “I agree that she is perfect. She always has been. But she’s clearly not comfortable in that.”

I offered Elias a grateful smile before turning back to Damon. “I like the dress. I really do. But does it really show them that?”

Damon’s eyes darkened as they found mine, and he gave me a tight-lipped smile. “Who do you think gave you the dress?” he murmured. “Sao will show you to the throne room. I will be waiting for you, my bride.”

The male turned into shadows and disappeared right before my eyes again, though this time, not before letting his shadows brush my bare arms and caress my cheek. The touch was so soft, it made me suck in a breath.

But he was gone, leaving me standing in the open doorway with the demon attendant, and my unimpressed mates.

“My Queen,” the demon hissed, fist thumping his heart as he bowed again. “We are your eternally loyal subjects. Please, follow us. We thank you for the blessing of joining with the House of Elysian.”

My stomach twisted as I bowed my head. What do I say to that? I asked Adrian, hoping he had his bond open enough to hear my question.

Adrian sent a wave of calming energy down the bond; the gentle caress of his thoughts made me sigh. Thank them. You’re doing well, Sweetheart .

The slight burn of tears made me pull back and thank Sao, who smiled with appreciation. The demon stepped back with a flourish, and I noticed others standing either side of the hall. They all appeared to be from the different Houses—representatives from each, I assumed.

The demons of House Wrath were marked by their weapons and armour, while the demons of House Lust were dressed in soft silks and gauze. Pride wore what I considered ‘ethereal finery’—everything Thea and I had thought we would get to wear at the palace but didn’t.

My throat tightened at the thought of her. I’m doing all of this to protect her. To save everyone , I reminded myself. These demons included.

Before I had the chance to step outside the room, a hand gripped mine. Electricity ran the length of my arm to coil around my heart. I inhaled sharply, finding Hawk at my side.

“Let me go out first. You need a protective detail,” he said, voice low.

My heart stuttered, but I didn’t fight him on it, letting him slip out the door ahead of me. When he let go of my hand, I felt the loss immediately. I closed my fingers into a fist as he moved to stand ahead of me, saddened when he didn’t look back.

I doubted he ever would.

Shaking my head, I turned to my other mates. Adrian appeared one side of me, offering his elbow. “Let me escort you?” he asked. His emotions gave nothing away, but I didn’t need access to his thoughts to know he was still wary about this plan.

But it meant the world that he—that all of them—trusted my decision.

I took his offered arm. When Rowan appeared on my other side, I let him take my free hand. We left the room with Maeve moving to walk with Hawk, her protective team leader persona settling into place, while Elias and Orion followed at our back.

The procession took us down a dark, dimly lit stone hallway. As we passed the representative demons, they each dropped to their knees, lifting their fists to their hearts, bowing their heads.

Hold your head high, Orion whispered down the bond. Remember that you are the true Queen. That is all they need to see.

A shiver rolled down my spine, and it took all my strength not to look back at him.

Those words had felt like weights the first time he’d uttered them to me.

Chains trapping me in a life I never wanted.

That I never asked for. A danger I didn’t want to face.

A power that could hurt everyone I loved.

Now, though, I wore it like armour. I lifted my chin, keeping my eyes on Maeve and Hawk, and straightened my spine.

The hall ended at a tall set of stairs carved from the mountain itself, though these were polished to a shine. Veins of silver and gold cut through the black stone, weaving through the rock like rivers did a valley.

We took the stairs slowly, Sao making his way down first, as more demons appeared, like a guiding path towards the throne room.

A small part of me wished I could take in the elegance of the space, from the giant crystal chandelier hanging from the tall ceiling, to the sparse decoration around the landing and down in what I assumed was a foyer.

Everything was the same dark stone of the mountain, which seemed to be Damon’s calling card.

My heart thundered as we hit the next floor. Again, the demons dropped to their knees as we passed. The more I saw, the more I realised that I wasn’t just seeing demons.

Magic tickled my fingertips, my blood humming as the power of Nyx buzzed beneath my skin.

I knew, now, just by a glance, that these were not just demons of one house.

There was a stunning, elegant demon with horns and wings who belonged to two houses.

Another that was half-shifter, half wrath demon.

Triplet males who were all of House Lust, but also of three different species, too .

I wasn’t sure why my throat thickened as we left them in the foyer. Something about seeing them all, seeing the different parts of Nyx’s creatures, standing together as one, made my emotions run high—and reminded me we were capable of better. Of more than what Dante wanted.

Rowan squeezed my fingers where they held his arm. But he said nothing. And that was enough.

We made it to one final hall. This one opened up similar to the ones back at the palace in Avalon, with tall arched windows overlooking the outside. But rather than beautifully groomed gardens, these windows overlooked the rest of the demon city. And the city was alight with fire.

I sucked in a quiet breath; small fires dotted the landscape, and between them were large, leaping flames that danced across the dark sky. There was music, loud and boisterous, playing below us. And cheers. So many cheers.