Page 1 of Hers to Rule

Chapter 1

Mariana waited for the man who had just killed her father to burst through the door of her bedroom and say what his intentions were with her. She sat at the foot of her bed in her favorite dressing gown with the skirt arranged so her crossed legs were visible through the slit. It was hardly necessary since the fabric was so gauzy it left almost nothing to the imagination.

The necklace she’d worn since she was sixteen had fallen from her neck ten minutes ago, and she knew there was only one reason that would have happened: Basilio Reyes, the demon king of Las Vegas, was dead.

For the first time in a long, long while, Mari had no idea what was about to happen. When the usually silent Rio had whispered to her to stay in her room after dinner, goosebumps had prickled all over her body. Somehow, she had known exactly what that heralded, although she couldn’t say what would happen as a result.

Out her third-story window, the lights from the Strip glowed in the distance. Though some might call the display garish, she found it soothing. The same could not be said for the room around her, which was decorated to her father’s tastes rather than hers. The blue and gold color scheme might be tasteful to some, but she found it grating because it felt so thoroughly not her. She was bold, bright colors and plush textures that begged to be touched.

She’d waited what seemed an eternity, straining to overhear when an argument started and then wincing when the sounds turned more obviously toward violence. Finally, she heard the heavy tread of a large person move up the hall and pause outside her door. The shouting had stopped a while ago. Now came the reckoning.

The timid knock surprised her. She composed her face in the blank mask she normally wore and called, “Enter.”

The door opened to reveal one of the largest men Mari had ever seen. He wasn’t just tall, but so broad he almost couldn’t fit through the door. His leathery wings rose behind him, granting him an even more imposing stature. He’d obviously been in a fight, judging by the bruising and cuts she could see fading on his matte gray skin even as she watched. When his all-black eyes found her, she couldn’t help but flinch, not because she was scared of him, but because of the pain she saw there.

“Princess,” he drawled.

She pitched her voice low so he had to lean into the room to actually hear her. “Francisco.”

“Your father is dead.”

“I know.” She held up the remains of her necklace before casting it aside. She’d expected at least some feelings of sadness, but there was nothing, just a bottomless void where her grief should have been. She supposed that had to do with the type of man her father had been.

The necklace had been fastened around her neck the night of her sixteenth birthday. Her father had orchestrated a ritual to bind her magic, but in order to accomplish that, he had to kindle her power. So he’d sold her virginity to the highest bidder and made the entire awkward experience into part of the spectacle.

Thanks to the man in front of her, who had been little more than a boy himself at the time, she barely remembered any of that night. He’d offered to put her into a trance so that she wouldn’t be aware of what happened, and she’d accepted gratefully. When she awoke the next morning, the ornate necklace with a motif of links and chains was around her neck and impossible to remove. Cisco told her that if she wanted, he could restore the memories, but so far, she’d never wanted to relive that experience.

Cisco’s eyes followed the now useless collection of platinum and sapphires as it hit the ground with an expression of distaste twisting his mouth. She knew he wished he had done more at the time, but he’d been no more able to stand up to Basilio than she had been. They’d both feared his wrath—and rightfully so. He’d killed bigger and more powerful foes than the two of them to take his place as the king.

She tossed her head to dispel the specter of the past. This was not the time to let her father pull her down yet again.

Cisco passed his hand nervously through his hair and made the dark curls even more haphazard where they caressed his curving horns. Lowering his wings slightly, he took a single step into the room but still blocked the entire doorway. “The others are securing the grounds to make sure there are no surprises. You should go now before they get back.”

Mari laughed, high and light. The shocked expression on his face at her response was an absolute delight. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Cisco took another step, his large hands tipped with dangerous talons curling into fists at his sides. “This is your chance to get away. That’s all you’ve ever said you wanted.”

“I wanted to get away from him.” She tilted her head to one side and smiled. “But you’ve taken care of that, haven’t you?”

He took a deep breath and exhaled a sigh, his expression hovering between guilt and confusion. “If you don’t leave now, I won’t be able to let you go.”

She twirled her foot, considering if he meant that sentiment the way she desperately hoped he did. There was only one way to find out. “This is my home. I have nowhere else to go.”

He came toward her, almost angrily, his clawed feet clicking on the hardwood floor, stopping when he was only one of his long strides away from her. “I wouldn’t abandon you. I’ll give you whatever you need to make a life somewhere far away from here.”

“That is a very kind offer, and it means more to me than you will ever understand that you are willing to let me go.” She smiled again, softer this time. “But you need me. You can’t rule all of this without me, and you know it.”

His jaw worked for a moment, and then all the air seemed to go out of him at once. Cisco went to sit in one of her chairs, the only one in her room capable of bearing his weight, another heavy sigh escaping him. His wings drooped behind him. “I’ll figure something out.”

“When word gets out that you couldn’t hold on to his daughter, my father’s enemies will eat you alive.” She waited until he met her eyes. “If you can’t keep the magic that powers the city flowing, they will kill you and everyone else in this compound. And you can’t keep the magic flowing without me.”

“What would you have me do?” His eyes pleaded with her for an answer. She wondered if he had any idea how far she would go to help him.

She stood slowly, taking the time to arrange her gown, and then walked to him. Standing between his knees, she reached to run her shaking fingers through his hair and then stroked the elegant curve of one horn. It was not lost on her, or him, from his body’s shivering reaction, that it was the first time she’d ever dared to touch him this way. Her father would have killed Cisco if he had known even a fraction of what was between them in the form of lingering glances and whispers in dark corners, so they never let a hint of it show.

She lifted his chin so that he looked up at her, fingers catching slightly in the stubble of his beard. “If you want to take this kingdom from him, the first step is to take me. We both know it.”

He put his hand over hers, his fingers shaking as he pressed her palm to his face. “That’s why you have to go.”

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