Page 100 of Tortured Royals

“The land is fertile again, and the air is clean,” she tells me, beaming. “It’s all we need. It will be a joy creating something new.”

She clasps my hands again before releasing me, and I spend the next while talking to the leaders and thanking them for making an appearance. When we’ve finished speaking with King Andal, Shade shepherds me away from him.

“Yes, yes, it’s amazing you could come, and Queen Blake is amazing. We know,” Shade says.

I bite my tongue to keep in my laughter as Shade steers me away from the archangel king. “What happened to ‘looking the part’? I don’t think being rude is a great look.”

She waves her hand dismissively. “He understands.”

“Understands what? Because you’ve been acting so weird.”

“Just…trust me,” Shade replies.

Frowning, I peer around. I’d been so distracted talking to King Andal that I hadn’t noticed my mates were missing.

“Where are you guys?”I send through our mental connection, but there’s no reply.

I whirl on Shade. “What is going on right now?”

Grinning, she simply keeps her lips zipped and steers me back to Queen Nerelia. A portal with green fire remains open beside her, and she winks at me, smiling, before Shade yanks me into the gateway.

Chapter

Thirty-Three

~ Queen Blake ~

Shade and I exit the portal and step out into the forest near Seral City, and the familiar smells of the demon realm wash over me. Trees surround me on both sides, and violet and gold flowers are scattered across the ground, creating a clear path.

Up ahead, my mates stand where the flowers end. They’re near the edge of a cliff, and they grin at my shocked expression. Violet flowers are pinned to their breast pockets, and to one side, one of Dad’s oldest advisors stands patiently, his robes flapping in the breeze. Birds fill the trees, perched on the branches and on the ground, and they caw as they watch me with beady eyes.

“I—” My words fail me, and two crows fly toward me, dropping a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers. I catch it, and the birds fly off, joining the others.

Behind me, Queen Nerelia steps through the portal followed by King Andal.

“You knew about this?” I ask.

King Andal grins, and Queen Nerelia gives me a soft smile. “I can keep the portal open if you want a quick escape?”

Shade scowls at her. “Don’t be silly.” She links her arm in mine and starts walking me down the flower path.

Music starts up from somewhere in the trees, and I turn my head, surprised to find a trio of angels there singing a sweet tune. Luna and Noah stand not far from them, grinning stupidly at me.

My heart races, and I face forward, blinking dumbly at my guys.

“I told you I didn’t need this,”I tell my mates. Marriage is a tradition we learned from the humans. For demons, bonding means more, but some still choose to get married and celebrate their union. My mates had asked me about whether it was something I wanted, but honestly, I’d never thought about it much. We had so many other things to worry about.

“If you don’t wish to go through with it, we don’t have to,”Prince Callan tells me.

“We only wish to make you happy, gorgeous,”Nate adds.

“It was Shade’s idea,”Alaric chimes in.

I hold my friend tighter. “Thank you,” I whisper to her.

Her eyes sparkle. “I might not remember hardly anything from my past, but I do remember the juiciest bits from a few romance novels. I always thought I must have remembered them from the human who kept me when I was a crow, but now I’m starting to think I must have been a book whore in another life. In any case, the wedding was always one of my favorite parts.”

Sadness fills me when I stare at my friend. “Whatever had happened to you, whoever cursed you…I’m going to make them hurt.”

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