Page 82 of Pain

“You were ill?” she dropped down to a crouch and pressed the back of her hand against my forehead. “You don’t have a fever.”

“Vampires don’t get fevers,” I said with a groan before rolling over onto my back.

She remained crouched, frowning down at me. Now, she was upside down. Even upside down she was beautiful. “Shoy and Kenvin have intel from last night and want to debrief with us. You can sit out and rest if you need to though.”

I shook my head. “I’ll be out in a moment.”

Her brows hiked like she didn’t believe I could be upright without vomiting. “You’re sure?”

Nodding, I cleared my throat, pushing myself to sit. Her proximity allowed for a clearer head than normal, and I wasn’t feeling poorly at all. She also pulled back the assault on my brain. With a grunt, I gracelessly stood up, catching a glimpse of my sickly and disheveled appearance in the mirror.

I hated how weak and helpless I continued to look and be around her. I wasn’t normally like this. There was a time I was one of the strongest vampires alive. The most decorated and admired. Now, I was less than a shell of my formal self and it was humiliating.

Would I regain my strength when we mated? Or was this my forever fate?

I didn’t even have Howar to turn to for advice anymore.

I had no one.

“I’ll let them know you’re on your way,” Omaera said from the bathroom doorway. “Take your time.” Then she left and that constant hint of nausea that I seemed to live with now returned the moment she was out of the room.

I showered and dressed quickly, then joined the others in the courtyard. Even though it was tough to tell with Hell, based on the location of the sun, it appeared to be nearly high noon. Why did they let me sleep so late?

“About time you woke up,” Shoy said with a chuckle as he sat in a metalchair sipping something steaming from a mug.

Omaera brought me a plate of food, but I held up my hand and shook my head. “Thank you very much, but I’m going to decline for the moment.”

She nodded. “Tea then?”

Tea sounded wonderful. “Please.”

With a small, but pleased smile, she returned to the kitchen, bringing out a steaming mug similar to Shoy’s a moment later. Zandren and Maxar arrived, taking seats opposite me. Kenvin was last to join our little trust circle.

Omaera handed me the mug, then took a seat next to me. “All right, gang’s all here. Let’s hear what you guys found out last night.”

Shoy and Kenvin exchanged glances.

“Well, the good news is, nobody in Hell likes Lerris. He kept a very low profile when he was here. The general consensus that we got was that he would have been beheaded if anybody saw him since nobody believes for a second that King Donovar’s death was an accident. I think it would be safe to assume that Lerris has headed back to Earth. It’s tough to confirm it, but from what intel we could grab, very few people saw him. Once he realized how unloved he was, he stopped yapping it up and adopted a disguise.” Shoy sipped his tea, then sighed deeply as he swallowed.

“There’s bad news though,” Omaera said, a humorless smirk tugging at her lips. “That sigh wasn’t of contentment.”

Shoy’s eyes turned sad, as did Kenvin’s.

“The idea of a half-human, half-demon queen sits about as well as Lerris as the new king,” Kenvin said, offering Omaera a regretful frown. “Humans are pretty widely hated down here. Humans are pretty much the only reason anybody chooses tolivein Hell in the first place. They hate humans.”

Omaera made a slight growly sound beside me.

“Humans were incredibly cruel to each other for a very long time,” Shoy said softly. “Not trying to insult you, Your Majesty, but they are a remarkably unevolved species. The ways in which they not only treat each other, but animals and the environment, is revolting. The Earth is not an endless bounty. Her resources are finite.”

Omaera exhaled and her shoulders rounded. “I can’t argue with any of that, I’m afraid. When you put it like that, I kind of hate humans now too.”

That made Zandren and Maxar snort.

“So what does this all mean?” Omaera asked. “They don’t want me, they don’t want Lerris. Who is the next obvious choice?”

“There isn’t one,” I said quietly. “It would come down to a challenge. Anybody can challenge. But most likely, one of the existing Realm leaders.”

“Well, my dad’s not going to challenge,” Zandren said, leaning back in his seat and crossing his ankle over his knee. He glanced at Maxar. “What about Queen Anysa?”

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