Page 11 of Queen of the Wicked
He shoved a granola bar in her face. “Eat,” he instructed. “You’re hungry, and I can’t risk you dying before I have my answersfigured out.”
Her hand clamped over her stomach in embarrassment. She didn’t think it was rumblingthatloud as she pitched the tent.
Rather than pick a fight as usual, she didn’t have the energy, so she ate the bar in silence and took a swig of water from her canteen. “Here.” She extended the water to him.
Alessia didn’t want to offer him anything, but she couldn’t let him go without water for the same reason. He couldn’t die without her figuring out how to get his damn powers out of her body.
His lip curled up in disgust. “How do I know you haven’t poisoned it?”
“Seriously? For being a lord, you’re not that bright. I just drank out of it. Yousawme. Now here.” She shoved it into his hands without waiting for an answer and crawled into the tent without another word. It was a tiny enclosed space with little room, so she squeezed as close to the tent wall as possible. She was pleased to hear the canteen open once more, and after it closed again, he strode over to zip up the tent, leaving her alone inside.
The way he moved was so graceful—like he’d been practicing it for years—and it wasn’t until then she realized she didn’t even know how old he was. She assumed aging was similar to Heaven. Archangels, kings, lords, and seraphims could live for centuries. They were immortal unless killed.
“I’m going to keep watch,” he said, pulling her from her thoughts. “We’ll switch in two hours.”
Chapter 5
Alessia
It took a lengthy amount of time for the sun to rise. Maybe it was because Alessia had spent a large portion of her day with the Lord of Hell, but truthfully, she found herself more scared of the random snaps of twigs in the forest around them than the demon sleeping inside the tent.
She spent her two-hour watch shift poking the fire to keep it burning and eating another granola bar, but it did nothing to stop the gurgling. She was used to eating a well-balanced breakfast every morning, followed by a vigorous running session, so her stomach was out of sorts at the sudden routine change.
Finally, when orange and red streaks streamed through the branches of the sycamore trees, she breathed a sigh of relief. Her shift was ending, so she dipped behind the tent and walked a good couple of feet away before she did her lady business and used the travel-sized toothpaste in her backpack. She didn’t bringenough clothes to risk changing them so soon. She had no idea how long they’d be traveling or how close they were to the witch’s cottage, so she returned to the tent in her clothing from yesterday.
It wasn’t like there was a door to knock on, and she didn’t want to just unzipthe entrance in case he was indecent. How did demons sleep, anyway? He probably slept with clothing on, right? Did he sleep naked?
Oh, God.
Why was she thinking of the Lord of Hell without clothing?
Her cheeks burned just as the tent unzipped, his eyes narrowing slightly when he saw her lingering there like an imbecile. Hehad told her to wake him at sunrise, so it washisfault.
“Good morning,” she said, mentally slapping herself.
He muttered a string of curse words as he stepped out of the tent, fully dressed in his outfit from yesterday—a pair of black pants, a black t-shirt, and black boots with metal chains dangling off them. She never noticed yesterday, but the t-shirt clung to his chest and thick planes of muscle.
His pants, however…
He glanced down and scoffed when he caught her staring. “It’s part of the dark magic that runs through my veins, Mortal. Get used to it. Sizes are larger than normal in Hell. I’m surprised you didn’t take my cock’s size along with everything else you stole from me.”
The outline of the thick shaft stopped at his upper thigh, but she didn’t want to stand there gawking at him. She especially didn’t want him to think she was lustingafter him because shewasn’t. “I guess I had to leave you withsomethingto keep your big ego intact, huh?” She smiled wickedly and began to break down the tent. “So, how far are we from the witch’s cottage?”
He ran a hand through his hair as he watched her do all the work. Not that she blamed him since he had never done this before, but still. Help would have been nice. “We should arrive later this afternoon,” he said.
“And should I know anything about the witch? Is there more than one? Are they going to try to kill me, too?”
“Why must you asksomany questions?” He groaned and rubbed his temples. “Nobody can harm you if I tell them not to. I rule the realm of Hell and Earth as well.”
“So that part of my history lesson was true,” she said. “Seraphims aren’t allowed on Earth because it’s technically your territory.”
He nodded. “Precisely. We need to leave if we want to make it there at a reasonable hour.”
“Well, it’d be a lot easier if I had some help.Are you always this lazy?” She propped a hand on her hip, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. “You’re justsoused to having your little servants do everything for you, right? Hate to break it to you, Erebos, but I’m not one of your servants.”
He released a ragged sigh before stalking over to help pull out one of the stakes. “Why aren’t you scared of me?” he asked. “Others cower in fear when they are in my mere presence, and yet,you…”He scanned her face as if it would give him an answer. “You are unaffected.”
Alessia glanced around at the vast and empty forestaround them. “Take a look around you. I have no choicebutto trust you. My mom is dead, and my mother is missing. I could submit to the fear that’s probably somewhere inside of me, or I can handle what I’m dealt and make the best of it. Besides, you have no power, so you can’t harm me. Especially not with the blood pact we made. You’ll die.”
