Page 123 of The Demon's Discovery
Ris shook his head. “No, you are better served alerting the kingdom that their king has returned.”
“Yes, of course.” He spun on his heel, leaving us in the hall.
“So, melee style then?” Seir queried, pulling his sword, a broad grin on his mouth.
“Seems so,” I agreed.
“Calla, perhaps you should?—”
“In. Your. Sleep,” she replied, not meeting his eye. Puffs of dark-green magic came out of her mouth when she spoke, and I remembered what I’d seen the night we came to her aid all too well. She alone could level this palace given proper motivation.
“We need her, Rylan. She’s more than capable of defending herself.”
He glared holes through my skull, his mouth a firm line before softening, mostly because he looked over at her and couldn’t help himself. “I know. But I don’t have to like seeing her in harm’s way.” He turned to Ris. “Anything we should know about fighting him?”
“He can move quickly. Like my mist, but not. Unpredictable,” I jumped in.
Ris nodded. “He’s clever to the point of unhinged. Has the ability to space jump as a diversion technique. He’s skilled with blades and hand-to-hand; we’re all raised with it. He’s not shy about being brutal if you’re in the way of something he wants.”His jaw clenched, and I thought I had a decent idea about where his scar originated. “If she already made the elixir, he can complete the ritual that will make my power his. We must stop him from doing that, at all costs.”
“Right,” Magnus growled.
Seir suddenly walked toward the double doors, clearly tired of waiting. “Three demons, a gargoyle, a witch, and a fae king walk into a ballroom.” He turned around, a laugh bubbling out of his chest. “Sounds like the start of a good joke.”
There was a broad smile on his mouth yet no humor in his ruby eyes as he watched me stride forward and kick out, forcing the doors to swing wide open.
Chapter 48
Greta
Iclenched my jaw, refusing to agree to the vows I’d been prompted to recite.
“Speak the words,” my captor threatened, “or I will ensure this, and every other night of your miserable life, leaves you wishing you had.” My body trembled under the threat, not to mention the weakness his compulsion had left me with, but I said nothing. “You are guaranteeing yourself nothing but pain,” he spat, eyes flashing, but I held my silence. “You could be a perfectly satisfied partner in this. Happy even.” His eyes narrowed as I stared back defiantly. “Fine. As you wish, little princess. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Continue,” he ordered the clergyman.
The ring bore into my skin with every word he uttered in a version of old fae that resonated deep in my bones. I was still under compulsion as far as my body went, but he couldn’t force me to speak the words.
A saw a shadow move out of the corner of my eye, and I nearly smiled in relief. There was a suspicious raven-shaped figure moving at the edge of one of the heavy curtains.
I jumped as the doors of the ballroom crashed open, stalling the clergyman’s hasty recital of vows. The two guards that werestationed near us drew their weapons, tightening in next to the priest.
“Will you take him as your husband? In times of illness and those of health, in?—”
“Who dares interrupt the sacred vows?” my captor asked, letting my hands drop. He growled, teeth bared, as Vassago walked into the room, followed by Ris, Magnus, Rylan and another man. “You.” I turned my head and inhaled, tears making my eyes burn as hope flooded in. My captor snatched the vial of elixir from the altar, tipped it into his mouth, and consumed the contents before flinging it to the floor, breaking it. “Finish the ceremony!”
The clergyman stuttered and tripped over his words but continued.
Gasps rang out, and several of the noble families slid closer together on the benches they were seated on, the remaining handful of guards at the ready. It seemed they were awaiting his order to abandon their posts next to the rows of seats so they could engage the intruders, as none had moved.
The ballroom doors were closed again, a chair noisily scraping across the floor the only relief in the clergyman’s recitation.
“Shall we kill them all?”
I didn’t recognize the brunet demon grinning ear to ear, asking such a question, but he was clearly part of Vassago’s family.
“I expected so much better of you,” Ris accused, the nobles cowering under his voice.
Magnus took a step back toward the doors, extending his wings with a wicked smile on his face. He looked especially menacing in his stone form, but the chains he had draped over him added a whole other dimension.
“Going somewhere?” Vassago asked one of the nobles who’d slid from his seat, sword pointed at his throat. Suddenly, nobody seemed very interested in leaving.
