Page 3 of A Queen Of Broken Realms
One moment Ashen’s hand is around the demon’s throat, the next his sword is clattering against the floor as he presses the man’s cheekbones between his palms. The tattoos on Ashen’s knuckles glow as though sensing the power of war within his skin. And from nowhere, Cole appears, materializing from the crowd like vapor. He pulls the struggling demon’s arms behind his back.
Ashen’s thumbs lay over the ax-thrower’s closed eyes. The man twists desperately between Cole and Ashen, but despite his bulk and size, he hardly moves my Reaper. All Ashen has to do is apply a little more pressure with his thumbs and the demon falls to his knees, as malleable as clay in Ashen’s hands.
“Let me make something abundantly clear for all of you, if you will excuse the irony,” Ashen grits out. He presses his thumbs into the man’s eyes so slowly, drawing out every second of the agony he creates and molds with his touch. I hear the squish as he punctures the gelatinous orbs, like the juicy pulp of fruit collapsing beneath his fingertips. The demon in his grasp screams and thrashes, but still I hear that squelch, and every drop of blood and ruined flesh that falls to splatter on the floor. “Leucosia of Anthemoessa is your Queen. No one harms her. No one touches her. And if you evenlookat her in a manner that I do not like, I will take your eyes and make yousuffer.”
Cole lets go of the demon’s arms. Ashen raises his foot and kicks the man’s chest, releasing the pressure of his grip. The demon falls to the floor, shaking, screaming, his hands raised to cover the sightless holes where his eyes once were.
“Cyrus,” Ashen bellows. A soldier steps forward. His dark hair is tied back with a thread of leather, his black eyes filled with a languid sort of flame. He has a neatly trimmed beard and dark olive skin that seems to glow, even in the dim light.
“Yes, sir.”
“Have someone take him to the cage. Strip him. Remove anything in the cell that he could use to kill himself with. I do not want him in the Resurrection Chamber. Not yet. You go to the Chamber and check on those resurrecting. Take half theShub Lugalwith you and we will meet you there.”
Cyrus gives a stiff nod, careful not to look at me though I almost feel his desire to do so. He beckons another soldier over to drag the bloodied demon away, the crowd parting as they disappear into the shadows between the pillars with twenty of what must be the eliteShub Lugalsoldiers with them.
Ashen glares across the audience. “Did I make myself clear, Shadow Realm? Because if not, I will gladly unburden you of your eyes, one by one.”
No one moves. I can barely hear anything beyond the rumble of my punctured lung and the galloping beat of my distressed heart.
Imani rises and takes a single step forward. She looks at me with a subtle smile. There’s determination in her face. She knows her power, and this is a game she can play.
“Hail Queen Leucosia,” she says, her voice echoing to the highest reaches of the tall ceiling.
A chorus responds.Hail Queen Leucosia.
This is the most fucking surreal moment of my life.
A month ago, I was in the dungeon beneath this very hall, tortured and broken. Ready to die.
Days ago, I let my heart win over my mind, choosing to love the demon I thought betrayed me to this place.
Hours ago, I died, resurrecting here in the realm of my enemies.
And now I’m the Queen of the Shadow Realm, standing on the dais with an ax in my back and a giant snake coiling around my legs.
Fuckingwild. Dizzying and terrifying and a little exciting and super painful right now, quite honestly. This ax is still just hanging out of my shoulder like a single iron wing.
Ashen gives a final sweeping look across the room before turning to me. When he faces me, the black flame of rage in his eyes roils as though caught in a wind. He climbs the steps of the dais with Cole in his wake, and only now do his wings erupt, as dark as night with heavy smoke and brilliant sparks. His eyes bore into mine and I understand. He wanted no obstructions between us. He wanted me to see it. And now he wants me to see only him.
“Soldiers,” he says as he stops in front of me, raising his hand to my face. He’s careful not to mark my skin with the blood that coats his thumb and streaks across his palm. I stagger on my feet. No one can see but him. “Get everyone out. Out of the Kur. Back to their houses or wherever the fuck they’re supposed to be and keep them there. If they disobey, kill them. Permanently.”
Zida hisses at the crowd to put a final scaly stamp on his order. There are shouts and shuffling, and in a few moments the last footsteps exit the building, the heavy doors at the other end of the hall closing with an echoing thud.
The second they do, I pitch forward with a wheeze into Ashen’s arms, dropping the spear and the head with a clang and a thud. I taste blood in my mouth and spray a cough of it like a cloud of dark mist into the air.
“All right, vampire?” Ashen asks, his voice strained.
“Never better.”
Ashen sets me down on my knees, draping my torso across Zida’s body. He positions my arms so I can brace myself against her, firming his grip on my forearms in a wordless request for me to hold on. Then he lays a foot on Zida’s scales and grips the handle of the ax. “Ready yourself, vampire.”
Before I can even tell him to do it, the ax is sliding out of my lung. I can’t contain my anguished cry as it grinds against the split bone. Ashen tosses it across the dais as soon as it’s free of my flesh. My chest rumbles, blood rushing into my lung.
“I am so sorry, my Lu. Drink.” Ashen holds his wrist to my mouth and I slide my fangs into his skin, closing my eyes as I draw in his blood. It charges down my throat like a lightning strike. I feel my flesh begin to knit together, the pins of shattered bone shifting back into place. In a few pulls of blood, the injury is healed enough that I can move my shoulder. “Much faster than usual,” Ashen observes.
I let go of his wrist and nod, still recovering my breath as Urtur comes to investigate, shoving his nose beneath my arm with a gentle whine. “Hybrid level-up. I saw one struck by a blade on the battlefield. The dagger should have taken it down, but the creature barely slowed.” I turn my attention to Cole. “It’s so good to see you.”
That boyish, surfer-boy smile brightens his skin. “Same here. Queen, huh? Ediye will be so excited to hear this gossip.”
