Page 36 of Bargain with the Demon King
"Why? What's special about today? Another demon holiday where you torture mortals for entertainment? Oh wait—that's every day."
He pulls back, and I immediately miss the cage of his presence. Wrong. Everything is wrong. I shouldn't miss anything. I'm nothing. Nothing doesn't get to miss things.
"One hour." He moves toward the door, then pauses. "Wear the green dress."
"Chad's favorite color is yellow."
"I know. That's why you'll wear green."
The door closes with finality that sounds like punctuation. I stare at the fallen fruit, still glowing, still ignored. The servant's blood has already vanished—demon blood never lingers. Unlike betrayal. Betrayal sticks to everything.
I wear the green dress because rebellion requires caring and I don't. The fabric clings in ways that would have made me self-conscious before. Now it's just cloth on flesh that wasn't worth keeping eyes open for. The twilight necklace sits cold against my throat, a weight I've forgotten how to remove.
Court feels different when you're empty. All the politics and power plays wash over like water on glass. Lord Vex discusses border expansions while sneaking glances at me. Lady Morinth requests three new human pets to replace ones who "expired." The words would have horrified me before. Now they're just sounds.
"Your pet looks unwell." Raziel, recovered from his last encounter with Azzaron, addresses the King with barely veiled satisfaction. "Perhaps mortal constitutions aren't suited for our realm."
"Perhaps you should mind your tongue before I remove it." Azzaron's voice carries that particular tone that makes demons step backward.
"I merely observe what everyone sees." Raziel gestures toward me. "The light has gone out. She's broken."
"Broken things can still cut." I don't remember deciding to speak. The words just exist, flat and sharp. "Want to test it?"
The court goes silent. Not the respectful quiet of attention, but the held-breath pause before violence. Raziel's antlers catch the soul-stone light as he tilts his head.
"The mortal speaks."
"The mortal threatens." I stand, and somehow my legs hold. "Azzaron already removed your colleague's throat for touching me. Imagine what he'll do when I tell him you've been sending lesser demons to my door at night."
"I haven't—"
"Haven't you?" I move closer, and it's strange how empty makes you fearless. When you're nothing, nothing can hurt you. "Night before last. Scratching. Whispering. 'The King's whore should learn her place.' Your voice carries, Raziel. Even through doors."
Azzaron goes still. Not the stillness of attention but the pause before slaughter. "Is this true?"
"She lies—"
"I don't care enough to lie." I meet Raziel's eyes. There's no heat in my gaze, no anger. Just a flat, dead calm that promises nothing left to lose. He flinches as if I'd struck him and takes a step back. "Lying requires investment. I'm divested of everything. Including giving a fuck about demon politics."
"Adraya." Azzaron's voice holds warning.
"What? You wanted me at court. I'm at court." I turn to face the assembled demons. "Would anyone else like to discuss my broken state? How I'm no longer entertaining? How the King's pet has lost her sparkle?"
Silence.
"Good. Then conduct your business and stop staring at me like I'm a wound that won't heal."
I sit back down, and the court resumes with forced normalcy. But the undercurrent has shifted. They expected broken to mean weak. Instead, they got broken like glass—sharp edges everywhere, cutting anyone who gets close.
Azzaron's hand finds my waist, thumb tracing patterns that meant something three days ago. "That was unexpected."
"Everything about me was unexpected. Past tense. Now I'm exactly what everyone expected—another mortal who couldn't survive your world."
"You're surviving."
"No. I'm persisting. There's a difference."
Court drags through border disputes and soul-stone valuations. A young demon presents a particularly bright stone—purple-white, pulsing with desperate love. The kind of stone I would have called beautiful before. Now it's just another reminder that everyone trades their soul for lies.
