Page 58 of Demon Queen
I stared at her. Because I was an original, like Hazen?
“Lucy says you were in the dungeon talking to the White Rabbit. What was that about?”
Um. Should I just confess to everyone what I was? Dorian hated angels. Me too. Me too. “He knows a lot about demons. I was asking him about that.” I grabbed her arm. “The thing is that I am a demon, but not the usual kind. And if it’s common knowledge, everyone will try to kill me, including Dorian. Especially Dorian.”
She inhaled sharply, narrowing golden eyes. “Then why are you telling me? Are you suicidal?” She was so dangerous. How dangerous she was hit me for a second of gut-watering fear while her eyes shifted, glowed, then faded back out. “I’m not going to hurt you. I don’t care what kind of demon you are, you don’t need to be afraid of me. But don’t go around telling people things that they don’t need to know. I mean, I could be a demon glamoured as myself, you know? Of course you know. Glamours are the demon deal.” She looked pointedly at my outfit. “Or just weirdness.”
I looked down at the clothes I’d put on without realizing what they were. I had cloud printed tights beneath a puffed skirt of various shades of white. It almost went with my blue boned corset, laced with pink ribbons.
I sighed heavily and slumped back on the couch. “Just weirdness. I wish I was more lethal like you, but I’m just pathetic and weird.”
She raised a brow and cocked her head. “What really happened?”
I stared at her and then my eyes filled and overflowed that time. “He took Wilkie. My baby. Not only that, Wilkie was taken saving me.” I squeezed my eyes closed and tried not to feel all the overwhelming misery.
She covered my hand with hers. “Then you should go to war.”
I lifted my head, staring at her. Was she insane? “I can’t go to war. I’m helpless.”
Her eyes narrowed. “In direct combat, maybe, but overall, tactically, you’ve managed to unite the demons. You have an army like my husband hasn’t seen for centuries, all of them willing to kill for you. So ask your war-hungry husband to take down this Mad Hatter and bring back your baby.”
She made it sound ridiculously easy. “He doesn’t know that Wilkie is his.”
Her brows rose. “Are you sure he doesn’t know? Demons are supposed to be clever, and you’ve never been the best at prevarication. And if he doesn’t know, you tell him. He’s your baby. You’d do anything for him, right?”
I stared at her and then nodded solemnly. “Anything.”
She flashed me a sharp, literally sharp smile, and stood up. “Then I guess war’s not a big deal in the overall scheme of things. I’m going to go help with the tea. Joe actually sent some carrot cheesecake. I usually wouldn’t share it with anyone, but I think you need it more than I do.”
I wasn’t going to stay there by myself, so I went into the kitchen with. Gloria paused with her aunt’s old teapot in her hand and then blinked twice, dropped the pot, which Honey caught, and then began intoning in the creepiest voice ever.
“The angels have fallen. The demons are scattered. One whisper calls from the darkness. A spark. A flame. In the demon domains. A child waits. Cries. Dies.”
I grabbed her throat. “No. Wilkie isn’t dying.”
She turned her glassy eyes to me and grabbed my throat. Gurgle. Her grip was stronger than I expected. “Run or hide, like a rabbit and he dies,” she gurgled, which made her voice even creepier. “The rabbit is on your side.”
“Enough,” Lucy said, chopping our arms down so we weren’t choking each other. “I take it that was the vision you wanted us to hear?”
Gloria blinked at us and rubbed her throat. “What?”
Honey sighed and grabbed a knife to slice pieces of the cutest cheesecake with little frosting carrots on the top. “Let’s eat, drink, and be merry. Sounds like tomorrow someone’s going to die.”
I bared my teeth at her. “He’s not dying.”
She grinned back with her own terrifying teeth. “Then I guess you aren’t running or hiding. If you need backup, I’m sure my dark wolf would oblige.”
Lucy frowned at her. “It’s not safe for you to go wandering off in the demon lands without your mate. Anyway, you’re not the one who owes her.” She turned to face me, big eyes red and guilt-stricken. “If you need backup, I’ll come. But I might hurt you instead of helping.” Lucy winced, hating her new reality.
I hesitated and then gave her a big hug. “No one wants to be a monster, but we don’t always get to choose.” I pulled back from her stiff horror at me getting so close to her, then turned and took a plate of cheesecake and a tarnished fork from the usual drawer. “It’s what we do with the monster that defines us, makes us who and what we are.”
Lucy frowned at me and then took the plate of cheesecake Honey handed her. “Thanks.” She took a tiny bite, frowning as she nodded. “This is really good. Has no nutritional value for me as a vampire, but it’s good.”
Gloria sniffed and took a piece. “Nutritional value? It’s cheesecake. It’s not supposed to have nutritional value.”
I frowned at Lucy. “What did you think Gloria meant about the rabbit being on my side?”
She studied me. “My husband hates the White Rabbit. Like a lot. He infected me and then I ended up me chopping off myhand because of him. He is seriously the worst when he gets in your head. But he really didn’t mess with you when you went to visit him. That was weird. So maybe, yeah, he might be on your side.”
