Page 54 of Demon Queen
I grabbed his hair and yanked him down towards me. I sank my teeth into his soft cheek, tasting strawberry licorice and copper. Not my favorite, but after a moment I was in his head.
You will make my cakes. You will swear fealty to Drigo. You will never, ever talk to anyone about me, and won’t feed on anyone unwilling.
I shoved my thoughts into his head over and over and over until he was limp in my hands and I was bent over him, digging my teeth and my will into him like daggers.
“I swear fealty to Drigo,” he whimpered.
Lines of red went over his skin and he shuddered one more time before I ripped that bite out of his face and dropped him, leaving him to slump down like a melted puddle of strawberry licorice.
I wiped my mouth and whirled around to find Dorian. I needed to talk to him about all the things. He was going to find out what I was if I kept taking bites out of people. Also with the compulsion. That was real. Way too real.
“Regis!” I was supposed to have a bodyguard.
He shimmered into sight two feet in front of me, startling me so I gasped and fell back.
“You were here the whole time?! Why didn’t you do something?” I said, thumping his chest.
He cocked his head as he studied the demon on the ground. “Frisco said that you need practice, so I allowed the cake demon to pass.”
“Frisco? What practice? Why would you listen to him? Don’t you work for Drigo?”
He rubbed my chin with his thumb, wiping away a trace of blood. “I am the steward.”
I pushed his hand away. Of all the annoying things to say. “That doesn’t mean anything to me.”
“I serve my queen. Drigo has my fealty only so that he will allow me to serve you.”
“And leaving me to deal with this…” I gestured to the pile of demon at my feet. “serves me how?”
“Frisco made a compelling argument. He’s the tactician, and the reason he swore fealty to Drigo is because you can protect him and his soldiers from the mental attacks of the Queen. If you can.”
I rolled my eyes so hard. “Thanks so much for clearing things up. If I can, then I can. You’re more fun than the White Rabbit.”
I headed for the door.
“Where are you going? Don’t you need to work on your monster?”
“I need to talk to Dorian. Also rip out Lucia’s hair.” I couldn’t believe that I’d devoured some demon in my tidy kitchen with customers just through those doors. And I couldn’t believe that Maurice was going to mess with my duchess season cake display like he wasn’t the one who instigated the deal. Loser.
“Drigo’s giving you space. If you tell him that you were attacked by your cake friend, he won’t give you any freedom.” The Roberta/Regis winked at me and I took two large steps away from him.
Actually, if I told him I was an angel, made him understand, he might give me all the freedom, run away and never come back. “I don’t know what that word means anymore.” I hesitated and then turned to stare at the demon in Roberta’s face and a hoop skirt. My heart beat faster, my stomach twisted, and the futility of this entire situation hit me hard. “Do you know why Dorian despises angels?”
He gave me a manic smile. “Does he? That’s right. They took him out of service and exiled him to this world. Why did they do that to someone so clever, with so much potential? I have no idea. It’s probably a good story, though, rife with humiliation and anguish.” He held out his hand, turning it, stretching the fibers and sinews, showing his demon skin, green with red markings. “I regenerated a thousand times stronger after you fed on me, like Drigo while he fed you his heart for so many years.He became the monster he is by feeding on your affection and love. He loves you, whether you are an angel or not.”
“An angel? She’s not an angel.”
We both whirled around to see Wilkie by the door, his face paler than usual, eyes bugging out of his head.
“She’s too soft. Angels are the strongest demons of all. They’re huge with thick skins and feathered wings. White. All white like platinum and just as strong.”
“You’re describing a Jephrat demon,” Regis said. “Not an angel. The Zombie Queen must have some of those in her dungeon. She doesn’t keep angels. She couldn’t. A true angel could compel any guard to let them go. The strong ones can even bend iron and stone to their will. Matter, mind, it’s all at the mercy of a true angel.”
Wilkie gestured at me, eyes burning. “You’re saying that the Candy Queen can walk through walls? No way. She let a fear demon suck her for years. There’s no way that she…”
That’s when he looked down and saw the puddle of Maurice. He shook his head, gave me another searching look of disbelief and then his whole body flexed, he clutched his head, and dropped to his knees.
“No,” he whimpered as dark black tears trailed from his eyes down his cheeks. “I remember. The pretty wings you wore to match me. You were so soft and delicate even before I was born. I remember. It hurts so much.”
