Page 34 of Immortal Throne

I sat up and rubbed my eyes. “Um…hello? Have you heard of knocking?”

“You need to get dressed.” He tossed the black material onto the bed beside me and kicked the door closed behind him. With a flick of his wrist, he flung the black combat boots in my direction. They tumbled on the ground beside the bed.

“Are you planning to watch?” I narrowed my eyes.

His unsettling red-slit gaze focused on me. “I plan to guard you and, once you’re decent, escort you to the throne room.”

Well, Chupey hadn’t returned yet, so some backup in an unfamiliar place would be welcome, but the idea of needing a guard while I got naked had panic squeezing my lungs again.

I picked up the strap of one of the pieces of clothing and held it up. The thing has more holes in it than my target at the range. “Define decent?”

“Just put it on.”

“Fine.” I slipped from the bed and held my hand up, rotating my fingers in a circular motion. “But turn around.”

“Honey, you’re not my type.”

“Well, my type is modest.”

Zane sighed dramatically, flinging his long hair so it tangled with his horns, and turned around, the leather pants doing wonders for his ass.

“So why am I not your type?” I asked. “Is it the half-human thing?”

“It’s the vagina thing.”

I snorted and held the black shirt up to examine it. The ripped clothing wasn’t exactly what I had in mind for battling demons over a throne. I chucked it on the bed and sighed. “While I’m shoving my body parts into this contraption, tell me more about the Inferno.”

“There’s nothing more to tell,” he huffed.

“Then go over it again.” I pulled off my tank top and flung it on the bed. “Please.”

“The Inferno is comprised of six trials, each representing one of the six domains of Hell. Each member of the council is responsible for designing a trial that will test a key attribute of a strong, successful leader. Which trial will be first is anyone’s guess, and what you have to do to complete the task or straight up survive the trial is also unknown. Each portal lays a spell on the participants preventing them from speaking about their experiences.” Zane said. “The portals also prevent anyone without a legitimate claim to the throne from competing.”

“How does one get a legitimate claim?” I asked.

“Blood or power. You either need to descend from a prior Lucifer, or you need to have enough power running through your veins to challenge for the position.”

I swallowed. We both knew which category I fell into. Would my lineage be enough? I felt like I was heading to a book club without having read the book. And I knew faking it and saying shit like, “this really resonated with me” wasn’t going to cut it.

Zane kept talking as if I wasn’t staring at the demon clothing and having a complete mental breakdown. “When you complete the first trial, a portal will appear to bring you back here.”

I liked Zane. He said when I’d complete the trial, not if, and his confidence in my ability to survive the Inferno sent warmth through my body and eased some of the tension in my shoulders. “And then?”

“Eat, sleep, and repeat, until you successfully complete all six trials. Usually, the council runs a trial every morning with a small break in the middle between the third and fourth one. There is little downtime to heal, practice or learn about the next trial. It’s intense. Like an inferno.”

I stared at the black material in my hand and shoved my head through one of the holes. Nope. That was a hole for an arm. “Anything else? Anything specific about the actual trials?”

Zane cast a concerned look over his shoulder but thankfully continued. “The first trial stipulates no weapons, so this trial probably doesn’t involve combat.”

“Are they going to frisk us?” I asked. “Or is this like a prison where favored inmates get to sneak in shivs?”

Zane grunted and shook his head. He folded his arms over his chest, making his massive biceps pop. “No one will have a weapon if weapons aren’t allowed. The portals prevent it. But remember what I said last night, the Council of Six may be big on rules and fairness before you enter the portal, but once you step through those gates, there are no rules. Expect the unexpected. Expect treachery. Trust no one.”

Lovely. I pulled on the rest of the shirt.

Something scratched on the other side of the door. Zane stepped forward and opened it, still keeping his back to me.

“Hey! I’m still changing here.” I held the leather pants over my chest.

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