Page 99 of Immortal Throne

His lips quirked up at the corners. “I have my own crown.”

I stammered and blinked at him.

“Hell can have two rulers, Sloane. It hasn’t for a long time, since demons don’t typically know how to share.” He held out the crown like a dare. “But I do.”

What would happen if I refused? What would happen if I took the damn thing?

“Heavy is the head who wears the crown,” I said under my breath. “Isn’t that the saying? I’m not sure why you’re giving it to me, Ryker.”

“I refused to kill you during our trial.” He dropped his gaze to his feet, although his hold on the crown remained steady. “You didn’t know that. You were so dead-set on seeing me the way you wanted to see me that I never had a chance to explain. But I never planned to hurt you. I knew it would never come to that as soon as I realized the last trial would be Moloch’s creation. Do you know what the last trial tested?”

“Death,” I answered simply. “Murder? Betrayal?”

“Sacrifice. The last trial tested sacrifice, Sloane, and you demonstrated that by giving up the throne for me. I demonstrated it by letting go of my vendetta against your family and refusing to hurt you. We both won.”

I squeezed my eyes shut and balled my hands into fists. “You bastard. You knew our lives were never in danger. If I had attacked you, you would’ve won.”

He had the nerve to look sheepish, giving me a lopsided grin and a one-shouldered shrug. “In my defense, I knew you’d live even if you didn’t win the throne. I knew the second you embraced your demon the disease destroying you would disappear.”

My eyes pinged open and I screeched at him.

He smirked.

“Then…why? You could’ve told me earlier and I would’ve stepped aside. You could’ve had the throne all to yourself.”

“That’s exactly why I didn’t.”

After a moment of seething and resisting the urge to throttle him, I took a deep breath and asked, “So, what now?”

“We share the throne.”

“There’s got to be a trick,” I repeated. The words sounded weak to me, and I didn’t want to believe them.

He hadn’t been poised to kill me with that sword. I thought back to the trial and ran through the events. Ryker had never attacked. I had thought he’d wanted me to initiate the fight so he could feel better about killing me.

Chupey had tried to tell me Ryker hadn’t done what I thought, but like everything my familiar said lately, I ignored it.

Tears burned the sides of my eyes once again. Why was that always happening around him? He constantly caught me off guard, and it wasn’t fair.

“What’s not fair?” Ryker asked.

Oh. I must’ve said that last part out loud. “It’s not fair that you affect me so much.”

Understanding flashed in his gaze. “And you don’t think you have the same effect on me?”

I waved at him, head to foot, trying to wordlessly point out his calm, composed demeanor, lack of shaking, and dry eyes.

Ryker chuckled and shook his head.

“It’s not funny.”

“It really is.” He reached forward and snatched a strand of hair that had escaped my braid. Tucking the hair behind my ear, his expression softened. “I was a wreck after you left. I kept waiting for you to realize the last trial was a tie and return, but you didn’t. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t accept the crown they kept shoving into my hands. I spent all this time pouring over ancient manuscripts to find evidence of dual rulers so I could present my interpretation of the last trial to the council. So I could demand they honor the tie. I’ve missed you so much.”

“And you hate me for it.”

“Always,” Ryker said, without missing a beat. “I hate you so much sometimes. I hate what you do to me. And I hate that I love it.”

“So that’s mutual?”

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