Page 6 of Hell's Queen

“Is that a shocker to everyone?”

Killian moves to me, wrapping his arms around me. “Oh, you’re warm.” But he doesn’t pull back. My brother is only two years younger than me but is taller than me. He was taken to Angus’s when everything started turning south, and this was the first time seeing him again.

My heart swells with love and regret. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be there when Fen….”

He pulls back, looking at me. “I know you have duties now, Queen, and I’m here to help.”

I smile, touching his shoulders. Derrick even nods in agreement. I almost missed him… not really.

Agnus leads us toward the training area. The same one that Inarian left me in.

“Agnus, I need a couple of things. I need to learn to do shadow work to find Thorne and Ryker. That is the top of my list,” I say to her.

“Easy,” she says, setting down her bag. Agnus had apparently been in the family for a long time, giving me the medicine that helped my demon stay at bay and helping my father for years. She helped dull The Flame before at Hade’s palace.

“I also need to control The Flame.”

“You have to speak to your father about that one.”

Rude. I didn’t really want to talk to him right now.

Agnes begins putting down black salt to create a circle. “And I need to know why Draco needs the sword of Edris.”

Her head snaps to me. “You know where it is? The sword?” I nod, and she closes the space between us. “Don’t you ever hand that over to him!”

I blink at the crazy lady. “Why?”

She straightens, looking at everyone else in the room. “The sword of Edris closed the Gates of Hell when demons and vampires opened it. It broke in the process, and your grandfather’s body was never found, burned up in the sword’s flames. Well, your father took over the throne that day, and the sword is now the only thing that can open and close the Gates of Hell.”

“They are trying to let souls out?” Hazen snaps. “That caused so much destruction last time. Why would—”

“To take the throne….” I say to myself. “You give me The Flame, and I’ll close the gate.”

“They need the full sword and heir’s blood,” Agnus says.

“Or the queen’s?”

She nods, getting back to work.

“This is going to end badly, isn’t it?” Ledger asks.

I give a shrug. “What’s new?”

“We will talk more later. Okay, Asura and those going with her, get in the circle,” Agnus explains.

Stepping over the salt, I wait to burn into a million flames. “Do we need this fancy salt to get back?”

She shakes her head. “It’s just for decorations. Looks cute, huh?”

I snort, rolling my eyes. Hazen, Jigsaw, and Ledger join me in the circle.

“Hold on to her. This trip will dull her magic, and as soon as you find the others, you will have to travel back with all of them. I doubt you can take more than one trip.”

“Thorne might be able to help.”

She nods. “Close your eyes and relax.”

My eyes close, but I don’t feel relaxed at all.

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