Page 8 of Hell's Queen

“The ice hellhound. He was here before all of us.”

My heart almost drops into my stomach. He left and was instantly taken. “Okay, we have extra. How’s your magic?”

“Eh, almost gone.” He groans as he stands. He looks horrible. His white hair is a deep crimson red, and his face is paler than usual. He looks around the building, and I notice the abnormal amount of lights around.

Ledger helps him move as we make our way toward the next door.

“I have an idea,” I mutter. “It involves you leaving me.”

“No,” Jigsaw says the quickest.

“Go outside and find the nearest shadow. Thorne can take you back, and I will go in and get the other two.”

“There’s no shadow,” Thorne says.

I roll my sleeves, exposing the ember magic that swirls along my skin. I gained the same magic and the same burnings in my skin my father had before. “I’ll make my own.”

“Asura,” Hazen growls.

My palms cup his face, careful to not burn. “Let me be fucking useful for once. Trust me. The moment I’m in distress, you come back.”

His jaw tightens. “You have ten minutes to get back. If you don’t, I am raising hell.”

I pull him in for a quick kiss before watching them all leave. I want to kiss them all, but I don’t have time.

The flame courses through my veins. The moment they leave the warehouse, I push through the door, letting the shadows—as little as they are—guide me. They tell me exactly where everyone is in the room. I follow their instructions, calling to the flame and spreading them around my men and me.

“Look who joined the party,” Evara says with a smile, sitting on a desk in the room.

I walk to my men, tied up in a chair, and the flames follow.

“I knew she was going to use that trick,” Draco adds as his vampire tries to get to us. I move to Ryker, touching him. He groans but doesn’t open his eyes. Inarian is wide awake, staring at Draco with rage in his eyes.

“Are you okay?” I ask Inarian, and he nods.

I grab each of their ropes and burn through them.

“Still haven’t figured out your powers fully yet, huh?” Draco asks.

I ignore him, making sure my hands are on my men.

“We will attack again. I just wanted to see how powerful the Queen of Hell really is. Especially when she’s fully human, isn’t that right, Circe?”

Heels clank against the ground behind me, and my spine stiffens. He talks like she is here. Is that her? Rage rushes through me without even seeing her. Knowing they would have her help them hurts, and the fact that she would is worse.

The flames burn taller, flickering shadows, and we are gone the moment it touches my body.

Ryker hisses from my heat as soon as we return to the castle’s bridge. Agnus swings her hands, magic swirling in the air. A force field begins covering all the villages, their people, and the castle.

I take my hands from my men as my others race to me.

Hazen cups my face. “Are you okay?” He pulls back, hissing. “Asura?”

My jaw clenches. She’s fucking working with them? My own fucking demon? The person that kept me alive is working with—

Cold arms wrap around me, and the sound of hissing fills the air. “Calm down. Fuck her.” It’s Inarian holding me, and I didn’t expect him to act like this toward me right now.

“Who?” Hazen asks.

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