Page 38 of Hell's Queen

Hazen pats my shoulder. “We will find her.”

“It’ll be too late. Evara has it in her head that if she kills—” My voice cracks. I must take a deep breath before continuing. “Killing Asura will give her the Flame.”

“I can’t lose her.” Hazen’s bright eyes tear up, and I feel his pain. I move over, so we can sit in the hall together.

“None of us can. Could you imagine Ledger losing her?”

“He would never be the same. He’d probably murder Evara.”

“He’d better get in line,” I say with a scoff. “I am killing that bitch once and for all.”

Persephone almost passes us while going to check on Ozias. She stops and holds out a water bottle. I glance down at her heavily pregnant stomach. As stupid as it may be, I’ve thought of Asura pregnant. Persephone would be this kind, just like her father was. This act of kindness throws me in a fucking loop. Tears rush down my face before I can do anything to stop them.

“It’s going to be okay,” she whispers, touching my head.

“She’s going to kill her.”

Persephone shakes her head. “She needs Asura alive for the telum. If she doesn’t give it to her, she won’t die.”

That doesn’t make me feel better at fucking all.

Hazen taps me; his eyes are glued to the TV. “She’s on TV.”

My eyes widen as I see something other than the news, and it looks like someone hijacked the news and has a live video of Asura. The veins on her neck have blackened, her head is back, and she’s still passed out.

“I’m getting Hades.” Persephone moves to go find her husband.

“Can you turn it up, please?” I ask a nurse.

The video plays as Draco crouches in front of Asura. “Wake up.” Asura stirs. Draco punches her gut, making Asura spit up blood, and she tilts her head forward. I wince at the body shot, wishing it was me instead of her. She doesn’t look good. My girl looks like she is going to die.

“Khazon! Ledger!” I shout. “TVs on! Asura is on it!” The last part is a whisper, but I know they heard me.

“Your fucking queen, Shadow World.” Evara’s voice comes from behind the camera. “Asura has something she wants to say to everyone.”

My eyes barely open. My body is overall weak and in pain. The venom of vampire blood is swirling through my veins. My eyes threatened to close again, especially after Draco’s blow.

Evara taps on my face, but it’s hard to come to. “Damn, we fucked her up with that combo attack, huh? So weak.”

Before I can fire back, a bucket of water splashes over me. I breathe out, gripping the handles of the chair my arms are tied to.

My eyes meet Evara’s, and she smirks down at me. “Tell the world hello.” I glance at the camera, but my eyes meet Inarian’s. He’s here? Did he come alone? Blood covers his face, and his icy dark eyes are filled with rage. He’s bound to a chair as well. Evara grabs my cheek. Her touch feels like acid against my skin. “Tell the world who you really are.”

I say nothing, teeth gritting at the pain. The camera is hooked up to a few devices, and I can tell they are live somewhere. My eyes follow Evara as she hits me across the face.

Inarian struggles to get free.

“What…” I let out a breath before speaking. “What are you trying to gain from this?”

Evara smirks, pushing her hair back. Many of her piercings are gone. Her long dark hair hangs over her shoulder, and it barely looks like she is hurt. “If you don’t want to give up The Flame, I’ll either have the world give it to me or take it from your corpse.”

“Give us the sword, human,” Draco says darkly, stepping before me.

Inarian shakes his head slightly. If I gave up the sword, we would be killed, and if I didn’t, we would be killed, and Evara would become Queen and find other ways to open the gates.

“Go back to the mall and get better clothes, fucker.” I spit blood before his feet.

He smiles, pulling out a dagger. He steps toward me, and my jaw tightens. I am not going to look like a bitch on the internet.

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