Page 45 of Hell's Queen

“Mhm?”

“What if some of my men die tomorrow? Thorne and Inarian are in terrible shape, and….”

He cups his cheek. “I promise you; we will protect you and the others. I love you, Asura. If I have to die—”

“I don’t want anyone to die,” I snap.

He sighs. “I don’t either, but if I have to, I will to save you. I’d rather die knowing you love me and will be the best queen ever.”

My eyes water. “That doesn’t even make sense. How about just not dying? That way, you can see me be queen.”

He kisses my lips softly. “I would give anything in the world to see that.”

“Why do we have to risk our lives and die because some demons on too many drugs want to be fucking stupid?”

“As queen, you have to protect your people.”

My palm cup his cheeks. “I can barely protect my family, let alone a kingdom. Oz, I don’t need more blood on my hands.”

He leans into my hands as there’s a knock on my door.

“Come in!”

Killian opens the door, looking between Ozias and me. “Uh. We are done. Are you ready?”

I let out a breath, trying not to cry. “Yeah.”

The three of us move down the stairs, and the closer we get to the bottom, the more nerves fill me. After a deep breath, I enter the dining room that is set up for me to go live on the internet.

Ryker, Hazen, and Jigsaw are here. Ryker stands when he sees me, giving me a smile. It makes me feel better knowing my men are here for me. Hazen blows me a kiss, and Jigsaw just nods at me. Ozias moves to sit with them as I move in front of the ring light.

My brother is moving closer to me. “In a minute, you will go live. Speak from your heart and tell them the truth they need to hear. Okay?” I nod, and he hugs me. “You’ve got this, Queen.”

Part of me feels silly doing this. I doubt my father or his successors ever had to do this. I doubt Edris even knew what the phone was at one point.

Killian moves and begins a countdown for me. My heart pounds in my ears. For the first time ever, I am nervous. Nervous about how I am going to convince the Shadow World that I deserve to be their queen.

Killian motions for me to speak because I am now live, broadcasting to the Shadow World. I take a moment to breathe before looking at the camera. “For those who don’t know, a video of me surfaced today. It said some things in it that weren’t true. One of them is that I am a human and can’t handle The Flame or be the Queen of Hell.”

I lick my lips. “I am part human, and although it should be unlikely that humans and demons have kin, I was the exception. My mother passed when I was born and made a deal with a demon who only wanted power. Circe. Circe inhabited my body until I got The Flame, and she was planning on taking the throne. My father, the king before, knew she wouldn’t be able to take the throne. The Flame was designed for heirs and only heirs.

“After she was expelled from my body, everyone thought I would die because humans can’t control The Flame.” I snap my fingers, expelling flames from them. “Yet I can control it. My emotions… are another thing. I watched as my father and brother were murdered by my half-sister—who I’m only a few minutes older than—Evara Mosses. So, you can understand my anger when it comes to someone I love being hurt or dying.

“I wish people at the Soul Reaper Academy would stop talking about me. I’m a changed person, though it’s only been weeks. I will not return to the academy, not because I am the queen, but because… It’s not what I want. Right now, we have more pressing matters. Evara, Draco—the leader of the blood clan—and Circe all plan to open the Gates of Hell. The Gates of Hell have only been opened once, over twenty years ago. The last time it was opened, it threw the balance off between Earth and Hell, and that’s when Soul Reapers became more. They were used for different things instead of their original use.”

I take a breath. “I’m not asking anyone to fight or give up their life for our home, and I do not need my citizens getting into a fight they didn’t create. I ask if you see demons from Hell escape, step aside unless you are a trained reaper. If you can be useful in any way, we will be answering any and all calls. Tomorrow, I will fight to gain control of Hell back. Many will not want me as their queen for various reasons, but we will discuss and have a vote after I handle this problem.”

I try to think about anything else to say but come up short. My brother motions that the camera is off. He’s the first to move to me and hug me. “Do you think anyone will help us?”

“Don’t worry too much. The fewer people, the fewer deaths. Might as well just go into battle myself.”

“I’ll be there,” he says.

“No.” I push back from him. “No, you are staying here. I am not losing any more brothers.”

“So, can I stay?” Derrick asks.

“Yes,” I fire.

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