Page 83 of To Hunt a Demon King

Carnon’s snake-like pupils widened in surprise and, I thought, a little fear as he inspected the hand more closely.

“Your grandmother’s?” he asked, glancing at me for confirmation. “She shouldn’t have been able to breach the wards.”

“Well she did,” Lucifer said, voice stony with disapproval. “And I think this one drew her here,” he added, nodding to me. Carnon frowned, taking a sip.

“Take care of it, Lucifer,” he said, waving to the hand. “That and the mirror. Double check the wards, and make sure there are no other hidden mirrors in the castle. Have every damn room searched if you have to.” The blonde demon nodded dourly and left.

“You were supposed to keep her out of trouble,” Carnon said, turning his ire on Akela, “not find it for her.”

“What is Lucifer going to do with the mirror?” I interrupted, shaken from the screaming and the voice and the hand of my grandmother coming through the glass. My stomach roiled at the memory. “And how is there a witch mirror in this castle that you don’t know about?”

“He’ll destroy it,” Carnon replied, pouring a second glass of wine and placing it in front of me. “It’s too dangerous to have a portal to the Witchlands in the palace. And I don’t know how it got here. I suppose I’ll have to investigate that.”

“And you expect me to believe you didn’t know about it?” I asked, eyeing the wine warily and folding my hands in my lap.

“No more lies, Elara, remember?” Carnon said, seriously. “I vow to only tell you the truth from now on.”

“Oh please,” I said, rolling my eyes. “That’s the most blatant lie you’ve told all day.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re extremely difficult?” he asked, a smirk playing at his mouth. They were words he had said when we had first met, and my gut clenched at the memory.

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re an ass?” I replied, only vaguely aware that I was insulting the Demon King, possibly the most powerful magical being who walked the earth. I didn’t care. He could go to hell and freeze there.

“Fine,” Carnon said, smirk falling away as he growled in frustration. He stood, moving to sit on the edge of his desk in front of me, his eyes an angry swirl of green. I leaned back into my chair a bit. “Fine. I deserve that. Let’s get it all out in the open, then. Just remember, I wanted to do this slowly.”

“Do what slowly?” I asked, heart pounding a little faster at the intent look he was giving me.

“Drop my truths on you,” he replied. “Woo you. But you’ve given me little choice now. If I’m to keep you safe and keep you here, I’ll have to tell you as much as I can.”

“Woo me?” I asked, taking another fortifying sip of wine. “What are you talking about?”

“First, you can’t undo the invocation of protection. I thought you might try, once you realized who I was, so I came up with another way to keep you protected,” he said, leaning forward and tapping the shadow stone necklace.

“The reason I wanted this,” he said, brushing a thumb over the stone, “is because I recognized it. It’s been missing for years, and I couldn’t believe my luck when I found it with you in the Bloodwood. At first, I thought that’s why Akela and Artemis were drawn to you.”

“I don’t understand,” I said, mouth going a little dry. “Missing from where?”

“From here,” Carnon replied. “From this palace. For centuries, this very shadow stone necklace has been given as a gift to whomever the Demon King chose to marry.”

I blanched, realization hitting me like a blow as he continued.

“I couldn’t take it from you because it must be given freely,” he continued. “It’s part of the betrothal magic that imbues the stone. Which is why I am very interested to know how your mother came into possession of it.”

“Wait,” I said, still caught on his earlier words. “Marry? Betrothal?” He nodded.

“You agreed,” he said, sipping his wine unconcernedly as my entire world exploded before me. “When you agreed to hold onto it for me. Always.”

“I did not agree to marry you,” I spluttered, staring at him in shocked horror. “You didn’t tell me that’s what this was.”

“You didn’t ask,” he said, the smirk returning as he clearly enjoyed my rising panic. “And it’s too late to undo it now, I’m afraid. For better or for worse, the magic is binding.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, voice trembling as the reality of what he was telling me started to sink in. “I will not marry you.”

“You will,” he said, sounding so self-assured I wanted to throw something at him. He pursed his lips, expression softening a little as he looked at me. “Elara…”

“No!” I shouted, standing and backing away from him toward the walls, which were lined with bookshelves. I wondered if hurling a book at his head would do any serious damage. “You cannot make me marry you.”

Carnon sighed, having the nerve to look like I had rejected a perfectly romantic proposal. He looked at me, a little wistfully.

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