A Kingdom of Ruin (Deliciously Dark Fairytales Book 3)(3)

“Let’s go.” A black-scaled demon gave me a shove.

As we crested the rise, the wind slammed into us, knocking me sideways into Jedrek. He huddled down into his sopping clothes, glancing beyond me. I followed his gaze, taking in the stark vegetation atop the hill—nothing but a few bare trees permanently bowed by the roaring wind, sickly bushes, and weeds. Beyond, the sea stretched out into the darkness. My dragon’s power meant I could see in the dark with a black, white, and yellow color spectrum, but not at great distances like that. In the day, it would probably look like that part of the sea carried on into eternity.

Dolion’s crew continued forward toward the grand front entrance of the castle, with a large gate arching over what had to be the door. It was too far away for me to see much detail. Of course, we weren’t headed for the front entrance, and after we reached the windswept hilltop, our captors veered us right. We plodded along the side of the structure, likely aiming for a fast track to the dungeon.

As we neared the castle, I looked up at the monstrous thing, reaching far into the rain-soaked sky with multiple towers practically piercing the thick, sodden clouds. Or so it seemed from the ground.

My legs ached by the time we reached a little berm at the base of the wall. The metal door nestled within it clearly led down into the bowels of the castle. The hinges squealed as one of the demons bent and pulled it open, no key needed. He looked down into the dark depths, the blackness giving nothing away.

“Did his majesty say anything about the magical lock?” He hesitated a moment before asking in a louder voice, “Does anyone know if they stripped the obice covering this entrance?” He looked at the demon holding Jedrek, his flat face lined with wariness. “Did anyone ask?”

Obice. Ah. No key needed because the lock was magical in nature. Shit. In all the reading I’d done about the demons and their castle, trying to prepare myself for this moment, I didn’t recall anything regarding this type of demon magic.

“Govam can release the obice,” someone said. “He has the magic to do it.”

The crowd shifted around, looking for whoever that was.

“Not at present,” a deep, somewhat bored-sounding voice said from somewhere behind me. “I had that ability and others, but they were suppressed as punishment while I’m on this detail.”

A few grumbled at that, turning back to the demon standing near the gaping blackness.

“Test it out,” someone called from the back. “Walk down a bit.”

“What, and lose my foot? Fuck off.” The demon at the door looked through the crowd that had gathered around us. “Sonassa, try it.”

A female laugh sounded behind me. “I don’t want to lose my foot any more than you do, Ressfu, and it won’t be me his majesty punishes for dereliction of duty.”

The demon by the door, Ressfu, licked his pale yellow lips, the color a little lighter than the rest of his face. Like all demons, he was capable of using a human form, but he clearly couldn’t be bothered. Then again, why would he? He was among his kind, the rest of them in their natural forms as well, ranging from nearly human looking to leather or scaled or even feathered.

“Zurgid, run around and find out whether the defenses are turned off,” Ressfu said.

I heard shuffling in the back. “That would take forever. You know what it’s like in the dungeons. His highness doesn’t enforce any sort of regulations down there. He lets the officers run wild as long as they make his creatures.”

The demon by the door looked down into the hole’s depths, clearly debating. He lifted his gaze again, zipping over Jedrek and then landing on me. My stomach flipped at his sudden look of decisiveness.

“You, shifter woman, come here.” He gestured me forward. Tingles of warning spread across my skin.

Well, shit.





TWO





FINLEY





“Not her, idiot,” a familiar voice said from behind. Sonassa. “She’s the dragon prince’s mate. The king has plans for her. Besides, didn’t you hear? He’ll want her as a pet eventually.”

“His highness just said not to mar her face or arms,” Ressfu said. “He said nothing about her legs.”

“He’ll want both of them to be there,” Sonassa replied.

Ressfu looked beyond me, probably at Sonassa, clearly thinking it over. Anticipation rolled in my gut, and I got to work planning what I would do if they called on me to be the fall guy.

No problem, my dragon thought. Grab that fuckstain Ressfu and toss him down the hole. See if he dies. They might beat the shit out of us, but that’s better than losing a leg.

This was true.

“Fine,” Ressfu said before spitting to the side. “Luru, come here. You have the least seniority. Dip your tail in and see if the coast is clear.”

The demon beside me grunted as if he thought it a fine idea.

Luru, a leathery-skinned demon with a hunch, didn’t seem to agree. He slunk closer with a slack face, looking between Ressfu and the gaping door at his feet.

“I think it’s probably fine,” Luru said in a weak voice, stalling at the edge of the door. “The officers may not be regulated, but they are always punctual. They’re always eager for fresh prisoners, especially dragons. They’ll know the king was planning on bringing prisoners in at about this time.”