Garden of Serpents (The Demon Queen Trials #3)(2)

Amber sunlight streamed through the old glass, falling on the portrait of one of Shai’s relatives, a New England merchant sea captain with brown skin, a white cravat, and a brass-button navy coat. Impossible to tell if he was part demon, like Shai.

I absolutely adored this place, and it had become my hiding spot while Shai’s aunt was away in Paris. I had the whole house to myself.

Breathing in deeply, I closed my eyes for a moment, relishing the calm before the storm. I’d been awake all night, my mind whirling. The mortal police were still after me for killing a congressman, and I knew what horrors Orion had planned.

I crossed to the antique sofa, and I pulled out my phone to check the time. Nearly noon. Shai should be here any minute with something I desperately needed.

When I looked up again, a chill rippled over my skin. Shadows had spread through the room, and an electric crackle of magic skimmed up my spine.

I jumped up again and crossed to the window. Unnatural iron-gray storm clouds had claimed the sky.

The little boy still held his mom’s hand, but now worry creased his brow. He stared up at the darkening clouds, wiping his sticky hand on his shirt, leaving behind smears of pink.

A gust of wind swept through the trees, tearing leaves off the oak’s boughs. All at once, clouds opened above, unleashing a wild rain storm that hammered against the window.

My heart started to race as I craned my neck to peer down the hill through the old glass.

It’s starting. I couldn’t breathe. Already, they were coming—the demon horde, their silver claws extended, eyes black as pitch. The earth seemed to rumble with their approach. This was it—the vengeance that obsessed Orion, his lust for mortal blood.

I banged on the glass, screaming to get the mom’s attention. Why wasn’t she running? She needed to get that little boy the fuck out of here. My voice seemed trapped in the room, and I bitterly regretted that I’d let my magic run out.

At last, the boy’s mother turned to see the horde, and her face went white. She grabbed him by the wrist at first, then under his armpits, and started to run. But she was slow and human, no match for the demons. I couldn’t watch this.

I pivoted and raced for the stairs. They creaked as I thundered down, my body shaking with adrenaline. By the time I flung open the front door at the bottom of the stairs, the mom’s screams had gone quiet, and the little boy’s, too—

My heart stopped as I turned to look in the direction of the City of Thorns.

Dressed in a cloak, Orion stalked closer, his face half shrouded. He was death incarnate. Blood dripped from his claws, and my heart twisted in my chest.

The question was, what made me so fucked up that I was drawn to him?





2





ROWAN





I woke, gasping, my face pressed against embroidered chartreuse silk. My heart lurched. Slowly, I sat up on the sofa and clutched my chest.

Holy hell, that had seemed so real.

There’s still time.

I was still in Shai’s aunt’s house. The sun still shone outside.

As my gaze slid around the room, I took in the calm swirls of mahogany, the portrait on the wall, still washed in gold light. Slowly, the nightmare began to fade.

A book lay on the coffee table before me. Gilded stars and letters were engraved in the deep blue surface: Trial by Combat in the Demon World.

I opened the cover to the first page, staring again at the strange text inscribed within.

I will always help you when I can.

-Sabazios





This was my gift from the elderly Mr. Esposito—and also the only way to stop the nightmare I’d just seen. In the past few weeks, I’d learned everything I could about how to dethrone Orion.

With a heavy sense of dread, I padded barefoot to the window. The sun shone through leaves the color of pumpkins and honey. A woman with pink hair walked with a ginger cat in her arms, a flat-faced and sleepy creature, its eyes blinking slowly.

No demons, no blood, no cotton candy–covered little boy. No oncoming demon horde rumbling over the street. Just a beautiful October day in New England.

Outside, the pink-haired woman pivoted, and her gaze slid to my window as she stroked her orange cat. Unease flickered through me. I’d seen her before, hadn’t I? I had the disturbing sense that she was spying on me, and I wondered if the demon hunters were finally catching up.

I slipped back out of her eyesight and dropped onto the sofa again. After another minute, I heard the sound of someone climbing the old, creaking stairs. Relief flooded me as the living room door swung open, and Shai stood in the doorway.

Her hair was a halo of brown curls, and a little leather bag rested against the houndstooth fabric of her skirt. “Hey girl. Are you just waking up?”

“Is it that obvious?” When I looked down at myself, I saw my tangled red hair hanging over wrinkled pajamas. I rubbed my eyes. “I couldn’t sleep last night. I passed out here sometime after the sun came up, I think. I just had the worst fucking nightmare about Orion.”

She crossed the living room to the kitchen. “I’m making us cappuccino.”

“I love you,” I called out.

“You’ll love me even more when you see what I brought back for you.”

Excitement lit me up. “Is it the iron gauntlet, by any chance?”