Garden of Serpents (The Demon Queen Trials #3)(20)

I let out a long breath. “But there’s an agreement, right? If a mortal enters without permission, he can be killed.”

“And yet, they’re willing to risk death just so they can drag you out and kill you. But in the meantime, they’re lobbying politicians to put in emergency measures to attack us.”

A shudder ran through me. “Attack the whole city? Just because of me?”

“Not just because of you.” Orion stopped walking and turned to look at me. Across the river, the shadows from the forest’s trees crept over the grass. Clear, crystalline water rushed past us. I tilted up my head to meet his cool gaze. “My spies followed you and the demon hunters in Osborne. I didn’t let them get anywhere near you. But unfortunately, that has created new problems. Some of their agents learned of your location. We had to deal with them before they could relay the message.”

I sucked in a sharp breath. “You killed more demon hunters.”

“It’s usually how I deal with things, yes, but it also happened to be the only way to stop them from murdering you in Shai’s aunt’s apartment. It was only two days ago. I was about to bring you back here when you decided to show up on your own.” His expression darkened. “If you win the trial against me, if you become queen, you need to know what you’re up against. If they’re successful in convincing mortal politicians that we’re a threat, they could wipe out this entire city. And all I can do for now is try to head off an attack using our magical wards to keep us safe.”

I closed my eyes. “This all started with me killing the congressman.”

“You had to, Rowan. He was going to slaughter you like an animal. And the fact is, it was always going to come to this—us against them. This was always going to happen.”

And there he went, sowing doubt in my mind.

I turned away from him, staring at the river as it rushed past. “But they haven’t waged war against us yet. You don’t need to start one.”

“For now, I’ll be asking my strongest spell casters to protect us from the mortal missiles that could rain on us at any moment. But as long as demon power fades without these city walls, we will always be at risk. It wasn’t the case centuries ago, but now they have weapons that could take down all the walls at once. So, Rowan.” He touched my arm, and I turned to face him. “If I die in the trial, you need to carry on that work of protecting the city.”

His words took my breath away, and I stared at him. “Don’t be ridiculous. You’re not going to die.”

“Why not?”

Good question. I mean, that was usually a primary component of these trials. And yet…I grabbed his arm. “We don’t need to kill each other to win the trials. The trial I’m choosing involves summoning a dead sorcerer and stealing his crown. I’m not going to kill you, I just plan to win. Nine days from now. This is your official notice. We’re raising Alaric.” I did the math in my head. “October thirty-first.”

The fact that the trial would fall on Halloween was either a fantastic omen that I was destined for success or a terrible idea. I couldn’t yet decide which.

He cocked his head, his pale eyes glinting in the darkness. “You would let your rival live? You don’t worry that this would cause problems?”

“I’ll deal with those problems later,” I said, and let out a long breath. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

His expression was serious, transfixed on me. “I don’t want to hurt you, either.”

“But that doesn’t mean we’re on the same side. We both know that freeing the demons is an act of war. The streets will run with blood, and innocent people will die. And I know that’s what you want.”

He turned away from me, shrugging. “If mortals decide our freedom is a pretext for their aggression, that moral failure is on them, not us. And Rowan, the tensions have already begun. You and I were the tinderboxes that lit the spark. The revelation of your presence scared the shit out of them. A demon embedded in the mortal world, one who spent years around a demon hunter, no less—they’re feeling extremely vulnerable right now. They no longer know who’s mortal and who’s a demon, and panic is running through their world like wildfire. They’re terrified that there are more of us out there. They’re not going to let us live.”

I swallowed hard. “Do you have any evidence, or am I supposed to take everything the Lord of Chaos says as truth?”

“You’ll have to trust me.”

Nope. “Sure. But how about we let the gods decide who should rule? Through the trials, like we agreed. And as for whatever happens next—we’ll just cross that bridge when we come to it.”

“Fine.” The corner of his mouth twitched in something like a smile. “The gods will decide. Since they’re always so fucking rational.”





12





ROWAN





Distantly, I heard the sounds of mournful singing echoing off the city’s stones, beautiful and eerie at the same time. My heart felt heavy.

“It’s starting,” said Orion quietly.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out two objects, a pale white clay pipe and a pearl necklace. “On the night of challariu, this is one way to honor the dead. The Lilu used to believe that rivers and the sea connected us to the underworld. Before we began singing, we would give the river something that belonged to the departed so that the ones we mourned would have some of their favorite things in the afterlife. Then we’d walk along the water and sing the songs of the dead. We believed it would help them have an easy journey to the underworld.”