Garden of Serpents (The Demon Queen Trials #3)(7)

His warm magic swept around me, singing over my skin. The night wind whipped over us. I’d never felt so alive.

“I shouldn’t have kicked you out,” he said softly. Up here, the silver light washed over his perfect cheekbones and sparked in his eyes. For the first time, I noticed that the pale blue in his eyes was shot through with silver flecks like moonlight. “I’m sorry I took the revenge that should have been yours.”

“Here it is,” I hissed, pressed against him. “The incubus’s most confounding weapon. Charm.”

His fingers were tight around my waist. “Do you know what I like about you, Rowan? This city is full of powerful demons, and not a single one of them has the balls to admit that they’re scared of anything.” His eyes seemed to be searching mine. “And that’s a lie we’re living. Because we’re all terrified of something.”

“What scares you?” I breathed.

His mouth was an inch from mine now, and he was staring at my lips as if he were going to kiss me. “You.” His eyes flicked up to meet mine again. “Among other things.”

“What other things?”

His breath warmed the crook of my neck. “Someday, I’ll tell you.”

Throwing me off guard. I slid my palms up his chest, then pushed him away from me with all the force I could muster. He flew back into the air, but he managed to stay suspended, looking startled.

I rushed forward, angling my wings for speed. I brought out my claws, ready to strike again. But Orion rushed forward, caught me around the waist, and pulled me in against him again. Our wings pounding behind us, and we hung suspended in the air like the moon itself.

I wrapped my arms over his shoulders.

Staring deep into my eyes, he murmured, “Why not join me, love?” His breath warmed the crook of my neck.

“Because, love,” I said, “you want to fucking murder everyone.”

No denial from him. Instead, he cupped the side of my face, and he stroked his thumb gently over my cheek. “Don’t you want to be free?” he purred. “Demons were never meant to be caged. Cambriel might have been the one to murder your parents, but the mortals are the reason they were in hiding in the first place, vulnerable without the power that belonged to them.”

The little boy from my nightmare flashed in my mind, and a surge of protectiveness lit me up. A long-buried animal instinct sent aggression snapping through my nerves.

I wasn’t mortal anymore.

Demons hunt.

I wanted to devour the beautiful thing before me, to feed off his essence.

My fangs lengthened, and I sank them deep into Orion’s throat. His blood surged into my mouth—deliciously sweet and with a metallic tinge, a dark sort of ambrosia. This was life. This was power. I dominated him.

No wonder demons liked drinking blood.

With a snarl, he pushed me away.

He held his hand against the puncture marks, his brow furrowed. “No one’s ever bitten me before.”

Remember when you said I didn’t have it in me? That you didn’t respect me enough to hate me?

I wiped the back of my hand across my mouth. “Fair’s fair. You drank my blood the first night we met.”

I’d learned something from this fight—Orion was still stronger than me, still faster. But he was vulnerable to the element of surprise.

The corner of his mouth quirked. “You’ve changed, Rowan.”

Force your enemy to let down his guard.

I flew a little closer, eyebrows rising. “Of course I’ve changed. I trained with the Dying God. The Chaos God. Bit of a dysfunctional family you’ve got, isn’t it? He’s your father, and he taught me how to kill you.”

His faint smile faltered with uncertainty.

Now.

The night wind swept over me, and I swiped for his throat with my claws. Blood arced through the air, and I used my wings to give me the speed of a hurricane. I slammed into Orion, and we hurtled toward the ground together. We hit the stone with a force that cracked the rock beneath him. It sent shockwaves across the square as the ground fractured. Orion’s wings were still out, spread beneath him in dark arches of feathers. I was straddling him, legs wrapped around his waist. He stared up at me, catching his breath.

I’d won.

Around us, the crowd of onlookers gasped.

It must have hurt like a bitch when his wings met the rock, but the pain didn’t even register on his perfect features. “Tammuz,” he said, his voice rasping.

It was glowing now—the star of Lucifer on his forehead. I reached down to touch it.

“Your real father,” I said. “He’s the one who gave us these marks. To cause chaos.”

He grazed his fingertip over my forearm, and I realized it was the spot where the tattoo of the skeleton key marked my skin. “Is it true?”

Orion’s blood had spilled down his front and started to dry on his neck, but the gash in his throat was healing already.

I shrugged. “It’s what he said. But I don’t trust either of you to tell the truth, so who knows?”

“He told me you were after my crown.”

I leaned down, so mesmerized by the thrill of victory that I nearly forgot the silent crowd around us. “He was right.”

He cupped my jaw and whispered, “This was a painful way to get your legs wrapped around me again. But maybe it was worth it.”