Garden of Serpents (The Demon Queen Trials #3)(74)

I hardly had any strength in my body. But for her, it was enough to rip through the ropes binding my wrists.

My world went silent apart from the sound of my heart beating, a war drum in my chest. As I rushed to my feet, I tore the gag from my mouth, and my fangs lengthened.

Rowan was just breaking out of the bindings, her claws ready. She struck Kas across the chest, and blood arced through the air. When he spun, facing me, I drew my own claws, ready to eviscerate him.

But where I’d just been staring at Kas, Rowan now stood before me, looking terrified.

Two Rowans, both soaked in blood. I staggered back, trying to work out what the fuck was real here.

And while I was making that calculation, one of the Rowans disappeared into shadows.

The other stumbled forward, clutching her neck. Blood poured from her throat, and I caught her around the waist. By her scent and the way she folded into me, I knew it was her.

I pulled her in close to me. “You’re still losing blood. We need to get you out of the tunnels.”

“He can shapeshift,” she rasped.

“I just about put that together.”

She turned to me, one hand around her bleeding neck. “Get to safety. I’ve got this under control.”

She must be fucking joking. As if I’d leave her to fight an ancient demon alone.

Rowan was already off, racing after Kas, blood trailing behind her. I ignored the ache in my muscles as I ran after her, trying to keep up. She was a blur of speed through the tunnels, like smoke disappearing between my fingers. But as soon as we burst into the City of Thorns, my magic would be restored.

I watched her shimmy up the side of the tunnel and disappear through the opening. Fatigue corroded my bones as I forced myself forward and up the tunnel wall.

At last, under the canopy of the stars, my magic surged through me. First, Rowan brought my soul out of the dungeon, then my body.

I roared as my wings burst from my back, and I followed my love into the clear night sky.





45





ROWAN





As soon as I’d hoisted myself into the City of Thorns, my magic had slammed into me with the force of the ocean. I took to the skies, swooping under the stars to search for Kas.

Orion’s warm magic beamed over my body as I felt him soaring near me. The wind rushed over my wings, whipping at my hair as I raced above the trees. This was the old Lilu way—washed in silvery moonlight, hungry for blood. Hunting from the skies while our prey scuttled around on foot.

My heart slammed against my ribs at the strange thrill, and I turned to catch Orion’s gaze. His pale eyes gleamed at me, and his demon mark, the star of Lucifer, beamed from his forehead. Divine.

We were Lightbringers. And when the shadows consumed us, we’d rise again.

I just hoped Orion wasn’t going to unleash his power until the right time, because I wanted to leave this city standing.

I breathed deeply, catching Kas’s perfumed scent. He’d cloaked himself, of course, so I couldn’t see him. But it didn’t matter. In the old days, we hadn’t used vision to hunt, and I could sense him moving toward the Tower of Baal—which was exactly what I’d feared. Kas was calculating that as long as he was around enough other demons, we wouldn’t use our Lightbringer powers. We wouldn’t want to destroy the whole city, after all, and everyone in it. Who wants to rule a city of dust?

But unlike the Lilu of the old days, I had a cell phone to coordinate. So as I swooped through the air, I pulled it from my pocket and called Legion.

“Yes,” Legion whispered. “What’s happening?”

“Can you clear the area before the Tower of Baal? I’m closing in on Kas, but we can’t have anyone around. And make sure you get to safety when you need to, got it?”

I shoved the phone back in my pocket and circled above the esplanade. A throng of demons stood before the tower.

Storm clouds churned above, and an icy wind began sweeping across the stones. The temperature in the air plummeted so quickly, my teeth started chattering, and my breath misted around me in the dark.

Lightning speared the sky, and a maelstrom of ice spun from the center of the square, forcing the crowd away. Screams rose as people started to flee. A crack of Shai’s lightning touched down on the stones—and another, scorching the rocks beneath us. The glacial storm lashed at us, and I fought to keep control as I flew. Snow and hail whipped at me. Legion’s magical storm sent a chill right down to my marrow, and the gale battered at my wings, my feathers. Shivering, I touched down in the cleared space.

Orion landed by my side, his coal-dark eyes scanning for signs of our prey. Legion seemed to have cleared a space for us, an eye in the storm. My muscles started to soften again, and my breathing slowed.

We could hunt for Kas, or we could get him to come to us. A man like him might be powerful, but his ego would get in the way. That’s really what all this was about, wasn’t it? His mortally offended ego.

A twenty-two-year-old with no magical knowledge. What the fuck do you think you deserve?

Kas might hate Orion, but that wasn’t what really lit the fire beneath him. He thought he should be on the throne.

An icy squall swept the air around me, but I rooted my feet to the ground and stood in the center of the stones to address the crowd. “Kasyade has deceived you,” I shouted above the winds, hoping the crowds could hear. “He used his magical glamor to take the form of your king. But he’s a poor substitute, a shadow of your true king. Kas was not blessed by the gods as we were. He’s an illusion, a commoner, and nothing more than a charlatan.”