Lord of Embers(The Demon Queen Trials #2)(19)

wanted. Rowan liked to think empathy was a particularly human trait, but she was wrong. They could turn it off better than anyone. And when they wondered why they’d made me a monster, it was because they’d taught me to be strong.

The Puritans made people turn on one another, made them accuse their own family members. Mortana had learned that from them, and she’d suggested all this to the king—the dungeons, the mind games. And nothing breaks a person more than forcing them to kill their own family.

In the witch trials, the Puritans accused a little girl of witchcraft, terrifying her until she accused her own mother. The mother was hanged on Gallows Hill, and the little girl went mad.

To kill without guilt, turn your victim into a gibbering wretch. Strip a woman to her waist, tie her to the back of a cart, and drive her through the streets to be flogged. Lock her up with mud and typhoid, and a child she can’t feed. When the light is extinguished in her eyes, put out the rest, the sack of flesh and bones and self-loathing that remains.

This was

a mortal invention.

civiliz ation —

But I was still here. I’d been marked as the Lightbringer, and even though I’d nearly drowned in darkness, my soul smoldered inside me— red embers in a sea of darkness.

I would make things right again.





C H A P T E R 1 1 — R O W A N

I followed Orion through the tunnels beneath the city, memorizing every turn. Water dripped down the vaulted stones onto my head and backpack.

While Orion walked ahead, I pulled out my phone and started frantically texting Shai. With just barely a single bar of reception, I wanted to make the most of it before it disappeared completely. So, I quickly told her how to find the vault, which turns to take underground, and to run as fast as she possibly could.

Shai was all I had left. She was my family now, and I’d protect her until my dying breath. And unlike Orion, Shai wasn’t going to turn on me because I happened to be a demon.

Ahead of me, Orion opened the door into a larger tunnel, one with light streaming inside. I recognized this one. This was where I’d run, half in a daze, after I’d learned what I was. After the fire had spilled out of me for the first time.

I hammered out another quick text to Shai.

The tunnel opened beneath a stone underpass that looked abandoned, strewn with newspapers, old cans, and a broken refrigerator.

An enormous dumpster hid the narrow opening into the demon world.

The grimy setting would put anyone off investigating.

When we stepped out from under the old train bridge, New England’s beauty was on full display around us. Leaves swirled around us, wine-red and pumpkin orange, the first signs of fall. Victorian brick buildings stood on either side of a curving road, lined by cars on the right side.

Orion looked in both directions, then crossed to a sleek, steel-blue BMW sedan parked at the bottom of a gently rolling hill.

Out of nowhere, a strange fear sparked in my mind.

What if he’d left his keys behind?

W e left th e keys beh in d , an d it w as my fau lt for d istractin g h im— I felt my blood go cold, then shook the fear from my thoughts as he pulled the keys from his pocket.

I walked over to the car, glancing back at the dumpster. I needed Shai to appear

I flicked open my phone to find two letters— n ow .

ok.

Orion hit the button to unlock the car and got behind the wheel.

“Get in.”

We were taking a hundred-thousand-dollar car to Hell. Clearly, blackmailing the king was a lucrative line of work.

But Shai wasn’t with us yet.

I opened the back door for Shai, mentally willing her to move faster.

Orion shot me a sharp look. “Rowan. Get in.”

I slid into the front seat, and the hem of my dress rose to the top of my thighs. Orion’s gaze locked on my legs, his eyes growing darker. The air around us heated. “Shut the doors.” His low, masculine voice thrummed over my skin like a caress.

With a flare of warmth in my cheeks, I tugged down the hem of my dress.

He dragged his gaze to mine, then his focus moved to something over my shoulder.

I turned to see Shai burst from behind the dumpster. She sprinted over to the car and yanked open the back door. She caught her breath, her rich brown skin beaded with droplets of sweat. Jumping inside, she closed the door and started to buckle her seatbelt.

Orion stared at her. “Absolutely not.”

I closed my door. “She knows I was in the city. Don’t you want to cover our tracks? You can’t murder her, too. Even if you wanted to.”

She leaned forward. “Where are we going?”

“To Hell,” he said quickly. “You might not like it.”

She shrugged. “Can’t be worse than Albany, and I nearly went there for college.” She pulled an apple out of her bag and bit into it. “Speaking of which, can we discuss how I can get back into Belial University after this? Because it seems like I’m going to be kicked out.”

I belted myself in, my mind whirling. Was Hell real, or was

actu ally

this a metaphor?

But we hadn’t started moving yet, and Orion’s eyes darted behind me again. He cursed under his breath and leapt out the door. I turned to see three demon soldiers running for us, their bodies flickering with blue and silver magic.

But they didn’t get far. A great arc of fire burst from Orion’s hand.