Lord of Embers(The Demon Queen Trials #2)(39)

I wasn’t going to say the rest out loud. No reason to let Orion know we would be competing to kill the same person.

Orion folded his arms on his chest, seemingly impervious to the cold.

“What secret would you like me to confess?”

The Dying God gave him a knowing smile. “Why don’t you tell us what you did in the dungeon?”

Orion went as still as the tree trunks, and shadows breathed around him. “Not

.”

th at

Not

?

w h at

Tammuz’s green eyes sparkled with delight. “It’s hardly a sacrifice if you are willing to give it up.”

Why was Orion arguing when I’d relived the worst moment of my life?

Orion slid his hands into his pockets. His expression looked bored, but something about the heat coming off him told me he was raging beneath the surface. “I have plenty of secrets for you to choose from.

That one is off limits.”

Tammuz shrugged. “You will sacrifice that secret someday. I am in no rush. Time has no meaning here.”

Goosebumps rose on my skin, and I had the disturbing feeling we were being watched.

I looked at the woods behind us. Nothing but darkness.

“Relinquish another secret, then.” Tammuz’s tattoos shifted and slithered over his skin. “I know. Tell me what you plan to do when you are king.”

“I plan to get revenge.”

“Everyone knows that.” Tammuz’s voice boomed, and I could tell he was losing patience. “What

will you do?”

exactly

The silence between us felt sharp and spiked.

“I plan to break the curse,” said Orion. “The one that strips us of power when we leave the City of Thorns. I plan to free the demons from their gilded prison. We will roam among the mortals as we like.”

“And then?” asked the Dying God.

For a heartbeat, Orion met my gaze, then he turned back to Tammuz again, his eyes darkening. Distant shouts rang through the forest, and Orion whirled around, his fingers twitching. The hair rose on the back of my neck, and I turned to look.

Torches flickered in the trees. “Thou foul witch!” someone shouted in the distance. “Come to make the wicked covenant with the devil, to let him poke his cock in your pole hole!”

I grimaced. Poke his cock in your pole hole?

“Osborne’s best and brightest have arrived,” muttered Orion. “This must be Malleus Daemoniorum, here at last.”



I glanced down. I was naked except for the enormous coat. I didn’t exactly look innocent of the

charges. We needed to get out of

pole h ole

here before we found ourselves hanged in the underworld.

Glancing up, I saw to my dismay that Tammuz, the Dying God, had disappeared into the dark forest.

The hunters were coming for us, and here in the underworld, we had no weapons or demonic strength to fight back.





C H A P T E R 2 1 — R O W A N

M y mind swam with visions of Puritan prisons flooded with water and rats, infested with lice and dysentery. On the other hand, their old guns couldn’t aim for shit. So that at least was a blessing.

The silvery light of the Dying God must have alerted them, or maybe his impatient shouting at Orion. Now that Tammuz was gone, our best bet was to quietly blend into the forest’s shadows.

“Orion,” I whispered, “we need to get out of here.”

But he didn’t look ready to run. He looked like he was waiting for them.

“Orion!” Desperation tightened my gut.

“You should run,” he said quietly. “I have plans for Malleus Daemoniorum, and I’m really looking forward to them.”

Ah. Were these the hunters who’d come for his family all those centuries ago?

“Yeah, we both should run.” I grabbed at his arm, but he was as immobile as stone. “You can’t even actually kill them. They’re already dead. They’ll just come back again. But me? I don’t want to die. We could be stuck in this shithole forever.”

He quirked an eyebrow, looking irritated. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re a buzzkill? Killing Puritans is my idea of a good time. Stop ruining it. They will come back, yes. But I can make them feel terror and indescribable pain. Please don’t ruin my good time with all the downsides you keep pointing out.” He sighed. “But you should run. It doesn’t have anything to do with you, and I don’t need your help.

We’re all on our own here, love. Go on.”

I wanted to scream. Instead, I muttered, “Idiot,” and took off through the darkness. Maybe he was obsessed with revenge against people who’d died centuries ago, but I wasn’t here to get shot and hanged.

I had a strong feeling Orion had forgotten what it was like to fight as a mortal instead of with the godlike strength he possessed in the world of the living.

Gripping my coat tightly, I started running over the frozen ground, snapping twigs.

The winter air bit at my skin, and I had no idea where I was going in the pitch black. Should I head back to town if I could find it?

Sharp regret pierced my chest. What would happen to Orion? What if he couldn’t manage the fight on his own? I was leaving someone behind to die again, wasn’t I? Just as that thought struck me like an arrow, a scream chilled my blood—an agonized male scream. I felt the air leaving my lungs. Please, don’t let it be Orion.