Lord of Embers(The Demon Queen Trials #2)(43)

Using the blankets, I formed a barrier between us. He looked on with amusement as I tucked a pillow between our bodies.

“Have you ever heard of something called a ka?” I asked carefully.



A line formed between his eyebrows. “Like an automobile?”

Damn. “No, not a car—ka. I thought it was a demon thing.”

“Never heard of it. Why are you asking?”

“It was something I saw in the vision,” I lied. “The vision said I was Mortana’s ka. It said there are three of us with the star of Lucifer.”



He stared at me like he was trying to read me, his eyes strangely sorrowful in the firelight. Shadows danced over his high cheekbones.

“An interesting theory, but one of two things are true. Either this is real and you are not Mortana—”

“Yeah. That.”

“—or you could be Mortana, and this is another one of your many, seductive lies.” He reached for my face and brushed his thumb man y

over my lower lip—a slow, sensual stroke. “I’m inclined to think the latter, love.”

Inside, I felt something snap, like a twig cracking in a fire. “That was my last attempt to convince you.”

He leaned in even closer and whispered next to my ear. “Good. It’s the hope that kills you, isn’t it?”

I pushed him away from me. “Stay on your side of the barrier. Now, if we both have the mark of Lucifer, aren’t you worried I might beat you to the throne?”

He quirked a smile. “I’m not worried about you,” he purred. “You don’t have it in you. Not anymore.”

Well, that sounded like a fucking challenge, didn’t it?

I slid further under the covers, rolling away from him on my side of the barrier.

Orion made me thankful for one thing. His patronizing attitude was going to make it that much easier to ruin his dreams and take what he thought belonged to him.

And make it mine.





C H A P T E R 2 3 — R O W A N

I woke with a strange tingling in my body and an icy chill in the room. With chattering teeth, I rubbed my arms, trying to get warmer. The fire must have gone out, and frost had settled over the chamber, encasing the bed.

But it wasn’t just the cold, was it? Powerful magic wrapped around me, vibrating on my skin under the blankets. There it was again—that feeling that someone was watching me.

I hugged myself and slowly opened my eyes. A feeling of dread slid through me, and I sat up straight, the breath leaving my lungs.

The Dying God sat in a chair in the corner of the room, darkness curling around him. From the fireplace, the embers cast a warm glow that tinged the smoke with red. The Dying God’s dark eyes were locked on me, gleaming and forest green.

N ot creepy at all.

“What the

?” I blurted, holding the blankets over my chest.

fu ck



Orion shot upright in the bed next to me, then saw the Dying God and relaxed. “Ah. Tammuz.” He yawned. “If you are hoping for a threesome, I’m afraid it won’t happen.” He nodded at me. “She’s a bit annoyed with me.”

“I’m here for your confession,” said Tammuz. “And then I will destroy your blood oath. Tell me, now, what do you plan to do as king?” The sound of his deep, growling voice boomed off the walls.

Surely Goody Putnam would wake? Not that she’d be disappointed to find him here.

Orion went very still. “Revenge.”

From the darkness, the Dying God appeared again, closer this time, at the foot of the bed. “More.”

Orion sighed. “I’ve already killed King Nergal, and I plan to kill the other demons who participated long ago. I will find them all. I will reclaim everything they stole.”

The Dying God faded into darkness again, but his voice whispered next to my head. “More.”

I practically jumped out of the bed.

How did he know that it didn’t end there? I was starting to get the impression he already knew the answers to the questions he asked.

“The massacre began with the mortals,” said Orion, his voice cold and quiet. “And now they keep us trapped within the city gates. We cannot leave the City of Thorns without losing our power. They have dominion over us. They fear what we are because we are better than they are. We are stronger, smarter, more beautiful. When I am king, I will find the spell that keeps us trapped and break it. Demons will be free to roam the world once more. Lucifer urbem spinarum libarabit. The

Lightbringer will set the City of Thorns free. That is me. I will liberate my kind. And I will make sure that no one capitulates to the mortals again, sacrificing our own.”

A cold shiver ran down my spine at his words. I’d seen them carved in the dungeon the first night we’d met. Liberation should be joyful—so why did he make it sound so terrifying?

“The mortals were the reason King Nergal slaughtered us,” Orion’s voice was glacial. “King Nergal, who sired me—”

“Did he?” For the first time, Tammuz sounded angry, and his guttural rage sent electric fear through my veins. I still couldn’t see him, which only made him more terrifying. A growl trembled over the room, making the bed shake, and the sound of creaking wood grew louder.