City of Thorns (The Demon Queen Trials #1)(39)

She was going to cut my heart out, wasn’t she? That was how demons killed each other. They ripped each other’s hearts out with their claws.

“There’s only room for one queen,” she hissed under her breath.

I couldn’t breathe. Oh, holy fuck, I couldn’t breathe…





Chapter 22





Hypervigilance: a heightened state of anxiety and alertness, a tendency to scan the environment for threats.

In my everyday life, it was dysfunctional. In the world of demons, it didn’t hurt to turn up the dial, because somehow, I’d missed that Lydia had been sneaking up behind me, and now she was crushing my throat.

As my vision started to go dark, enormous hands reached down and ripped Lydia off me.

The sound of the klaxon died out at last.

I sucked in air, trying to hide exactly how fragile I was. I wanted to gasp deeply and audibly, but I was worried that would make me look too mortal. All eyes were on me right now. Had they noticed how easily she’d taken me down? Did they know I was mortal?

Unwilling to look weak in front of the others, I forced myself up.

But as I steadied my breathing, a rush of movement caught my eye. I turned to see the blood-guzzling demon running for me from the bridge, the wind whipping at his luxurious curls. With a bellowing war cry, he was charging for me at an alarming speed. Moonlight glinted off his ivory horns, and long silver claws shot from his fingers. If I tried to run, they’d all see how slow I was.

“It’s over!” called the king. “The Trial has ended.”

But the duke wasn’t listening, and he was almost upon me. Ten feet away…two feet away…

I froze in place, staring at him. The bloodthirsty duke reared back his arm, ready to strike at my chest—

Fast as lighting, Orion shifted in front of me, blocking the hit with his enormous body. I heard the sound of claws ripping into his flesh, and my stomach tightened.

Horrified, I wrapped my arm around his back to keep him upright and craned my neck to see the damage. The one way a demon could die was having his heart cut out.

The duke’s eyes were wide as he ripped his blood-covered claws out of Orion’s chest.

“What have you done?” someone shouted. “Did you kill the Lord of Chaos?”

My heart slammed against my ribs. Orion was clutching his chest, bleeding all over the stones.

The world had gone dreadfully silent, and panic tightened my throat. “Are you okay?” I whispered.

Before us, the duke’s claws retracted, and his hand flew to his mouth. “Oh, Lucifer save me, I didn’t mean to do that. I was aiming for the succubus. Why did you jump in the way, you idiot? You know what it means if she survives.”

Orion raised a bloodied hand. “I’m fine,” he said at last, and then he darted forward and grabbed the duke by his neck. The duke’s eyes bulged, and Orion lifted him by the throat, choking him. Silver claws shot out from Orion’s fingertips.

Oh, God. He wasn’t going to—

Orion’s claws sliced into the demon’s chest, and one sharp, ruthless swipe carved out the heart. The glutton demon’s bony corpse fell to the ground with a thud, his chest cavity gaping open and his body still twitching.

Holy shit.

My gorge rose, but I couldn’t afford to throw up. I had to look like that was normal. All perfectly normal. Oh, God, the way it glistened…

Orion shrugged. “What? He attacked me. I was well within my rights to end his life, as I’m sure you all agree.”

The crowd murmured. The shocked excitement in their eyes reminded me a little of the glee in my classmates’ faces when I’d had my meltdown.

Orion turned to look at me, brow furrowed. Was that a flicker of worry in his pale eyes?

“You’re okay?” I asked again. “I think we should get you home.” And I had to get out of here before the bruises bloomed all over my throat.

But the king was prowling closer, dressed in a finely cut midnight suit. His dark eyes were locked on me, and a smile curled his lips. “Good. Everyone survived, then, it seems. Lady Mortana, house of Lilitu. Duchess of the Ward of Asmodeus. After tonight, the abandoned ward will no longer be abandoned.” He raised his hands to the dark skies. “The council of seven is reunited!”



Instead of cheers, only silence greeted his pronouncement. Then, the sound of a throat clearing broke the silence. The king lowered his hands to look down at the twitching corpse on the ground.



“Or, nearly reunited We will have to get a new one, I suppose.” He raised his hands to the skies again. “Anyway, the celebratory party begins immediately in the Temple of Ishtar!”

Orion had just been nearly stabbed to death, another duke died, and they wanted to throw a party? I was so caught up on that thought, I nearly missed the other part—Duchess. That was me now. A demonic duchess.

A few people clapped, but it didn’t sound enthusiastic. Orion was standing straighter now, and I let my arm drop from his back.

My gaze flicked to Lydia, who still seemed furious. Darkness coiled around her, curling into the night sky like smoke.

If I hadn’t been nearly strangled, I’d probably make a big, cocky pronouncement right now, like Mortana would. But my voice box had been crushed, and I didn’t think I’d sound normal when I spoke.