City of Thorns (The Demon Queen Trials #1)(49)

Shai stirred her drink with her straw. “Maybe if you want to find the killer, you need to learn more about your mom instead of learning more about demons. What was her connection to this world?”

“I searched all her things after she died, looking for clues. I couldn’t find anything.” I closed my eyes, running through my memories until something sparked in my mind—something I’d seen recently. “Except a key.” My eyes snapped open. “It was a skeleton key like the ones they use here. Like the one Orion used to unlock my apartment door. I found it hidden in a drawer, but I never knew what the key went to.”

“Do you still have it?” she asked.

I nodded. “She didn’t leave much behind. Just the key, some clothes, old books, and enough money for a few months’ rent. So I kept the key.” In the gathering shadows, as darkness fell, it was hard not to feel a pang of sadness. Mom had a whole life she’d never told me about.

“I can go in and out of the city,” said Shai. “I can grab the key. If you can find what it goes to, maybe that’d be a clue.”

I smiled at her. “Thanks, Shai.”

She grabbed her cocktail off the side of the pool. “What do you have planned for tonight?”

I took a deep breath. “Spying for Orion, of course. In the king’s penthouse.”

Her eyebrows rose. “But you’ll be careful with all this, right? Because everything you’re telling me sounds dangerous as hell. Particularly the fire pit situation, considering the king is one of your suspects.”

“Yep. And Orion, too. I don’t trust him at all.”

“Is that right?” Orion stepped from the shadows, his pale eyes burning like stars. He wore an expensive-looking charcoal-gray suit. “And here I was imagining we might be friends.”

My stomach flipped.

He cocked his head. “We have a party to get ready for, don’t we?”





Chapter 28





In the Tower of Baal, we stepped into the elevator to ride up to the penthouse floor. I wore a dress made of a sheer material that showed off my legs, but with strategically placed blue filigrees to allow a bit of modesty.

As soon as the elevator started, Orion turned his piercing blue eyes to me. “I’m curious what you and Shai were talking about. You said you don’t trust me, which makes sense, because I’m a dick. But there’s more to it than that, isn’t there? There’s something specific.”

I crossed my arms. “Fine. You want revenge, and I do, too. I want to find my mom’s killer. Someone killed her with fire magic in the Osborne Woods, and I want to know who it was.”

His eyes went wide. “Ah.” He turned and pressed the emergency button, stopping the elevator. “There we are. You think I could have killed your mother.”

I shot an irritated glance at the door. “Do we have to have this conversation trapped in an elevator?”

“I’m afraid so.”

I crossed my arms, looking impatiently at the door. “You have fire magic, so yes, you’re on my short list of suspects.”

He slid his hands into his pockets and shrugged, looking up at the ceiling. “I’m ruthless, lethal, lacking in empathy. I don’t hide my flaws or lie about what I am, so that’s no secret. I’d murder a mortal woman if it got me what I wanted.” He met my gaze. “But I didn’t burn a mortal woman to death in the Osborne Woods. I’m not morally against the concept, it’s just that it wasn’t me.”

Either he was really good at lying, or that was the truth. As I stared at him, I felt my chest unclench. “Okay.”

His eyebrows rose. “I take it Shai told you that I can’t kill her.”

“It did come up. She’s not actually a psychopath, by the way. She just used that to get you to agree to the blood oath.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Hmm. Finding another person you care about that I could kill would be the easiest way to bargain…”

“That’s not really what a bargain is. That’s a threat, Orion.”

He shrugged, his expression cold. “Well, clearly, it would be the easiest option, but it won’t work. From what I understand, you don’t actually care about anyone else. Shai is your only friend, and your family is dead.”

I swallowed hard. “That’s a depressing summary.”

“How about a new bargain, then? You get me what I want, the truth about what makes the king weak, and I’ll help you find your mother’s killer. Once I get what I need, you’ll get what you need.”

I bit my lip, staring at him. This all came down to a single question—did I actually believe him? It was hard to say. But since I didn’t have many offers of help here in the City of Thorns, I’d accept for now. “Fine. I’ll take this deal before you come up with something worse.”

“And then you’ll need to leave the City of Thorns as soon as we are finished. Every hour that you’re here is another hour that you risk ending up in the fire pit.”

He turned and pushed a button to make the elevator move again. We started rising, and within moments, the elevator doors opened into the penthouse apartment.

Holy moly… It was like nothing I’d ever seen—a pool inset into a marble floor and towering glass windows that opened onto a balcony. Beyond the balcony, the sea glittered under the stars. A balmy breeze rushed into the apartment, toying with the demons’ long, silky gowns.