Lili’s face turned dark, but she hid it quickly. “Yes, our beloved Princess. She is so important in our world. But there can only be one true Queen of the Underworld.” Lili turned her head toward the crowd, raising the knife above the Princess, ready to pierce her once more. “Have no fear, my fellow demons, the new reign will choose the demon who is most worthy. This has always been our way. Make no mistake!”

The Princess’s body was shifting in earnest now.

I tried not to gape. What’s going on? My wolf had no answers for me. Demons aren’t shifters. Has she been glamouring her size all this time?

There was a collective ooooh from the crowd as her chest definitively rose on the gurney. Good grief! Are those wings? The Princess’s skin turned luminescent, like beautiful see-through scales, as soft, black, feathery wings erupted out of her back, spreading over the sides of the gurney.

Wings were something Lili was sorely missing.

“The true Queen!” a demon yelled from the crowd.

“Raise her up!”

“She shall rule us all!”

Some of the comments were shouted in both Demonish and English and there were many more, one on top of the other as fast as the demons could spout them off.

“Silence!” Lili cried, turning to the unruly crowd, spreading her arms wide, blood the color of motor oil dripping off the knife blade. “Your Princess and I will rule Hell together, with both strength and power!” There was an instant hush and Lili smiled, before continuing, “She will not die as long as her heart is preserved. Only the Princess is strong enough to give this powerful clone life. It is written that a female shall rule, and with her heart and the Lycan’s power, we shall together be undefeated! The supernatural world will bow to us!”

The crowd cheered their agreement, even though Lili was selling the same thing in different words.

There was no chance Lili would step down, and any demon who believed that was a fool. She would kill my doppelganger, power and all, with the Princess’s heart inside, before she’d let that happen. But the crowd had bought it.

It was time to throw a wrench in Lili’s plans. “Prove it!” I yelled, my voice clear and strong. “Prove to your demon constituents that the Princess will live on!”

“There is no way she can prove it,” an icy voice bellowed from the top of the stairs, the angry voice carrying across the entire arena, silencing all in attendance. “Because she has always been full of lies!”

24

The Prince strode down the long stairway, his fury palpable. It pressed down on everyone. His magic whipped forward, menacing and angry. Lili stiffened, her hand still gripping the wicked-looking knife, which now hung by her side.

I guess you found the Prince, I said wryly to Rourke when I spotted him at the back of the auditorium looking grim.

The boys broke him out of this frozen mold right after I left, and then I got lost in this fucking place. He was angry. Your scent is everywhere and it’s like a sick maze of tunnels. When I circled around for the second time, I met up with them. We couldn’t get the Prince to agree to anything, but he owes us for freeing him. He wanted to run the show once we got here, so we had no real choice but to let him. When this place erupts into madness, which it will, we’ll come to you on the floor. His voice was firm and commanding.

Got it. I’m working on these spelled chains. I’m almost free.

“Step away from my bride, you piece of filth,” the Prince snarled as he descended. “You will never rule Hell. You are not even a full demon! The power of Hell will never choose you. You are the spawn of evil, and have been wiggling under our skin for far too long. You thought you were clever, but you were wrong.”

“If you come any closer, I will kill her,” Lili said in a cold tone, raising the knife above her head once again, its jagged end only a foot above the Princess’s heart. Lili had only pierced the Princess’s skin before, and the Princess hadn’t moved or reacted since her glamour dropped, though I knew she was alive because her chest lifted with each breath she took.

Why isn’t the Princess moving to defend herself? I asked my wolf. She needs to start fighting back. Get off that gurney and slap Lili silly or do something. Why is she letting this happen?

There was something bigger happening here that I didn’t understand.

“You cannot kill the Princess of Hell,” the Prince scoffed. “She is a true demon and can regenerate from any injuries you inflict.”

“Possibly.” Lili shrugged. “If she hadn’t sworn me a promise. Spelled in blood. The very same promise that is attached to this nfeby.” She shook the knife. “Once I pierce her heart she will be gone forever. She will not regenerate. So if you want your bride to remain alive, I suggest you stop moving.”

“You speak lies!” the Prince roared as he shot his magic outward. It flowed ahead of him like a gust of hot wind, causing waves to ripple in the air. All the demons in the audience visibly cringed, and some of them ducked. “You are not stronger than I!”

Lili raised her hand in answer, and redirected his flux of power with only a few words. The energy arced around her and raced to the side, smashing into the nearest column, exploding it and sending pieces flying everywhere.

With that, the crowd jumped out of its seats, alarmed and bewildered by the sudden change in direction. Seeing their current leader opposed to Lili, even though she had told them what the Scriptures said, and their beloved Princess at risk of death, rocked the arena and sent it into chaos just as Rourke had predicted. This time the audience wasn’t filled with minions who blindly followed the rules of She’ol, it was full of all demons, from everywhere in the Underworld. Now every demon in this room knew something had gone wrong.

Terribly wrong.

Rourke eyed the Prince, who was almost down to the floor. Tyler and Ray stood behind him. They would all follow soon.

Lili lifted her knife higher when the Prince did not slow his pace. “Say goodbye to your beloved.” Lili lowered the knife, and right before she plunged it into her chest, the Princess’s arm snapped out, her hand stilling Lili’s wrist.

That was enough of a cue for me to intervene, and I was closer to her than the Prince.

My wolf snapped the spell on our chains and I leaped forward to aid the Princess. Lili was muttering under her breath, but just before I could reach them, she plunged the knife deeply into the Princess’s heart.

I watched in horror as the demoness’s body arched and she uttered one long, hollow scream. She thrashed for a moment, then went totally still.




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