The muttering among the crowd turned from subdued curiosity to shocked horror, charging the air with an energy that raised the hairs on my nape.
“Is he wearing…?” Nyx gasped in my ear, her tone fraught with repulsion.
The new king was clothed in nothing but a tattered piece of hide with a belt of bone wrapped around his hips. The color of the hide was a deep purple. There was no animal in all the nine circles that color. No demon, for that matter, save one.
“The old king,” I muttered beneath my breath. “He skinned the old king as a means to cover himself.”
Purple had been a rare scale color for a demon way back when. Long before I was even seed in my sire’s berries. But when the last king took up the throne, he had all other demons with the same scale color slaughtered. Purple was for royalty alone, he’d declared.
So the mystery of who this new king wore around himself wasn’t a hard one to crack.
“I bet those bones are his too,” my twin tutted.
The iron crown the new king wore on his head almost seemed small on him, but it wasn’t in a funny way. It just accentuated his impossible mass. And by the way the flap of the old king’s skin poked out, struggling to contain what lay beneath, that which sat on his shoulders wasn’t the only gigantic head of his.
“I feel sorry for the poor woman who ends up beneaththattonight.”
“Don’t,” Nyx sniffed. “There are plenty here who would kill to be queen.”
I gave a grim nod. That was easy to believe when most women here would kill for a handful of berries, let alone for a place beside the king.
In all likelihood, the king would select some sultry succubus. Maybe with black or white scales, since those were the most coveted types, at least on this layer. Meanwhile, the peachy white skin of my secondary form wouldn’t make me stand out from the human souls sprinkled through the crowd.
Even from this distance, I could make out the penetrating blue of the archdemon’s eyes. It was a rare color in Hell. They skimmed the crowd with steady, languid scrutiny as if taking in the details of every single face.
I rolled my eyes in my sister’s direction. “We might be here for a while.”
“Shh,” several voices around me urged as the king began to speak. But when he opened his mouth, no words came. Instead, a great bellow of a growl left his lips that managed to rise above the screams of those closest in the crowd. One of his own guards came up behind him with spear drawn, ready to stab him in the back.
It wasn’t surprising, really, not when every single demon in all nine circles wanted to be king. Why wouldn’t they? It was the best you could do for yourself in this burning shithole. Powerful demons strong enough to resist the power of the crown for even a few seconds would try to challenge him often. And there was no better place to do it than here where all could witness the victory, should the fight turn in their favor. Unfortunately, this one wasn’t so lucky.
The king turned so fast—it was incredible anything so huge could move so quickly. He grabbed the spear thrusting it toward the guard’s abdomen, snapping it in half with a squeeze of his fingers. Then he thrust his other fist straight into the guard’s ribcage, the sound of cracking bones welding with the gurgled cries of his attacker. Within a single thud of my heart, the demon crumbled to the crowd, and the king held a bloody fist over his head, bellowing at the crowd, a warning to all those stupid enough to follow in the guard’s footsteps.
It was the still-beating heart of the king’s attacker, weeping gobs of blood that dribbled between his thick fingers, streaking his gray skin in gore.
The crowd murmured its approval, all the male heads bobbing their sanction while some of the females shoved closer for a chance to be selected.
It all made me want to puke.
What was wrong with Nyx and me that we were the only ones not entertained nor impressed by the show?
“I am called Abaddon the Destroyer. And now you know why. I am your new king, your master.” The archdemon’s cavernous bellow spread over the crowd, making everyone flinch beneath its imposing density. “Bow before me, or your blood too shall paint my skin!”
Abaddon the Destroyer. I thought the name was stupid the first time I’d heard whispers of it. Now, it seemed appropriate. He’d broken the brave fool who’d challenge him without a flinch. And he’d likely break the woman he was about to select from the crowd. Only, she wouldn’t have the fortune of having it be over so quickly.
There was a sudden pulsation of energy that swelled over the crowd, and everyone bent at the waist into a deep bow almost as one, perfectly in sync. Nyx and I exchanged a look, and we realized at the same time, it was the power of the crown compelling the crowd.
And that we were completely immune to its power.
So we hastily moved to follow the rest of the crowd. Resistance to the crown was not something you wanted the king to know about if you had any intention of living.
Nyx and I bowed with the rest, although perhaps, a few seconds too slow because when I dared to glance up at the cliff, my pounding heart lodged itself in my throat. As I feared, we were delayed just long enough to catch the king’s eye. His blue gaze was pinned on us, shifting to my sister’s pregnant belly and then to me.
An eternity seemed to pass as I waited, trepidation weighing heavy in my stomach and prickling my insides like I’d swallowed a rusty club.
Then, my worst nightmares became a reality when he slowly raised a meaty finger and pointed at me. “Come here.”
4
