I followed the tracking spell, its magic calling to me through the twisting hallways, venturing further and further away from the throne room.
Why had she fled this deep into the castle?Maybe she’d gotten lost. She’d learn her way around eventually, and as the castle grew more comfortable with her, it would help her get where she meant to go.
“I know you're close, Rayven…” I drawled as I entered an old study that hadn’t been used in decades. The tracking amulet was so close, its magic had the air buzzing. “Why are you in here? Are we playing a game of hide and seek? Because Iwillfind you. And when I do…”
I wrenched open the door to a large wooden storage cabinet, expecting to find her hiding inside.
Pure, unholy fury strangled me in its unforgiving grip as I took in the collar lying at the bottom of the cabinet. The metal had been snapped in half—it was sealed with magic, so she wouldn’t have been able to break it on her own.
I spun around, searching the room for clues as to what had happened to her.
That was when I smelled them. My brothers. The stench of Asmodeus’ bull breath and the metallic tang of Mammon’s iron still clung to the air. There was a whiff of something else too.
I stepped closer to the old desk in the middle of the study. The dust had been disturbed by a smeared impression of Rayven’s breasts.
Rage ignited in my veins as I took in the scene, putting the pieces together on what had happened here.
Someone had bent her over this desk, and she’d struggled.
A few droplets of dark liquid staining the desk’s veneer caught my eye. I swept a finger through it and popped it in my mouth. Belphagor’s blood.
My teeth ground together as sinful rancor spread through me, turning my insides to ash.
They took her.
My brothers had kidnapped my precious treasure right from under my nose.
* * *
The oversized doors to the throne room slammed open as I burst inside, sending suits of armor flying, their pieces scattering across the floor. The music halted, the dancing guests coming to an abrupt stop as they whirled to face me.
I’d entered as the Lord of Bones, the form that demanded the respect and fear of every soul unfortunate enough to be present.
My rage was palpable. Every being here could taste it, radiating from me and lacing the air like poison.
I stormed through the crowd, and it parted for me, no one daring to stand in my way.
The fire of my eyes leapt in my eye sockets as I searched the throne room for my brothers.
“Where is she?” My voice thundered through the silent hall. “Where is Rayven?”
The guests turned to look around, muttering to one another with confusion in their eyes. They didn’t know who Rayven was. I hadn’t properly introduced her. I hadn’t crowned her.
I should have when I had the chance. Maybe then, they’d give a damn.
My fists balled at my sides. I’d make them give a damn, whether she wore my crown or not.
“Find her! Find the demon lords, and you’ll find her!”
Everyone stood still, staring blankly like the helpless sheep they were. Useless, every last one of them.
I roared my anguish, my arm swiping angrily at my side and knocking down a demon with a half dozen horns sticking from his skull. He crashed to the ground, hard enough for everyone in the room to hear, for everyone to take a step back in fear.
Good. They should be scared. They should beterrified. That was what they got for not caring that the only thing I’d ever loved was gone. Ripped away from me, right from under my nose.
“What are you all standing around for? Find my queen!” My demand came out so raw and guttural, the castle itself responded. The walls quaked and my bone chandeliers swayed, raining down dust like ash after a volcanic eruption. The Styx splashed up, crimson water washing over the marble floors.
Women screamed, lifting their skirts as the magical fluid containing lost souls soaked into their shoes, panic erupting through the room that had been filled with merriment and musicminutes ago. The souls who were unlucky enough to be sprayed with crimson were tangled in the river’s blood magic and dragged into the river while they desperately kicked and clawed and fought to escape.
