My sisters and I are beaten up, our clothing torn. We barely survived the fight for our lives against one of my brothers—the demon whose name I now know is Koda—who posed as the Master of Demon Runes and attempted to seize power and control from the Vegas packs and clans Earthside.
As I return Crone’s glare, my wolves’ growls only seem to fuel her rage. She swivels her small body to peer at each of the royals in turn. “Before the Elimination can begin, we must complete the Purification. Each of you will return home to prepare yourself. The ceremony will be held at the eighth hour tonight.”
Purification?What the hell is that?
None of them appears thrown by Crone’s announcement, although a scowl appears on Koda’s face. He kneels a few paces away on my left-hand side. The distinct physical difference between each of my siblings is the color of their hair. Koda’s hair is cobalt-blue, similar to his eyes, which are brighter than the other royals’ eyes.
He grips his right arm where his royal rune glows against his skin so tightly that his knuckles turn white.
I remember the way he called it ‘the fucking royal rune.’
He’s the only royal who appears angry about the trials. Although… the female demon kneeling closest on my right-hand side—Esta—presses her lips together in a line that could be interpreted as worry. She was the first of my demon siblings to rush to Roman and ask if he had found their father, saying that Roman was their last hope.
Other than the press of her lips, her expression is closed off—a far cry from the male demon who kneels directly opposite me in the circle.
His name is Arga and he’s the tallest, broadest, and possibly the oldest, of the royals, with short, burgundy hair. He shifts his confident gaze from Crone to me, a growing smile on his face as he contemplates me in the way that a predator might study what they consider to be an easy kill.
Despite my wariness, Crone’s announcement confirms that we aren’t going to descend into a violent bloodbath right this instant, so I force myself to retract my claws, take deep breaths, and try to calm myself.
Protecting my sisters and my wolves is my only priority from this moment on.
Crone’s black eyes return to me. A smile plays around her closed lips and it makes me shudder. I’ve known her for all of a few minutes and I already know that nothing but bad news could make this woman smile.
“However,” she says, her voice becoming louder. “Before we can move from this bridge, we must first address the issue of the trespassers in our midst.”
My protective instincts blaze when Crone shifts her focus to Malia and Taniya.
“You. Lesser beings who came with Nova. Weaklings with half-powers.” She raises her arms again and, as her robes slip down her arms, pure darkness swirls where her limbs should be. “You are trespassing and must now be dealt with.”
With a sharp gesture at the legion of demons lining the bridge, she commands them, “Seize the lesser beings! Spill their blood!”
Her cruel smile grows wider. “Kill them.”
CHAPTERTWO
Shock bursts through me at the sudden threat to my sisters.
I jump to my feet and my claws snap down as a group of seven soldiers breaks off from the others and plows in our direction.
Oh, fuck no.
“Ahlek!” I cry to my demon wolves, calling them to be ready to fight, the same command Roman gave to Ace during the fight in the Vegas desert.
My demon wolves converge around me and my sisters as we back away from the circle of royals into the clear space behind us. If we have to fight, then we need room to do it. I remain in front of Malia and Taniya, who move with me, immediately obeying my silent commands.
We take up the protective formation we’ve used countless times, but those fights were against low-level demons. These soldiers are elites, and my sisters’ fear strikes my heart.
I’m their alpha. They’re my family. I can’t let anything happen to them.
The group of seven soldiers is led by the blond demon who first approached Roman ahead of the others when we arrived on the bridge. While the other demons are at least six feet tall, he’s easily six and a half, his shoulders broad, and he’s wearing armored plates across his chest, thighs, and arms. Each of the soldiers carries a spear, the tips of which are now pointed at us.
“Step aside, Princess,” the blond demon calls, his eyes completely black. “Our duty is clear. The lesser beings must die.”
Everything he said makes my hackles rise. The fact that he considers my beautiful sisters to be lesser beings—and that he called me a princess. Koda called me ‘Princess’ and I let it slide because I thought he was using it in a derogatory sense, which I totally expected. Now, the title has a completely different effect on me, my anger rising as the trap I find myself in shrinks around me.
“Come any closer to my sisters, and you’ll find out just how far from a princess I am,” I snarl at him.
Growls leave my lips as my wolf’s anger increases. At the same time, my demon power rises, a force I don’t yet know how to control, causing shadows to grow around me, darkening the air across the crystal bridge so suddenly that the soldiers falter.
