“I am General Baal, and I now serve Barbie, the new Queen of the Underworld.”
Louis also narrowed his pale blue eyes. “What? Did we portal to the wrong fucking universe?”
“Shit! How do we get back?” I breathed, trading an appalled look with the other heirs.
“Barbie, known to some as Ugly Barbie, or Little Bob,” Baal clarified, then quickly cleared his throat. “Both are disrespectful nicknames—ones we don’t tolerate. Our new queen is the most beautiful and powerful, equal to Queen Lilith. The Oracle revealed to our beloved queen what must come to pass. She is gone now; she gave her essence to Goddess Barbie, to defeat the void god. Barbie is our new queen by divine right of succession and might.”
My companions and I exchanged an incredulous glance again before the shifter king exploded.
“We can’t trust demons!” Silas ground out. “Let’s just cut him down.”
“Give him a fucking second,” I countered, my gaze locked on the demon general. “We can always cut him down later if he looks at us wrong.”
Our army had poured out of the now sealed portal, facing off the legion of demons.
“Why now?” Rowan demanded, lightning crackling at his fingertips. “You betrayed us last time!”
“The Sixth House never betrayed the other houses,” Baal declared. “During the last battle, we were the ruse, the hidden blade waiting for this moment.” He drew a curved dagger and sliced his own palm. Thick black demon blood dripped onto the dead earth. “We swear a blood oath to our new queen, and we will not harm her allies. We have waited here for you on Queen Lilith’s final order. We are not powerful enough to counter the void god alone, but we can clear the path for you.” He then nodded at me in reverence. “You are the one Queen Lilith shielded before she hid you within Queen Barbie.”
“He’s telling the truth,” Cade said. The mage heir could always recognize lies.
Behind him, another giant demon stepped forward. I recognized him from the academy—Barbie had beaten the shit out of him in the study hall, and he’d respected her ever since.
“The void god took our queen into the bone palace. King Killian and his warriors entered minutes ago.”
General Baal raised his demon sword high. “Warriors! Today, we win back our honor! Today, we avenge Queen Lilith, the brightest star! Today, we fight for Queen Goddess Barbie!”
The demon army turned as one, thousands of voices taking up the bloodthirsty bellow. They crashed into the ranks of human traitors and the Legions of the Brotherhood and Shriekers. Demons loved violence and gore more than anything.
“Well,” Louis drawled, watching the carnage unfold. “That’s unexpected.”
“Complain later, bloodsucker bro,” Silas called, shifting into his massive warrior form. “Let’s kill every abomination!”
We charged into the gap the demons had torn open. The battle became a three-way massacre—demons and our combined force crushing the confused Shriekers between us. Bea’s blood shields proved their worth instantly, deflecting attacks easily.
The heirs and I carved through the enemy ranks like a burning arrow through silk. Rowan’s earth magic split the ground to swallow hundreds of Shriekers; Silas flooded half the battlefield, a violent whirlpool sweeping away two cohorts. Louis’s wind joined Cade’s fire, cleaving a burning path straight toward the bone palace.
My magic turned the human collaborators’ heavy artillery into splinters and wilted flowers, and the mages razed through the disarmed traitors. They were especially keen to find the druid for their prince, cutting down anyone who wore the symbol of the Legion of Brothers. The human traitors fell fast.
But the druid was nowhere to be found. He wasn’t on the battlefield. Cade cursed viciously; he had a personal score to settle for the Fury curse the druid had a hand in.
“We need to get to the bone palace!” I shouted over the din of battle.
Even though Barbie and I no longer shared a body, a special bond remained between us. Close in proximity, I felt her agony, only I couldn’t take it for her.
She was in that feeding chamber, where Ruin had tormented us countless times as children.
“We need to go!” I roared, urgency clawing at my throat. “Ruin is feeding on my sister!”
“Go!” General Baal appeared beside us, oily Shrieker blood on his broadsword. “We’ll hold the line. Save our queen!”
We ran. The heirs formed a protective formation around me as we sprinted across the blood-soaked ground toward the bone palace. Behind us, the battle raged—demons, fae, mages, witches, vampires, shifters, and chaos warriors, united in purpose.
To defend the realm. To save one infuriating, self-sacrificing goddess.
We’d brought the fight to our enemy’s door.
The entranceof the bone palace loomed before us, guarded by Archer and two shadow beasts from Underhill. The terrifying creatures used to escort me to work during those days I’d pretended my sugar was a client. Barbie had taken my “career” as a sex worker more seriously than I had. I hated to break it to her, but she was a terrible pimp. She probably needed to read a handbook or something.
