“Theyfell off?” Bex repeated, gaping in horror as Adrian handed her the four long black horns he’d pulled out of his enchanted pockets.
“I don’t… I can’t… why did this happen?” Bex stuttered as she took them. “I’ve never heard of any demon’s horns just falling off. What does it mean? Did I do something wrong?”
She was terrified it was because she’d given up their claim on Paradise. As always, though, Drox was there with the practical explanation.
They fell off because you kept your promise,her sword told her calmly.You said it yourself: Your demons put that crown on your head so that you could defeat Gilgamesh, and you did. All the tyrants are gone and your people are free, which means there’s no more need for you to keep weighing yourself down with such heavy burdens.
His black ring turned on her finger to bump against the four black horns Bex was clutching to her chest.
Your duty is completed, Bex of the Bonfire, Blade of Her People. Rest now from your labors and enjoy the peace your dedication has earned.
Drox’s voice went silent then, leaving Bex alone in her head. She was still processing it all when Adrian leaned over to peek at her lowered face.
“You were just talking to your sword, right? What did he say?”
“He said I’m done,” Bex whispered, moving the four shed horns to her left hand so she could reach up and touch the two she still had with her right.
It felt like stepping back in time. The two horns she hadn’t lost were at her temples, in the exact same position as her original pair, but that wasn’t where the similarities stopped. They had the same curve, the same ridges, even the same weight as the ones the Queen of War had ripped off her head. The only difference was that she didn’t feel them pushing down when she thought the nameRebexa. These were still her new crown, Bex’s horns. Otherwise, everything felt the same as it had the evening Adrian pulled her out of his bonfire. No fear-demon scales or war-demon bronze appeared on her arm when she clenched her fist, either, and Bex’s lips curled into a smile.
“Huh,” she said as she lowered her hand. “Looks like I’m back to being just the Queen of Wrath again.”
“Is that a good thing?” Adrian asked nervously.
“It’s fantastic,” Bex assured him, handing her horns back to Adrian since the leggings she was wearing didn’t have pockets. “All that power and responsibility was a pain in the neck, and my people deserve to make their own decisions for once. They just got free of Gilgamesh’s warlocks. The last thing they need is a queen bossing them around.”
“You deserve a break from them as well,” Adrian said as his lips curved into a sly smile. “You know, if you’re looking for something to do with all your new free time, I happen to be acquainted with a witch who’d love to take you on a very extensive, very leisurely tour of all the interesting things to do in Seattle.”
Bex smiled back. “Do you, now?”
“He desperately needs your help,” Adrian told her gravely. “He’s terrible at doing fun things by himself. I mean, he’s livedin Seattle all summer, and he’s only visited one brewery, one tourist-trap restaurant, and one boba tea shop. That’s pathetic.”
“That just means he’s got a lot left to explore,” Bex said, scooting closer. “How soon would this witch like to start?”
“The moment you’re ready,” Adrian replied, offering her his hand with a flourish. “Just say the word, and I’ll fly us to dinner right now.”
Bex’s stomach rumbled loudly at the mention of dinner. She couldn’t actually remember the last time she’d eaten real food. She was so hungry right now that any edible substance sounded like heaven, especially if she got to eat it with Adrian, but…
“Are you sure we can?” she asked nervously. “What about the battle for the Blackwood?”
“What about it?” Adrian asked with a shrug. “The main grove’s got the Three Old Wives, the bull of Ishtar, my entire coven, and half a million demons fighting against an army of coddled cowards who’ve just learned their god-king has been defeated and their magic’s about to be toast. I’m pretty sure it can survive our absence. I, however, will perish right here on this spot if I don’t take you out for pizza in the next five minutes.”
“I definitely don’t want you to die after all that trouble,” Bex said, laughing as she grabbed his hand. “And Ilovepizza.”
Adrian pulled her to her feet with a grin, pausing just long enough to kiss her on the cheek before whirling around to yell for Boston to come back so they could go get dinner.
EPILOGUE
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Six weeks later.
“AND THAT ABOUT WRAPSit up for us,” said the old hate demon who ran the new demon community in Atlanta. “The Ponce Anchor Market finally collapsed last week due to lack of quintessence, but we’d already picked it down to the floorboards, so it wasn’t a loss. Between those goods and the gold we stripped off Gilgamesh’s palace, our budget’s set for the foreseeable future.”
“Good work,” Bex said, holding her two remaining horns high as she smiled at the grid of horned, fanged faces that’d shown up for her weekly video call with demon leaders from the southern US. “Thank you, everyone. for your hard work and for keeping me informed. We’ll do this again same time next week. If you have any problems before then, send a message to Lys, and we’ll get right back to you.”
“Great queen,” the demons all said, bowing their horns before everyone switched off their cameras and left the video call, leaving Bex sitting alone at her desk in the new client-suite-turned-office-turned-smoking-crater-turned-back-to-office at the nose of their Winnebago.
Honestly, the repair was ahugeimprovement. Their old RV had been overdue for a renovation even before Heaven’s attack on the Seattle Anchor pulverized it. She’d worried it couldn’t be saved at all now that quintessence was rarer than sunshine in a Seattle January, but that was before Leander had stepped up and offered to help. Not only was he a kick-asssorcerer, as the only surviving white-blooded prince, he was also the last remaining source of quintessence in the entire world.
