Rounding the corner onto a narrow landing, I met a couple of lesser demons. One gave a startled hiss, and then they both averted their eyes.
Drawing myself up to my full glamoured height, I arranged my face into a look of disdain as my bare feet slapped over the smooth black stone.
I hoped no one noticed that I had no idea where I was going.
The floor I’d come to seemed too lively to house the demon king’s private quarters, so I turned sharply toward the next set of stairs and continued into the bowels of the palace.
With every step, my anxiety mounted. In one split-second decision, I’d sealed all our fates. If I was wrong, I wouldn’t just be condemning myself and my friends to death. I’d doom the entire realm.
I reached the bottom of the stairs, where the buttresses were carved to resemble nude mortal bodies writhing in pain. Fisting my hands at my sides, I strode through an arched opening and nearly smacked headlong into a tall, handsome demon with pale skin, pale hair, and unnaturally straight teeth.
Fleshtalker.
I sucked in a startled breath, my mind working in fits and starts before I remembered that I wore another demon’s face. Unfortunately, I’d never seen Xadorsch interact with Fleshtalker, so I had no idea what to say.
“The prince has arrived,” I drawled in my best impression of the courtier. Chills raked down my spine at the sound of the demon’s low, oily voice, but I carefully hid my disgust. “He has brought the half-huntress mongrel and the Euroshean bitch.”
Fleshtalker’s lip curled, and I knew it had been the right choice to insult those in Kaden’s inner circle. Whether the two demons got along was irrelevant. I knew they held nothing but contempt for those who were not of demon blood.
“I see you failed to dispatch her before she reached our doorstep,” Fleshtalker snarled, narrowing his eyes and glaring at me with disdain.
Panic surged through my veins as I groped for what to say next. Xadorsch had been sent to kill me?
Shit. Clearly, since IwasXadorsch, I was supposed to know about that.
Thankfully, Fleshtalker spoke again before I was forced to say something that might give away my glamour. “No matter,” he muttered, nostrils flaring in irritation. “She is here now. I have waited centuries to have the little Euroshean whore at my mercy, and now we have the huntress to play with as well.”
My stomach curdled at his words, but I quickly schooled my expression.
“I shall bring her and the prince before the king, and we shall see how long she must suffer before he breaks.”
My blood boiled, and I had to resist the urge to plunge my witchwood blade through the bastard’s heart right then and there. I’d already missed my chance to kill Fleshtalker once. But I had a feeling I’d never make it to Semphrys if I committed murder on the way.
“In the meantime, his Majesty wished to see me,” I drawled, hoping that Fleshtalker didn’t know otherwise. I needed to find my way to the royal chambers — preferably before Kaden came looking for me and ruined my entire plan.
Suspicion flickered in the higher demon’s eyes, but he jerked his head toward another staircase across from the one I’d just descended. “Very well.”
“And I must speak to the prisoner,” I nearly stammered, knowing I was pushing my luck. “TheMorkahlf.”
Seconds passed in excruciating silence as Fleshtalker regarded me.
If Sorsha was wrong about Adriel, then I was well and truly fucked. I didn’t know how she’d guessed that the male wearing the royal guard’s face was an imposter, but suddenly, it made sense.
The apokropos stone.
The way he’d let that belligerent soldier get so close to the princess in the mess hall.
And then there was that moment in the stairwell when I’d thought . . .
I suppressed a shiver at the memory and met Fleshtalker’s gaze, sliding a hand into my robes to curl around my witchwood blade.
“He is not in the dungeons,” the demon said finally. “His . . . abilities make him rather difficult to contain.”
I raised an eyebrow, my heart hammering.
“He is being held in a rowan-wood crypt in the south wing, just below the king’s old chambers.” His mouth stretched in a bone-chilling smile, revealing two rows of dazzling teeth. “Give him my regards.”
My stomach sank. Adriel wasn’t even in this part of the palace. Going to him now would take too much time — time that I didn’t have.
