A flush crept up my neck. “G-Good evening, Lord Onyx.”
“By the gods,” Briar said under his breath.
Onyx’s red eyes zeroed in on him. “I assure you; I am no god. But some claim I do have the temperament of one.” Translation: don’t piss him off lest you wished to see that short fuse. “Where are the other three knights?”
“Upstairs,” Maddox responded with little inflection in his voice. The murderous glint in his eyes implied his emotional state all too well, though, no snarly tone needed.
“I see.” Onyx raked his gaze over my men before motioning to the chairs around him. “Please have a seat.”
“I’d rather stand,” Maddox said.
“And I’m asking you to sit and join me for a drink.” The red in Onyx’s eyes appeared to brighten, if only briefly. “Unless you come here for nefarious reasons?”
“Says the demon lord,” Callum said through clenched teeth. “Many good men have died because of you. Men I called friends. They left behind wives and children.”
“You aren’t the only one who’s lost people in this war,” Onyx responded. “Remember that.”
Callum was stubborn just like his captain, unwilling to let his guard down so easily. “What I remember is my brothers in arms crying out as your demons ripped them apart.”
“Then perhaps those brothers should have stayed out of the dark wood.” Onyx looked at him, then dropped his gaze to our joined hands. There was a subtle crease in his brow. “If you march out seeking a fight, you’ll find one. That is no fault of mine.”
“Let’s all take a breath,” Briar said, grabbing Maddox’s arm. “This is no time for arguing. Lord Onyx has welcomed us into his realm. The least we can do is sit and have a drink with him, listening to what he has to say.”
Maddox wasn’t calmed by the gentle grab of his bicep. He looked seconds away from lunging toward Onyx and raining down punches. “How can we drink with him when he’ll likely poison that drink?”
“Poison? Allow me to assure you, Captain, if I wanted to kill you, it wouldn’t be with poison. I’d simply flick my wrist and watch your head topple from your shoulders.”
Yeah… that didn’t help dissolve any of the tension in the room. Callum squared his shoulders, and Maddox squeezed his hands into such tight of fists that his knuckles popped. By the click in his jaw, I wagered it came from him trying not to lunge forward and meet Onyx’s threat with the power of his fists.
Gods give me strength.
“Okay, all of you need to behave,” I said. “There will be no head whacking or throwing punches. We’re going to talk like civil adults.”
“I am being civil.” Onyx walked to a small round table, his movements fluid, and poured himself a goblet of wine from a glass pitcher. “Yet, I won’t tolerate such blatant disrespect in my own home.”
I tossed a look to Maddox, my lips pierced and brows raised, then gave the same one to Callum. Both of them sneered in response. They reminded me of bickering children told to makeamends. Ones who’d no doubt continue to elbow each other and mutter insults the moment I turned my back.
“Can you really do that?” Rowan asked, stepping forward. His gait was relaxed and brimming with cockiness as usual, but the excitement in his eyes was new. I rarely saw him so animated. “Take off someone’s head with a mere flick of your wrist?”
“You must be Rowan.” Onyx regarded him with interest. “The one who first brought Evan to the dark wood. To have an audience with me, if memory serves.”
“Aye.” That excitement diminished as Rowan rubbed at the back of his head. “Mistook him for Prince Sawyer and thought you’d grant me passage into your realm if I had something valuable to offer in exchange.”
“Little did you realize the value of the one you captured instead.” The demon lord tilted his head, a smile lifting the edge of his mouth. “A long-lost prince.”
“What do you intend to do with Evan?” Maddox asked. “Your hatred of the royal family is no secret.”
“His father was a dear friend of mine.” Onyx retrieved more glasses, one for each of us, and lined them up on the table, filling them with wine. “Unlike you and your knights, I don’t blindly kill those deemed as enemies. As for what I intend todowith Evan… well, that’s no concern of yours.”
The last was spoken with a smirk that most definitely got my captain riled up.
“I care not how powerful you are,” Maddox said in a low tone that gave me shivers. “Harm one hair on his head and it’ll be the last thing you ever do.”
“Cease with the threats. If I wished him harm, I would never have allowed you into my realm.” Lord Onyx offered him a goblet. “Now drink with me. Humans and demons may be at odds, but surely, we can be civil for tonight.”
I got the impression it was a test. Onyx didn’t care so much about drinking with them as he did about seeing if they’d bewillingto sit and have that drink. It was a show of good faith.
Maddox eyed the goblet before striding forward and accepting it.
