Chapter Four
Calling all my courage, I stepped into Sitri’s chancery. My lantern, held tight to my chest, served as a shield against the shadows. Its light dispelled the darkness. I took in my new surroundings.
Bookshelves lined the walls. They contained baskets and crates overflowing with bottles, scrolls, and strange tools. Some carried clothes and armor, while sacks and pots filled others. In the space between the doorway and the desk, my light unveiled a pair of upholstered chairs. Their reptile skin surfaces shone in brilliant hues of indigo and crimson. Splayed out on the floor lay a massive black pelt, which froze me in my tracks. Whatever creatures had lost their skins to the rug and chairs, they weren’t earthly in origin. These were the hides of demonic beasts I couldn’t even imagine.
I flinched as a click sounded behind me. When I turned, I saw the demoness had closed the door, leaving me alone with the Prince.
“Eyes on me, darling.”
My head snapped to attention at Sitri’s command, and our eyes locked. The Prince’s words ignited sparks of rage that threatened toburn away my fear. I’d heard that tone before. It revived memories of disappointed superiors and dismissive peers looking down on me like I was nothing. Beneath them.
If the Prince thought I was easy prey, he was wrong, and I would relish the chance to prove it.
The shaggy pelt caressed my bare feet as I walked over it, claiming the rightmost chair, never breaking my stare as I moved. I thrust my lantern onto the desk. Its light scattered the shadows, exposing the Prince in his entirety. I sat with my back straight, shoulders broad, and hands shaking.
“Better,” Sitri said, still smirking. “Now, what was it you wanted from me?”
“I need your protection,” I answered, struggling to level my voice.
He raised an eyebrow. “It is quite unusual for a girl like you to ask a Prince like me for protection. What possessed you to believe that was a good idea?”
“Zaleos said—”
“I couldn’t care less what lies that Duke told you,” Sitri interrupted. “You’re in my court now, darling, and you’ll appeal to me if you value your soul. Try again.”
I shuddered, and the twinge at the corner of the Prince’s lips suggested he took notice. I didn’t like the way he sized me up. He drank me in from top to bottom, lingering just a moment too long in all the wrong places, making my skin crawl. My muscles locked. As my fingers curled into claws, they threatened to indent the armrests I clung to.
“There’s nowhere else for me to go, and I need help. I’m prepared to strike a bargain. Please hear me out.” The words proved difficult to produce through gritted teeth, and once I’d spat them out, I shut my jaw tight. I didn’t dare mention Vapula, not after the Prince’s threats and Zaleos’ warning.
“I don’t make a habit of protecting fragile things. Haven’t you theslightest idea what happens to humans in my kingdom?”
“No,” I said, “I don’t. Would you be so kind as to enlighten me?”
I held my head high as he tried to intimidate me, wore defiance on my sleeve, unwilling to yield. Sitri was dark. Powerful. Predatory. This man, thismonster,commanded respect even from the demons that dwelled here in the underworld. Though fear and rage swirled just beneath my calm facade, I was determined to cage them until the danger passed.
For what little it was worth, the strategy worked. Sitri studied me. I hoped the narrowing of his eyes signaled uncertainty, and not something far more sinister.
“I bind them. I claim their souls as my own and put them to work for my cause. Some of them like it. Most of them don’t.”
He stood from his throne, moving with a grace that quickened my heart until I feared it might leap from my chest. Gleaming metal at his waist caught my eye. Two sheaths and a holster. The Prince bore arms. Though he turned his head from me, the sheen of eyes like steel warned me I still sat firmly in his sight.
I watched with bated breath. He stalked around the desk and to my right. My muscles tensed in anticipation. As he passed me, Sitri’s slender fingers licked across my forearm, raising revulsion in my throat and goosebumps on my skin. The momentary contact sent ice into my veins. His trajectory was clear. There was only one way out of the chancery, out of Sitri’s domain—the door through which I’d entered. Soon, he would eclipse it. The demon’s shoes clacked against the wood flooring. Like the ticking of a clock, the sharp sound warned me that my time to act grew short.
“The thing they all have in common?” he continued. “Each and every one of them loses their humanity in the process. Are you prepared for the consequences should that happen to you, darling?”
I turned my head, trying to follow the demon, but the shadows at the doorway grew long. It was nigh impossible to find where they endedand the Prince began. A matter of seconds remained. To falter would lock me into his chancery, with no hope of rescue or escape. I had to confront him. Here and now. I sprang to my feet, seizing Zaleos’ lantern and whipping around to bathe him in its light. Sitri held a bronze key. It told me all I needed to know.
His smile deepened, baring fangs as he waited for the hunt to start. I feinted right. The Prince matched me with inhuman speed. His arms stretched outwards to meet me, finding only empty air as I slid to the left. My hand settled on the doorknob. I threw the door open, striking Sitri with its bulk, hope surging through me as I took my first step toward freedom.
By my second footfall, he was already upon me.
One hand caught the collar of my shirt, and the other found my waist. He gave a sharp tug. I fell, colliding not with the floor but with Sitri’s armored chest. My back met leather and rippling muscles. He pulled me taut against him.
I screamed, flailing in his hold, allowing the lantern to slip from my grasp. It shattered as it landed. Flames bloomed from its carcass, but before they spread, Sitri’s boot snuffed out their light. His hand slid from where he held my shirt, slithering along my neck until he seized my jaw. The Prince’s fingers dug into my skin. I winced. He applied careful pressure, just enough to silence my cries, but not to choke me completely.
With the flickering candle at our backs, he left me staring into the shadow of our embrace. His form devoured mine. All that remained on the wall was the image of a predator who’d caught his prey.
“You’re a cunning little thing, aren’t you? That was a nice attempt, I’ll give you that, but you have no idea who you’re dealing with. I cannot be outrun,” he whispered into my ear, his warm breath stirring over my skin.
