Nina nodded completely invested in the drama now . “I feel like I’m watching a supernatural divorce court.”
Anderson pinched the bridge of his nose like he regretted every life decision leading to this street corner. Meanwhile my demon still hadn’t looked away from me once. Not once. And for the first time since the reveal, he finally stopped trying to defend himself.
“I should have told you,” he admitted quietly.
The words settled heavily between us, simple and honest without a single excuse attached to them, and that hurt in a completely different way because there was nothing left for me to push against except my own feelings, except the fact that despite everything, despite how angry and hurt I still was, part of me still wanted him standing this close to me, and that was deeply unfair.
Before I could say anything else, a loud horn echoed across the city. The sound rolled through Hell like thunder. Every demon nearby stopped moving instantly. Conversations died. The silver flames lining the streets flickered violently once before burning brighter.
Even the younger brother’s expression changed.
“…Oh no.”
he atmosphere around us shifted so fast it made my stomach tighten instinctively. I scanned the crowded street as nearby demons began backing away from us with visible unease. Others lowered their heads completely.
“What was that?”
An answer didn’t come right away, which was becoming deeply concerning at this point, and then I noticed the change in my demon’s expression as the softness vanished behind something tighter and far more guarded.
The younger brother finally turned toward the massive black palace towering far beyond the city bridges. “The council knows she's here now.”
Every instinct in my body hated that sentence.
Nina's expression matched my alarm. “Okay, wow. That sounded aggressively political.”
Anderson exhaled deeply beside us. “Because it is.”
I crossed my arms. “Can somebody explain why everyone in Hell keeps talking like we’re one bad decision away from war.”
The younger brother muttered, “Because usually we are.”
“That is not comforting.”
Around us, the crowd had started moving again, but the atmosphere was completely different now as whispers spread rapidly through the streets while more and more demons turned to stare openly at me instead of my demon.
That felt significantly worse. One nearby demon whispered quietly, “That’s the human.” Another answered, “The marked one?”
My stomach dropped.
“Oh I hate this place already.”
Without thinking, I moved slightly closer toward my demon again. Then I got annoyed at myself for doing it.
He noticed both reactions instantly, and his hand shifted slightly at his side like he almost reached for me without thinking before forcing himself to stop at the last second, which hurt far more than I wanted it to. Good. He deserved to suffer a little too.
Anderson faced the palace once more before speaking sharply. “We need to move. Now.”
“No,” one older demon called from the edge of the new crowd.
Everybody turned.
The demon stared directly at me with open disbelief. “You brought a human marked by a prince into the capital?”
“I feel like the wording there was judgmental,” Nina muttered.
The younger brother was deeply offended on my behalf. “In fairness, she arrived voluntarily.”
“That is MORE concerning.”
