heart. I had to tell Lucifer immediately. I bent to slip my shoes back on, then took a deep, fortifying breath and threw myself into the crowd. I darted between demons, trying to get to the center of the room so I could find Lucifer and warn him about Mammon.
When I was almost halfway there, one of the spotlights swung around and beamed down on Lucifer. I caught my breath at the sight of him, shadows playing across his face and his eyes burning with power. He stood in front of his throne and turned in a slow circle. A silver crown graced his head, throwing off fragments of the light as he moved, and it fit him as if he’d been born to wear it. The room quieted as everyone gave their attention to their king.
His commanding voice rang across the ballroom. “Someone in this very room has been plotting to overthrow me. Trying to take what is mine.”
At first I assumed he meant his throne, but then his gaze found me in the crowd, like a caress only I could feel.
He meant me. I was the thing he considered his.
“All traitors will be punished.” As he spoke, another spotlight illuminated the corner of the room, near where I’d been sitting, where Gadreel and Samael now led out four demons. I wasn’t sure what kind they were, but I had a sneaking suspicion these were the demons involved in the attacks that had been captured.
The demons were pushed down so they kneeled in front of Lucifer, facing the audience. Their faces were drawn with lines of tension and their hands were bound behind their backs, but otherwise they appeared uninjured. I could barely look into their eyes. Pure fear glimmered there as shadows began to snake round them. Like even the darkness was toying with them.
Lucifer began to pace slowly behind the traitors as he spoke. “These four—an imp, a dragon, a gargoyle, and a shifter—were all caught in plots against me. Tonight they will be punished.”
I expected the audience to react in some way, but it seemed like everyone in the crowd was holding their breath, too terrified to move. Me included.
“I have been Demon King for thousands of years.” Lucifer’s voice boomed around the ballroom, echoing from the walls I couldn’t see. “Though many have tried to overthrow me, all have failed. There’s a reason I’m the King. Perhaps you all need a reminder?”
Then he bowed his head and took a deep, controlled breath. His shadowy black wings erupted behind his body, and I gaped at him along with everyone else in the ballroom. Tendrils of black, smoky energy crept around him coalescing and growing thicker, until they almost looked like inky black, swirling solids. I stepped forward, moving carefully through the crowd again as the lines of black shadow wrapped around each of the demon’s necks. Nobody moved but me.
“I do not tolerate insubordination.” Lucifer snapped his fingers, and suddenly bright blue flame erupted from the darkness wrapped around the demons. The traitors screamed as the unnatural blue fire consumed them, lighting the room with eerie, flickering light. Everyone gasped, their faces paling, their mouths falling agape, but nobody stepped forward. I heard a few people whispering in shocked voices about hellfire, as the four demons turned to ash before our eyes.
Then the entire room bowed as one, lowering to knees of submission on the floor, until I was the only one besides Lucifer standing. I stared at him in horror as he surveyed the people kneeling before him, his wings spread wide with darkness trailing off them like mist.
He’d just…killed them. Right there, in front of everyone. And his people bowed. My breathing came in shallow, fast pants, and my dress felt like it was tightening around me, constricting my chest until I had no space for air.
Lucifer’s gaze met mine with a dark smile, and he was triumphant. Proud. His eyes glowed red as he looked at me like he was encouraging my pleasure as well.
Because I was his queen.
And the worst thing was…a part of me wanted to smile back. To applaud him for what he’d done. They’d kidnapped Brandy. They’d threatened my lover. They’d tried to kill me. They deserved retribution.
As soon as everyone was upright again, I used their cover to take off running, sliding between bodies and moving as fast as I could while staying upright in my heels. My chest heaved as nausea roiled through me and my heart