“Ahkeel, now is not the time to taunt the half bloods.” Jerry’s cavernous voice held power. I looked at him, as though seeing him for the first time. His huge bulk—smothered with black swirling symbols—radiated calm. There had always been something soothing about Jerry. He was terrifying to look at, but I’d never feared him. From the moment Carol-Anne had first introduced us, I’d warmed to him.
I flicked my gaze to Akil, saw him bow his head and turn away. Akil didn’t take orders from anyone, and he certainly didn’t bow his head. “Holy shit, Jerry, You’re the king.”
Jerry’s lips creased into a smile, bowing the tattoos on his cheeks. “The king died long ago.”
Akil crouched beside the demons curled in the corner. They purred awake, although they didn’t have any eyes to open. One nuzzled his hand. Another flicked its forked tongue out and licked his face. He muttered something in the old language, and the three demons purred their pleasure.
“The symbols hide you,” I whispered.
“My symbols protect me from nosey demons getting too close.”
“You’re the king. Oh, my God.” It had to be true. Akil had said I’d met him. He’d been right in front of me the whole time, patching me up when I got myself poisoned by Scorsi venom. He’d always been there. The king was control to the queen’s chaos. That was the sensation I had from Jerry. Control.
Jerry leaned back and frowned. “Ahkeel, she’s not listening.”
“Muse never does.”
“Deny it.” All sets of eyes swiveled to me, and nobody said a word. “Ha! See? You can’t.” I poked Jerry in his barrel-like chest, and then tensed and curled my fingers into my hand. If he was the king, poking him was not the best course of action. I backed up and moistened my throat.
“I thought you believed me to be the king?” Akil glanced over his shoulder.
Stefan snorted. “King of Liars. Nobody would dispute that.”
Akil patted the demon on its haunches before him and rose. “Stefan, you are a half-blood whelp compared to my infinite existence. It takes a special kind of fool to insult the Prince of Greed in his domain while surrounded by a loyal army of five thousand demons. Don’t you agree? I suggest you keep your comments to yourself, unless you’d like the battle to start here and now.” Behind him, the three demons snarled as one, except they weren’t three separate demons, but one huge beast with three heads. Although blind, it could clearly see Stefan because all three heads pointed at him, marking their target. Three gaping maws snuffled and snarled, dripping streams of saliva.
“You think I fear your pet?” Stefan smiled, and all the traces of the warm Stefan I’d witnessed in the car were gone. “We both know I’m more powerful than you. Set your dog on me, and watch it die. Your whole army of demons can’t stop me. So go on, old man. Bring the fire.”
“Your word is true. I have no intention of stopping you, but Muse will.”
Oh dammit. I lifted my hands, palms out. “Let’s not do this now.” I sent a silent plea out to Jerry. “Please, can we all just play nice until we’ve beaten back the netherworld?”
Stefan stood his power down but continued to stew in silence. Akil’s smile declared he’d won that battle, and Jerry chuckled to himself. I puffed out a sigh. If two princes could barely control themselves, how was Akil going to control an army of wayward chaos demons? “Akil, may I have a word with you. Privately.” I received a sharp glare from Stefan and ignored it. Akil inclined his head and left the room with me close behind. We wove through Blackstone’s halls. I’d spent much of my adolescence in that house. It still felt like a home, even crawling with demons.
I snorted a derisive sound as Akil led me to the master bedroom, which was conveniently clear of demons. My honed demon senses picked up on his rich, masculine scent and delivered the memory of when I’d last been in the room, sprawled naked in the bed, and I covered a purr behind a cough. “We have Valenti tied up at Ryder’s place. He says his half bloods will be coming for him. We’re going to be ready. Do you want in?”
Akil moved to the windows. Outside in the half-light, demons crawled over the manicured lawns like stone gargoyles come to life. “My place is with the demons. It takes half bloods