Inferno of Darkness (Divisa Huntress #2) - J.L. Weil Page 0,56

didn’t shy away.

In fact, I stared right back, hanging tightly onto the glass. “Angel doesn’t want anything to do with the Court of Inferno. She doesn’t care about your demon politics.” Angel might hold the title, but she didn’t consider herself a part of the underworld and had renounced her claim to the Court of Inferno. Not formally, of course, because none of us knew if that was possible.

Verena raised a single brow. “Is it not true that the Queen of Darkness just months ago tried to steal her crown?” Her eyes shifted to the top of my head where Ashor’s crown glittered. “I couldn’t help notice that the mortal doesn’t wear the Crown of Inferno,” the queen mused with curiosity and a touch of disfavor.

Careful, luv.

My chin lifted, and I sat straighter in my seat. “No. She doesn’t. It’s a position she never wanted, but something she couldn’t avoid.”

“That must really burn Kali’s ass.” A slow curl of her lips. “Good.”

“I take you aren’t BFFs?” I asked, intrigued by the pleasure that lit her eyes.

A seductive laugh trickled from Verena, making my skin tingle. “You really don’t have any clue about the workings of Hell. It’s almost comical. The Queen of Darkness and I can hardly stand to be in the same world as one another. Given the chance, she would drown my soul in darkness. But it is the same among all the royals, isn’t it, Ashor?”

My mate neither denied nor confirmed Verena’s insight into the courts. He simply took the glass from my fingers and downed the remaining wine.

“It’s no secret. Demons aren’t wired for feelings of the mushy kind. It’s interesting that your mate wears your crown,” she said to Ashor.

“Is it?” he replied, sounding bored.

Verena smiled.

I shot her a shrewd expression. “What do you want with Ashor?”

She regarded me before responding. I was no one to her. I was someone she deemed beneath her, and yet, it was my status to the prince that allowed me to be here. Without him, I would be considered lower than the lowest demon. I probably wouldn’t have been invited into her home, that’s for sure. “To end a war before it begins,” she finally said.

“Hasn’t it already begun?” I countered, not caring two shits what she thought about me. I wasn’t one of her subjects or of this world, so damn their rules.

Verena’s grew dark and turbulent. “Perhaps, but if there is a way to save my court from destruction, then I will do everything in my power to prevent their suffering. I’ll save the torment for the Court of Misery.”

“And how does Ashor’s presence here accomplish that?” I challenged. I respected her conviction to protect her court and position, but that was where my respect ended.

“Verena plans to use me as leverage,” my mate supplied. “But she should know that I am not that important to my mother. She will not give you what you seek.”

The queen laid a hand on the table, nails tapping against the wood. “We shall see. In the meantime, you are free to enjoy the pleasures of Gardeness, but you cannot leave.”

Ashor remained gloriously uninterested. “I know the rules.”

Verena smiled. “Good.”

I fidgeted on Ashor’s lap, ignoring the sudden leap of my pulse. Lexi, sit still, I scolded myself. “Do those same rules apply to me?” I asked the queen as one of Ashor’s hands slid under the side of my shirt.

A ripple of the queen’s power trembled in the air. “You are the daughter of one of mine, so yes, the same rules apply to you. I’ll let Ashor handle the dos and don’ts of court.”

Ashor’s fingers traveled higher up my back, dancing lightly over my skin. I used all my willpower not to lean back into him and sigh, but concentrate on the queen’s words. “So we’re prisoners?” I concluded.

“Your label, not mine. It is really for your own protection,” she insisted, continuing her little delusional skit. “Jesset will show you to your room for the duration of your stay.” Verena snapped her fingers, and a female appeared in the doorway. “I assume you’ll want to share a room,” she said with a scandalized twist of her lips.

14

Jesset was scantily dressed in sheer silk that wrapped around her neck in a crisscross to just cover her full breasts. If she moved the wrong way, they would be saying hello to the world. The material was tied with a ribbon at her waist, falling down the front and back of her body,