strongest shifters in Hell?” At this I nearly lost it and in doing so would have revealed that she was much more than just some mortal pussy. Thankfully, I had enough sense to wisely hold back. After all, this was all just an act I was forced to play out.
“Those royal shifters have been bound to me for long enough. It is time they start fulfilling their own destinies and there is no better cause for them in doing so now by serving me this one last time. Besides, Trice grows stronger and stronger each passing decade and is fuelled by his bitter hatred for being bound to me.”
“You have a point there,” he muttered before I carried on.
“Yes and that bitterness will either have the power to destroy himself and his brothers or it will be enough to do damage to my kingdom, either one would be a waste, as it would only end in their death and my annoyance at our having to rebuild…neither of these I have the patience or time for,” I said making yet another point.
“Nor I,” he agreed even without knowing the full extent of bad timing. Which meant that as my second in command he really needed to be informed of what was happening regarding the witch, someone who was making it her mission to destroy my life and everyone connected to it. I also knew that the sooner I discovered her identity then the sooner I could discover her weaknesses and use them against her. Everyone had a weakness in some way, and up until Amelia, then I had prided myself on having none. Which was why I knew how vital it was to keep her true identity unknown, even from the man I had appointed to run my kingdom. Because as much as I trusted him to rule in my place, I didn’t trust him when it came to the one being I wanted to keep her secret from the most…
Lucifer.
“Where is Carn’reau?” I asked after the commander of my armies, the once dark Fae Prince and banished rightful ruler of his Elemental world. The reasons for his banishment were never made known to me and in truth, I hadn’t cared enough to find out. All I cared for is that he offered his loyalty to me and with it the army he brought with him that was banished as well. Of course, his loyalty came with some perks on both sides, for the exchange in power was a welcomed bonus. This was because my blood granted him more power than those of his brethren, including his brothers. As for my gain, other than that of his army, were his extreme fighting skills and experience in war, for he was to this date unbeaten in battle.
It was why I made him commander of all my own armies, not just the one he brought with him upon leaving his world. The new training methods he enforced meant that my kingdom was in fact one of only few claimed to be the most powerful in all of Hell. Fuck, but the reason Lucifer was so twitchy around me these last few hundred years was because my strength was only increasing, in both my own supernatural abilities and the strength of my forces. But then that was what happened when you spent your time obsessed with trying to create the most powerful beings to add to your collection…sometimes, you succeeded.
“He is as he should be, preparing to charge into battle on the Shadowlands at first light, you know the piece of land we have been trying to claim for the last three hundred turns of the sky.” I hissed a curse under my breath and said the unthinkable,
“Postpone the war.”
“What?!” he snapped back incredulously.
“You heard me, have them pull back and postpone the campaign.” I repeated making his green eyes spark with anger.
“But we are so close to winning this—” he started to argue, one I stopped in its tracks before he went too far.
“You. Heard. Me.” At this he sighed and wisely gave up the fight after first looking around the room and realising we weren’t free to have this open conversation the way he obviously wished we were.
“And your orders for them?” He asked in a now tense tone.
“I want them to march throughout the towns, search every fucking house, inn, every fucking hole in the ground, I don’t fucking care, I just want her found!” I snapped having long done with