Frost Fae (Dark Fae Kings #2) - Meg Xuemei X Page 0,51

train you and make a vow to me. You’re the only superior being who was successfully bred and made perfect amid numerous arduous experiments.

“You’re the true heir who possesses and balances light and dark magic at once. You alone can bring down the Veil, which is a coveted power to any court and any realm. Even your sister can’t hold a flame to your potential.” He smirked diabolically. “I bet you’ve seen through her glamour that covers up her defect. However, princess, your time has run out. The Dawn Queen has learned about you and will soon realize the doppelgänger the Winter King glamoured as you is a phony. The queen is coming for you, and only I can hide you and protect you until you’re ready to take on all the realms.”

Everyone wanted me to either take the throne or take the world.

The archdemon waved a hand, and before I could shoot him or better yet, vanquish him with my shadow fire, a trail of smoke arose before dissipating and playing a holographic video in front of me.

A girl glamoured to wear my face struggled against heavy chains that bound her ankles and wrists. A bloodcurdling scream ripped out of her as long iron nails pierced her palms, pinning her to the wall like a flailing butterfly. Blood streamed from her multiple wounds. The Dawn Queen supervised the crucifixion with a sadistic smile on her thin, deformed lips.

I watched in horror. My body shuddered in the chill. The scene the demon was showing me shared an uncanny similarity to the dream I’d had after my job interview at Claws, Fangs, and Fiends.

In my dream, I was the one being crucified, and the Fae kings had pounded in the nails, commanded by Brigantia.

“I hated you the second you were born, abomination,” the queen had shrieked before she turned to the Night King. “Now drive the last iron spike into her heart, Rydstrom, and fulfill your promise to me—your one true love!”

“I can’t let that bitch kill that innocent girl!” I snarled, gripping my gun, ready to charge out of my house. I still had Fae knights guarding my siblings and me. I could get some of them to help.

“Oh, Ileana, don’t be so naïve,” the archdemon said. “You can’t reach her. If you try to save everyone, you’ll only be a broken doll and get yourself killed before this season is over. That courtesan from the Winter Court was already dead as you watched. And she wasn’t as innocent as you might believe. Consumed by jealousy that you were the Winter King’s new favorite, she brought the Dawn Queen to the Winter castle and sold you out. You have a lot to learn about the true nature of the Fae. They might look better than demons, but they aren’t any better than us.”

Something tapped in my mind. Had the Winter King found out that his courtesan betrayed him, so he meted out her punishment by glamouring her as me and sent her to a horrific death at the hands of the Dawn Queen? Why not just give me up to the cruel queen instead?

“What your dear sister will do to you will be so much worse,” the archdemon said. “She’ll turn you into the ultimate tithe. None of the Fae kings can protect you. The Dawn Queen is more powerful than all the kings combined due to her lineage and unspeakable experiments on her dark magic. The kings don’t know what she really is. Other than you, none can see through her glamour. And for that reason alone, she’ll try everything in her power to eliminate you. Unbeknownst to all the Fae courts, she also commands a hybrid army.”

I blinked. Was the demon hinting that the Dawn Queen was the true ringleader of the darkfae? I’d seen the disturbing sight of a flesh-eating shade shift and hover above her features in the Winter castle.

“What hybrid army?” I asked.

“Ally with me and all will be revealed to you,” said the archdemon. “Princess Ileana, only Hell’s force can truly protect you. I’m Asmodeus, the most powerful dark prince in Hell. All I need from you is a contract, and I’ll shield you till the day you can wade through the river of your enemies’ blood to your throne. Even after your Turning, you’ll need a powerful ally like me to show you the ropes and help unravel your terrifying, forbidden lineage and magic.”

What he’d promised only pumped more fear into me.

“I’m good,”