your full hand without knowing the stakes.”
“He’s right,” the queen agreed. “Pass the test, and I will not only join forces with the Prince of Darkness, I will break his oath to the Hunt.”
“Forgo the offer to release me from the Hunt and allow me to take the test in her place,” Ashor suggested. Well, it was more of a demand, the way it said it.
But the queen wasn’t intimidated. “No deal, Prince,” she said, sipping on her wine before reaching for a strawberry and sinking her teeth into the piece of fruit. Pink juice dribbled from the side of her lip, and she caught it with her black tongue. “This only works if your mate proves her loyalty. She is an outsider. You can’t expect me to go on your word alone. All I ask in return is for her to kill a demon. Surely, that isn’t a problem for the huntress? From what I’ve heard, she is quite skilled at demon slaying.”
Ashor’s eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. “What are you playing at, Verena?”
I almost laughed. This test… it was a joke. Why would she ask me to kill a demon knowing my background? “Is there anything special about this demon?” I asked to cover my ass.
“None that I’ve seen,” she answered levelly.
I shifted my legs under the table. “Why do you want him dead?”
The queen gave a blasé one-shoulder shrug. “For no particular reason other than he serves a purpose to prove your loyalty.”
So the poor bastard was chosen at random for my test, not that I cared. Most demons didn’t deserve to have a soul, even a black one. “Who is it?” I found myself asking, curious about the demon I was to kill.
The corner of her ticked and I could see I was pushing her patience. “His name does not matter. Only that you do the deed.”
I only thought about it for another heartbeat. “When?”
Triumph set her perfect cherry lips. “Why, now.”
My palms grew sweaty, and I wiped on the sheer fabric of my dress, telling myself to chill. “Am I to kill him with my bare hands or will you give me a weapon?”
As if on cue, a human sauntered into the room carrying a velvety bundle in his arms. He paused at my side, laying out the wrapped package on top of the table and unveiling an assortment of weapons that would have been any hunter’s wet dream. Emma would be peeing herself with excitement.
“Pick one,” the queen granted.
I couldn’t stop myself from running my fingers along the length of the artfully crafted blades. There were three of them, all made from a material that meant sure death for a demon. The smooth metal hummed under my touch. They were too fancy to be used for bloodshed, but I picked up the third one, fitting the hilt into my hand. It molded to my grip perfectly, and a small smile touched my mouth.
If I threw it down the length of the table, would I be fast enough to sink the blade into her chest? Killing the Queen of Envy wouldn’t solve anything. In fact, it would create a whole new set of problems I didn’t want to deal with. Killing a queen wasn’t like killing a demon. The consequences were huge, like inheriting an entire kingdom.
No. Fucking. Thank you.
And if she thought for one second I would do her dirty work, she was sadly mistaken. I was no demon’s bitch.
You want me to kill Kali?” I guessed. What other demon could she possibly want dead?
The queen laughed. “Lucifer, no. You wouldn’t stand a chance against her. The demon I speak of is a no one, really. Just a soul I acquired and turned, but I find I no longer have any use for him. Think of it as more of a gift than a test,” Verena purred. The gold bracelets around her arm moved, coiling and twirling like tiny snakes.
“And if I refuse?”
“Then you and Ashor face the Queen of Darkness alone. I don’t believe Kali will be as forgiving a second time, hearing that her son betrayed her again.”
She would kill us both. “Who is the demon?” I asked. It was a simple question and yet, the queen continued to dodge the question, which made me all kinds of suspicious. The bitch was up to something, but for the life of me, I couldn’t unearth what.
Ashor’s voice broke me out of my own head. “Lexi, you don’t have to do this.”
Verena ignored his