Underworld Bride Trials 1 Playboy King - Meg Xuemei X. Page 0,23

girls. How are you doing today?”

“Uh, girls, we’re just chilling here,” Darcy added from behind me in a quivering voice. She obviously thought she was better at making friends then me. “Wanna join us? We’re cool.”

“Cunts,” one of the demonesses spat.

“Cute,” I offered. “Is that your name?”

A demoness who had a longer brown horn than the others howled in laughter. At least demons had a sense of humor.

“What are you?” she asked, raising a finger to prevent her pissed-off comrade from attacking me right away. When I didn’t answer, she added, “We can see that mouse hiding behind you is a mage or a witch. Lots of them work for us, which means we’ll do you in first just like we killed off every other piece of trash who thinks she can warm our king’s bed. But before we do, tell us exactly what you are. We haven’t met your kind, and I want to tell my drinking buddies tonight how many and whom I tore apart. Do me this favor, and I’ll grant you a quick death.”

“That’s very sweet of you,” I said. “But I have to decline your offer.”

“We’ll take you apart slowly, cunt,” the spitting demoness hissed, her face red with fuming anger, which made her look even more hideous.

“They’re going to do it, Darcy,” I sighed. “You’d better hold the fort.”

“Where’s the fort?” she asked in a panicked, shrieking voice.

And the first demoness attacked.

CHAPTER 10

Loki

“Your jaw is clenched so hard, Loki,” Marigold complained, her long middle finger tapping my chin, flipping me the bird in a disguised way. She was often immature like that. “If you keep at it, it’ll break.”

I swatted away her finger. “I can’t relax. Stop annoying me.”

“You should know better than to snap at my lamb,” Héctor warned coolly.

I was thankful my stepsister was seated between me and the death demigod, or I’d have to take my fear, frustration, and aggression out on him and punch his arrogant face. It wasn’t like we had never battled. I’d crossed blades with all four demigods during my father’s reign and the Great Merge.

“Loki isn’t the worst villain in history, Héctor,” Mari said with a laugh. “Today is his big day, so cut him some slack.”

When the cold, hard, and formidable Demigod of Death turned to his mate, his expression immediately softened. Puppy love for her radiated from him. “Let’s just watch the fight. Don’t focus on his jaw, Lamb. He isn’t worth it.”

“You’re ogling that silver-haired girl in the corner,” Mari explained to me, as if I didn’t understand my own actions. “And you’re afraid for her. Surprise, surprise. Is this the first time you’ve cared about someone other than yourself?”

“I cared about you, you brat,” I snarled.

Marigold, one of the most powerful beings ever to walk the universe, had only a little more sympathy than her demigod mates. But when she wanted to, she could be perceptive.

The four demigods were basically psychopaths, yet Earth’s residents worshipped the ground they walked on. And now, we all tried to get along for Mari’s sake.

Marigold had changed everything. She’d changed the world.

I could enjoy temporary peace and laugh with her mates, all because of her.

She’d given Earth so much and brought peace to it, yet the residents had no idea of her contribution or her true origin. The Earth women envied her fairytale romance—some nobody from a humble town called Crack had all the luck in the world and landed not only one demigod but all four of them. Not even the demigods’ high-ranking Dominion generals knew that Marigold Celeste was the royalty of royalty, a bigger deal than all the gods they worshipped. The demigods protected her by hiding her identity, for fear the Olympian gods and every asshole in the universe who thought they had an ounce of power would come to Earth and hunt her. If that happened, I’d defend my little sister along with the demigods to the end of whatever.

“Five scumbags, all of them a head taller and double her size, just went after her,” I growled. “I must have Esme end the first trial now!”

“If you rig the game, it’ll backfire.” Esme turned to offer me a piece of her mind. “The trials are magically bound, and you know that. The place, rules, and the programs of each trial are all set in stone. We can’t change them at your whim, Your Majesty. They must run their course. You should have thought about creating a backdoor earlier, in case you