Rejected Queen by Meg Xuemei X.
CHAPTER 19
Tessa
This was the Demon King’s realm. Everyone was at his mercy.
But I wouldn’t thank him for saving the day.
Shocked silence suffocated the nightclub; fear rolled off the surviving crowd. They retreated to the booths on the other side, staying away from me, and lined up in front of the long bar to order drinks.
Music beat again, quieter than before, and soon, the dance floor was half-full. Life went on in Hell.
The king’s women on the stairs whimpered. The dukes talked among themselves.
Veronica wailed, “Your Majesty, what have you done?”
“Do you want to join them, vampire girl?” Loki asked coldly. “If you weren’t a contestant, I’d have toasted you crispy as well. Now, get the fuck out of my face before I change my mind.”
I ignored their drama as I prowled through the warm piles of ash toward the bar.
“One more drink, and I’ll get the fuck out of here,” I told Ace.
Even now, the wolves hadn’t showed, but I might have heard their howls in the distance at some point. Like I gave a fuck.
Ace bowed before he went to mix the poison for me. “Anything you want, Lady Morrigan.”
The angel of death sidled up next to me. “Give me whatever she’s having.”
“Why exactly are you here, Azrael?” I asked.
“I followed a rumor,” he said. “You’ve been hunted for eight years and kept escaping the Ice God and his bloodhounds. I saw your fight in the gladiator ring. You and your team maneuvered a chariot and battled a company ten times the size of yours and won spectacularly. Then the next day, you were gone. I wanted to know what happened to you. A man’s curiosity and desire are as fatal as his vanity.”
The mention of my old team brought a sharp pain to my chest. I shoved down my grief as I needed to focus on the danger still surrounding me.
Ace brought me the drink and placed a shot glass in front of Azrael. He glanced at the angel of death warily. I nodded at him and took a swig to soothe my parched throat. The cool liquid went down, but my adrenaline was still running hot.
“So you know about the Ice God and his hunting interest?” I asked.
“Ragnarö and I aren’t exactly friends, if that’s your concern,” he said. “I’m not part of his hunting party. The Jötunn and the bloodhounds are abominations.” His other eye that wasn’t filled was shadowy flame was suddenly on fire. “I’m the angel of death, so I say let the dead stay dead.”
“If Ragnarö gets his hands on me when I’m dead,” I said, looking into empty space, “he’ll revive me and turn me into an abomination.”
“I’ll fight him for you if you give me what I want,” said the angel of death.
I snorted. “You’re a piece of work too, Azrael.”
“Everyone has a price.”
A snarl rose from the second floor. Loki’s wolf was getting restless. An idea flashed through my mind. Maybe I should use the angel of death as a rebound and get the coldhearted Demon King out of my system once and for all.
I emptied the shot in one gulp, put down the glass, and gazed up at the angel through my thick lashes.
“Just out of curiosity, Azrael,” I asked, my voice husky. “What’s your price?”
I already knew, and he answered dutifully, “Spend a night with me.”
A fist rammed into Azrael’s head.
The Demon King stood before us, his cold, handsome face twisted in hellish rage.
