Mate to the Demon Kings by Lacey Carter Andersen
11
The shapeshifter stoodon the outskirts of the demon refuge. He kept his shape firmly in place as he called for an angel. Within moments, Renata teleported close to him. She was one of his father’s favorites, a blonde angel with unexpected powers.
Renata looked at him, her expression guarded. “You called.”
“Bring me to my father.”
She nodded. When she took his hand, he felt a tremble run through her body. Interesting. As powerful as his father thought she was, she still feared him.
The world shimmered around him, and then he was standing in the hall just outside of his father’s chambers. His brow rose at the closed doors.
“Why didn’t you bring me inside?”
“He’s meeting with someone,” she said, her gaze avoiding his. “I must return to my post.”
When she opened the massive doors, instead of allowing them to fully close, he slipped his booted foot between the doors, leaving a small space. Peering through them, he could barely make out his father’s throne room.
A man knelt before the massive, curling black cloud of power that concealed his father from sight. There was something… wrong about the man. Something that bothered even him.
“I thought the angels could handle her without my Hunters. I’ll do better next time,” the human said, his voice shaking.
His father’s anger seemed to swell the room. “Sorcerer, I gave you three days. Three days to walk the earth as an undead before your body falls to pieces. Just a short time to prove that you deserve to be given immortality among my angels. And yet, already, you fail me.”
“I didn’t expect her magic.”
“You should expect that Sharen is capable of absolutely anything.”
The man’s voice shook. “I thought I was just to capture an ex-Hunter. I heard rumors she was your child… but I didn’t know to expect abilities like that.”
“Daughter?” His father repeated. “Interesting.”
He tensed. Sharen is my sister? Is such a thing really possible?
And if he wants her powers, will he want mine too?
“Please, just give me another chance.” The sorcerer whined, drawing him from his thoughts.
There was silence for too long. “I am not a man who gives chances, but since you are the only one with something to lose, I will let you live. But do not fail me again, sorcerer. My son will serve you her people on a silver platter. You and your Hunters need only to destroy them.”
The man on the ground rose. “I won’t disappoint you again.”
“Good,” his father’s voice was filled with mockery. “Because if you do…”
His father pointed to the black awning pit in the back of the room. A shiver ran through his body as he stared at the place his father seldom used. If a soul was thrown into the pit, it could never be reborn again. It could never have any kind of afterlife.
The Soul Destroyer was made to be used against people too dangerous to even become demons. There was no worse fate.
“My son has already earned himself a place in the pit. Will you?” Caine whispered.
He stiffened. My father intends to destroy my immortal soul?
That’s worse than I ever imagined.
Cautiously he allowed the door to close all the way. His father had a plan to finally take what he needed from Sharen. And once he did, he would be even more powerful than before.
And then, he won’t need me anymore. Is that when he’ll destroy my soul?
The plan his father had laid out was flawless, but without his shapeshifting abilities it would fall to pieces.
That’s one way I can stop him from becoming more powerful.
And yet, if he failed his father, it would end in his death. Either way he’ll destroy me. So what could he do?
He moved through the fortress, ignoring the angels he passed. The only way to ensure his survival was to destroy his father. But as far as he knew, such a thing was impossible.
Freezing, an answer hit him at once. The Fate.
He hurried through the fortress and down the many steps into the dungeons.
As he rounded a corner, he came to the guard. “Show me the Fate.”
The angel raised a brow. “The Fate?”
He struck the woman, and she smacked back into the wall, sliding to the floor. Waiting with annoyance, he allowed her to climb unsteadily to her feet.
“Let me say that again, bring me to the Fate.”
The angel hurried to obey, and he gritted his teeth. He was the son of Caine. He may have never visited the Fate before, but no one was to question his authority.
No one.
She led him past the demon’s cell, and her keys jangled as she pulled them from off her belt. With annoyingly slow movements, she unlocked the door and pushed it open.
The shapeshifter grabbed a torch from off a wall and held it out before him as he moved into the stinking darkness of the Fate’s cell. At first he didn’t see her, then spotted the dirt-covered creature cowering from the flames, beside her blanket, which was equally dirty and spread over the ground.
He strode into the room and stared down at her, then glanced back at the guard. “Close the door. I’ll rap when I’m done.”
The angel looked concerned, but closed the door without complaint.
“I have a question for you, Fate.”
The tiny woman raised her head from off her knees and peered at him with hostile green eyes. “Anything for the disgusting son of Caine.”
He kicked her. Once. Twice. A third time, until she lay, little sounds of suffering coming from her like music to his ears.
“I have question for you, Fate,” he repeated.
Her breathing came in pants. “Ask away.”
“You told my father the answer that changed everything. That allowed him to finally get what he wants. Now, you’ll answer the same sort of question for me.” He took a deep breath, knowing that there would be no going back now. “How do I kill my father?”
Those eyes of her appeared again above her legs that she’d curled to shield herself from his blows. He saw pure hatred in her gaze, but knew she could do nothing. The Fate could not tell a lie.
“You cannot kill him.”
His rage flared to life, and he drew back his booted foot.
“But Sharen can,” she hurried out.
He froze, listening.
“At the battle, she can kill him. You need only to betray him to ensure his life is forfeit.”
The shapeshifter stared. “It can’t be so easy.”
She smiled. “All it takes is one death. Just not the person you imagine.”
He knelt down, clutching the torch more tightly. “Tell me everything.”
