Eternity of Darkness (Divisa Huntress Book 3) Page 4

  Was that enough?

  Why did it have to be all or nothing?

  And why was it any concern of the Wild Hunt’s?

  “That’s between Lexi and me,” Ashor snapped roughly, echoing my thoughts.

  A beat of silence stretched over the table as he let that sink in. The topic was not up for discussion. They either accepted me or they didn’t. And I wasn’t too eager to see what Ashor might do if one of them chose to reject my position as his mate.

  Settling back into his chair, Ashor pulled at a thread on his black shirt. “Now, we don’t have much time, so I will get straight to the point. We have a war to plan, and we can’t win it alone.”

  Beck glowered, shoving a hand into his wild curls. “That is for certain.”

  “My mother will be reaching out to the other courts,” Ashor continued, a finger pressed to his temple. “We need to get to them first. I need to arrange a meeting with the other kings. And I need to do so in secret.”

  Apollo crossed his muscular arms. “The other courts have already gotten wind of what happened here in Gardeness. The kings will expect a visit from you as the new King of Envy.”

  “Makes our meeting a little less conspicuous if word does get out, but I want this under the radar,” Ashor emphasized.. “If my mother catches wind that I am attempting to ally my court with the others, she will cause a blackout like Hell has never seen.”

  My stomach turned as I envisioned a world of total darkness.

  “You could have picked a stronger court to conquer. The Court of Envy isn’t exactly known for its brutal battle tactics,” Draven said.

  I leaned forward, strands of my blonde hair spilling over my shoulders. “That’s what I said. How the fuck is sex going to win a war?”

  Erlik’s lips twitched.

  Was that a partial smile I saw on his lips? Hell must have frozen over.

  “You might be surprised,” Ashor said, winking.

  I kicked him under the table. He had another thing coming if he thought to use his body somehow to win this war.

  Erlik coughed, covering up a grin that threatened to spread on his lips.

  Apollo blinked at me as if I’d just lost my damn mind. “Did you just kick the prince?”

  My gaze met his directly. “I did. And he was damn lucky he was sitting or I might have aimed a little higher than his shin.”

  Ashor chuckled, pride glimmering in his eyes.

  Beck shook his head. “She is definitely his match.”

  “I’m starting to see it as well,” Apollo agreed, frowning, like the idea didn’t please him much.

  Tough crowd. What would it take to win these demons over? Was that what I wanted? The Wild Hunt to like me?

  Ashor steered the conversation back on course. “It’s true Envy is the weaker of the five courts, which is precisely why my mother set her sights on Verena’s crown first. She assumed it would be a simple takeover, particularly with me inside.”

  Draven snorted. “Her first mistake, trusting you.”

  Ashor grinned. “Touché.”

  “What’s to stop her from trying to take the kingdom again?” I asked, thinking we weren’t out of the woods yet, figuratively and physically. If this was the weakest kingdom, why wouldn’t she strike again before things settled within the court?

  “Ashor,” Apollo stated grimly.

  Was he implying that because Ashor was her son, the queen wouldn’t kill him? Kali was ruthless and calculating. Would she really spare the prince because he was her son?

  My brows furrowed in confusion.

  “To take the crown she would have to kill me. My mother went to great pains to have my brother and me, more so with Soren. You know how difficult and rare it is for a female to give birth. She won’t kill me. But she will find a way to back me into a corner, force me into joining forces, or willingly surrender my crown.”

  God, I didn’t want to contemplate what horrendous acts the Queen of Darkness was willing to commit during her conquest for power. And I was his kryptonite. The realization that my life was in danger hit me like a punch in the gut. I would be Kali’s target, and everyone in this room knew it.

  Was leaving, as Apollo suggested, really the best action, not just for my mate but for the world? I refused to be the reason the universe plunged into chaos. How the fuck had I landed myself in the heart of a demon war? Was there any hope of stopping Kali?

  For the first time in years, I felt lost, without a purpose. Revenge had driven my soul for so long, kept me fighting, banishing demons from my world. I’d been focused only on killing the asshole who had been responsible for my first crushing heartache.

  “Do you believe King Trist and King Angor will side against the queen?” Draven asked carefully.

  Ashor nodded. “With the right incentive, anyone can be persuaded, which is why two of you are going to the Court of Sorrow and Court of Misery. I need you to find out just how we can sway the kings to join us.”

  It was scary how much alike his mind and his mother’s worked. I could see a parallel between the way they both plotted, frighteningly so.

  Erlik raised a brow, his thumb tapping idly on the table. “You’re sending two of us to the other courts?”

  “Yes,” Ashor confirmed. “As much as I need you here, there is no one else I trust to deliver the invitations. Beck, go to the Court of Sorrow, and Erlik, you take the Court of Misery.”

  “What of the Court of Inferno?” Apollo asked, his voice tinged with anticipation like he hoped Ashor would send him to bring my best friend to the underworld. “It would be a wasted resource to not recruit those demons on our side. Inferno has some of the fiercest warriors in their ranks.”

  “And the most undisciplined,” Draven added. “The court has been left unattended for too long.”

  My spine stiffened at the mention of Angel.

  “Lexi and I will handle the mortal queen,” Ashor declared, scanning their faces.

  My brows raised at Ashor in both question and suspicion. What was he up to now? “We will?”

  “I thought you might like a trip home to see your family.”

  “Did you? And while we’re there, you thought you would just hit up my best friend for her support? Ashor, I thought I made it clear that I don’t want to involve her.”

  “And I gave you my word that nothing would happen to her. That hasn’t changed. I just need to talk with her. That is all. It will be a quick trip, nothing but a day.”

  I didn’t like it, and he could see the disapproval on my face, but I didn’t argue more. There was a time and place. This was not it, not in front of his men.

  “When do we leave?” Erlik inquired.

  Ashor’s fingers gripped the edge of the carved chair arm. “As soon as possible. Draven and Apollo will stay with Lexi.”

  Apollo grumbled something inaudible, and Draven remained unmoved in his seat.

  “Don’t worry. You will be far from bored. Not that my mate isn’t entertaining enough on her own, because I assure you, she is a handful.” A wicked glint of humor lit his eyes.

  “Thanks, I think,” I mumbled, contemplating whether I should kick him again under the table. “I’m not sure if there is a compliment in there or not.”

  I felt a velvety chuckle through our bond, though his face showed none of the amusement I sensed. “During your time here in court, the two of you will be quite gossipy,” he told Apollo and Draven, whose expressions were less than thrilled.

  I snorted. There was nothing about the four of them that suggested they ever gossiped a day in their life.

  “How so?” Apollo asked.

  “You will be planting information to be spread between the courts. A mixture of truths and lies,” Ashor informed them.

  “To keep the courts buzzy and busy, a diversion from what you are really doing,” Draven guessed through his teeth.

  “Precisely,” Ashor confirmed. “We want them too concerned with each other to be worried about us. I need to take some of
the eyes and heat off my court.”

  His court.

  The words echoed inside me. It was still such a surreal concept. My fingers fumbled with the ends of my shirt. Despite it being warm inside the cabin, I was grateful to be dressed in clothes that weren’t revealing like the normal attire of the court. It would have been awkward as hell holding this meeting in a sheer dress that showed all my curves.

  Beck leaned forward in his chair, elbows resting on the table as he propped his chin on top of his joined hands, an expression of deep thought furrowing his brows. “It will only work for a short time. Eventually the lies will catch up to us.”

  “I only need a short time,” Ashor replied smoothly.

  Erlik’s scar winked at me as he turned his head slightly to the side. “You better be working on one fucking helluva plan.”

  A smile was Ashor’s only response.

  I really hoped that meant he did indeed have an epic plan, or at the very least was working one out in that devious mind of his.

  Draven exhaled. “I’m not entirely sure Hell is ready for you.”

  A flicker of something skipped through our bond like a cool kiss of winter. It came and went in a flash before I could decipher just what emotion it had been. I narrowed my eyes at Ashor. The princeling prick was keeping something from me, and I intended to find out what.

  His smile was a slash of white. “Let’s hope not.”

  Internally, I groaned. Please, God, tell me my mate isn’t planning to take over the underworld. It was one thing to stop his mother, but it was an entirely different venture to seek supreme. He wouldn’t. Would he?

  I studied Ashor, a task which was like reading a blank page. Even as his mate, I had difficulty decoding what went on inside his head. Half the time he remained as mysterious and aloof as the day I met him.

  “I need to return,” Ashor announced, adjourning this little secret undertaking. “I’ve been gone too long. I’m sure they’ve already sent out the guards looking for their king, and I’d rather not have them snooping around this cabin. It will make future meetings difficult.”

  “That would be wise, Your Highness,” Draven agreed.

  Ashor’s chair scooted over the textured floor as he straightened to his feet, dust billowing under the table. “Send word once you have your answer from the kings.” He held out a hand for me to take, and I did so willingly as a sneeze tickled my nose.

  Erlik and Beck nodded. Simultaneously, they stood, each preparing to head off to their assigned kingdoms. An eerie tingle danced up my arms as I watched them shift from flesh and blood to an ethereal form, or perhaps it was seeing them in a human form that was weird, considering most of the time I’d seen them, they’d been astral-projecting themselves. The ability to become ghostlike and send their souls to anywhere their minds chose was a byproduct of taking the Wild Hunt oath. I had yet to fully comprehend how it worked, but seeing it firsthand was a sight I’d likely not forget.

  Ashor flew us back to the castle, and I could tell by his face that he had something on his mind. I didn’t step out of his arms when his feet landed on the ground but rather placed a hand on his chest. “Why do you look like you’re about to tell me something that isn’t going to make me happy?”

  He pulled his gaze from the corridor in front of us to look at me. “I have some things I need to attend to.”

  “Okay, are you worried about me being alone?” Because technically, I wasn’t. My eyes shifted over his shoulder, sneaking a glance at Apollo and Draven, who stood behind Ashor—my newly appointed shadows.

  Fun.

  “Yes and no,” he replied.

  My chest tightened.

  Turning toward me, he traced a finger along the side of my face. “It’s not that I don’t trust them to protect you. It's that I’m not ready to let you out of my sight.”

  I let out a small exhale. “Is there anything I should be doing while you’re gone?” Like Ashor, I wasn’t happy about parting from him, but I reminded myself that I was not a clingy girlfriend, and I wasn’t about to start. It was important that I still remained me, that I didn’t lose myself in the identity of being his mate. There was more to me than the pretty girl on the King of Envy’s arm, and since being in Gardeness, I felt as if I’d changed, more than I wanted to admit. It had just been a few days, yet somehow seemed as if I’d been here for years. Where was the girl who was so damn set in her morals? Who never would have hesitated to put a knife into the heart of a demon upon laying eyes on them? Now I was mated to one of the kings of Hell.

  What was happening to me?

  Why did I suddenly feel so lost? So swallowed up by this world? Those feelings I had fought my whole life to overcome came barreling into me—the feeling of not belonging. I teetered on both worlds, not sure where my place was.

  Did I belong with my mate? At Ashor’s side? Fighting alongside him? It was difficult to see a future past the impending war because I honestly didn’t know if there would even be a future.

  Or was I supposed to be with my family, living with the living? Fighting with them?

  Was it possible for me to find a balance between worlds? Would I be betraying myself or my family if I became a part of this world? Had I already by allowing myself to be mated to Ashor? He might be half-human, half-demon like me, but that was where our similarities ended. He had been raised by the Queen of Darkness. I’d been raised by my human father and among humans. I, like my cousin and brother, had learned to blend in as much as possible—to be human. It took me years to accept the dark side of my soul, and I’d only truly embraced my demon recently because of Ashor.

  Again, was that a good or bad thing?

  A storm of confusion churned inside me, and I didn’t know how to steady the rocky boat.

  Should I jump ship or ride out the storm?

  “Luv,” Ashor whispered, pressing a soft kiss to my lips.

  Blinking, I realized it wasn’t the first time he’d murmured my name. I lifted my gaze.

  His brows were pinched with concern. “We will figure it out together,” he said as he brushed his thumb over my lower jawline.

  “You really need to teach me how to block people from getting inside my head,” I replied a bit ruefully.

  “Now why would I do that? Your mind is my favorite place to visit,” he purred.

  I ignored the warmth that spread through me at the deepening of his voice, despite my toes curling. “Precisely.”

  Dark and silky, his chuckle mixed with the coolness of his breath hit not just my cheek but also tingled through our bond. The combination made me shiver. “There are a great many things I could teach you, luv, and I plan to show you some of my other skills tonight.”

  “Why wait until then?” I challenged. “Teach me something now.”

  “Distract me,” my mind murmured to him.

  “You do tempt me,” he drawled, running the tips of his fingers down my spine, a movement that caused my skin to sizzle.

  I’d forgotten we had an audience until Draven cleared his throat. My cheeks pinkened. Ashor had the ability to make me forget myself and my surroundings.

  “To be continued,” he murmured in my ear, giving the lobe a quick nip before taking a step back. “But now, I have a guest I would like you to entertain.”

  I could still feel the scrape of his teeth on my ear. A guest was not what I had in mind at the moment, and I scrunched my nose, giving away my opposition to the idea. I wasn’t exactly in the mood to play hostess, particularly in a castle that didn’t feel like home—this place was still a maze to me, still unfamiliar and very much the former queen’s.

  “Who?” I sighed, tugging the tie band out of my hair. Strands of blonde hair tumbled over my shoulders.

  Ashor lifted a dark brow. “Are you hell-bent on torturing me, luv?” He moved a hand to my hair, winding pieces of it around his finger.

  My lips curved. “You started it.”

  He tugged lightly on the looped hair, lips pressed together to prevent a
smirk from growing. “Hmm. Then I look forward to ending it tonight.”

  I rolled my eyes. If we kept this up, I’d further embarrass myself in front of Draven and Apollo. “So, who is this guest?” I asked, deterring him from any more flirtatious manner.

  “Look for yourself.” Ashor opened the door to his left, one of the many sitting rooms in the castle.

  Giving him an apprehensive glare, I stepped over the threshold to find a woman sitting in a velvet chair, sipping a steaming cup of tea. Waves of jet-black hair framed her face, spilling down to the middle of her back, a stark contrast to the champagne-colored hair she had sported the last time I’d seen her, but the scent of jasmine and citrus always accompanied her, regardless of what face or body she wore.

  “Mom?” I gasped.

  3

  Confused and half convinced that I’d lost my mind, I watched my demon mother uncross her legs and stand on her four-inch heels. I was pretty sure it was her. It was difficult to tell since she had changed her appearance since the last time I’d seen her.

  “Hello, ma chérie,” she greeted, sultry and raspy. Expensive French perfume tickled my nose as she leaned in, pressing a kiss to each of my cheeks.

  There was no mistaking it now. Definitely Kira. My mother was a succubus who had spent the last twenty years in banishment, feeding on human souls, which had been how Verena received her powers. Now that the queen was dead…

  “I see you haven’t lost your New Orleans charm,” I responded.

  Kira waved a hand in the air. “It suits this body.”

  She had a point. The new look was very voodoo witchy. It befitted her—sexy and dark. “What are you doing here?”

  Her eyes, a very similar color to mine, glanced over my shoulder to where Ashor still hovered in the doorway. I wondered if she had chosen the color purposely. “I received an order from my king,” she replied with a twist of her lips that didn’t strike me as devoted or friendly. She dipped her head in a slight bow. “Your Majesty.”