The Demon Queen
Wheel of Crowns book 4
Brandi Elledge
This one is for Caity-
You bring happiness, entertainment, and love to my world. You never cease to amaze me. I am so proud of you. Now, go let that light shine.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Also by Brandi Elledge
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Chapter One
I wasn’t a natural-born killer, and that was my biggest problem. Well, one of several. There was always a hesitation within me. That’s why others considered me weak, but I would find a way to shed this so-called weakness like a snake sheds its skin. Or I would die trying. Literally. What was my numero uno weakness? I was not evil enough. I cared a little too much about things someone in my position shouldn’t even consider, much less care about. So what should I do? I just needed to work on my weakness for humanity like a problem. If it were a problem, then there had to be a solution. Did I have issues? Of course, I did, and every single one of them led back to my psycho father, so really if there was anyone to blame for my faulty wiring, it should be him. Somewhere along the way, he broke me. Yep, here I was, a broken doll. A badass doll, but still broken, and in need of a mental health evaluation. I wasn’t exactly sure what my diagnosis was, but I knew it’d be hard to pronounce.
I crossed my arms and thrummed my fingers on my stomach, as I stared up at the ceiling. My advisor cleared his throat, and I continued to ignore him. This was the meeting I called, which meant I could do as I please, and not addressing his last question seemed to be a good start.
“Carmen, how about we start with the crown?”
My fingers automatically traveled to the black beast of a crown I wore on my head. I really did need to take the time to get it sized. It was hard to take someone seriously when their crown regularly fell over one eye. “What about it?” I asked, weary.
Fobby, who was the new right-hand man to the crown—I had fired the last two—shifted uncomfortably in his seat, as I studied his ruddy complexion. He looked like he wanted to have a heart to heart with me, but was scared. His self-preservation skills were at an all-time high. Good for him.
“Ugh. Fobby. Dear sweet, Fobby. This is where you tell me how well I wear the crown, how great of a ruler I am, and how everyone fears me. Then maybe you should come up with a slogan for me like, ‘Carrier of death.’ No wait, that sounds like a disease. I can already hear the jokes on that one. Also, I need new ideas on how I can promote fear better.”
“But Princess, that’s part of the problem, isn’t it? Your ancestors never had to tell tales of their horrendous acts or ‘promote’ themselves—they were just innately feared.” Maybe he had a point, or maybe I should fire him, as well. “Princess, might I say that I don’t feel like you are the intended ruler.”
“Excuse me?” I bolted upright, causing my crown to fall on my forehead. “And it’s Queen to you, you weaselly worm.”
Fobby’s arms flapped about him in distress. “Please hear me out. I think the others are perhaps planning to dethrone you. I’m worried they will lump me with you when they try to take your crown. Plus, your uncle suggested—”
“My uncle?” I seethed. That man had done everything he could to unseat me from the throne. I knew it was only a matter of time before he succeeded. I studied my soon to be ex-advisor. He was a fire demon, like most of the other demons in this God-forsaken place. Red skin, black horns, and beady eyes. The only difference was Fobby looked like a nerd. A demon nerd. He was thin and weak, which was a rarity in the male fire demon species. His voice didn’t boom when he talked but almost wheezed out of his body. Pathetic, really. And the worst thing was he was dumping me. Who was pathetic now?
I held up a hand to stop him from speaking. I made him nervous, and he made me sick. “Fobby, quit your whining. I don’t plan on getting overthrown, you dweeb.”
Poor Fobby started wringing his hands. Pathetic, I tell you. “I would have to disagree.”
With a flash, a smoky wisp uncurled from me. Resembling hands, they wrapped around his throat and slowly began to tighten. His eyes rounded in fear.
“Now Fobby. Tell me exactly what is on your mind and what you’ve heard, or I’ll kill you right here and now. Remember, I’ll know if you’re lying.”
“As you know, I have been advising you for two months now, and still no one respects you like they did your father. You almost act human,” he said the word with disgust. “You rule with soft hands, and that brings me to another point I want to drive home. You’re a smoke demon. Not that there’s anything wrong with demons who take human form, but you don’t even have your true form. It’s like you want demons to laugh at you. Your attitude is so flippant, as if you truly don’t care what your underlings think of you, and to be quite frank with you, some of the demons truly don’t think you’re evil.” He almost whispered the last word.
“Are you serious?” My wisp tightened around his throat. “First of all, I am aware I don’t have my true form, but I assure you I am just as powerful without it.” I was sure as hades not as powerful as I could be, but I’d fake it ’til I made it. “Also, I might appear flippant because I don’t care what you or anyone else thinks of me. Sorry if your small, trivial brain can’t understand you are beneath my cares. To be honest with you, I’m shocked you can breathe unassisted. And second, me not evil? Why just the other day, I put six demons’ heads on spikes for everyone’s amusement. If that doesn’t scream, ‘let the good times roll’, I don’t know what will.”
Fobby cleared his throat. “Yes, but some say it was because you caught the demons about to harm a small child, and you flew into a fit of rage.”
Truth. “Lies! All of them. I killed the poor sods because I was bored.”
My advisor gave me a doubtful look. “I’m not sure—”
“Fobby, I’m the Queen. Do you hear me? The Queen, and it’s about damn time you, along with everyone else, looked at me as such.”
Obviously, the nerdling wasn’t having any of it. “You rescued a kitten the other day. In front of demons, mind you. It’s hard for them to respect someone so …”
“Go on, finish that sentence. What were you going to say, Fobby? Weak?” My wisp tightened around his throat until he could no longer breathe. He fell to his knees as I decided what I should do with him. Maybe if I beat him bad enough, it would help my image. Just as I was reaching for him, a knock sounded on my private office door.
The door swung open without invitation, and there stood my uncle Maligno, with a malicious smile on his red face. His black horns were long and proud and ramrod straight with agitation. Oh goody. He came looking for a fight.
“I’m hoping I’m not interrupting anything important?” he said with a knowing smile.
I glared at Fobby who was now crawling on his knees away from me. He better keep his mouth shut. “No worries, we were finishing up. However, Uncle, from here on out, I expect you t
o wait after knocking until I give you permission to enter.”
“Oh, of course. How rude of me.” He gave me a mock bow. “Please excuse me, your highness, but there was a situation I thought you should know of immediately.”
“What is it?” I pushed out between gritted teeth.
A smile lit his face. “A teenager was brought to the underworld. A thirteen-year-old girl who will one day become a witch.”
“What? Why is she here?”
“Oh, I’m sure the demons weren’t thinking when they brought her here.” His tone implied differently. “But since she is here, we thought we would have a little fun torturing her before we ended her life, and since you are the queen, we thought you might want to do the honors.”
Bile rose in my throat. Torturing an innocent young witch was not on my bucket list. To decline was one thing, but to deny the demons their fun would show them how weak I was. Could I let an innocent die, though? No. I looked into my uncle’s smug face. This was yet another test, one which I would not pass. Perhaps today would be the last day of my reign, but I’d go out swinging.
“You are to release the young witchling immediately. No harm shall come to her by a demon’s hand.”
I tensed as his horns straightened even more. My uncle was unaware but the truth was, without my true form, my power quickly became depleted. None of them knew exactly how powerful I actually was, and my great poker face was the only thing keeping me alive. I refused to break eye contact with him, and finally he bowed his head in submission.
“Yes, niece. I’ll make sure to relay your message verbatim.”
Oh, I was sure he would. The story of how the Demon Queen saved the life of one of another faction would be top news. It was only a matter of time before I was overthrown. He left just as abruptly as he’d come. Fobby was in a corner, shaking his head. I felt myself about to become unglued. I paced, letting out a string of curses. Every once in a while, I threw in an adjective.
The door to my chambers flew open. Was this it? Did my uncle bring reinforcements? I found myself readying for battle. The goal would be to destroy as many as I could before they ended me. The only problem was no demons stood on the other side of the door. What the hell was that flying towards me? Oh, this was hilarious. Surely, my uncle Maligno, didn’t send this wee little creature to take me out—a fairy wearing a suit and tie. This had to be some kind of joke or an illusion. I mean, really, how did a fairy even end up in Hell? The tiny being blew something pinkish into my face and I gagged. Fobby backed up into the corner, as I wiped tears from my face. I couldn’t breathe; what was that stuff?
“Do not worry, Queen. I vow my potion will cause you no real harm. It’s only intended to clean up that vile language of yours. I just can’t work with someone who curses so much. My good friend, Kimball, once said, ‘profanity is the effort of a feeble brain to express itself forcibly.’”
There I stood, mouth agape, staring at the small creature. “What the fox are you talking about?” My brows drew together. “Fox.” I clenched my fist and tried again. “Fox. Oh, for fox’s sake, what the hey have you done to me? Oh, shirt, this is bad.”
Fobby glanced nervously around before he crouched down. Fear leaked out of his pores, the little foxer. What the hey? I couldn’t even mentally swear. The fairy was dead. I would find out why he was here—or how he even got here to begin with—then I would kill him. Today was quickly going down the shirter.
Chapter Two
Unaware of his impending doom, the fairy gave me a polite smile before taking in his surroundings. He huffed a deep sigh of resignation before he mumbled something under his breath.
I tensed, as the fairy, who was dressed like a lawyer, flew to a stop directly in front of me.
“Who the hey are you?”
“Ah, your manners are outstanding, but nonetheless, I shall greet you properly,” the fairy’s overly cheerful voice chirped. “I’m Tally, and I’m on a special assignment. I’m here to help you in any way that I can.”
Say what? “I’m sorry. We’re not taking applications at this time. Try back, like, never.”
The small fairy flapped his wings in agitation. He carried a miniature briefcase that looked as ridiculous as the pinstriped suit he wore. “I couldn’t help but overhear that exchange you had with the red man. That was intense. But just so you know, I’m someone who doesn’t take kindness as a sign of weakness.” He zoomed in an inch in front of my face and without glancing at Fobby said, “Fire this poor excuse of a demon, and let’s get to work, shall we?”
I looked over at Fobby, and he appeared just as clueless as I felt. His eyes rounded in shock. Oh, the gossip mill was going to be lit today.
The fairy smirked. “That blabbering idiot”—he pointed to Fobby—“will never understand the potential you have. You could become the most powerful queen that a faction has ever had, so go ahead and kick him to the curb. We’ve got work to do. Chop chop.”
Was he bossing me around? What the fox was going on? Never mind that he spoke of a power that didn’t exist without my shell. I studied the small creature in front of me. To kill or not kill, that was the question. My calendar was free. I could schedule in a quick killing, but my gut said hear the fairy out. He would live. If anything, he could stroke my ego for the limited amount of time I still had on the throne. “I’m intrigued to know why you’re here.”
“As I’ve previously said, I’ve come here to help. I’ll tell you exactly how when there are not prying ears nearby.”
My eyes flashed to Fobby. “You’re fired. If anyone asks you, tell them it’s because you sucked at being an advisor, and you didn’t enjoy my wit. If you don’t say that, maybe you’ll find your head on a spike, too.”
Fobby, the pathetic coward, started to run from my office but Tally intercepted him. Blowing some translucent powder in Fobby’s face, he told my former advisor, “You will not remember me.”
Fobby sprinted towards the door, never once looking back. The fairy had just saved me from the gossip mill and being the butt of all jokes today. My previous interactions with fairies were limited. They stayed in their lane, and I stayed in mine. So what would bring this fairy here? What was this little man’s game?
I gave the fairy all of my attention, and in return he studied me. We didn’t get many visitors in the underworld. Why would he come here willingly? The answer was he wouldn’t. The fairy had shaggy blond hair and light green eyes. He was attractive, if men the size of caterpillars were your thing. The way he sized me up made me uncomfortable. It was almost as if he was trying to determine if I was worthy of some task. I was really getting tired of that look.
My teeth gnashed. “So, what exactly has brought you to the underworld?”
“I am here to help you secure your crown.” Tally flew over to the couch and plopped down. He opened his briefcase and took out a pad and a pen. I waited, half pissed and half amused, as he made several notes on the paper. “I hear you have a nasty temper. With that being said, if you should agree to work with me, I have one stipulation that I’ll share at the end of this meeting.”
Apparently, my temper wasn’t as bad as it should be. “I’m losing patience. Why are you here, bug? I need the specifics.”
“The Oprah version is I was sent here by someone extremely powerful to help you dissect yourself, so you will be able to find your true identity—who you are really meant to be. Think of me as a life coach who has a vast knowledge of moral philosophies or a fashionable therapist.”
Oh-em-gee. Did someone send me a shrink? It was one thing to joke to oneself about the lack of mental stability, but it was a whole different thing when others talked about your mental health condition. “I will kill you. Do you know who I am?”
“Yes, way to prove me wrong on the whole temper thing, and of course I know who you are, but do you know who I am?” He gave me a snobby look. “I come from the Fae King’s inner ring. I am his trusted advisor.”
“Um, whoopee? Am I supposed to be im
pressed because I missed that email? Maybe I should check my spam folder.”
His little fingers started to scribble even faster. Curiosity was killing me, so I leaned in to see what he wrote, but he held the pad up so I couldn’t see. He flashed me a snarky little smile. “Sorry, I can’t share my thoughts with you.”
“Um, you just shared plenty with me, but what’s to stop me from killing you and taking the pad? After all you are in my domain, my personal headquarters to be exact, and yet you dare to be rude to me.”
“You could kill me, but you’re not going to. It would start a war with the fae realm, and who has time for that?” He had me there. My calendar was full. He scooted back, so he sat up against the couch. “You see, I have personally been sent to you by the Fae King himself on the authority of the best soothsayer in the world. So, this …” Tally made a motion between us with his hands. “What is it that the kids say? This is so happening.”
“Best soothsayer? You mean, Ariana?” My heart sped up.
“The one and only.” He popped his suspenders. “And I’m here to help keep your scrawny behind on the throne. All you have to do is open up to me and agree to a few things. Keep in mind, our discussions will not leave this room.” Oh, this had to be a joke. A fairy who was a therapist, swooping in to save the mighty Demon Queen. I was full-on laughing, but the bug just talked over my hysteria. “According to Ariana, you need me in order to get over this little hump you’re going through, and even though you are great at self-sabotaging, I think you will come around to my way of thinking, and take the help that is offered to you, or you might not ever get what you truly desire.”
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