City of Thorns (The Demon Queen Trials Book 1)

by C. N. Crawford

  Really, it was probably a good time for her to interrupt my breaking and entering schemes before I came up with something that could get me killed.

  Sitting at the white marble countertop at Cirque de la Mer, my red hair drenched by the September rain, I sipped a Guinness and licked the foam off my lip. I still wore my black dress and boots, but I’d accessorized a bit with black nail polish, eyeliner, and silver rings. This was my look: ginger Goth Puritan.

  Behind the bar, enormous windows overlooked the Atlantic Ocean, and the sea twinkled under the starlight. Dubstep boomed around me. I liked it here, with the loud music to drown out my own thoughts and a gorgeous view of the sea. Of course, this was probably the most expensive bar on the north shore of Massachusetts, but for tonight, I wasn’t going to worry about money. The loans were too ridiculous to worry about at this point, and I might as well owe a billion dollars.

  When Shai sidled up next to me at the bar, she flashed me an enormous smile. Her dark hair fell in two long braids over a cream-colored dress. She wore vibrant red lipstick that perfectly complemented her tawny brown skin.

  I’d really needed to see a friendly face.

  She hugged me. “Hello, birthday girl. What are we drinking? Tequila shots?”

  “I swore off them after the Harvard Square incident.”

  She grimaced. “Oh, right. Okay, well, let’s eat and get cocktails so you don’t get messy.” She raised her hand, and the bartender immediately came over with a smile. Shai ordered us two mojitos and a butternut squash pizza.

  With that accomplished, she turned back to me, eyebrows raised. “Okay, what was this about your nightmare of a day?”

  I sighed. “Jack Corwin turned up in the middle of my class presentation and made orgasm faces when I was trying to focus, and then he claimed that I punched him in the eye. “

  Her hand flew to her mouth for a moment. “First of all, fuck that guy. Second, has he lost his mind? Why would he think that people would believe that you punched him?”

  I cleared my throat, cringing. “Well, about that part. I did actually punch him.”

  “What?”

  “After he tried to ram his tongue down my throat,” I said defensively.

  “So he assaulted you first? You need to call the cops. He’s escalating things. He’s been stalking you for years now.”

  The bartender slid our mojitos across the bar, and I grabbed mine instantly. I took a sip, letting the mint and lime roll over my tongue. “I reported it at Osborn State and to the police, but they decided a long time ago that I’m overreacting. Apparently, being a douchebag isn’t illegal, and I’m not sure they’d see what happened last night on my terms, either. His dad is a congressman or something, so…” I took another sip. “You know what? I’m sick of thinking about him. Please tell me about the City of Thorns. Let’s leave Jack out of tonight. I want to hear about the demons.”

  “Where do I even begin?”

  I raised my eyebrows. “Do you think demons can leave?”

  She shook her head. “I think so, but not for long. As far as I know, there’s some kind of magical spell from hundreds of years ago that keeps them mostly tied to one demon city or another. But occasionally, they can travel between them. Why do you ask?”

  “That night my mom was murdered—”

  My sentence trailed off. I could already feel the air cooling, the atmosphere growing thorny as I raised the painful subject. There was no easy way to say, One night, a demon with a glowing star on his head hunted down my mom in the woods and burned her to death. And since the horror of that night felt raw even now, it was hard to talk about it without feeling like I was drowning in loss again.

  Sometimes, I thought the only thing keeping me afloat was the certainty that I’d avenge her death. That I would get into the City of Thorns and find her killer.

  But this was too dark and weird, wasn’t it? Worse than the fox pee beneath my bed.

  Chapter 3

  We were sitting at the marble bar, with the night-dark sea glittering before us. I didn’t want to ruin the evening, and so I waved a hand. “Never mind. I want to hear more about your daily life. What’s it like?”

  I could feel the tension leave the air again. “Fucking amazing,” Shai said. “I might do another year. Any chance you can get the tuition for next year?”

  “I’m working on a few ideas for getting in.” Wildly illegal ideas at this point. “What’s your dorm like?”

  “There’s a balcony and servants. Even the ocean is more beautiful there. It’s not like the Atlantic—it’s like this gorgeous tropical ocean made with magic. Okay, so the city has seven wards, each one associated with a demon. And the university buildings are organized the same way. I’m in Lucifer Hall, and it’s this enormous stone castle-like place.”

  Even putting my vengeance plans aside, my jealousy was crippling. “How are your classes?”

  “Amazing. They’re held in lecture halls that must be four hundred years old, with seats curved all around a stage.” She sighed. “I know, it’s a huge expense. But I wanted to learn magical arts, and you can’t exactly do that at Osborn State. Belial is the finest witchcraft institution for mortals. I’m desperate to stay another year.”

  “What are the demons like?”

  She ran her fingertip over the rim of her mojito. “Well, my classes are mostly with aspiring mortal witches, but there are a few demons, and the professors, obviously. They’re beautiful and intimidating as shit. Some of them have horns, but not all. I haven’t met anyone who seems particularly evil. At least, no one worse than Jack.” She turned and lifted her empty glass, motioning for the bartender to bring us another round, then swiveled back to me. “I’ve heard the king is evil—him and the Lord of Chaos. They’re both terrifying, but I’ve only seen them from a distance.”

  My eyebrows shot up. “Okay, start with the king. What’s his deal?”

  She leaned in conspiratorially. “King Cambriel only recently became king. He slaughtered his father, King Nergal, who’d ruled for hundreds of years. Cambriel cut off his dad’s head and stuck it on the gate to his palace.”

  I shuddered. “That’s fucked up.”

  “The only way a demon king can die is if his heir slaughters him, and Cambriel did just that. Now he’s apparently looking for a demon queen, and there’s all kinds of gossip about which female he might choose.”

  As I finished my first mojito, the bartender brought over two more.

  “And the women want to marry this guy with his dad’s head over his front gate?” I asked. “Sounds like quite a catch.”

  “To the female demons, he is.” She slid one of the mojitos over to me. “And the Lord of Chaos is the other eligible bachelor in the city. He’s an outsider—a duke from the City of Serpents in England, so he was leader of a demon ward there. No one knows why he left, but obviously, it was a scandal. Dukes don’t normally leave their cities. But the most important thing is that he seems to be filthy rich.”

  “If it was such a big scandal, how come no one knows the details?”

  She stirred her drink with her little black straw. “There’s no communication between demon cities. Demons can arrive in a new city, but they can never speak about the old one. It was one of the conditions of surrender in the great demon wars years ago, sealed by magic. The Puritans thought that if demons spoke to each other, they could grow strong and rise up against the mortals again, so he can’t say a thing about the English demon city.”

  “Wow.”

  “So.” She leaned closer. “No one really knows anything about him. But here’s the scariest thing: on the rare occasion that a demon comes into a different city, they have to pass an initiation called the Infernal Trial. It’s supposed to prove that the demon gods have blessed the new arrival. I don’t want to say it’s barbaric because that sounds judgmental, but it is barbaric. In the City of Thorns, the way the Trial goes is that the demons have to run through the forest and try to kill the newcomer. Only those wh
o survive can remain. Most of them die before they can be initiated, but the Lord of Chaos slaughtered fifty other demons. Obviously, all the women want to fuck him because he’s terrifying.”

  I stared at her. “This is all legal?”

  She shrugged. “Their city, their laws. They can’t kill humans without starting a war, but demons are fair game.”

  This was fascinating. “What does the Lord of Chaos look like?”

  “I’ve only seen him from a distance, but he’s shockingly beautiful. Like, fall-to-your-knees-before-him beautiful. He has silver hair, but not from age. It’s sort of otherworldly. And he has these stunning blue eyes, devastating cheekbones. He’s huge. I have a crush on him, and on a wrath demon named Legion. He has long black hair and these sexy-as-hell tattoos. Both of them are, like…stunning. Legion looked at me once—a smoldering look. Not even joking, I forgot to breathe.”

  I leaned closer. “What about a star? Have you seen a five-pointed star on anyone’s head?”

  A line formed between her brows. “What are you talking about?”

  And there I was, back to my obsession—my mom’s murder.

  I shook my head. “Never mind. I just heard a rumor about marks on demons’ foreheads. Might be bullshit.”

  As the pizza arrived, I pulled off a slice for myself and slid it onto a small plate. It looked surprisingly good, even though it was vegan.

  Shai drummed her fingernails on the counter. “Why do I get the feeling you’re always hiding things?”

  “Some things are meant to be hidden.” My mouth was watering for the squash and garlic. I took a bite, and while the vegan cheese burned my mouth, it still tasted glorious. I wasn’t sure even the magically inspired food of the demon world could compete.

  When I swallowed the hot bite, I asked, “Are you going to show me any of the healing magic you’ve been learning? If I have a headache, can you fix it?”

  She wiped the corner of her mouth with a napkin. “I’m not ready yet. And anyway, I’m a veterinary student. I can’t treat humans.”

  I pointed at her, feeling a bit tipsy now. “But if someone shot me in the shoulder, could you fix it with magic, or would you turn me into a cat or something?”

  She shuddered. “Probably half-cat, half-human. It would be horrible.”

  We went quiet for a while as we ate the rest of the pizza.

  When we finished, I turned to look behind me and found that the club was starting to fill up.

  “Are we going to dance?” asked Shai.

  I was now two mojitos and a Guinness into the evening, and so I shouted something about it being my birthday as I took to the dance floor.

  They were playing my favorite, Apashe. As the beat boomed over the club, I found myself losing myself in the music. I forgot my college loans, my disastrous presentation, the spiders that crawled over me when I slept. I forgot about Jack and the five-pointed star. I let go of my lust for revenge.

  At least, I did so until the music went quiet and tension thickened the air.

  Sometimes, you can sense danger before you feel it, and this was one of those moments. Darkness rippled through the bar, floating on a hot, dry breeze. I went still, disturbed to find that everyone was staring in the same direction with an expression of horror. Goosebumps rose on my arms. The warmth felt unnatural, disturbing. I didn’t want to turn around.

  When I finally did, my stomach swooped. There, in the doorway, was a demon with otherworldly silver hair and eyes like flecks of ice. The Lord of Chaos? His size and breathtaking beauty almost made me dizzy. He looked like a freaking god.

  Maybe it was the mojitos, maybe it was his stunning physical perfection, but I felt magnetically drawn to him. I wanted to slide up closer to him and press myself against his muscular body. As I stared at him, my heart started to pound faster.

  Divine. His silver hair hung down to heartbreakingly sharp cheekbones. He sported a high-collared black coat that hung open. Under his jacket, he wore a thin gray sweater that showed off a muscular body. It looked soft, but I could tell the abs beneath it were rock hard. I found my pulse racing as I thought of running my fingers over the material and feeling his muscles twitch.

  I’d never enjoyed sex—not once in my life. But as I looked at him, I thought there was a man who could actually satisfy me.

  I clamped my eyes shut. Wait, what the fuck was wrong with me? He wasn’t even human. He was another species, one that used to eat humans.

  But when I opened my eyes again, I felt like I was melting. In contrast to his pale blue eyes, his eyebrows were dark as night. The effect seemed shocking, mesmerizing.

  But when he slid those pale eyes to me, an icy tendril of fear curled through me. His fingers tightened into fists, and he lowered his chin like he was about to charge at me.

  I froze. My heart started beating faster now for an entirely different reason. I had his attention, but not in a good way.

  This was a look of pure, unadulterated loathing, a look of palpable hatred that sent alarm bells ringing in my mind. He hated me.

  Holy hell.

  What did he think I’d done to him?

  Chapter 4

  Tension thickened the air, and my knees felt weak.

  The demon dominated the room. His eyes locked on me.

  Every cell in my body was telling me to turn and run, to save myself before it was too late. He might be beautiful, but this creature was pure death. He’d tear my throat out in an instant.

  It felt like ages before the look of raw hatred disappeared, replaced by a cruel, mocking smile. He dragged his gaze away from me. Now, he looked at ease, like all of this was amusing to him. He shrugged. “Well, don’t stop the fun, my mortal friends.” He spoke with a posh English accent. “One might get the unpleasant idea that demons aren’t welcome here.”

  With a slow, graceful gate, he crossed to the bar, his enormous body seemingly radiating lethal power.

  Though I trembled and backed away from him, I found myself unable to stop staring. Shai tugged on my arm, pulling me away, and I nearly stumbled as she dragged me from the bar.

  When we were no longer so close to him, she whispered, “What was that all about?”

  My mouth had gone dry, and my head was spinning. “You saw that, too? The look he was giving me? I have no idea what that was about.”

  “Maybe you look like someone he knew.” She glanced over my shoulder at him. “That’s the one I was talking about. The Lord of Chaos. What’s he doing here?”

  When I turned to look at him again, he slid his glacial gaze toward me. He arched an eyebrow and lifted his whiskey glass like a toast.

  Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, I found myself walking closer to him again.

  As I did, a mocking smile curled his lips “Didn’t think I’d be seeing you again after all these years.”

  I cleared my throat. “You must have me mistaken for someone else.”

  The cold smile he gave me dripped with venom. “Oh, I don’t think so, love. I’d know your face anywhere. It’s haunted my nightmares for a long time.”

  The ground seemed unsteady beneath my feet. “I’ve never seen you before in my life.” I tried to steady my voice, but it came out shaky. “Pretty sure I would have remembered a six-foot-five, silver-haired demon.”

  “Don’t stop dancing on my account.” He glanced away from me again, dark magic coiling around him. “Why let your horrific past get in the way of your fun?”

  For a moment, I wondered if this had something to do with Mom’s murder. After all, a demon had wanted her dead. Had he confused me with her? But I quickly dismissed the thought. I didn’t look enough like Mom for anyone to mistake us. We had the same pale skin, heart-shaped face, and arched eyebrows, but my eyes were deep brown, while hers had been blue. I had higher cheekbones, a wider smile. Mom’s hair had been blonde, but mine was a shocking red with a few blonde strands.

  And most importantly, I was sure Mom didn’t have a horrific past.

  My brea
th shallowed. The room felt too hot, stifling. I turned to Shai, desperate to leave. “I'm going to go out and get some fresh air. Maybe we can find another bar.”

  “I’ll settle the tab,” she said.

  “Thank you.”

  Unnerved, I hurried to the door. When I pushed through to the street outside, my skin started to cool under a light rain. Cirque de la Mer was on a narrow, cobbled street in the old sailor district by the harbor. Across the street stood a brewery, which might make a better option for tonight. They served hot dogs, and for whatever reason, I didn’t imagine demons went to places that served hot dogs.

  I hugged myself as I shivered. Somehow, I’d made an enemy of a terrifying demon duke, and I had no idea how. One thing Mom taught me before she died was that everyone had a weakness. The Lord of Chaos’s weakness—I’d guess—was the woman he’d mistaken me for. The woman who haunted his nightmares.

  I took a deep, calming breath. Out here, the salty breeze skimmed over my skin, the scent of the Atlantic heavy in the air. I licked my lips, tasting salt.

  Here was the thing: I used to think my mom was deeply paranoid with the way she talked about defending yourself and finding weaknesses. She was a social worker who helped people with traumatic histories. And I had to wonder if she’d had one of her own, because she relentlessly pushed me to take self-defense classes, to learn martial arts. She was obsessed with fighting, convinced that enemies were after us. She was sure that one day, a demon would come calling.

  I did everything she wanted me to do. I took every martial arts class in Osborn, and I practiced with her on the weekends. She taught me to search out other people’s weaknesses in a fight, to exploit them, to fight back. I always thought she was training me for a war that didn't exist, but the night she died, I learned the war was real. I just had no idea why she’d been killed.

  As I stared at the glass doors of the brewery, three frat boys stumbled out, already drunk, wearing their Alpha Kappa shirts. I slunk back into the shadows, hoping to go unnoticed.