City of Thorns (The Demon Queen Trials Book 1)

by C. N. Crawford

  When I turned to look at myself, I had to admit I looked hot as hell. With the boots on, I only had a small amount of skin showing—the tops of my thighs and my décolletage. And yet, somehow, this was a much sexier look than I was used to. My hair had dried, and it hung in waves over my shoulders, orange on red. It wasn’t a bad look, I thought.

  Fully dressed, I pulled open the door to the living room. Orion was still sitting on the sofa, leaning back with his arms unfolded over the sofa. And he was still as death, eyes burning like stars as he took me in.

  Inhaling, I crossed closer to him. He slowly stood, his gaze boring into me. Dark magic whipped the air around him, and a low growl rumbled from his throat and skimmed over my body. I wondered if he was thinking of when I’d straddled him yesterday.

  Then a wicked smile ghosted over his lips. “Good. You look like a succubus. Let’s just see you move like Mortana one last time. I know you have confidence in your body in some ways. You can land a punch—I saw you take on those mortal fucks.” His eyes had an otherworldly silver sheen. “That man who cornered you outside the brewery—was his name Jack Corwin?”

  I’d forgotten how much he knew about me, as I’d spilled nearly all my secrets. “That was him.”

  “After everything he did to you, why would you tell me to stop hurting him? When I was twisting his mind with pain?”

  He was doing that dominating demon stare that made me want to submissively drop my gaze. But I held his stare because Mortana would hold it. “I’m a normal person who doesn’t want to watch someone’s brain melt on the street. It’s that thing called empathy. Even when you hate someone, you don’t enjoy seeing them tortured.”

  “Empathy?” His eyes looked icy, cruel. “Sounds tedious. I’m glad I was never cursed with it.”

  “Exactly how many people have you killed in your life?”

  He moved around to my side. “I’d love to tell you about each one just to see the horror cross your pretty face, but we have only a few hours left to work on your hunched posture.”

  I frowned. “Did you say hunched?”

  “We’ll try one last thing. I’m going to trace my finger up your spine, and as I do, I want you to straighten your back along with it. Lean into it, square your shoulders.”

  Already, I could feel the power of his magic tingling over my skin. When he touched my lower back, I nearly gasped at the pleasurable sensation. Just the feel of his fingertip on my back, through my dress, was like a hot, electric vibration through my body.

  “Close your eyes. Let your shoulders relax and fall back. Imagine a thread pulling the top of your head toward the ceiling.” With exquisite slowness, he stroked upward. My body responded to his touch, spine straightening, pulse speeding, and skin burning.

  Holy moly, Rowan. Remember, this is just a job. And the bit about him being a demon. And also the bit about how he threatened to murder Shai.

  As his finger brushed my nape, my neck lengthened. Then, with a touch light as a feather, his finger grazed back down again, and heat radiated from every point of contact. He let it rest between my shoulder blades. “Lift your chest. Raise your chin. You’re proud of your beauty. It’s part of your power.”

  My breath sped up, and I felt him move behind me, his hands going to my hips. I fought the insane impulse to lean back into his powerful body.

  “Move your hips forward a little,” he said quietly. “Open your eyes now.”

  I opened my eyes, already feeling different with my new posture.

  “Perfect.”

  With graceful movements, he crossed in front of me. His beauty was deeply and unfortunately distracting. His gaze flicked to my mouth, and with a jolt of embarrassment, I realized I’d been licking my lips. A blush crept over my cheeks.

  He cocked his head, his cheek dimpling with a sly smile.

  I actually felt sexy for once. And now, I liked thinking of his eyes on me, on the naked tops of my thighs…in fact, I had the most inconvenient desire to show him my whole body.

  I strutted across the room, swaying my hips like he’d showed me a million times, one foot in front of the other.

  “Good,” he murmured. “Now turn to face me.”

  I spun around, my curls bouncing. His stance was casual, hands in his pockets, shoulders relaxed. But something about the way his eyes burned, the way his jaw looked tight, told me that he wasn’t actually calm at all. What was going on beneath that calm, easy exterior? Rage? Lust? Still trying to stop himself from ripping out my heart?

  And where had he slept last night?

  Whatever the case was, he was looking at me like he wanted to devour me.

  “What next?” I asked.

  “Now, when you walk back to me, try pretending a droplet of water is slowly moving from your neck down between your breasts. Trace it with your fingertip.”

  I started walking again, like a cat, and I moved my fingertip from my throat, down my chest. It was just like martial arts, wasn’t it? Figuring out how to move my body in the right way.

  I stopped when I could feel his hot magic skimming over me. Getting closer than I was now, looking into his eyes, felt like it would be too intense.

  He raised his eyebrows. “Very good,” he purred. “You need to always communicate through body language that you want to fuck someone. You make it clear through innuendo, eye contact, and touch.”

  I tossed my hair behind my shoulder.

  “That was cute, but for starters, you have to stand closer than three feet. You know, like you did yesterday.”

  I swallowed hard, then walked closer to him. I stared up at him, imagining how it would feel to have his hands all over my body. Just a job, Rowan. This is just a job.

  Amusement glinted in his eyes. “Now you’ll need to lose the deer-in-the-headlights expression. Try a half-smile, an arched eyebrow.”

  I contorted my face on one side.

  He grimaced. “Oh, no. Don’t do that. Remember, you are a gift.”

  I let my face relax, then tried the smug expression.

  His gaze brushed down my body. “Closer. Show vulnerability. Tilt your head back to show me your neck, like you’re allowing me to bite you again, like you’re inviting it.”

  This close to him, his sensual power was washing over me like a wave. I found myself staring into his endless eyes, my pulse racing. My nipples pebbled under the silky camisole. What I really wanted was for him to bend me over, pull down my panties, and stroke me—

  Stop it, Rowan. He’s not even human.

  I knew what was happening. My id was taking over—the stupid, animalistic part of my brain that would fuck everything up for me if I let it. But maybe my id was what I needed here.

  “Good,” he said quietly. “You’ve got the eye contact down, now try using your sense of touch a little as you talk to me.”

  I reached out and touched his chest. I bit my lip as I traced my fingertips over the soft material, feeling the hard muscle beneath.

  “You forgot to talk,” he said quietly.

  Ah. That was because my mind had gone totally blank.

  He was very convincing at looking at me like he wanted to rip my dress off, but that was the job, wasn’t it? He’d said that he’d try acting like I was sexy.

  He reached for my arms and lifted them up, wrapping them around his neck so my body was pressed against his. As I reached up, my short hem rose behind me, and the warm breeze rushed over my upper thighs and the bottom of my ass.

  Heat swept through my body. This was flirting? This felt positively indecent, and a hot pulse beat through my core. Looking into his eyes, I felt like I was going to plummet into a dangerous abyss.

  My muscles clenched.

  Demonic killer. Back away now, Rowan.

  I pulled my arms from his throat, my jaw clenching, and looked away. My heart was pounding out of control, which was unfortunate, because now I knew he could hear it. “Okay, enough of that.” I swallowed hard. “I think I’ve proven that I can put on the Mortana a
ct.” I plastered a smile on my face. “Why don’t you show me around the city?”

  “You’ll need to stop blushing first.”

  I smoothed out my hair. “Fine.”

  “Have you memorized the map?”

  I nodded. “I think so.”

  “Just remember that if you drop the Mortana act by accident,” he cautioned, “you will end up in a pit of fire.”

  “Great way to help me relax.”

  But underneath the nerves and the fear, I was actually thrilled. Today, for the first time—after all these years—I was finally going to get a look inside the City of Thorns.

  I was going to find my mom’s killer.

  Chapter 15

  Orion had led me into what I’d thought was a closet, but was actually an elevator. While we rode it down, I kept studying the map.

  “You have to put that away when we get to the bottom.”

  “I know.” I’d drawn the gates of the city so many times, but I’d never imagined what was inside it. This was forbidden information and deeply fascinating.

  The map showed that the city was divided into seven sections—eight if you included the Elysian Wilderness, south of the Acheron River.

  The Luciferian Ward—and the Leviathan Hotel, where Orion lived—were right on the eastern side overlooking the ocean. South of Luciferian was the royal Beelzebub Ward, and the great Tower of Baal where the king lived. Once I had the king’s approval, I’d be staying in the Asmodean Ward—west of here, on the river. It was the smallest ward, and I suspected it had grown smaller over the years as the neighboring wards encroached on it.

  Curiosity burned bright in me. I wanted to see everything—the old prison, the ancient demon temples, the demon bank. This place not only contained my mom’s killer, but it was magical.

  When we reached the ground floor, the elevator opened into a lobby, and I shoved the map into my new red handbag, next to my new phone.

  I stepped into the bright sunlight of the lobby. From above, sunlight poured through a dome of windows like a Victorian greenhouse. The floors were ivory marble, designed with black tiles in an Art Deco style. Sweeping stairs led up to a mezzanine, with a black railing that somehow looked like sexy lace.

  I’d never actually been in a place like this before, and I had to remember to keep my jaw closed and not look awed by the grandeur. Mortana would not be impressed by this place. She’d be bored by all of this. So I pulled my eyes away from the beauty of the building, and I focused on my catlike walk, on my swaying hips.

  On the way to the door, we passed a handful of people, who gaped at me. Two gorgeous demon women with red eyes and curved ivory horns—one blonde, the other with raven hair—huddled together and whispered as I crossed to the door. I had the feeling that word had already gotten around, and I gave them a confident smile.

  That’s right, demons. The succubus bitch is back.

  Orion pushed through the large glass door, then held it for me. With swaying hips, I found myself stepping outside into a city of golden stone. In the sun, the world gleamed around me, and my breath caught at its beauty.

  With its narrow streets—clearly made in a time before cars—the city looked medieval. The hotel opened up onto a piazza of sorts, where cafés and shops lined a large stone courtyard. Arched passages jutted off from the square. In the center of the square, the stones formed a geometric shape sort of like an upside-down isosceles triangle, with lines curving off it and a V on the bottom.

  Orion gestured at the symbol. “As you can see, Mortana, the Luciferian Ward is unchanged, and Lucifer’s great symbol remains.”

  I sighed. “Delightful.”

  Now the real question was, did one of the squares contain a star symbol? And which of these fuckers burned my mom alive using fire magic?

  When I surveyed the square, I realized all eyes were fixed in my direction. A shiver of dread rippled over me, but Mortana wouldn’t look overwhelmed. Mortana would loop her arm around Orion’s and smile smugly—the same kind of wry little curl of lips that Orion had been displaying since I’d met him. So I did just that.

  With his body close to mine, his warm magic radiated over me, soothing and seductive at the same time.

  Arm in arm, we crossed into one of the arched passages. In here, where it was empty, Orion leaned down and whispered. “I don’t think people are thrilled about your return.”

  “Just the succubus issue?” I whispered back.

  “That’s part of it. And also, you’re with me. The king and I are now the two wealthiest bachelors in the city, and the unmarried demon females have been competing for our attention. Infernal debutantes presented at court in a series of balls and soirées, each of them hoping to become a queen or duchess. Demon females wait years, centuries even, hoping to find the most advantageous match they can.”

  I looked up at him. “Why aren’t you married?”

  “I don’t see any reason to marry.”

  “And the king?” I asked. “He’s centuries old. Why marry now?”

  Orion shrugged. “Before, he could fuck every woman in the city, and he probably has. No one had a claim to him. But a king is expected to marry, so he must choose a wife.”

  We walked through a series of narrow streets and stone stairwells, past shops and hotels. We swept past a round library belonging to Belial University.

  Orion quietly explained to me that in the ancient days, Lucifer—the shining one—was the supreme demon god. Even now, Lucifer’s power permeated the city. The temples were mostly abandoned, but some demons still left offerings to the old gods.

  “Do you believe in them?” I whispered.

  He glanced at me. “I don’t know, but I don’t really give a fuck if they’re real or not.”

  Ah, of course. His arrogance knew no bounds—not even when it came to his gods.

  In the Mammon Ward, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant by one of the river’s tributaries, the Erebus Stream. It burbled past us, gleaming in the sun. We sat by a pedestrianized road of amber stone, and I watched the demons stride past in their designer clothes, some of them with metallic horns that sparkled in the afternoon sunlight.

  Far across the square, the Bank of Thorns loomed over a square, with towering columns that made it look like an ancient temple. Black brambles grew over the stone.

  A few mortals walked past, dressed casually in Belial University sweatshirts and leggings. They moved differently from demons, and their expressions were unguarded, in awe at the beautiful world around them. By contrast, every demon stood out to me as a predator, gliding along with lethal grace. The demons kept their features calm at all times.

  None of them bore the star I was looking for.

  I leaned back in my chair to sip the red wine Orion had ordered for us. I was no wine expert, but this was amazing. I let the dry flavor roll over my tongue, then swallowed. “Delicious.”

  He returned my smile. “Claret from grapes in the fields of Elysium. One of my favorites.”

  The waitress returned, staring almost exclusively at Orion. And who could blame her? The woman had functioning eyes, and he looked like a god. Her cheeks flushed as she took his order, and she flicked her long brown hair over her shoulder.

  With a smirk, he said, “I’ll have the duck breast.”

  I was pretty sure she actually gasped at the word breast. She bit her lip and cocked her head, as if he’d just suggested spanking her. “Yeah?” she said. “Is that all you want?”

  Orion had said flirting was all about making it clear you wanted to fuck someone, and this chick was a goddamn expert. Frankly, she’d be much better than me at the succubus role.

  I had to admit, I found it a bit irritating. For one thing, I was starving, and she still hadn’t taken my order. For another, what if this were actually a real date? I mean it wasn’t, obviously. I had no reason to be jealous, so I wasn’t.

  But she didn’t know that.

  The real question was how Mortana would handle this situation. Person
ally, I thought she’d be fucking pissed. Mortana liked being the center of attention, and she wasn’t getting any right now. Nor did I think she would tolerate this kind of disrespect.

  I cleared my throat. When the waitress finally turned to look at me, I narrowed my eyes at her and made my body go as still as possible. Having just experienced this a few times from Orion, I knew how unnerving it was. Plus, this was basically a bitchier version of Dr. Omer’s I’ll sit in silence until you realize what you’ve done technique.

  I watched her rosy cheeks go pale, and then I slowly tapped my fingernails on the table. “Are you quite done with that little display?” My voice came out sounding cold and distant.

  “Sorry,” she stammered. “I was just taking his order.”

  “Oh, I don’t think so, mortal.” I chuckled. “But you know, your desire does give me strength.” Never in my life had I sounded so imperious. To tell the truth, I wasn’t entirely sure where this was coming from. “Your lust is making me positively ravenous.”

  I watched her throat bob as she swallowed. “Did you want lunch?”

  Orion was picking up the tab, so I might as well get something expensive. “Lobster Fra Diavolo.” An appropriate name when I thought about it. “I’m feeling a bit devilish.” I bared my teeth. “And if that doesn’t satisfy me, I’ll need to feed on something fresher, so you’d best tell the chef to make sure it’s good.”

  She stumbled back from me, then turned to hurry to the kitchen.

  Shit. Was that what my id was like under all my repression? Did I have an evil side?

  When I turned back to Orion, he was studying me closely. “Mortana, you really haven’t changed at all.”

  I leaned closer to him and whispered in his ear, “I like being back.”

  He raised his wine to me in a toast. “To the most malignant, evil demon to ever grace this city.”