City of Thorns (The Demon Queen Trials Book 1)

by C. N. Crawford

  I smiled serenely. “I haven’t had a chance to see it yet. I was at Orion’s apartment earlier.”

  His muscles visibly tensed. “Why be with a duke when you could be with a king?” He sounded almost pleading. This was driving him mad. “I don’t understand.”

  I looked into his chiseled features. “I could be with a king?”

  “Don’t you remember, in those days when you were with my father,” he said through gritted teeth, “don’t you remember how much I wanted you?”

  Of course. Motivated by jealousy, the little prince wanted what his father had. The succubus mistress.

  “Did you?” I asked with a smile. “It seems so long ago. It’s just that I notice Orion more. He pays so much attention to me. He tells me things, all about himself. You haven’t really told me about yourself. It’s hard for me to desire someone unless I know what makes him vulnerable.”

  Over his shoulder, I could see Lydia fuming. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see her mark.

  “Tomorrow,” he replied. “I’m having a party in my penthouse suite in the Tower of Baal. You must be there. I will not take no for an answer. Come by yourself. There’s no reason to bring the duke.”

  But the duke, paradoxically, was the key to his affections. All my power over the king depended on his jealousy.

  “I’d love to come, but Orion will be joining me. Once you tell me more about yourself, we can get to know each other better.”

  He nodded curtly, then dropped his hands. With the look he was giving me, I had the sense that he didn’t hear “no” often. “Fine. Bring the duke,” he muttered. “He isn’t a threat to me.”

  Good news for Orion’s spy mission: the king wasn’t a very good liar.

  Chapter 25

  It was nearly dawn by the time we reached my new home in the Asmodean Ward. Orion and I jumped in a cab, not saying a single word about our very public kiss. I only told him we had party plans for the next night, and he seemed pleased at my progress.

  When we arrived at my house, a man in a black suit and hat opened the cab door for me. A second doorman opened the building’s front doors into a hall with pale blue and gold tiled floors. High above, arches of a pale buttery stone swept over us. Sweeping staircases led up to a mezzanine floor.

  In the center of the lobby, the ceiling was painted with an image of a nude woman, a snake wrapped around her legs and body. Lilith, I thought. While most of the hall was gleaming, restored through magic, the ceiling had faded and chipped over time.

  To my surprise, Orion stared at the fresco for a long time, his body completely still. He normally seemed so bored with things, but either the naked woman or the snake had caught his attention. In fact, I sensed him shifting a little, the shadows bleeding into the air around him.

  While he studied Lilith, I crossed to the far side of the hall, where arches opened onto a courtyard with an enormous pool. Beyond the pool, I could see the river through a set of columns, the dark water glinting with just a hint of morning light. And just on the other side of the river was the forbidding Elysian Wilderness. I shivered, not wanting to remember the hour I’d spent there, fighting for my life.

  Orion said the Puritans thought the natural world was dangerous. Right now, I felt their fear. I understood why the devil scared the shit out of them. The primal power of these demons, their bestial side—it was terrifying.

  “You need sleep.” Orion’s deep voice pulled me from my worries.

  “No arguments here.” My body was exhausted at this point, and I desperately wanted rest. I followed Orion up a flight of stairs, and we stopped at a door that had once been painted a deep maroon, the color now faded with time. He slid a skeleton key into the lock, then opened the door, handed me the key, and flicked on a light. I found myself staring at the key in my palm, then tracing its shape.

  I owned a key like this. It was one of the few things that I’d always kept close to me until the night Orion had abducted me. My heart raced as I stared at it, and then I slid it into my pocket and followed him into the apartment.

  The walls within were stone, like a medieval castle, except they were smooth and gleaming. Enormous windows overlooked the pool, the water of which had started to glitter a little with peach light as the first blush of sun began to tinge the sky with gold. Stairs led to a loft floor, which must be where the bed was. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, a circle of wood that looked as if it had once held candles, but now boasted electric lights.

  “The king must have had this place wired today,” said Orion. “He’s desperately trying to impress you, I think.”

  “He told me that he used to lust after Mortana when she was with his dad.” My lip curled. “He really has a lot of Oedipal stuff going on.”

  “Of course he wanted his father’s lover.” Orion crossed to an open archway and peered in. “He’s made everything modern. Ridiculously so. He’s put a cappuccino machine in the kitchen, and even I don’t have one of those. I’m wondering if I need to seduce the king now.”

  I crossed to the stairs, then turned to look at him. “Will you stay? I mean, you said I might be in danger.”

  Amusement shone in his pale eyes, and he dropped down on one of the leather sofas. He stretched out his arms across its back, and I had a feeling that he was well aware of how hot he looked as his shirt clung to his magnificent body. “I’ll be here.”

  Somehow, he’d made that one sentence sound like an indecent invitation.

  “That kiss in the bar was just a job, of course.” Why did I say that? I sounded desperately defensive.

  “Of course. I’m glad we’re in agreement.” A smile played over his lips. “Go to sleep, Rowan. I’ll be here.”

  Even as the sun poured into the room though the arched windows, I continued to sleep on the softest bed I’d ever touched. By the time I woke, the afternoon sun was already high in the sky. I’d slept in my underwear, and the sheets felt silky against my bare skin.

  I sat up and rubbed my eyes, taking in the sun-drenched space around me. The loft above the suite included a large bedroom with a railing on one side and a marble bathroom and bathtub on the other. I rose from the bed and crossed to the bathroom to splash water on my face. Mentally, I tried to reorient myself. Night and day seemed mixed up here.

  I pulled off my underwear and turned on the shower. Steam started to billow around the tiles, and I grabbed the soap and washed.

  My pulse raced whenever I thought about Orion’s lips brushing over mine. When I thought of what he’d look like without his shirt on…

  Insanely, I wanted him in there with me.

  Everything about him distracted me. I turned down the temperature of the shower until a blast of cold water started to clear my head and sharpen my senses.

  Tonight, I was supposed to go to a party in the king’s penthouse. I was pretty pleased with how well I’d been able to get the king’s attention. But what if I learned his weakness before I solved my mom’s murder? I hadn’t seen a single star, and I’d need to be here a while to hunt the killer down.

  Could I just…lie to Orion until I got what I needed?

  Shit. No. Not when he’d threatened Shai’s life.

  Goosebumps covered every inch of my body in the freezing shower, and my nipples were hard as rocks. With teeth chattering, I turned the shower off.

  I grabbed a towel and began to dry off, only to recall that I had no clean clothes upstairs.

  Chilly, I crossed to the balcony. When I peered over the edge, I saw that someone had delivered all my new clothes from Orion’s apartment.

  Gripping the towel around myself, I headed downstairs. A knocking sound echoed into the room, and I watched as Orion moved to open the door, his silver hair ruffled.

  What I didn’t expect to see—what I really didn’t want to see—was Nama sauntering into the room with a basket of fresh-baked goods.

  She’d come to prove herself to him with croissants.

  Chapter 26

  Her white hair cascad
ed over a thin white dress. On the one hand, it looked like an innocent sundress. On the other, I didn’t think it was an accident that when the afternoon sunlight hit the material, it became almost translucent. I could see the shape of her breasts through the fabric, the nipples standing at attention, and with the angle of the light hitting the doorway, she practically glowed.

  She shot me a look of death, then smiled at Orion again. “I was bringing you some chocolate croissants at the Leviathan Hotel, but your doorman told me you were here. I must say, I found it a bit shocking. I wanted to make sure no harm had come to you, given what we know of her kind.”

  With my chin held high and proud like a demon’s, I descended the stairs. “As you can see, he’s fine.”

  Orion grabbed one of the croissants and dropped back into a chair. He met my gaze and gave me a wicked smile, eyes twinkling. “She didn’t leave any marks that will last forever.”

  I bit my lip, watching Nama’s reaction. Her demon mark beamed from her forehead. If all the demons were so easy to provoke, I’d find the murderer in no time.

  Clutching my towel with one hand, I plucked a warm croissant from the basket. “Thanks for the breakfast. You can go now.” Ahhh…my id was a fucking bitch, but definitely fun. “Feel free to pop by tomorrow morning, Nama. We might have worked up an appetite again.”

  The mark blazed from her skin. She pressed her lips into a thin line, and she turned to go. But before she left, she whipped around and grabbed me hard by the back of my neck. I dropped my towel as she yanked me close to her ear, and she whispered, “There’s something not right about you. Something besides you being a whore. I saw you in the forest, dressed in that strange suit. I smelled that putrid scent. You smelled like animal piss. No one believes me because they think I’m mad, but I plan to find out what your game is.”

  “Get your hands off her, Nama,” Orion snarled from behind.

  She released my neck and hissed at me. An actual hiss, like a snake.

  With a furious blush crawling over my cheeks, I scrambled to pick my towel off the floor. I wasn’t sure what was more horrifying right now, being fully exposed in front of these two demons, or the fact that Nama might know I was mortal.

  The door slammed behind her, and I hastily wrapped the towel around myself. When I turned to Orion, I could feel that my cheeks were burning red.

  For his part, he looked fucking delighted. Infinitely amused.

  “What?” I snapped.

  He just shrugged. “That was a gorgeous view I wouldn’t mind seeing again. That’s all.”

  My jaw tightened. “We have a problem.”

  “We do,” he agreed, his smile fading. “She’s watching you too closely because she’s threatened. But I don’t think you need to worry about her. She doesn’t have a lot of credibility here. Everyone knows she’s unhinged. She’s never learned to control her emotions.” His eyes lingered over my bare shoulders. “I liked you better without the towel.”

  “Can you turn around so I can get dressed?” I asked.

  With a sigh, he turned to face the other direction. “When we’re at the king’s penthouse tonight, he may want to see you alone, but I want to stay close to you. The king, as you might have gathered, can be dangerous.”

  With Orion’s back to me, I dropped the towel to the floor. When it hit the tiles, I heard a quiet growl rise from his chest, nearly imperceptibly. He wanted me.

  What would it take to make his demon mark come out? To see if he really belonged on my suspect list?

  Stark naked, I crossed to the bags of clothing on the sofa, then glanced at him from behind. “What should I wear? Sheer black panties or the white ones with the ribbons and garter belts?”

  A sharp intake of breath. “Sheer black.” His voice sounded low, husky. His hand at his side was now clenched into a fist.

  “You’re sticking with me at the party tonight,” I said, slipping into the sheer black underwear. “So you are my protector, then.” I pulled them up over my hips, then grabbed the matching bra. “As long as I don’t betray you or fuck anything up, in which case, you’ll murder my best friend.”

  “That’s a good summary.”

  I looked through the bags again until I found a silky red sundress. I slipped it on, and it hit my thighs just below my butt. “You can turn around now.”

  When he pivoted, his deep gray eyes shimmered like stars, but for the first time, I saw something like sadness in them. “You really look so much like her. It’s disturbing.”

  “Well, I’m not her.” Weirdly, that didn’t feel entirely true. Last night, I’d inhabited her character so easily that she’d felt like a part of me. And worse, I liked being her. It was oddly freeing. “You haven’t actually revealed anything about yourself, though. You haven’t told me what Mortana did or why you’re so desperate for revenge.”

  His eyes seemed to be searching mine, and silence spread out between us. At last, he said, “Mortana was involved in my mother’s death. When she died, I made a blood oath that when I found Mortana again, I would slaughter her.”

  Something sharp pierced my heart. All this—the spying, the rage, it was all to avenge his mom. He and I had way more in common than I’d expected.

  “And her close blood relatives,” he added. “To stamp out her family line forever. Except I think everyone in her family is already dead, except her.”

  Panic twinged in my chest. “I look exactly like her. Are you sure I’m not her descendant?”

  He sighed. “If you’re mortal, you’re not her descendant. We don’t breed mortal offspring. Hardly breed at all, really, which is why it’s unlikely there would be any family line to destroy. She killed all her own relatives when she helped King Nergal with the Lilu purges."

  My chest unclenched a little. “I’m sorry about what happened to your mom.”

  His brow furrowed. “Well, it wasn’t your fault. You’re not actually Mortana.”

  “No, that’s just something mortals say.” I took a deep breath. “Someone killed my mom, too.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I was surprised I’d actually uttered them.

  “Ah.” He cocked his head, going very still. “That’s what you weren’t telling me. Your mother was murdered.”

  “Someone burned her to death in the Osborne Woods. I was there…” My chest went tight, and it started to feel hard to breathe. “I was with her, but I don’t remember most of it. Just the scent of burning flesh, mostly, and…” Emotion tightened my throat, and I trailed off. I shouldn’t be sharing so much with one of my suspects. So much for being an undercover cop.

  He reached up and brushed a tear off my cheek. “What?”

  “Some thoughts that are a bit too dark for other people to hear,” I said.

  “Not for me.” His eyes were an endless blue. “I think you’ll find I don’t have any limits in that regard.”

  The guilt was eating at me from the inside out. “Okay, well, here’s a question for you. Why am I still alive when she burned to death? Why did I keep running?”

  His eyes darkened to shadows. “We’re compelled to keep ourselves alive. It’s the law of nature. And as your mother, she was compelled to keep you alive. That’s the law of nature, too.”

  “So you don’t feel any guilt for surviving when your mom didn’t?”

  The air was growing hotter around us, nearly scorching. “I didn’t say that.” His voice was barely a whisper.

  I nodded. “That’s why you want revenge so desperately, too. Isn’t it? To make it right.”

  “Or maybe my rage drives me because it’s all I have. It defines me and burns away the guilt. There’s nothing else left in me but wrath.”

  I felt like my chest was splitting open. In my hunger for revenge, would I become like him? “Do you feel guilty for anything?” I ventured. “Or have you found a way to turn that off?”

  Shadows darkened around Orion. “I told you.” A ragged edge under that seductive voice. “Beyond a hunger for revenge, I feel almost
nothing at all.”

  My pulse sped up as I sensed something changing around me. When psychologists looked for signs of lying in mortals, they looked for indications of anxiety. In most people—those who aren’t psychopaths—lying makes them nervous. It’s why polygraphs show increased heart rates, or why a liar pulls eye contact. People lying might fidget, look away.

  Demons didn’t show emotions in the same way. They never fidgeted or lowered their eyes out of nerves. But they could shift, and their bodies seemed to change the air around them, making it hotter or colder.

  I’d moved closer, just inches from him now. “I’m not sure I believe you. But I think you should know that there’s something I would want revenge for. If you lay a finger on Shai, I’ll find a way to kill you.”

  Demonic stillness, eyes dark as night.

  Not my protector. Not really. Must remember that.

  A dark chuckle. “Do you still think it’s wise to threaten me? As fragile as you are?”

  “You forget, Orion, I passed the Trial all on my own. I don’t break that easily.” I delivered these lines with a lot more bravado than I actually felt.

  His lips were curled with a dark smile. “No, I don’t suppose you do. I suppose I can feel something besides a lust for revenge, and that’s a surprise.”

  Was that nearly a compliment from Orion?

  But his eyes were still dark as night as he was starting to shift. A demon’s black eyes conveyed a message to mortals: If you were smart, you’d probably run.

  And maybe that was something I should keep in mind around this predator. “Can I have a few hours to myself? I need to clear my head.”

  And you make that very difficult.

  Chapter 27