Inferno of Darkness (Divisa Huntress Book 2)

by J. L. Weil

  I felt them before my eyes opened, the wintery chill the darkness emitted playing over my hand. My gaze landed immediately on Ashor, who was gaping at me with fascination. Sooty flames danced on each of my fingertips, their coldness tingling under my skin.

  “Impressive,” he whispered, lifting a hand to run it through the fire as he reached across the table. The flames burned brighter and clung to him as he moved his fingers back and forth.

  I swallowed. “You would think so.”

  “The darkness troubles you,” he murmured.

  More or less. Unlike him, I hadn’t grown up enwreathed in this kind of power. It was foreign and yet was like having a slice of Ashor with me at all times. If that even made sense. “How is this possible?” I asked.

  He gazed at the flickering darkness another moment or two before responding. “Not everything in this world has rational answers. But,” he added, seeing I was about to protest, “if I had to hypothesize, a part of power adhered itself to you when your soul attached to mine and mine to yours.”

  I lifted my hand, watching as the black flames left ribbons in the air. “Did you know that would happen?”

  Ashor shrugged. “No. Not exactly.”

  “What does that mean, not exactly?”

  “I’ve heard rumors it was possible. But seeing as I’ve never been mated before, I didn’t know for sure.”

  “I can’t control them.”

  “Hmm. That is a problem.” He laid his hands over mine, closing them into fists. “I can help you with that,” he murmured, and when he released my hands, the flames were gone.

  So many thoughts swam in my head. One I gravitated to over and over again. Another I ignored. “Okay,” I agreed. “If you teach me how to shift, how to control the flames, I’m willing to learn.” If this was how I protected my family, saved Ashor, then I was willing to give in to my dark side.

  He lifted my hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to the back of it. “I suggest you don’t show our host that little trick.”

  I snatched my hand back. “I wasn’t planning on it.” Needing to do something with my hands, I reached for the carafe of hot water and refilled my cup, seeping a little sack of black tea into mug—just as the door burst open and two demons with spears darkened the doorway.

  Ashor groaned at the disruption.

  “The queen will see you now,” one of them announced, flashing a row of decayed teeth. Hell needed a dentist.

  Wonderful. I threw back my mug of tea, needing the caffeine jolt, and prepared myself. Coffee would have been better, but I’d take whatever I could get at this point.

  Perhaps slamming the tea had been a bad idea. As I got to my feet, it sloshed around in my stomach. I walked by the demons, following Ashor out of the room. One of the bastards grabbed a piece of my hair, his forked tongue darting out and licking the blonde lock.

  I was going to be sick.

  Halting my steps, I whirled to face the nasty culprit, yanking my hair out from his grasp and giving him my best what-the-fuck face. “Touch me again, and I cut off your—”

  Crack.

  The demon’s head lolled to the side, his clear wings that seconds ago had been fluttering with excitement falling flat. I blinked. The pair of hands encircling the demon’s neck released him, and the beast collapsed onto the floor.

  Ashor had snapped his neck.

  “Ready, luv?” he asked, turning toward me as if nothing happened. As if he hadn’t just attacked one of Verena’s guards. He held out an arm to escort me, a storm churning in his eyes.

  Oh, he was pissed.

  I couldn’t imagine what he would have done to the demon if the asshole had done something worse. A terrifying thought.

  Without saying a word, I slipped my hand through his elbow.

  “Have someone clean up the trash before we return,” Ashor instructed the other demon.

  What would Verena say about this? The demon wasn’t dead, just indisposed until his body healed, but still….

  17

  My plan to break Ashor out of the underworld hadn’t changed, just altered based on our current predicament. I had every intention of thwarting the prince’s plan to hand over Verena to his mother for the kill. Perhaps the Queen of Envy and I could work together, join forces against Kali. I just didn’t know if she was trustworthy. Demons rarely were, and Verena struck me as someone who was calculating in her decisions, much like another queen I knew.

  Verena’s throne room was like night to day compared to Kali’s, and I wasn’t just talking about the sunlight. The stone tile shimmered gold like a coin at the bottom of the sea, reflecting off sunbeams streaming through the open windows. A breeze blew through the room, carrying traces of pine, and sent the white fabrics hanging throughout the room dancing in the air.

  The queen was sitting on a throne made of white birch. Ivy wove in and out of the carved railings, tangling itself around Verena’s exposed calves. The plants seemed alive, like hissing snakes ready to strike. I made a mental note not to get too close for fear of becoming entangled.

  Verena was sex incarnate in a silk gown of emerald silk that clung and molded to her curves in a way that left little to the imagination. A crown of gold fashioned so it twisted like twined tree branches sat atop her strawberry-colored hair. It wasn’t as exquisite as Kira’s, but I found myself drawn to it.

  She saw me admiring her crown. “Not as glittering as yours, and it is as heavy as it looks. I always envied the prince for his ability to craft a nearly weightless crown. Although, I suppose it doesn’t lessen the burden of the title any.”

  Ashor gave her a slight tip of his head before replying. “It doesn’t, I assure you.”

  She played with the gold rings on her left hand, twisting them back and forth. “Quite clever, giving her your crown, a clear symbol of your protection. You always were the quiet, sneaky one.”

  Ashor slipped a hand into the pockets of his black jeans, appearing relaxed. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  “As you should. The courts are buzzing about you and your mate, Prince. And it seems rightly so. You’ve put yourself in a powerful position, aligning two courts of Hell,” Verena said.

  At the mention of me, Ashor’s lips thinned into a straight line of displeasure. “I assure you it wasn’t planned.”

  Verena arched a brow. “You don’t think your mother is capable of orchestrating such a feat? The Queen of Darkness is known not only for her ruthlessness but also her patience. She has long since coveted the position of Supreme, which as you are aware was long ago obliterated and the courts divided into five sectors, giving no sole power to any one demon.”

  “As you said, I am aware. Although, to me talk of Supreme was tales told when I was a child. I did not live through the obliteration,” Ashor retorted.

  “Hmm.” The queen pursed her lips. “You might not have lived through it, but I did. However, I wasn’t queen then. So tell me, Prince of Darkness, why have you come to my court if not to start a war?”

  “To warn you,” the prince stated plainly.

  She laughed, a forced sound. “Really? You haven’t changed your tune? Still sticking with the I’m-here-to-warn-you song? My informants tell me that you and your mother had a falling out. Would it have anything to do with my Lexi? And why you appeared on my doorstep?”

  I didn’t like how she referred to me as hers. And neither did Ashor. After the little mishap in my room, the prince was touchy when it concerned me. She had poked the sleeping bear. Was it deliberate on her part?

  The prince didn’t give two fucks. The bright sunny room was suddenly bathed in utter darkness; only the glow of his eyes and the queen’s was visible in the blackness. “She might have been born from your court, but make no mistake about it, your highness, Lexi is not and will never be of your court. She is mine.” His voice was frost embodied, chilly and deadly, freezing the room. Little flecks of ice coated the windows.

  My eyes adjusted to the lack of light, seeing Verena press
her lips more firmly together. “I see I hit a sore spot. It’s so careless of you to show your Achilles’ heel. The look isn’t good on you.” She clucked her tongue in disapproval. “But I guess it is common knowledge that you have taken a mate, which as you know, is seen to make you vulnerable among the courts. Make no mistake about it, I won’t be bullied in my own home.” Sunlight flooded back into the throne room, thawing the frosted glass. “Do I make myself clear?”

  I blinked as my eyes readjusted again to the brightness.

  Verena was haloed in rays of yellow light, her eyes glowing orbs of pure white, losing all traces of her usually wine-colored demon eyes. Her irises were undiluted power—queenly power. This conversation was going down the drain. Fast. Her fingers gripped the arms of her throne as she said, “If you pull a stunt like that again, threaten me in my own kingdom, you will watch as your mate begs to be taken by one of mine. There are other ways to break you, young prince. It would be wise not to test me.”

  I gasped. She wouldn’t fucking dare, but as I stared at her with shock and disgust, a shudder of revulsion rolled through me. She would do exactly as she threatened, hand me over to one of her sex demons.

  Through our bond, I felt murderous power flood Ashor’s veins, to the point that I could see the network of darkness climbing over his skin. If he didn’t gain control of his temper, we were going to start the war right here, right now. “As long as we understand each other, then we won’t have a problem.” I spoke up before Ashor lost his shit. My fingers intertwined with his, and I heard him exhale.

  Verena huffed a laugh. “You have true power for a half-breed,” she said to Ashor. “But I’m a queen.” As if her title alone gave her enough magic to defeat him in a battle.

  My money was on my mate. I had felt the swell of power that churned like the ocean inside him. Vast. Endless. Turbulent. Just waiting, begging to be unleashed on the world. How the hell he kept it contained, I’ll never understand. It felt as if he could destroy Verena’s entire kingdom, perhaps the entire underworld if he chose to fully release the darkness within him.

  Ashor gained control of himself, once again the picture of calm to the point of boredom. “As I said before, I came to offer you my alliance. Perhaps I’ve wasted my time.”

  “Why would I need it?” the queen spat back, insulted at his offer.

  “My mother wants war. She is determined to have your throne,” he replied.

  Verena blinked, and her eyes returned to their natural demon color, all traces of the eerie white gone. “And you expect me to believe you came into my court to warn me?”

  Ashor shrugged. “Believe me. Don’t believe me. It makes no difference to me. I’m not the one with a crown to lose.”

  She thought carefully over his words, mulling them around in her pretty head. “And say I accept your offer of alliance, what assurance do I have that you won’t turn on me in the tide of battle?”

  Ashor gaze landed on me. “She is standing in this room with me.”

  Me? I nearly squeaked, but managed to keep myself from making any kind of sound. Inside my head was another story. How am I an assurance?

  Verena’s gaze slid to me, and the glint in her eyes made me squirm.

  “My primal need to protect her will be your weapon. As long as my mate is inside your kingdom, I will fight anyone who tries to harm her, including my own mother. Just ask your guard,” Ashor proposed, referring to the demon whose neck he had cracked for touching me.

  The prince had already deceived and betrayed the Queen of Darkness, but Ashor couldn’t have known that I would find him in the Court of Envy, that I would search for him. He was using my presence to aid whatever scheme he was concocting. I wasn’t sure how I felt being his bargaining chip, but Ashor never failed to shock and surprise me.

  It was something I would have to get used to, being his mate.

  “I will think over your proposal,” Verena said. “And in the meantime, you and your mate can enjoy the offerings of my court. Or have you already?” The gleam in her smile hinted she knew what Ashor and I had done in the early hours of dawn. “There are many forms of pleasure to be found, as the prince can contest. He has spent many nights in my kingdom. My demons will be all too happy to accommodate your needs. They’ve missed you.”

  Jealousy slashed like a whip across my heart.

  Ashor’s fingers ran up my spine to the back of my neck where his demon mark was inked onto my flesh. “That won’t be necessary. I’m not in the mood to share.”

  The queen only continued to grin wryly. “As you wish. But know the offer is there if you change your mind.”

  A muscle along my jaw ticked as I stared down the queen. I wanted her to know that I didn’t fear her, not as a smart girl should. Beside me, Ashor chuckled.

  We were about to leave when the sunlight streaming from the windows faded. Darkness reigned over the sky, spilling like ink into the clouds and erasing the sunlight, and I glanced sidelong at Ashor. I couldn’t sense the tendrils of his power, which confused me. Where was the darkness coming from?

  “My mother,” Ashor whispered, eyeing the storm as it rolled in above the castle. A slash of lightning lit up the dreary room.

  “She is here?” I squealed, panic barreling inside me. I wasn’t prepared to face her. Not yet.

  “No,” Verena replied, also watching the sky. “She is sending me a message. She wants me to return her son.”

  The storm continued to rage that night in Gardeness, slashing lightning, icy rain that plummeted from a plume of black clouds beating against the windows. Kali’s message was received and ignored. I couldn’t help but be reminded of my time at the Court of Darkness. A thickness of night coated in the air, and I squinted through the lashing rain outside the window. “Is it just me, or did the sky get darker?”

  Ashor glanced over my head up into a funnel of darkness and shrugged. “It could go on for days.”

  “But why? She knows why you are here,” I said, my brows knitted together. A gust of wind slammed into the side of the castle, followed by a series of lightning strikes around us. I jumped.

  Ashor lay gentle hands on my shoulders. “For appearance. She has to play her part, make it look as if she is a dutiful mother and queen. Verena is keeping me in her court against my will, which is in her right for me trespassing in her court. If I wasn’t Kali’s son and heir, she wouldn’t care what Verena did to me.”

  “Can’t you get rid of it?” I asked. The storm's presence made me uneasy. It was as if Kali was watching us. She was too close for comfort.

  “I could, but I would also have to be in my other form to create such power. It would require a great deal of energy.” His fingers brushed along my neck, moving the hair off my shoulder. “And I’d rather spend my energy doing something else.” He pressed a whisper of a kiss to my mate marks.

  I tilted my head to the side, silently asking for more. “Don’t let all the sex in this place go to your head,” I murmured. It was everywhere in some shape or form. On our way back to our suite, I’d accidently stumbled into the wrong room. Big mistake. The things I saw couldn’t be unseen.

  Ashor had just chuckled at me, much like he did now.

  Verena’s court was an odd mixture of fairy-like demons and succubae in human form. It was the stuff on the inside that mattered. Pure demon. And I had to keep reminding myself that they weren’t human.

  “Have you never been curious about that side of you?”

  An arm slipped around my waist, and I leaned back into him. “I already agreed to release my demon,” I reminded him.

  His hand snuck under my shirt to splay across my belly. “Yes, and something we will get to soon,” he agreed in a silky, low voice. “But you might learn a thing or two while you’re here.”

  I snorted, resting the back of my head on his chest. “How to be a slut? I’m good.”

  Soft lips curled against my ear. “There is more to being a succubus than taking your clothes off.”

  I turn
ed my face to the side, glancing sidelong at him with narrowed eyes. “How would you know?”

  “Because this is my world, which makes me your demonology specialist.”

  “Can’t wait,” I mumbled, turning around to face him. I looped my arms around his neck. “So what are we supposed to do while Verena makes up her mind? Just sit in our room and have sex all the time?”

  Ashor’s brows lifted. “I’m game.”

  I smacked him on the arm. “This isn’t why I came here.” My thoughts turned to my family, wondering if they were safe, if they got out.

  “There are worse places to be stuck, take my word for it.”

  A flash of him covered in blood, chained to a wall streaked behind my eyes. I blinked, clearing the nightmare. Had that been my memory or his?

  It didn’t matter. Ashor and I were both damaged. Another thing the prince and I had in common.

  “Do you think she will accept your aid?” I asked, changing the topic to clear my mind and his.

  “Yes. Verena is smart. She knows it is the only way to save her court. Gardeness is in a fragile state compared to the other courts. Her demon numbers have dwindled over the decades and weakened her powers. Unlike my mother, who siphons her powers from darkness itself, Verena’s magic needs to be fed.”

  “From human souls,” I supplied. Seeing as who my mother was, I understood what it meant to be a succubus and that without the essence of human life, they were no longer useful to their queen.

  He nodded. “Precisely. Her subjects provide her with power. Without them, she wouldn’t be able to reign over Gardeness. My being here has her on edge.”

  I gazed back out into the night. Did Kira know about the vulnerability of her court? Should I warn her? My nose pressed to the glass. Another bolt of lightning struck the sky, and my heart jumped.

  It couldn’t be.

  Blinking, I unfolded myself from Ashor’s embrace and pressed my nose to the glass, combing the darkness. My eyes darted left and right. “Did you see that?” I didn’t wait for an answer. I was up and dashing out of the room before Ashor could stop me, but he was on my heels. I felt the shadow of him. He could have stopped me, but sensed something was wrong.