Garden of Serpents (The Demon Queen Trials #3)(9)

What was I hungry for? Something I couldn’t name, a power I’d once possessed.

I glanced down at the tattoo on my arm and traced my fingertips over the dark contours of the skeleton key. In the underworld with Tammuz, I’d lived like a real demon. With just the two of us there, I’d trained in a primal world, becoming a predator. A memory flashed in my mind: I’d taken down a stag with my bare hands, sinking my teeth into its neck to feast on it.

I swallowed hard, shocked to remember I’d eaten it raw.

I started toward the stone river walk, breathing in the humid air. For now, the ball was in my court. As the shadow scion, I would choose the next trial. The time, the location, the task…

What I’d learned from tonight was that anything involving physical strength was a risk. Maybe I’d win, maybe not.

As I crossed onto the river walk, I heard Shai calling my name, and the sound echoed off the stones. I turned to see her walking between Legion and the blond demon. They really did make a gorgeous trio.

“I wanted to introduce you to my friends,” said Shai breathlessly as she drew closer.

The blond held out his hand, and I shook it, my gaze trailing over the tattoos that snaked around his arms. His eyes were the color of whiskey. “I’m Kasyade. But almost everyone calls me Kas. And I am absolutely delighted to meet a real succubus.” With his messed-up hair, he had an almost boyish look—which made his deep, gravelly voice unexpected. “I was already intrigued by Mortana, but I didn’t want to get anywhere near her, given her reputation.”

This close, I got a better look at him. He was styled much more casually than most of the demons I’d seen, in dark jeans and a T-shirt that gave him a kind of tattooed, muscular, James Dean look.

I glanced at Legion, who was clean shaven and dressed more formally. “We’ve met before,” I said, “but I suppose I was Mortana then.”

Moonlight glinted in his angular brown eyes. “It took a long time for Shai to convince me that you were someone different. But then I suppose if you were the real Mortana, a Lilu king would have ripped out your heart by now. And he still might, of course, since you’re trying to take the crown from him.”

Kas sighed. “Please excuse my blunt friend.” He glanced over his shoulder. “But he’s right. You’re not safe here, no matter what the king said.”

I shook my head. “I’m sure Orion knows the rules are very strict. He’s not allowed to hurt me outside the trials.”

Shai hooked her arm into mine. “We’ll escort you home anyway.”

Kas quirked a lopsided smile, his cheek dimpling on one side. “I didn’t want to miss the chance to meet our city’s first queen.”

“I like your confidence in me, Kas,” I said.

As we started walking, the music from the festival faded into the distance.

Legion’s black eyebrows knitted together as he looked at me. “The Asmodean quarter…don’t you find it a bit…”

“Haunted?” asked Kas.

I glanced between them. “Do you two always finish each other’s sentences?”

“We’ve known each since we were little boys,” said Kas. “Since before the city was founded.”

“So you’re older than Orion?”

“Old and wise,” said Shai. “Exactly why they’d be perfect to help you prepare for the next trial.”

My gaze flicked between the two male demons. “What if I lose? And what if Orion takes out his rage on you two?”

“We survived the mad king Azriel,” said Legion. “We can survive the mad king Orion.”

“All things being equal,” said Kas, “we’d prefer someone sane. That’s why we’ll help you.”

The wind rushed off the river, giving me goosebumps. On our right, we passed a stone building with turrets and windows lit up with warm light.

“What do you think of Orion, then?” I asked.

“They know he wants to murder all the mortals,” said Shai. “Because I told them.”

Legion’s dark eyes slid to me. “I remember what it was like back then, when the mortals invaded our City after the war. First, they weakened our magic. Then they cut off the heads of the Lilu who resisted and stuck them on pikes. Anyone who survived was marched past the remains of their families. We thought the Lilu were being led to their deaths. None of us ever imagined some of them survived. We never spoke of them. We all felt guilty. We had no clue Orion was still down there. The idea that someone was locked up by himself in a dungeon after all that—there’s no way he could be sane.”

Kas ran a hand through his messy hair. “Honestly, the thought of someone enduring that is unbearable.”

“Stop,” I said. “You’re going to make me feel bad for him, and then I’ll lose.”

“Just remember,” said Shai, “he said you were boring. It’s really the worst thing a person could say, even if he didn’t mean it.”

Kas’s brow furrowed. “King Nergal told us that the mortals’ revenge on the Lilu was the price we had to pay for losing the war. It was a sacrifice. But the truth was, he wanted the Lilu gone, too. They were a threat to him. They were too powerful, and he had no conscience whatsoever. And that is why, sometimes, I wonder if the mortals have it right. Maybe we should, I don’t know, vote for a leader instead of letting people decide it by ripping someone’s heart out of their chest.” He smiled at me. “But if I have to support someone’s brute strength, let it be yours. You’ve at least lived among the mortals. You know how they think. They modernize. We don’t. You have that advantage, don’t you?”