With a loud clang, the double doors shove open wide, and two guards, minotaurs with long dark hair and sickening yellow stares, enter with the tiny looking lord between them.
“You returned,” my father says, making no effort to disguise his surprise. “I assume nobody would be so stupid as to come here and admit they’ve disappointed the devil.”
Sneering down at the man, looking superior and smug, the devil lounges on his throne, swirling his drink with a victorious smile.
“I brought you what you wanted.” Lord Farly’s beady eyes turn to his daughter, who can’t even look at the man who abandoned her two weeks ago. “I thought you’d be resting.”
Rose’s laugh is laced with disgust. “Unconscious, you mean. You thought I’d be oblivious to what you’d done because you knocked me out and left me at the mercy of strangers.”
Her anger is justified. If she’d been entrusted to anyone else, who knows what would have happened.
“It didn’t work by the looks of it. Those witches better give me my money back.”
My father smirks, and his gaze falls to me. “It’s not the witch's fault. Magic can only survive so long down here, and in close quarters with such a powerful demon… Well, it didn’t stand a chance. Whatever safeguards you put in place only related to me, the devil himself. They didn’t prevent her from becoming close to anyone else.” Leaning forward, he tsks at the poor lord. “You’d know that if you had done your research.”
So that’s why he sent her to me. He knew the magic would wear off faster in my company. Did he try to touch Rose and was repelled by the magic?
The thought makes my stomach churn.
“Show me what you brought.” All business now, my father pretends he doesn’t see the fury in Lord Farly’s eyes at my father’s discovery of what he was up to.
Lord Farly waves his hand, and from behind him, six men appear, carrying three chests between them.
Marching forward, they set the massive wooden trunks down at the base of the plinth before my father’s throne. The skin on the back of my neck prickles as the entire court stares at the three heavy boxes as the men retreat, eager to be away from whatever they contain.
It’s then that the stench of death reaches my nose.
23
ASH
Rose’s eyes dart to mine, horror written all over her expression.
The coppery tang of blood fills the air, and red drops trail from the doorway to where the boxes sit.
Lazily, my father climbs from his throne and descends the three steps to the trunks, lifting the lid on one and peering inside, ignoring the cloud of flies that escapes, and the rotten stink that makes everyone else in the room recoil.
“I’m impressed. I didn’t think you had it in you. She may have been easy to capture once, but not so easy to move, I’m sure.”
Impressing my father is rarely something to be proud of, it just means that you’ve stooped lower than he expected. The urge to ask who these corpses are is strong, but in a way, I fear it doesn’t matter.
They may have wronged my father, they may have simply been bad people and my father sought to entertain himself by having a human, cursed with morals and a conscience, do his bidding instead of one of his demons.
“Are we done here? I’d like to take my daughter and leave now.” Lord Farly lowers his eyes, pretending to be submissive, but the stiffness of his posture suggests the gesture costs him dearly. He doesn’t like bowing to anyone, even if his life depends on it.
“Yes, you may. Although, as you can see, she appears to have come into her own since she got here. Which leads me to believe she isn’t, in fact,yourdaughter.”
“Maybe not by blood, but…” Farly stammers. “Once she isunharmed,that’s all I care about. I’ve already lost a daughter to this godforsaken place, albeit not so valuable to me. Two would not be acceptable.”
Rose swallows hard, her fingers clutching the fabric of her skirt, and looks at me, panicked.
“What sister?” I ask, unable to resist.
My father raises an eyebrow, watching my interest to ascertain why I would care.
“One of the rescue parties that came. Clara fell with them.” Lord Farly is equally suspicious, not wanting to make chit chat with the demon holding his daughter in custody. “Her ship was wrecked upon the rocks, apparently.”
Father shrugs. “This is dangerous territory, Farly. If you want to be one hundred percent certain that your family is safe, keep them at home.”
