“There is no way she can prove it,” an icy voice bellowed from the top of the stairs, the angry voice carrying across the entire arena, silencing all in attendance. “Because she has always been full of lies!”

24

The Prince strode down the long stairway, his fury palpable. It pressed down on everyone. His magic whipped forward, menacing and angry. Lili stiffened, her hand still gripping the wicked-looking knife, which now hung by her side.

I guess you found the Prince, I said wryly to Rourke when I spotted him at the back of the auditorium looking grim.

The boys broke him out of this frozen mold right after I left, and then I got lost in this fucking place. He was angry. Your scent is everywhere and it’s like a sick maze of tunnels. When I circled around for the second time, I met up with them. We couldn’t get the Prince to agree to anything, but he owes us for freeing him. He wanted to run the show once we got here, so we had no real choice but to let him. When this place erupts into madness, which it will, we’ll come to you on the floor. His voice was firm and commanding.

Got it. I’m working on these spelled chains. I’m almost free.

“Step away from my bride, you piece of filth,” the Prince snarled as he descended. “You will never rule Hell. You are not even a full demon! The power of Hell will never choose you. You are the spawn of evil, and have been wiggling under our skin for far too long. You thought you were clever, but you were wrong.”

“If you come any closer, I will kill her,” Lili said in a cold tone, raising the knife above her head once again, its jagged end only a foot above the Princess’s heart. Lili had only pierced the Princess’s skin before, and the Princess hadn’t moved or reacted since her glamour dropped, though I knew she was alive because her chest lifted with each breath she took.

Why isn’t the Princess moving to defend herself? I asked my wolf. She needs to start fighting back. Get off that gurney and slap Lili silly or do something. Why is she letting this happen?

There was something bigger happening here that I didn’t understand.

“You cannot kill the Princess of Hell,” the Prince scoffed. “She is a true demon and can regenerate from any injuries you inflict.”

“Possibly.” Lili shrugged. “If she hadn’t sworn me a promise. Spelled in blood. The very same promise that is attached to this nfeby.” She shook the knife. “Once I pierce her heart she will be gone forever. She will not regenerate. So if you want your bride to remain alive, I suggest you stop moving.”

“You speak lies!” the Prince roared as he shot his magic outward. It flowed ahead of him like a gust of hot wind, causing waves to ripple in the air. All the demons in the audience visibly cringed, and some of them ducked. “You are not stronger than I!”

Lili raised her hand in answer, and redirected his flux of power with only a few words. The energy arced around her and raced to the side, smashing into the nearest column, exploding it and sending pieces flying everywhere.

With that, the crowd jumped out of its seats, alarmed and bewildered by the sudden change in direction. Seeing their current leader opposed to Lili, even though she had told them what the Scriptures said, and their beloved Princess at risk of death, rocked the arena and sent it into chaos just as Rourke had predicted. This time the audience wasn’t filled with minions who blindly followed the rules of She’ol, it was full of all demons, from everywhere in the Underworld. Now every demon in this room knew something had gone wrong.

Terribly wrong.

Rourke eyed the Prince, who was almost down to the floor. Tyler and Ray stood behind him. They would all follow soon.

Lili lifted her knife higher when the Prince did not slow his pace. “Say goodbye to your beloved.” Lili lowered the knife, and right before she plunged it into her chest, the Princess’s arm snapped out, her hand stilling Lili’s wrist.

That was enough of a cue for me to intervene, and I was closer to her than the Prince.

My wolf snapped the spell on our chains and I leaped forward to aid the Princess. Lili was muttering under her breath, but just before I could reach them, she plunged the knife deeply into the Princess’s heart.

I watched in horror as the demoness’s body arched and she uttered one long, hollow scream. She thrashed for a moment, then went totally still.

The Prince landed at the bottom at the same time I swung my leg around, connecting with Lili’s back with enough force to send her hurtling over the gurneys. She crashed onto the floor of the circle.

Pandemonium in the arena continued. Demons raced everywhere, shouting about their Princess while they tried to escape. The Prince rushed to his bride’s side, picking her up and cradling her in his arms as I squared off against Lili. Demons swarmed the aisles all around us as my angry mate barreled down the stairs trying to reach me.

Lili hissed at me as we rounded on each other. “I will use your heart to revive her and I will be hailed a savior!” she declared. “Nothing is going to stop me. I will be Queen one way or another.”

“Wrong,” I retorted, crouching low, my claws at the ready. “I think your new plan may need a few more thousand years to marinate, because no one is going to herald you as anything other than a cheat and a liar after what they just witnessed. You just ruined every chance you may have had in Hell by killing their beloved Princess, and you’ve sealed your fate as a traitor. They might have bought the whole ‘the Princess lives on in my clone’ idea for a while if your plan had worked, but never now.”

She maneuvered around me, edging around the outside of the circle, her back to the fleeing audience. The demons were making a rapid exit away from us, no one wanting to come in contact with their furious Prince. From the little I’d seen, he ruled his realm with little warmth and lots of pain. None of these demons wanted to see the inside of a mending room.

I spied something out of the corner of my eye, and then, almost like they had mystically appeared, a ring of spell caster demons dressed in shimmering robes were standing behind Lili.

“Meet my family.” She grinned as she spread her arms. “Lilith was my mother, the most powerful witch on every plane, but my father was a spell caster demon. She chose very wisely. I’m ten times more powerful than even she was—or any Princess or Prince of Hell for that matter—and I was born to rule, not only the Underworld, but all supernaturals. The new reign was meant for me.”