Tortured Royals (Game of Psychos #3)

Chapter 9

Chapter

Nine

~ Princess Blake ~

“ W ell, that was dramatic,” Shade comments, and she lifts one wing, shielding her face. “Tell me when it’s over, because I’d rather not see skewered angel right now.”

“Queen Vespera might be cruel to use her daughter to extract the truth from him in that way, but she’s not wrong to punish him. He was plotting against her. If it were one of the demons, I’d have to use them to send a message as well.”

“Yes, but you heard her, right? May your last moments be long and full of agony? I’m not sure I want to know what an angel torture and execution looks like.”

Queen Vespera turns to her daughter, and there aren’t any words exchanged. The queen simply stares at her expectantly, and her daughter steps to the end of the dais, her face expressionless.

“No, Mirelle, don’t,” Prince Callan mutters under his breath, his hands clenched tightly into fists.

I figure that must be his sister’s name. Mirelle. I try to recall the lessons I received regarding angel royalty, but I can only remember being schooled about Queen Vespera’s sons. There was never any mention of a daughter.

Uriel stares up at Mirelle, tears streaming from his eyes. “My precious, my love,” he cries, sobbing so hard his back shakes. Mirelle keeps her gaze fixed on something high above him, not peering at the male, and a flicker of pain shines in her eyes before it’s gone again.

“My A-Ahalian Touizda, w-why would you do this?” Uriel stammers. “You must know I didn’t mean what I said. If I had known who you truly are, I wouldn’t?—”

“S-i-l-e-n-c-e!” Queen Vespera booms, her voice ringing throughout the cavernous room. “If you had known you were bedding my daughter, rather than the female she was disguised as, you wouldn’t have shown your truth. Now, daughter, let him see what we do to those who defy us.”

Mirelle’s jaw tightens, her gaze darkening as she lifts her hands, and Prince Callan curses again. He tenses like he intends to go to his sister, to stop what’s happening, but he doesn’t, and something tells me this isn’t the first time he’s witnessed a similar display.

I’m not sure what I expect next, and I gasp when white hot flames erupt over Mirelle’s entire body, swallowing her and leaving only a humanoid shape in her place. Her flames lick at the air, crackling and sizzling, and the light is so bright I wince. When she lifts her hand, flames shoot out toward Uriel. He screams the moment they touch him, the flames engulfing him in a matter of seconds. The white hot fire dances as his feathers burn, and the sound of Uriel’s cries fill the space, a seemingly endless song of torment that has my stomach twisting. It’s over sooner than I expect, and Uriel’s cries are silenced, the angel now nothing more than ash on the floor. Going by the queen’s glare, I’m guessing she’d instructed her daughter to keep the traitor alive for longer, but Mirelle ignores her mother’s gaze, stepping back from the front of the dais.

Queen Vespera’s smile falters only for a moment, and then she’s beaming out at us all again.

An angel at the back of the room throws up, but everyone else stays silent.

Annoyance fills Queen Vespera’s expression. “Well?” she prompts the crowd, and slowly, one by one, the angels start clapping. Soon the applause is like thunder in my ears, and the queen’s smile grows wider as she revels in it.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” Shade moans, and I reach up, stroking her feathers.

The queen leans back on her throne, her lips curving into a smug smile. “And now that’s out of the way, let us attend to our other party guests!” Queen Vespera calls out gleefully.

It’s not until Mirelle’s gaze lands on me that I realize she’s talking about us. Before I can act, white flames shoot from the princess’s hand, racing across the room and encircling me and my mates in seconds.

Mason, Nate, Alaric, and Dante form up with me, the five of us with our backs to one another. Prince Callan stands a couple paces away, his face a mask of stone.

“We’ve attended your party as you requested,” I say loudly. “What is this?”

Queen Vespera crosses one leg over the other and traces slow circles on one thigh with her long nails. “You have attended my party,” Queen Vespera says, “And should the need ever arrive to call on the allied realms for aid, I shall. But when you all walked into my office, I had no choice but to act.”

“Why?” Mason asks, squaring his broad shoulders.

Instead of answering, she flicks her hand, and a small dark cloud appears from somewhere behind her. There’s a buzzing sound, and then a recording starts to play. An anguished cry fills the air, and unlike when I heard Uriel, this cry has bile climbing up my throat. It’s not until I see the pain on Prince Callan’s face that I realize why. It’s because I’m listening to a recording of him.

His cry ends, morphing into a choked retching and coughing noise.

“Tell me again,” a cold and clinical voice demands. Instantly, I recognize Queen Vespera’s voice. “No one takes what’s mine, boy.”

There’s the crackling of flames, and Prince Callan’s scream rings out again, the sound filled with such pain that my body shakes with fury for my mate. Stepping forward, I place my hand on Prince Callan’s shoulder, and he flinches.

“Tell me again, what happened,” Queen Vespera insists.

There’s heavy breathing, before more screams.

“Tell her,” a different feminine voice says, and it’s more of a desperate plea than a command. Prince Callan’s gaze flicks to his sister, and I guess it’s her speaking in the recording. “Please Callan,” she says. “It’s been days. Why are you protecting him?”

Protecting him? My brows lower as I wonder who they’re speaking of.

There’s a long moment of silence, and when Prince Callan finally speaks his voice is a quiet rasp. “Nine Lives wormed his way into my mind.”

My heart stutters, my blood going cold as my gaze slides to my shifter. He looks just as shocked, his brows practically lifting to his hairline.

“The thief manipulated me so he could get to her,” the Prince Callan in the recording goes on.

Queen Vespera seethes. “You always were my greatest disappointment. To let a traitor infiltrate your mind is unforgivable.” There’s the sound of shuffling feet . “And to let him get to your sister.” She growls. “Take him!”

There’s the sound of something scraping along stone and the recording cuts off.

My chest heaves like I’ve just run up the stairs to get here, and my head is a mess of questions and fury. Nate’s face is deathly pale, and Prince Callan won’t look at me. He just keeps staring at his sister who’s bright with white flames.

“She tortured her own son,” Shade’s horrified words fill my head, and the fury burns hotter inside me. I can’t be sure whether Nate did what he’s being accused of. All I know is that this woman, this monster, had Prince Callan in her clutches, and she hurt him. Badly.

Queen Vespera’s smile is a wicked slash across her face. “So, you see, the confession is plain, and there is yet more justice to be dispensed this night.”

“Lies,” Nate says, a low growl ripping from his throat, but the queen gestures with her head to her daughter, and another stream of fire races out, separating Nate from the rest of us. When we try to fight to get to him, the circle of flames rises higher, the roaring of the fire crackling in my ears as my skin heats.

“No!” I cry.

“No?” The word drips with venom as it comes from Queen Vespera’s mouth. “This shifter, Nine Lives, as they call him, tried to kidnap my daughter. My guards found them before he could take her through the gateway, and though he killed the guards before he escaped, Prince Callan remained with Mirelle. After some questioning, the prince explained the situation.”

Prince Callan’s eyes are dark. “There was no harm done, Queen Vespera. The shifter isn’t here for her.”

Her gaze cuts to him. “For once you’ve done well, my son. I had all but lost hope that you would be of use to me, but you’ve brought me the shifter as promised.”

What? My blood turns to ice as realization slithers through me. I think of how many times Prince Callan had told me not to go to the palace. Had he meant any of it, or had he only said it to avoid suspicion? Undoubtedly, he had to know I would follow him here, and the betrayal stings in a way that no physical wound could.

“And you’ll release Mirelle as agreed?” Prince Callan asks, his voice cold.

“Release her?” The queen cackles, turning to her daughter with mock affection. “Does your sister look imprisoned?”

Prince Callan’s hard expression doesn’t waver. “Sister!” he calls out, his voice hoarse.

Mirelle’s only response is to turn her head, not meeting his gaze.

Queen Vespera’s cackling grows louder. “You see? She does not wish to leave. But that doesn’t mean I won’t enjoy finally getting justice.”

“No, no, no—this is all wrong! The queen can’t take Nate. He’s the barbed one!” Shade rambles in my head, squawking in panic.

“What? Why are we talking about his penis right now!” I hiss back.

“I don’t know,” she shoots back nervously. “I’m just trying to think of what his best feature is!”

Ignoring her, I glower at the queen. “I don’t care what Prince Callan promised. Nate is my fated mate, and he is destined to become a demon royal. Once we are bonded, he will rule by my side. While the crime he committed is despicable, the princess stands unharmed. To kill a demon royal would be an act of war against the demons.”

“Ah yes, once you are bonded is correct,” Queen Vespera replies gleefully. “But if I am not mistaken, there is no bond between you and these five males. Five is an unlikely number for a demon princess, and the idea that you are all fated is merely hearsay. So my judgement stands. Nine Lives must be punished for his crimes.”

The flames burn hotter around Nate, and his growl turns to a hiss of pain.

“Stop!” I yell. “You can’t.”

“Oh, but I can little half-blood,” the queen mocks. “And I suppose if he is your mate, then I won’t have to worry about a power shift amongst the demon royals.”

Rage makes my body tremble, but I don’t let it get the better of me. It wouldn’t do any good. Not now.

Dante tries to get to Nate, but the moment the flames touch his hand, he cries out, jumping back. His entire hand is burnt, and the flesh isn’t healing.

“I wouldn’t touch that if I were you,” Queen Vespera sings.

My gaze goes to Alaric. I’d been hoping he could change into his giant form, but he couldn’t do that without touching the fire.

I turn Prince Callan toward me, and for a moment, he looks lost. “What did you do?” I snarl.

“It doesn’t matter,” he mutters. “I have failed her.”

“Failed who? Your sister? Sorry if I’m not sympathetic when she’s about to burn us alive!”

“You don’t understand.”

“Of course not! But right now, all I know is that Nate is about to die because of you.”

Guilt stains Prince Callan’s expression.

“How do we get ourselves out of this?” I snap at him. “How do we save Nate?”

He shrugs. “There is no escape from her.”

The fury I hold at his betrayal softens a little then, because I see it. That hopelessness in his eyes. That regret, and the overwhelming pain that seems to consume him. I think of the recording of him being tortured. Of how distant and cold he’s been from the moment I met him. How he’s always pushed me away. He’s known it might come to this, and there’s always been that part of him that rebelled at the idea.

“This isn’t you,” I tell him. “Your mother isn’t who you are. I know you did this for your sister, but she’s the one standing on the dais while we burn. Tell me, what can we do? Your sister must have a weakness.”

When he doesn’t answer, I growl in frustration.

“You would really risk starting a war with the demons over a crime that never happened?” I say to the queen. “We just put our necks on the line coming to the aid of your angels in Sailyn.”

“A choice you made, yourselves,” the queen says dismissively.

“If you take Nate, you’ll have to kill all of us,” I growl, sweat beading on my brow from the heat of the fire.

Queen Vespera’s eyes flash, and she taps her chin thoughtfully. “My my, you are determined to save this street cat, aren’t you?”

Nate scowls, and I lift my head higher. “Like I said, he’s mine, and if you try to take him from me, I swear you’ll regret it.”

The queen glances at the angels across the ballroom before looking back at me. “You know I lost some good archangels in that ridiculous competition of your father’s. All for what? For you to find these five? Well, I’ll tell you what. Seeing as I know how you demons like to play games, how about another competition. If you can best a selection of my finest warriors, then this… Nate, will be free to leave with you.” A sinister gleam enters her eyes. “Fail, and none of you will make it out of the arena.”

“Don’t,” Prince Callan warns.

I frown, thinking of her proposal.

“Oh, you can’t be serious,” Shade squawks. “If you agree and you lose, the queen can kill you without risking war.”

“What choice do we have? You said it yourself. Nate is the barbed one.”

“I’m serious,” Shade goes on. “You know she’ll make it impossible for you.”

She’s right, of course, but I can’t see another way out. There’s no way I’m letting Queen Vespera have my shifter mate. “She doesn’t know us. We’ll find a way.”

Shade continues to protest in my head, but I yell, “Fine. We’ll play.”

“Excellent,” the queen says happily, clapping her hands together.

The dark cloud comes from nowhere, soaring over the fire and smothering us with the queen’s magic. I hear my mates calling my name. Strong hands grab me, and I fight to keep my eyes open, but the darkness still takes me.