Jasmine
“Where do you think they’re keeping Jake?” I ask Marisole once we’ve escaped her room and are free of nearby listeners.
“The dungeons.”
I sigh because the dungeons are under the throne room and aren’t easy to access.
“Don’t worry,” Marisole says when she sees me losing my mind. “Liam’s got him.”
“What? How do you know?” I ask.
She taps her head.
“Marisole. I don’t know what that means.”
“Oh, right, I kind of forgot you’ve been gone for ten years.”
I roll my eyes, even though she can’t see me. “Wow, tell me you miss me without telling me you miss me.”
“I did miss you, in my own way. You know that.”
“I know.”
She nods. “Liam and I discovered we can mind-link with people with our dream walking magic without having to be in a dream.”
“Seriously?”
She nods again, then pauses and shows me her magic firsthand.
We have company. Two o’clock.
I turn to find a pair of demons walking our way down the long hallway, shadows already poised and ready. Even with Marisole’s room being at the furthest end possible in the family home, my father has his bonded demons lurking everywhere.
“Ah, Thing One and Thing Two. You sure you want to do this?” Marisole asks, sliding her sleeves up. She’s never been one to shy away from a fight and always says exactly what’s on her mind.
“Shut up, bitch,” one of them says and throws their shadows toward Marisole.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She smirks, then unleashes hell.
She stands still, and both men crumble to the ground. They grasp their skulls, roll over, and beg for her to stop.
“Why are you just standing there?” She turns to me, angry.
Shit. Right. I unleash my own shadows, closing the gap between us. With ease, my shadows slice their heads off, and their bodies turn to ash.
“You’re unpracticed,” Marisole says, walking past me, shaking her hands.
I run to catch up to her. “The other realm doesn’t give me many chances to practice, Mar.”
She stops and turns to me. “You can’t hesitate in the throne room. If something happens and you get a chance to escape or kill, you need to decide in a split second. If you don’t, we’re both dead. Jake and Liam, too.”
I’m not offended when she turns back around and continues to walk down the rocky path to the throne room.
We encounter three more groups of demons on our way there, killing them the same way.
I don’t hesitate this time. Instead, we bind them as soon as we see them, knowing how this will end for all of them.
“Are you ready for this?” Marisole asks before we reach the room. “Have you thought about how you’re going to word the bargain?”
I nod, even though I haven’t. My stomach has been sick thinking about today, so I’ll have to roll with the punches.
As we near the throne room, nerves threaten to overtake my mind. They urge me to turn around, to go into hiding, to not risk my life over a bargain that one of the most powerful beings in the universe could deny.
But if I leave, I can’t save Jake. I can’t save the realm. I can’t save myself.
If I leave, the realm I’ve called home for the past ten years will be dominated by demons, and they will force the other species to kneel.
Even with the witches, the mortal realm wouldn’t have enough to withstand the shadow magic from the Underworld.
And if we don’t secure this bargain—if the demons don’t have a safe way to get souls—all magic might cease to exist.
When Marisole swings open the throne room door, my father sits on the opposite side, a smirk displayed on his face.
“Ah, daughter. How nice of you to join us.”
The God of the Underworld is exactly how I remember him. He has the signature black hair, along with a matching beard that’s been closely shaved. His outfit is nearly all black, except for the large, deep-red buttons lining his jacket.
Both of his hands are stained black and rest on the arms of his throne, which shines with obsidian and hues of red from the open slats in the ceiling. He’s flanked by three scouts on either side.
I say nothing in response as I follow Marisole down the dark-gray, tiled path in the middle of the room. Jake and Liam are nowhere in sight, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t close and hiding.
At least, I hope that’s what’s happening. If I knew Jake was okay, I’d feel better as I approach what could be my deathbed.
The aura that emits from the God of the Underworld is full of death and promise.
“I assume Fernhollow has kept you good company over the past decade?” he asks.
I have to resist slamming my shadows into him, even knowing they wouldn’t do anything, because the last thing I need is an angry god. I need him open and willing, ready for the prospect of the Council seat, and I need him to hear the bargain I’ve come to make.
“Fernhollow was great until you sent fellow demons to stalk me.” I shrug, honest in my response.
Thankfully, he doesn’t and instead relaxes further. This power move isn’t anything new. I know what he’s doing: trying to show me he could not care less, that I’m lesser than him, and that it’d be good if I remembered that.
“It’s just business, Jasmine. And once we found you, I told them to do anything to get you home.”
“Dead or alive, I’m assuming?” I ask, placing a hand on my hip.
He shrugs. “Dead, preferably, but Marisole begged for the alive portion. It was truly up to your capturer, though.”
“Great. Well, I’m here now,” I say, spreading my arms wide.
He nods, and immediately, I regret willingly being an open target because his shadows slither toward me at an unexplainably fast speed and coil around my entire body. They nearly cut off my air, and I can barely breathe, let alone voice the bargain I’ve come to make.
One of his scouts comes forth and does his best to control Marisole, who is currently yelling at our father to let me go.
Every moment that passes, his shadows tighten, and my eyes flutter. I’m running out of air, and with it, my chance to make this deal and walk away alive.
Then I hear Jake burst into the throne room, and hope flares with his arrival. I might still live through this.