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I retracted my aura abruptly in revulsion. It was a slavery bond. The first one I had encountered. Meeting The Siren’s dark, emotionless eyes, I knew it would not be the last.
“Hello, Nytara,” Amon drawled, maintaining his bored, but amused mask that he wore so well. “Torture any innocents, lately?” He sneered at her, the disgust in his voice felt as if it were dripping in thick rivulets from each syllable.
“Only the ones you’ve lost interest in,” she replied dryly, and I forced myself not to react. Those seven words instantly reminded me of all the unspoken things Amon had been forced to do under Ash Nevra’s reign. The very idea of Amon torturing anyone was nearly impossible for me for wrap my head around now that I knew him. Though, looking at his face, cold with masked rage and hatred, it was easier to imagine.
“Watch your tongue, Siren,” he snarled, “You forget your place.” The Siren showed no fear, though her aura rippled beneath her metaphysical chains.
“Come, our Queen awaits you,” was all she said in return before turning on her heel and striding from the room. She did not look back to ensure we were following her. She was so confident that it aired on the side of cocky.
‘Who is that?’ We followed Nytara as she swaggered down the dark hallway.
‘Nytara is from the Court of Envy. Before Ash Nevra’s reign, she was… infamous, for lack of a better word. She earned the name The Siren for her ruthless piracy of the Obsidian Sea. She is a very dangerous daemon and has murdered and tortured many, long before Ash Nevra enslaved her.’ Amon explained. Origin spare me.
‘If she is so happy to murder and torture people, why bother enslaving her at all?’ I wondered into Amon’s mind. The way he spoke of her, it sounded as if she would have been all too happy to do Ash Nevra’s bidding without the slavery bond.
‘Ash Nevra considers herself a… collector. She seeks out powerful beings and relishes in bringing them to their knees. Nytara is just one of many that were intentionally sought out in the beginning. Though, she seemed to adjust to life here easily enough.’ I tried not to outwardly wince at the term collector. The longer I spent in this hideous castle the more my skin began to crawl. I had been so absorbed in my silent conversation with Amon, that I had barely noticed we had left the enclosed spaces of the hallway that led to the bedding chambers and had entered the main intersection of the castle, where we had first met Kieran.
Nytara led us across the echoing entrance and directly towards an even larger space, that could only be the Great Hall. It appeared to be a giant ballroom, nearly the size of a football stadium, and was filled with daemons of all shapes, sizes and, to my horror, varying stages of undress.
We crossed the threshold from the abandoned entry way into the crowded Great Hall. The nauseating sensation I had experienced when I had first seen the cage in our guest chambers rolled through me once more. I did not need to extend my aura to feel the sickening sensation of the slavery bonds that ensconced nearly every daemon we passed. The ones who were not enslaved seemed to be corralling them, giving orders and making demands. My stomach lurched as I realized that some of the free daemons carried whips.
Several cages hung from the ceiling and protruded from the stone walls, where daemons danced or, worse, fornicated. All for the entertainment of the daemon who sat on a throne, at the head of the room. I forced myself to avert my eyes. I did not want to look too closely. If I had looked too closely, I knew I would not make it through this meeting. I would burn this whole fucking place to the ground.
As we walked deeper into the Great Hall, I observed the devastatingly beautiful daemon who perched on her throne. She had hair as black as mine with long, perfect legs tipped in crimson stilettos. They were displayed through the slit of what looked like a large fur coat. Her garnet eyes met mine, and a sultry smile slid across her blood-red lips. I felt a smirk of my own paint across my face as her gaze found Elvira’s Circlet on my brow. Her cocky grin slipped just enough that it was noticeable.
Nytara stopped several feet away from the throne.
“Ash Nevra, our Queen and savior, conqueror of the Dominion, and slayer of The Origin, I present to you, Prince Amon, and his pri-” Amon interrupted Nytara before she could finish.
“The Origin’s daughter, Raven. The one true Queen and Heir to the Dominion of Sin.”
The entire hall fell silent.
61
The silence was so complete I was sure every daemon in attendance could hear the hammering of my heart. Despite the choking anxiety that ripped through my veins like liquid ice, I met Ash Nevra’s gaze head-on, and did not blink. If I was going to kill her, I had better be able to make eye contact at least.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Ash Nevra spoke, and the entire room seemed to let go of the breath it had been holding.
“Bold words, Prince Amon. Considering you have delivered punishments firsthand to those who have said less,” she slid her garnet gaze away from me to meet his. “Though, I appreciate your attempt to amuse by dressing your toy in silly little crowns.” She pulled the stopper from her aura, you beg for death as you and I felt it wash over me in a hot rush of sex. The contrast from Amon’s cold aura was breathtaking. Both would kill you, but only one would make moaned the reaper's name.
I felt her turn that sweltering power directly toward me. It rubbed along my skin like a fur pelt that had been strewn before a crackling fire. Beneath it all was a snake-like movement, a viper ready to strike. The metaphysical teeth of her aura crashed against the invisible dome of protection that Elvira’s Circlet offered me, and I realized with a start that she had just attempted to pierce through it with a slavery bond. My ice-cold blood instantly turned hot with rage, and I stepped forward without a second thought.
“Ash Nevra,” I addressed her, intentionally foregoing her title. A gasp rippled through the hall. I braced myself to defend against an attack, but to my surprise, none came. She watched me with a perfect black eyebrow cocked and allowed me to continue. “We have come to negotiate the terms of your… regency in the absence of my father, The Origin. I thank you for your service to the Dominion. However, I have returned to claim my throne.” My voice did not waiver, and I did not stutter. However, I bit out the word ‘service’ as if it were a swear word.
Again, I braced myself for an attack. I waited for her to order one of her slaves to take me away or try to kill us. I waited, but nothing happened. Instead, she let out a small, amused laugh.
‘Something is wrong,’ Amon whispered into my mind, I could feel him becoming increasingly tense beside me. ‘She is much too calm.’ I had to agree.
“Is that so?” She asked as if she were entertaining a child that was throwing a tantrum. “I suppose you expect me to accept this and quietly acquiesce my throne to you? A filthy half-breed?” She sneered at me. Despite the threat in her tone, something was horribly wrong. Why wasn’t she attempting to kill us where we stood?
“We are prepared to go to war, if we cannot come to an amicable agreement.” Amon drawled next to me. She cocked her head to the side and stared him down.
He met her gaze without flinching, and their auras crashed against each other. Their energies were so powerful I could almost see them. They were so evenly matched that it was impossible to tell who would win should they ever come up against each other.
“We?” She asked, her voice a sultry purr. She stood up from her throne, stilettoed legs spread wide, and looked down at us from the raised dais she was perched on. “There was a time, Prince Amon, when you used the word we when speaking of us. Now you align yourself shamelessly with this pathetic half-breed playing rebel?”
Amon nodded once, “I align myself with the true Queen of the Dominion. The Origin’s daughter.”
