Page 2 of To Sway a Demon Heart

Tyr coughed, raising a hand to rub the back of his neck.

“The reception halls and guest rooms are all done,” he said, sounding uncomfortable as he tried to avoid my eyes. “And the council is ready for us.”

“Good,” I said lightly, stepping down from the chair I had been standing on to reach a particularly stubborn patch of cobwebs. I grabbed my cloak from the floor where I had tossed it when I’d begun using the fire magic. The caverns were much colder than the Court of Sun, and I was wearing a dress more suited for summer at the sea than autumn in the mountains. “Please lead on.”

“Brigid…” Tyr began, stopping me with a gentle hand to my arm. I stiffened, feeling an electric need flood me, followed by the icy sting of rejection. Tyr must have sensed my shift, because he dropped his hand quickly. “Sorry. I…” He swallowed, squaring his shoulders. “We need to make sure we are on the same page. Before we go in there.”

“Of course,” I said, smiling as if nothing had happened. “What are your thoughts?”

“I’m inclined to agree with them,” Tyr said, shortening his usually long stride to walk next to me as we headed toward the council chambers. We had formed the council from the heads of noble families to try to solve the succession issue, but they were becoming more of a pain than a help, especially with their latest scheme.

“It’s completely barbaric,” I protested, giving Tyr a sidelong glance. I tried and failed not to study his strong jaw, a faint shadow of red stubble smattered across it.

“It is,” Tyr agreed, speaking quietly lest we be overheard. Scathanna might be gone but the spiders were still everywhere. Their next master could easily be listening. “But they’ve agreed to nothing else. I think we have to allow it.”

“Carnon and Elara will never agree,” I sighed. “This is against Elara’s whole goal of becoming more enlightened. She vowed she wouldn’t allow this sort of thing after ending Scathanna, remember?”

“We have offered a hundred different diplomatic solutions,” Tyr argued, frowning at me. “This is the only plan the council have agreed to. It’s bloodthirsty, but change will take time.”

“I don’t know how I’ll be able to watch,” I shuddered.

“Do you want to leave?” Tyr asked, stopping me again with a hand as he turned to me. The same spark shot through me, and I tried to ignore the prickling sensation I felt in all of my most intimate places. “You could leave with Elara and Carnon. You don’thaveto stay to watch the whole horror show after that.”

I sighed. Since everything that had happened—or not happened, I supposed—Tyr had adopted a quiet concern on my behalf. It was a little charming and a lot annoying. In front of everyone else, he maintained the veneer of swaggering indifference and indolent charisma that had managed to quell the darker impulses of his court for decades.

But with me, he was tender. Gentle. At least if he were a prick, it would be easier to let him go.

“I’m fine,” I said, opting for a smile despite the macabre topic. “I want to see this through for Elara. It doesn’t mean I have to enjoy it.”

Tyr nodded, squeezing once gently before letting me go. Curse this male, and his cursed hands, and his beautiful, perfect, cursed jaw.

We didn’t say anything else as we proceeded down the shadowy hallway, one of hundreds in this horrible court. I couldn’t wait to be back in Sun, and I intended never to go underground again.

We reached the councilroom doors, both of us bracing ourselves for whatever battle would come next. Tyr looked down at me again, a question in his eyes, and I nodded. He pushed open the door, donning his mask of swaggering, sarcastic lord.

“Tell us more, then,” he said, speaking to the assembled lords as he held the door open for me, “about this plan in which you murder each other.”

Chapter 2

Ipursedmylips,trying not to look more disapproving at Tyr’s choice of words. He shrugged with an obvious grin and a wink, playing our parts for the council.

“Lord Tyr,” drawled one of the oldest, crustiest demon males on the council. He looked just as put out with Tyr’s choice of wording, but I understood his desire to irritate the council. They seemed to delight in irritating us. “A tournament to decide the next Daemon Lord of Shadow is not murder.”

“It sounds like murder,” Tyr said, letting amusement and irreverence fill his tone. “I believe you said ‘duel to the death,’ Lord Tenebris. Am I wrong?”

Lord Tenebris scowled, but another council member cut in. “There is precedence,” the other lord said, peering at Tyr over a pair of spectacles that were almost certainly a fashion choice rather than a necessity. “Three millennia ago—”

“Yes, yes,” Tyr said, interrupting expertly and waving an impatient hand. “You’ve told us. The line of succession was broken, and the Tournament of Shadows decided the next Daemon Lord.”

“The King and Queen will be here in two days for Samhain,” I cut in, preventing the lord from rebuking Tyr. “You will need to convince them to agree to this, not us.”

Tyr raised a single red brow at me, but didn’t argue in front of the council.

“The king would not dare to question our traditions,” Lord Tenebris cut in, scowling at me as if I had insulted his heritage. “Whenhe agrees, the tournament must occur in a neutral territory. It can’t be held in Shadow, lest it grant an advantage to an opponent.”

“Where would you propose we hold it then, Lord Tenebris?” I asked politely, trying to stop myself from lighting the male on fire in my irritation at his presumptions. I was supposed to be sweet and kind and non-threatening. Gain the lords’ trust and let them underestimate my power. Incinerating one of them would not uphold my veneer of innocence.

I wasn’t exactly sure how Tyr and I had fallen into our respective roles here. I knew he had a gentle side, and he knew I had a fierce one. We had fought together in Mithloria and Oneiros, despite our differences. But the roles just sort of fit when we arrived, and my reputation as the softest Daemon Lord, aided by my close friendships with Elara and Cerridwen, made others drop their guards around me.