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A monstrous creature with crimson skin and flaming eyes. His black wings curled around where he squatted on a stool that looked like a pincushion beneath his massive frame. Horned and deadly, he scowled down at her, and then his eyes moved to Taveon.
Instantly, he was on his feet. “What’s this? Who’s she?”
“I don’t have a fucking clue who this is.” The demon jerked his thumb at Bree. “But this is the king, Master.”
The Master leaned forward and sniffed before his face broke out into a grin. “That’s him, all right. How’d this happen? Where’d she get him?”
Bree cleared her throat. “I saw him sneaking out a tunnel beneath the castle. Thought I’d catch him before he could fly away like the fucking coward he is.”
Master regarded her carefully. Bree knew she’d probably messed something up. For one, she’d supposedly been on the wrong side of the battlefield. She was hoping it wouldn’t matter. After all, she had brought them a prize.
“You’re a Fire Eater,” the Master finally said.
“That’s what I told her!”
“What were you doing over there on the western side?”
“I don’t know. I just ended up over there. Does it matter? I caught the king.”
They all turned to Taveon. He let out a grunt and stared at the demons with narrowed, angry eyes.
Good, she said to him through the bond.Keep up the pissed off act. They’re more likely to buy this if you aren ’t thrilled you got caught.
This isn’t an act, Bree. I hate them all.
Fair enough.
After a moment, the Master sighed and ran a hand down his face. “Well, fuck. This is a shame. I was looking forward to ripping this place apart, but the Grand Master made our orders clear. We’re to return to the Realm of the Dead the second we get our hands on his son.”
Bree tried to force herself to stay still. Her heart raged in her chest, and she could feel Taveon’s emotions rioting. The Grand Master, who was clearly a step above this leader here, was Taveon’s father. Did that make him some kind of lord or king?
“Yeah,” Bree said, clearing her throat and trying to hide her surprise. “Shame we don’t get to burn that castle down and show those dark fae what’s what.”
The Master gave her a funny look. “Oh, we’ll be able to show them, all right. As soon as we drop Taveon off with the Grand Master, we’re coming back. In fact, I’m going to leave most of the army to camp here while we’re gone, just in case those fae try to do something. Can’t let ‘em leave, now can we?”
Interesting. That was less than ideal, but in the end, it wouldn’t make much difference, just as long as she found a way to reverse what they’d done to the realms.
“Let me have him.” The Master held out his massive claws.
Bree glanced at Taveon, heart in her throat. How could she hand him over to the enemy like this, even if it was their plan? “Can’t I keep ahold of him? I’m the one who found him, you know.”
The Master sneered. “I see what you’re doing. Trying to get in good with the Grand Master, eh? Pitiful Fire Eaters, always trying to rise above your stations. I should send you straight back to your little crew on the front lines.”
Bree had no idea what a Fire Eater was, but at least she could see part of the portrait from the Master’s words. That would be why the others had looked down on her as they had. The Fire Eaters were not important members of their society. If they were stuck in the front lines, the demons didn’t care if they suffered.
They’d be collateral damage. Even if they couldn’t die, they could still feel pain.
“’Course I am. Think I want to be caught in the front of this battle? Some of those arrows hit.”
“You’re a strange one,” the Master replied. “Most of you Fire Eaters like the thrill of ripping arrows and knives and swords out of your skin. Some sick fucks, you are.”
She shrugged. “We’re not a hive mind.”
“Thank fuck for that,” the demon grunted, the one who’d delivered her to the Master. She’d almost forgotten he still stood there. He leaned against a table that held a map of Underworld. Bree itched to go over to it and examine it and the parchments stacked beneath it.
Would she be able to find the answers there?
Careful, Bree, Taveon whispered into her mind.The Master is getting suspicious of you. Probably best to just hand me over and start looking around when he’s not paying so much attention to you.
