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ZADE
Prologue
Theburningsmellofrotten flesh assaults my senses as my father’s body goes up in flames, the blood of The Circle surrounding his burning corpse. I step up, taking what was once my father’s position at the head of our society, my gaze shifting around the dark tomb. Pillars circle the ancient room, the resting place of the countless Empire heirs who have ruled before me.
The flames flicker, casting long shadows across the polished stone and over the emotionless faces of The Circle members watching me through dead, expressionless eyes, their long black cloaks as equally fucked up as this whole ritual.
I’ve always hated these bastards. They’re The Circle, the assholes who lay claim to my Empire, who believe they govern what will be mine. They’re nothing without me, and now that my father’s body burns at their feet, I’ll step up as their leader—the only rightful heir.
Outside of this room, this society, they’re nothing but ordinary people—judges, police, politicians—but they harbor dark secrets, all of which will now rest on my shoulders, giving me the power to destroy each one of them.
With thick smoke billowing to the roof, I get the ritual underway. Raising the dagger, I place the ancient blade in the palm of my hand before closing my fingers around its intricate, gothic design, the eyes of The Circle locked on me. Tension builds in the tomb. The send-off of a blood heir is one of our most sacred rituals. If I fuck this up, I could be dead beside the bastard. But they won’t dare. Maybe thirty or forty years ago, they would have had what it takes to end me, but I’m too strong, too relentless, too fast. I’m untouchable, and every fucker in the room knows it—even my father knew it. Hell, he sure as fuck knew it when I dragged my blade across his throat. Though these fuckers don’t need to know that.
Squeezing my hand around the blade, I feel its sharp bite digging into my skin, and I stretch my arm out, watching as my blood—the blood of the new leader—stains my father’s burning flesh. “The flesh of my flesh will perish in flames, but the blood will forever reign.”
As one, The Circle repeats my words, their murmured chants chilling me to the bone.“The flesh of my flesh will perish in flames, but the blood will forever reign. The flesh of my flesh will perish in flames, but the blood will forever reign. The flesh of my flesh will perish in flames, but the blood will forever reign.”
My blood continues dripping over my father’s corpse, the flames blistering my skin, but I don’t stop or pull back until their final words have been spoken. Only then do I lift my gaze to The Circle and lower my hand, the sacred blade clattering to the ground as I release my grip on the dagger, blood running down my fingers and dripping by my feet.
“It is done,” I announce. “The reign of my father, Lawson Michael DeVil the Third, has ceased, and I, Zade Alexander DeVil, stand before you, as the heir of the founding Circle, and proclaim my intention to rise in my father’s wake and claim what is rightfully mine asthe only true heirof Empire.”
Each member of The Circle bows their head, their hands coming together at their chests. As one, they speak. “Your intentions have been acknowledged.”
I watch them carefully. This culty-ritual bullshit really isn’t my style, or probably any of theirs, but back when Empire was built from the ground up, this shit would have been seen as a privilege, as power. Now, it’s nothing short of fucked up, but it’s these kinds of fucked-up traditions that have kept us going.
The flames roar, quickly sucking the oxygen out of the small tomb, but we still have one more part to go. The initiation.
Anticipation burns in my chest. Only those of The Circle know what the initiation entails. It’s not one of those secrets passed down from father to son, but a challenge presented to the new initiate to test his determination and loyalty to the cause. It is said to bind the ruling heir to Empire and ensure a lifetime of servitude to our people, something my father always described as an honor. To me, it sounds like a load of horseshit, probably something they’ll be able to use against me if I ever decide to walk away. But that won’t be happening. I’ve waited too long for this, watched my father hold a type of power over the world he never deserved or even knew how to use. Such wasted potential.
With Empire in my hands, the world is mine to bend and manipulate. Whatever I want will be thrust at my feet, and I do whatever it takes to make it so.
“You cannot flourish in the power of Empire without first giving your soul,” The Circle member standing directly across from me says, his voice chilling and raw. “You will be challenged to prove your loyalty to our cause by making the greatest sacrifice of all, a sacrifice the heirs before you have each made.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes.”
“In sixty suns and sixty moons, you will sacrifice the heart of an innocent. You will bring her to us, and in the hour before dawn in our sacred fortress, you will carve out her still-beating heart and offer it as your sacrifice to your people. Her heart will be placed on a pedestal and will remain until your reign shall cease. It is with this sacrifice that you, Zade Alexander DeVil, will be bound to Empire and rise as our rightful leader.”
I nod, accepting what will be. Without another word, The Circle files out of the tomb, all except one. “Zade,” he says, and I turn my attention to him, looking away from my father’s burning body and into the eyes of Nikolai Thorne. His dead, emotionless stare from earlier completely gone, replaced with the familiarity of my best friend’s father. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”
I nod, more than ready to take this on. “My father did this?”
“He did.”
My brows furrow, and I try to think back to the days before my father was initiated as the heir of Empire, but I was just a kid, still stricken with grief over the loss of my grandfather. “Who did he sacrifice?”
A fond smile pulls at his lips before that heavy darkness returns in his eyes, and I can all but see the images etched into his memory. “The love of his life,” Nikolai tells me, his tone void of all emotion. “He sacrificed your mother.”
My chest constricts as lead pulses through my veins, weighing me down. “No, you must have that wrong. My mother left us. She wasn’t sacrificed.”
“I’m sorry,” Nikolai says, bowing his head. “Remember, sixty suns and sixty moons. Bring the innocent. If no sacrifice is made, Empire will not accept you as their ruling heir, and with no other, well . . . God be with us all.”
Chapter 1
OAKLEY
“Wouldyouratherfuckyour dad in Thor’s body or Thor in your dad’s body?”
My jaw drops, gaping at my brand-new roommate. I mean, fuck! What must circle her brain to make that sentence fall out of her mouth? And before she’s even said hello.
