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The gigantic form of a horned serpent slunk toward me, gleaming gold and green scales shining behind the fog. When it cleared, I realized the head of the snake was Carnon. He examined me with interest, his hands tipped in black claws the same color as his horns, and the whites of his eyes wholly green like a snake’s. But his legs were now the writhing coils of a serpent, undulating around him as he slithered toward me, his golden torso melding into the huge, scaly tail.
“Holy Goddess,” I gasped, trying not to flinch as he reclined on the chaise next to me.
“Alarmed, Red?” he asked, flicking out his serpentine tongue with a grin. I shuddered and he laughed. With a flash of golden light, he was Carnon again, ankle crossed over a knee in casual elegance, the claws and wholly green eyes gone, replaced with his normal serpentine gaze.
“A little warning would have been nice,” I snapped.
He smirked. “I warned you that it was alarming. What’s next, Red?” He didn’t move to replace the shirt, seeming happy enough to have me gazing at his chest the rest of the night. I wrenched my eyes from the golden skin and tattoos.
“Elara,” I corrected automatically. “And how about shadow?”
Carnon raised a brow and held out his hand, a ball of black, whirling night forming in his palm. He stretched it into the shape of a rose, holding it out to me. It disintegrated into glittering black smoke when I tried to take it.
“Ican also walk through shadows,” he added, cocooning us in a ball of darkness and then releasing it again. “It's how I escaped your very clever binding spell."
"It held you for a while," I pointed out.
Carnon grinned, acknowledging my minor victory with a nod of his head. "The Daemon Lord of Shadow can also manipulate spiders, although it is a gift I didn't inherit for some reason known only to the gods. And in this case, the lord is actually a lady.”
“A lady?” I asked, frowning. Carnon turned his attention to me, serpentine eyes glinting in the moonlight. “I thought the Daemon Lords were all male.”
“Sometimes they are,” Carnon said. “Currently there are two male lords and two females. The Lady of Shadows is…” he hesitated, looking genuinely disgusted at the thought of her. “Unscrupulous and unpleasant. Keep your distance from her.”
“Believe me, I’ll be keeping my distance from all of them if I can,” I said, frowning as he watched me intently. “Any other talents I should see?”
“Sun,” he said, replacing his balls of shadow with a ball of flame that hovered about an inch above his palm.
“So all those times in the forest when you made me cast the fire, you could have just done it yourself with magic?” I asked. I reached my hand out toward it and hissed as it scorched my fingers. Carnon cursed, snuffing out the flames.
“Gods, Red,” he said, taking my hand and inspecting my fingers. I guessed this didn’t count as romantic, because he didn’t drop dead at the act. He blew on them gently, and I shivered a little, drawing my hand back. “Fire is hot,” he chastised, as if I were a small child. “No touching.”
“It didn’t burn you,” I protested, blowing on my fingers myself and cursing my own stupid curiosity.
“Demon King,” Carnon reminded me, gesturing to himself with a lazy hand. “And yes, I could have. But it would have given me away.”
“Fine,” I gritted out, still nursing my sore fingers. “What else can you do?”
“Blood is more difficult and possibly painful to demonstrate,” he offered, giving me a wicked smirk. “But I can try if you’re willing to play victim and offer me your neck.”
“Pass,” I said, pushing down the bright magic that was aching to rise up and heal my fingers. “I’ll take your word for it.”
“I do have one more power,” he said, raising a brow at me and glancing at my burns. “But, technically, it’s not of any court. You’ll have to give me your hand if you want me to show you.”
I frowned, trying to decide if this was a ploy to be romantic. Carnon held out his hand, waiting patiently as I decided, and I finally dropped my burned hand into his. He watched me as a tingling warmth filled my palm, making me yelp and pull my hand back. A faint silvery light covered the burn, fading to reveal perfectly unburned skin below.
“Goddess above,” I breathed, looking at him with wide eyes. “You have the gift of life too.”
“Life and death,” Carnon corrected, dropping my newly healed hand. “The trick with the apple is also something I can do.”
“What in the name of the Goddess does that mean?” I asked, leaping away from him off the chaise as if he had burned me again. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“If you recall, Red,” he said, leaning back lazily on the sofa, “there are alotof things I didn’t tell you. This one happens to be a cause for contention among my court.”
“You said you had never seen another demon with this power,” I accused, remembering the moment that Akela had died, and I had let the magic take over to heal him.
Carnon winced. He had the decency to look apologetic. “I meant any demon other than me. These powers…I’ve been able to use them since I was named king. It’s one of the reasons the Daemon Lords don’t like me. All Demon Kings have the power granted by the Gods, but they expected the powers to pass to one of them, not a nobody from the Court of Beasts. They couldn’t claim Artemis had made a mistake choosing me anymore, not when the powers passed to me.Onlythe chosen Demon King has this kind of power, Red. It’s what makesyouso interesting.”
I scowled, throwing up my hands in frustration. “Is anything you told me the truth?” I asked, realizing that I was probably focusing on the wrong part of this. “Was everything between us a lie?”
