AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Thirdly,” he replied, returning to his list of reasons, “because I’m not sure Icanget rid of it. There’s no record, as far as I know, of anyone other than the Demon King having these sorts of powers.”
“No one?” I asked, surprised that the two of us should share a power only the gods held. “How about a Demon Queen? Is that a thing?”
“Are you applying for the position, Elara?” he purred, stalking back toward me in a way that screamed of seductive intention. He stopped before me, tension rolling off him as he resisted touching me. “Because I will crown you and worship you as my queen today, if you wish it.”
“No,” I replied, crossing my arms and refusing to let him back me against a wall again. “I have no interest in being your queen. Or anyone’s queen for that matter.”
He smirked wider, and my heart rate kicked up in response. “And the worshiping?” he rumbled, looking me up and down as if sizing up his prey.
“Just answer the question,Your Majesty,” I snapped, trying to not think about the ways he had worshiped me before I learned the truth about him.
“Hmm,” he said, still smiling slightly. “There has never been a Demon Queen, except for those married to the Demon King.” He produced a shiny red apple from one of his pockets, holding it out so that its skin glinted in the sunlight reflected off the moonstone. “Now, wither the apple.”
I sighed in frustration. “I don’t want to do this, Carnon,” I said, taking the apple as he placed it in my hands.
“Gods, I love hearing my name on your lips,” he growled, grinning at me with dark delight. I scowled as he took another step closer. “And I’m afraid you have to, Red. Blood bargain, remember?”
I narrowed my eyes and turned my attention to the apple in my hand, concentrating on drawing its life from it. The black, shadowy power inside me uncoiled, spooling itself out and sucking the life from the fruit. It only took a minute for it to wither completely.
“Good,” Carnon said, arms crossed as he looked before me. “Now undo it.”
All morning, Carnon had me wither and revive the apple until I was sweating with effort. Each withering and reviving became more and more of a chore, my magic feeling increasingly sluggish each time he commanded me to draw on it.
“That’s enough,” he said after I had revived the apple for what must have been the hundredth time. He came over and plucked it from my hand, taking a bite. “Tired?”
“Yes,” I panted, plopping down on the chaise and barely making it the three foot distance without crumpling. “Why am I so exhausted?”
“Magic—gods-blessed and demon magic alike—is like a muscle,” Carnon said, taking another bite of the apple with a juicy crunch. “You need to strengthen and train it to be able to use it for more difficult and sustained magic.”
He tossed me the apple, now half gone and dropped down next to me, careful not to touch. “Eat,” he said, nodding toward the remaining fruit.
I wrinkled my nose. I felt extremely unenthusiastic about eating something I had seen in an advanced state of decay several times that day.
“Witch magic isn’t like this,” I said, examining the remains of the apple thoughtfully before taking a tentative bite. It tasted fine. “The cost is usually something extrinsic.”
“Does demon magic seem less unnatural to you now?” Carnon asked, a brow raised as he watched me.
“Not really,” I said through a mouthful of apple.
“Charming,” Carnon quipped. My stomach gave a loud rumble, and he laughed.
“I’ll have lunch sent up to you,” he said, rising and stretching as if he had been the one using his magic all morning. “Eat, then nap. I’ll be back in the afternoon.”
“Where are you going?” I asked as he headed toward the door to his room.
He paused, turning back to look at me with a raised brow. “I thought you didn’t care much about where I went or what I did, Red,” he said, a subtle arrogance to his features.
I pursed my lips, torn between being annoyed with myself that I had shown interest and my own Goddess-damned curiosity. Spite for the Demon King won out.
“Fine, don’t tell me,” I said, lying back on the chaise and closing my eyes. “I was only asking to be polite.”
Carnon chuckled darkly as he walked away. “Of course you were.”
Chapter 7
I must have dozed off, because a clatter of dishes made me spring up from the chaise.
Lucifer, Carnon’s beefy, blond-haired head of staff, was scowling down at me as he set a tray upon the little metal table on the balcony. He had horns, shorter than Carnon’s and light brown in color, and snakelike slits in his yellow eyes. The scales that ran down his neck gleamed gold in the sunlight of the balcony.
