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“Well?” I asked, sighing a bit and flopping my arms at my sides. “Will I embarrass you?”
“No,” he breathed, standing and clearing his throat. “Gods, no, Elara. You look like…” He trailed off, running a hand through his hair behind his horns.
“Like what?” I asked, raising a brow at his flustered hesitation. He cleared his throat again, and I glanced down, blushing. He wasveryinterested in how I looked right now.
“Like a queen, Red,” he said, closing the distance between us and breathing a little shakily. My heart skipped a little, and I cursed the traitorous organ. “You look like a gods-damned queen.”
He held out a hand—an offering, not a demand. I bit my bottom lip, calculating my next move. I had no reason to trust this male, especially after all the lies he had woven. But he was upholding his end of our agreement by searching for my mother, so I supposed holding his hand to appear like I wanted to marry him was the least I could do.
I took it, and for a moment he held it in midair before squeezing and lowering his arm, pulling me closer.
“Only until we return to this room,” I said as he led me down the hall, holding my hand tightly as if afraid I might run off. Akela met us, huffing in greeting as he took up pace next to us.
“Such a shame,” Carnon purred suggestively. “I had better not waste the opportunity.”
I presumed the meeting with the Lords would take place somewhere important, but I hadn’t seen much of the palace besides the library and kitchen.
We eventually stopped before a set of doors, the now familiar image of Cernunnos, the Horned God, with his faithful strix carved into one door, and the image of a woman on the other. I studied the carving, realizing that the woman looked strange because she had three faces, one facing forward and the other two facing left and right. The Triple Goddess then, I supposed. Beside her sat a massive wolf, teeth bared protectively over its mistress.
“This looks a bit like Akela,” I said, nudging Carnon with my hip and looking down fondly at the giant wolf. He flicked an ear as if he wasn’t sure he agreed.
“All wolves look the same, Red,” Carnon replied, giving me a bemused look. “Especially when they’re carved from stone.”
I was about to reply when Carnon rounded on me, looking down at me seriously.
“Remember our story, Red,” he said quietly, scanning my face as if trying to figure out what I was feeling. “Akela found you. You have only normal witch magic. You’re thrilled to be my bride.”
“So thrilled,” I said flatly, earning a lopsided grin from him that made my heart do ridiculous things. “When are you going to tell mewhyyou were looking for me?”
“Later. And don’t waste all your charm on me, Red,” he quipped, raising a sardonic brow. “Remember, the Lords are not to be trusted. Don’t go off alone with one, don’t believe anything they tell you, and whatever you do, don’t show them your gods-blessed magic.”
“What about Herne?” I asked, frowning up at him.
A muscle ticking in his square jaw. “He’s probably fine, the great oaf. So is Brigid, actually,” he said, although I still had no idea who that was. “But the other two are snakes.”
“More than you?” I asked, raising my eyebrows pointedly at his forked tongue and slitted eyes. Carnon chuckled, stepping closer and moving his hand from mine to my back in an effort to pull me closer to him.
“Believe me, Red,” he purred, flexing his fingers a little against my bare lower back and making heat blossom there in a way that sent shivers up my spine and down my arms. He leaned close, as if sharing some intimate secret with a lover, and I realized our performance had already begun. “By the end of our time together, I will seem positively tame in comparison.”
Chapter 9
Carnon pushed through the big double doors pulling me with him, his hand still on my lower back. We were in some kind of throne room or reception hall. A huge stained glass window of red and gold was inset against the back wall, and before it stood a throne that looked to be made completely of shadow stone. Four figures stood near the dais, waiting for the king.
“Elara,” said Carnon, voice more commanding and sinister somehow than when he only spoke to me. He led me toward the throne, hand warm against my back. “May I present the four Daemon Lords. Herne, Lord of Beasts, you already know,” he said, nodding to Herne, who bowed respectfully. I had met the huge demon when I first met Cerridwen, and his owl-like eyes and sharp antlered horns were no less disconcerting than they had been then. Cerridwen had said Carnon and Herne were old friends, but I had only really seen the two of them at odds. They looked icy daggers at each other, and I wondered if they would still be friends after all of this.
“This is Tyr, Lord of Blood,” continued Carnon, nodding to a tall, broad demon who bowed deeply, his dark auburn hair falling over his shoulders. He looked up with a grin, showing off sharp fangs that were clearly used for bloodletting. They were sharper than normal demon canines, and he winked ostentatiously as we passed.
“And Brigid, Lady of Sun,” Carnon added, nodding to a woman who practically embodied sunshine. Her hair flowed down her back in soft, golden waves, and her tanned skin made it clear that she spent a great deal of time in her blessed element. She curtsied, then rose and smiled warmly at me, her blue eyes almost piercing in their brightness.
“And Scathanna, Lady of Shadow,” Carnon finished, stopping before the throne. Scathanna’s slight dip was barely a curtsy, and she sneered at me prettily, somehow managing to look both derisive and noble.
“My King,” she purred, in a voice like midnight and velvet. Cerridwen had said Scathanna was one of the oldest of the Lords, much older than Carnon, but she looked younger, maybe in her late twenties at most. She had long, black hair with horns similar to Carnon’s and milky white skin. Her lips were painted a shade of blood red that contrasted sharply with the rest of her face. She was dressed in an elegant, gray silk dress that was cut even more scandalously than mine, her breasts almost on full display in the tight corset.
The other lords said nothing as they gathered before the dais. Carnon took a seat in his huge, shadow stone throne and pulled me into his lap. I blushed fiercely, wishing I could argue, but it was clear that I was meant to perform the role of enamored betrothed. Akela took up a defensive position next to me, and I sat stiffly as Carnon looked over the four lords.
“Well?” he asked imperiously, looking between them. “Why have you summoned me so unceremoniously?”
“My Lord,” Herne said, booming through the empty chamber and taking control of this apparent meeting. “You know why we are here. It is to discuss the threat of the witches at our borders, and your…” he paused, chewing a word over before finishing, “proposed bride’s connection to the Crone.”
