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“Guilty,” the male hissed, looking daggers at Carnon. I frowned, wondering if he had been forced to tell the truth somehow.
“Then I condemn you to death,” Carnon replied coldly, grabbing the top of the man’s head and pulling his hair sharply to the side to expose his throat. “In the same manner as the life you stole.”
Carnon struck so fast, I almost missed the elongation of his fangs as he sank them into the male’s neck. With a gruesome wet ripping sound, Carnon pulled his teeth across the male’s neck and ripped open his throat. The male’s scream became a gurgle as Carnon pulled away, letting the male fall to the ground as his blood pooled on the moonstone floor. I paled, gripping the side of the throne to stop myself from fainting as Carnon spat the blood out on the ground next to the male and held out a hand. Herne handed him a towel, as if he had been prepared for this, and Carnon turned toward me, wiping his face as he held my gaze.
“Clean up the mess,” Carnon said to no one in particular, eyes still locked on mine. I felt like I might be sick, the sound of the male’s body hitting the floor echoing like the murdered witch my grandmother had killed at the Coven meeting I had snuck into.
Goddess above, what had I been thinking, throwing in my lot with this male? How was this any different than my grandmother?
Carnon returned to his throne, giving me a hard look.I warned you,the look said. I swallowed thickly, tasting bile.
“Who else?” Carnon said, as guards dragged away the bloodless body of the demon, leaving a smear of blood behind him.
“Just one more, my King,” came the lilting voice of Scathanna, stepping forward out of nowhere. She was clad in a dress of black so deep it looked to be spun from shadows, and she gave Carnon a deep curtsy as she moved to stand before him.
Carnon stiffened, glancing at Herne with a raised brow. Clearly he hadn’t expected Scathanna to step forward, but Herne just shook his head slightly, an almost imperceptible movement that said,don’treact, his own expression impassive.
Scathanna snapped her fingers, and unfamiliar guards dragged forward a figure bound in something dark. Shadows, I realized. “This human stands accused of murder in my court,” Scathanna said, smiling at the bristling of the court as humans and demons alike broke out in whispered muttering. “I beg you to inflict the Horned God’s justice for the life he took.”
I felt my stomach flip as I beheld the human, who looked young and frail wrapped in Scathanna’s shadows. He was shaking his head and crying, trying to speak but muffled by the gag of darkness around his mouth. He looked at Carnon beseechingly, and then at me. If I had to watch Carnon rip his throat out, there was no way I would keep myself standing.
“What is the evidence of his crime?” Carnon asked, his voice commanding and betraying no hesitation about whatever it was he would have to do to this man.
Scathanna frowned. “Why, my word, your Majesty. I have tried him and found him to be guilty. I ask for justice.”
“If you have already tried this man in your own court,” Carnon said slowly, glowering at Scathanna, “then you must produce the evidence to merit the Horned One’s justice.”
I hope the Horned One destroys you all. The words of the murdered witch hit me, and I realized I had almost forgotten about her threat. Did Carnon know her? Was he the Horned One, or had she meant the god? I pushed down my queasiness in an attempt to lodge this into my memory, as Scathanna continued to argue. “You cannot possibly—”
“Enough,” Carnon said, voice booming across the hall. Scathanna stopped, pursing her lips in distaste. “Youdo not commandme, Lady of Shadow. Take him to the dungeons,” he snapped, nodding toward his own guards, who stepped forward and took the man still bound in shadow. “I’ll question him myself.” I thought I saw something like relief in the man’s eyes as he was led away, and I sagged as if it were I who had been given a reprieve from death, rather than he.
“If you will not judge him, then I will do it myself,” Scathanna hissed. “My King,” she added, spitting the words at him.
Carnon’s eyes were cold as a cruel smile tilted his lips, one I hoped never to see turned on me. “Now that you have requested my justice, I am afraid he is mine to sentence,” he reasoned, taking a swig of wine.
The room stood silent, holding their collective breaths to see who would win the battle of wills between the Lady of Shadows and the Demon King. Carnon looked unmoved and slightly bored, while Scathanna grew increasingly irate, her delicate fists balling at her sides as she held herself in check. Herne looked like he was about to step forward when Scathanna finally nodded her head in acquiescence, stepping back into the crowd. Cerridwen blew out a silent breath in clear relief, shooting me a strained smile.
Carnon took another drink, draining his glass and holding his hand out to me as he stood.
“In that case, let the festivities commence,” he said. As if a murder had never happened in front of their eyes, the court turned to each other and began laughing and drinking and dancing as one.
I took Carnon’s hand stiffly, trying to bite my own tongue to stop myself from either lashing out at him or vomiting. Possibly both. He didn’t speak as he led me through the crowd, snatching another glass of wine from a passing servant as he guided me to a small curtained alcove away from the majority of the guests.
“You have about one minute to come to terms with what you saw.” Carnon turned on me and held out the glass in a clear command to drink. “After that I won’t be able to hold back Scathanna from accosting you.”
“You killed that demon,” I whispered hoarsely, sipping the wine and finding myself thankful it was white and not red. The sight of blood on the moonstone floor would almost certainly haunt me for a while.
“I did,” Carnon confirmed sharply. “He murdered a human woman for her blood, and I repaid him in kind.”
“But you didn’t hurt the human man,” I said, looking up into his eyes and trying desperately to figure this demon out. “Why?”
“Because until I can question him under the influence of bloodberry, I won’t know if he was actually guilty,” Carnon replied, taking the half full glass from me and downing the rest. “It’s how I knew the demon was guilty. Lucifer is under standing orders to dose our prisoners before bringing them before me. Scathanna is under no such compulsion.”
“Bloodberry, like the wine?” I asked, remembering my embarrassing spell of truth-telling at Beltane under the influence of too many glasses.
Carnon nodded. “In its raw form, it can be made into a potent truth elixir,” he explained. “Tell me now, Elara, can you do this tonight? Stand next to a male, who just ripped out another’s throat, and smile? Pretend to be in love with him? Because if you can’t, we are going to need a new plan very quickly.” Carnon glanced around the curtain and cursed. Tyr and Scathanna were heading toward us, and Scathanna looked murderous.
“Why did she do that?” I asked. “Try to get you to murder him if she knew you wouldn’t?”
