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“Did you—”
“Yes,” Octavia murmurs, crouching into a defensive stance.
Well damn.
“We want to help you defeat Romulus,” I say, my head on a swivel as I search for any other signs of life.
Octavia stretches her hand in front of me, pulling me to a stop, and I nearly stumble in my haste.
“We stay here,” Octavia whispers, her voice barely audible in the silent castle. She glances behind us, and I follow her gaze back to the once opened door.
Fuck. I hadn’t even heard it close.
“Who are you?” A deep voice echoes around us, the sound seemingly coming from everywhere and nowhere at once.
“I’m Olivia,” I answer, my gaze darting around for any sign of the source. “And this is my mother, Octavia.”
“I don’t need your names,” the voice rumbles in irritation, the floor beneath us quaking with his ire. “Who are you to think you can walk into the royal castle? And what makes you think you are powerful enough to defeat the gods?”
I swallow thickly at the question, indecision waring in my mind. He didn’t say Romulus ... he said the gods.
“We stand against Romulus and his occupation of the infernal realm,” Octavia answers, skirting around his question. “We know the heart of the infernal realm has been transferred to you. The princes are the rightful rulers of the infernal realm, and we intend to help you regain control.”
“How do you know that?” another voice snaps, his tone laced with incredulity but just as dark and dangerous.
“I was there when it happened,” I say, stepping forward.
Octavia grabs for my shoulder, but I quickly step out of her hold, knowing I need to do this. I saw that pain in Seraphina’s eyes when she came to terms with leaving them here on their own. But I also saw the hope and pride shining in her eyes at the thought of her demons setting her world right, at the sacrifice she was all too willing to make for them and her people.
“I was there with Seraphina in her final moments. I helped her unleash your souls from her amulet to take control and help your people.”
“That can only mean—”
“That we’re gods,” I answer for him, readying to fend off any attack that may come our way. “I know what you must think of us, but please trust that we’re here to help you. Just like Seraphina trusted me with her final wishes.”
“How dare you speak her name.” Another voice, dark and seductive, but it doesn’t do anything for me other than send a spike of fear skittering up my spine.
“Stop,” the first voice bellows, and a shadowed form creeps out from the walls. The form looks to be of a man ... yet not. Large horns protrude from his head, and webbed wings stretch out from his back. My eyes narrow as he steps forward, trying to make out any details I can, but it’s as though he’s a cut-out of his former self. Any details making up his face or body are nonexistent.
“But she—” the third voice says, but he’s cut off
“We knew what had to happen when Seraphina locked us away. We knew that Vale had a vision that she would be visited by a god … ” he trails off as though he can’t bear to finish his sentence.
“She’s the reason Sera is gone,” the second voice argues as another shadow emerges. He’s a bit shorter than the first, and his horns cut out to the side a bit more.
“No, Sera is the reason she’s gone,” the first prince snaps. “We both know there was no changing her mind. She made her choice, and now it’s we who must live with it.”
“But she’ll come back,” I interject, my brows furrowing in confusion.
“She’ll be reborn,” the first agrees and clears his throat, turning to his brother for a moment before focusing back on us. I wish I could read their facial expressions. This shadowed form thing is leaving us really vulnerable right about now.
“I’m assuming you came here for help of some sort?” the second brother asks, his shadowed form crossing his arms over his chest. I can sense the vitriol leaking off of him in waves.
“I promised Seraphina I would stop Romulus and help your people,” I say, my spine straightening with determination. Having the demons on our side in the fight was the best-case scenario, but we can still do this without him. “I’ll be keeping that promise, with or without your help.”
“You think we don’t want to help?” the third voice asks, his voice dripping with deadly disdain as he too slips from his hiding place. There’s something graceful yet deadly in the way he moves, like he would rip your spine straight out while he distracted you with lust-filled thoughts. “I want to go out there and slaughter all the gods that put us in this position and all the demons who chose power over their own king and princess.”
“What my brother means is we want to, but we can’t. Look at us, we barely have our powers back, and our other brothers haven’t taken their forms yet,” the first demon explains. “Which is exactly why we must remain hidden away. If Romulus or the archdemons knew that we’re mere shadows of our former selves, they wouldn’t hesitate to lay waste to what is left of our land.”
