Red Blooded
Page 37

“Bring out the male wolf,” the Prince bellowed. “But keep him in his chains.”
In the time it took to retrieve Tyler, I studied Selene. She hadn’t rebelled, but I sensed her power. It was so low it almost didn’t register. That was surprising. They must be muting it somehow. We can’t ignore Selene, even though the Prince seems to be, I told my wolf. She’s been here for at least a year, maybe two, and there’s no way she hasn’t been plotting her revenge. Me being here is too delicious for her to pass up and she’ll strike as soon as she gets a chance.
There was a loud commotion and Tyler was hustled around the side. “What is he tied in?” I demanded. Tyler appeared to be wrapped in a horde of rail-thin snakes. They were moving and hissing.
“Those are our chains,” the Prince said, his distaste over my ignorance very clear. “They are spelled to keep any supe’s powers at bay, and if he rebels, they will bite him. And it will hurt.”
“I’m not in chains.” I held my arms up. “And clearly I’m the biggest threat in the room. So why don’t you be a sport and take them off of my brother.”
“We will not. This wolf has caused too damage already. He will remain in chains for the duration of this court session. Consider yourself lucky he is in here at all.” The Prince ended on a hard edge. He wasn’t going to discuss this further.
I turned toward my brother. Are you okay? I asked Tyler. What happened?
Nothing.
The chains must keep all his abilities constrained. He nodded at me, inclining his head slightly, letting me know he sensed me, but couldn’t respond. He was fine, but looked tired.
“I trust you are satisfied.” The Prince nodded toward the demoness. “The wolf is here and we will continue as planned—”
A shrill scream hit my ears right as Selene broke free of her captors, and then the best three words I’d ever heard rang loud and clear through the auditorium.
“Jessica!” Rourke yelled. “We’re here!”
14
The entire proceedings were thrown into immediate chaos. Selene launched herself at me right as Rourke’s bellow filled the arena. As Selene raced forward, the cloth covering her tore free, revealing her face.
I was too stunned to react for a split second.
She was completely bald. But that wasn’t the worst of it. An ugly network of scars lined her face. Some were deep, others were fresh. Supernaturals did not scar. “See what they’ve done to me! I’m going to make you suffer for this.” She was almost to me when my brother turned and rammed his foot into her side, sending her flying into the bench, causing the Demon Lords to jump up in unison.
She crumpled to the ground and stayed there.
The Prince of Hell was furious at the double intrusion, but his shouts went unheeded as panicked demons started to race everywhere. They flooded down from the seats in a distressed mess, shouting in both Demonish and English.
“Save the demonesses!” they cried.
“Run for cover!”
“The animals are loose!”
“The Scriptures are true.”
I slammed into the two demon guards who stood beside me and sent them flying, pivoting toward my brother at the same time. I grabbed the snake chains and shot pure demon essence into them. The things were blessedly not real and they withered from the force of my magic and slipped off him in an instant. That worked well, I congratulated my wolf. It was the first time we’d used only the pure demon magic. I guess our work paid off. Yay us.
“Damn, Jessica,” Tyler said, shaking the remnants. “Why couldn’t you have done something like that back in the hallway?”
“Because I didn’t know how to wield this crap until about an hour ago.” The dark mass inside me remained slippery and hard to hold on to, it was going to take me some time to learn how to master it.
I turned, glancing up the long stairway. Rourke and Ray were fighting demons at the top. They were battling the guards who had come in the doors behind them. Tyler and I turned to aid them.
“Not so fast.” The Prince’s voice was hard as stone. “You are not leaving this hall until your guilt is proven.”
I turned back around very slowly. The Prince stood alone behind the wooden bench, towering over the proceedings in disgust, his Demon Lords long gone. Watching his minions flee must have been maddening.
I calculated the odds of racing up the steps to Rourke before the Prince could blast me with his magic. He’d likely zap me halfway up and that wasn’t going to help matters. I knew I could fight him off this time, and likely not succumb, but it was still an unknown. If I did fall to his magic, Rourke would be in danger if he came after me, which of course he would.
“I shouldn’t need to remind you,” the Prince intoned, “that you are being tried for your crimes, and you will be sentenced today. I have waited too long for this.” He stood tall over his fleeing domain, his hands clasped in front of him like he didn’t have a care in the world. Power whipped between us. The Prince was ready for a fight, and suddenly I realized this was it. If I fled despite his direct order, he would have a solid excuse to kill me. He might have been waiting for this the entire time.
I glanced around me. The demonesses had left sometime during the melee, which was mildly surprising.
When I didn’t answer him, the Prince stepped down from behind the bench to face me on the floor. Instead of running, I watched with interest as Selene rose from her position on the floor, stumbling to her feet. I met my brother’s gaze and nodded once. He understood my meaning and I felt him ready himself.
Selene’s face contorted in rage as she stood to face us. She had clearly lost some of her faculties, if not all of them. The Underworld had not treated her kindly. The Prince sauntered toward me, coming from around the corner, either not noticing Selene or ignoring her altogether.
The Prince of Hell stopped in front of us and Selene lunged.
She took hold of him from behind, her hands going to his neck, screaming, “I will kill you once and for all! You can’t hold me against my will any longer!”
Oily blood gushed from the wounds, but the Prince didn’t flinch.
I wasn’t going to stick around and watch, because this diversion was exactly what we’d needed. I had no idea what Selene was going to do, attack me or the Prince, but either worked. Tyler and I turned at the same moment and raced up the steps toward the boys, who were still fighting in the back.